Most modern people will have interacted with a call centre at some point. You may have called one with technical problems or a complaint, or one may have called you to talk to you about a product or a service.
When starting a business, a question many people wonder is 'how do call centres make money?'. On a surface level, they may seem like an outdated approach to getting people's attention; however, they can be a useful way of breaching specific target audiences and increasing customer satisfaction.
In this article, we'll explore how call centres make money for those who employ them and how you could use one to take your business to the next level.
Businesses will either set up a call centre in-house or outsource a call centre to help them with their calls. Outsourcing is a common route that larger companies take, as it reduces the handling time they would have to spend in-house training employees and the cost of setting up a physical office space.
UK-based companies will either choose to outsource to UK-based call centres – which can be the easiest option as there are no language barriers- or outsource abroad to cheaper call centres in countries such as Indonesia and India.
There are two types of call centres, 'inbound' and 'outbound'. Inbound call centres take calls from customers and deal mostly with service and support, while outbound call centres call customers directly to conduct research and market products.
An increasing number of companies use a hybrid approach to call centres and employ outbound and inbound call centres to help them.
Telemarketing is the most obvious way that call centres can help businesses make money by getting your brand name to customers and even directly selling products to them.
Most of the time, telemarketers will call people who have previously purchased a product from a company and give them their phone numbers.
Often, when you buy something online, you'll put in your details at the checkout and click a box confirming you agree to terms and conditions. When you do this, if it's in the terms, you give the company permission to contact you.
Telemarketing can be effective as some people feel it's much more personal than receiving written texts such as emails. Especially for older clientele, having a conversation with an operative can convince them to purchase a product in a way that an email would never be able to do.
Market research is conducted by outbound call centres. It is a way of finding out what people may like about a product to see what appeals to a specific audience. It's a way of researching customer preferences to further your marketing strategies.
Market research is often conducted like a survey. An operative will ask customers what they think of a product or service they've purchased with a series of questions to collect data on the best and worst parts.
Market research helps companies to see what they need to work on to improve and what their best selling points are. It can also help them see their target demographic and audience. By getting customers to answer questions, you can gather data on age range, location, where they first discovered your product (e.g. online, on social media) and more. All of this can help you know how to target your next advertising campaign.
Inbound call centres can help increase customer satisfaction, leading to increased sales. Customer service is a very important part of selling a business. In fact, it's vital for creating an impact on your customers. You want to show that you care about their needs and experience with your business and your employees.
Large businesses without call centres often have extremely long wait times on their phones. This leads to irritated customers who feel neglected. If someone is investing money in your business, they expect a treatment that reflects the support they're giving you. A call centre can help with this.
Call centres, especially outsourced call centres, can help quickly answer high volumes of phone calls. They then transfer them to the correct department. This service makes customers feel valued and like their concerns are heard. If a customer has a positive experience with your business, they're more likely to return to you and make further purchases.
Now that we've explored how call centres make money, you can decide if you think hiring a call centre is viable for your business.
If you are a larger business with a high volume of incoming calls, it could be a great way to increase your customer satisfaction. Likewise, if you want to grow your business, it can be an effective way to increase sales through outbound calling.
One thing's for sure; call centres do have the potential to make money – you have to be smart about how you use them!
