Quality service is an essential part of running a successful business, and for many companies, a key part of that entails having staff readily available to help clients and prospects over the phone.
While many smaller businesses are able to get by with only having a few people working the phones during normal business hours, this generally isn’t the case for larger businesses. As your organization scales, the volume of calls grows alongside it, and this can quite often become more than an in-house team can handle.
As Han Butler, president and co-founder of ROI CX Solutions, explains, there are several key indicators business owners can look at to determine if they need a 24/7 call center.
1. Customers Need Support Outside of Office Hours
“Few things can be more frustrating for a customer than calling you because they have an immediate need, and not being able to get an answer,” Butler says. “In our globalized, on-demand world, customers expect to be able to get support from you at any time — just like they can order an item online at any time. Whether you serve a geographically diverse customer base or your customers commonly experience issues or ask questions outside of normal office hours, making them wait is a sure way to cause frustration.”
In fact, according to research from Salesforce, 77% of customers expect to be able to immediately interact with someone after they contact a company. With a 24/7 call center, you can deliver on this key expectation to deliver needed support.
2. Sales Prospects Are Waiting for Answers
As important as 24/7 call accessibility can be for existing customers, it can be even more important for sales prospects. Research indicates that as many as 50% of B2B sales go to the company that responds to a sales prospect first.
“If a prospect has to wait until the next day to speak with someone, chances are, they’ll reach out to someone else who can answer them — and that’s who will make the sale,” Butler says.
“A 24/7 call center that is equipped with FAQs and other resources can ensure that prospects get the necessary information to guide them in their purchasing decision. Simply by offering a response when a prospect reaches out, you greatly increase your chance of making a sale.”
3. You Have High Call Volumes and Long Wait Times
As your business grows, so does its call volume. However, if you don’t have sufficient staff to handle these calls in a timely manner, customers and prospects will begin to experience significant wait times — something 57% of customers say is the most annoying aspect of any customer service experience.
“24/7 call centers can go a long way in supplementing your existing team because they have the manpower and equipment to address high call volumes,” Butler explains. “They not only have the capacity to get to your customers more immediately, but the right team will have the skills to resolve most routine calls. This way, only high-priority calls get passed on to your internal team, helping keep workloads manageable and ensuring that every caller is dealt with in a timely manner.”
4. You Don’t Have the Budget for Full-Time Service Reps
For some business owners, it’s natural to have the desire to maintain greater control and oversight over customer service calls. This leads to a desire to keep everything in-house — in which case, the natural solution to an overwhelmed service team is to hire more full-time service reps.
However, this solution can be surprisingly expensive. Not only would you be responsible for that new hire’s salary and benefits, but as your business grows, you would also need to continue scaling your operations and hiring more full-time employees — this can greatly increase costs.
With a 24/7 call center, on the other hand, you pay a service fee based on the level of support your business needs. This also makes it easier to scale operations in line with your budget and customer service needs.
5. You Lack the Right Tech for High Call Volumes
Finally, Butler notes that many businesses simply lack the resources that a 24/7 call center has for successfully addressing high call volumes. “Advanced IVR systems and call routing systems are two important tech resources that call centers can provide to address high call volumes in an effective manner,” Butler explains.
“These systems improve productivity and customer satisfaction by ensuring that the right calls get routed to the right people. However, these systems can be hard to set up on your own. Call centers already have this technology in place, allowing you to take advantage of it right away to improve your service offerings.”
Serve Customers Better With a 24/7 Call Center
As Butler’s insights reveal, working with a 24/7 call center ultimately comes down to delivering a better service experience for sales prospects and current customers alike.
By using a call center to relieve the burden on your existing staff and ensure prompt, efficient responses to your clients, you can deliver a higher level of service that allows you to close more sales, resolve more concerns, and improve the overall customer experience.
