The call centre industry offers great potential. It is the backbone of sales, customer service and operations for most businesses at present.
Hence the market is growing and it would be a big mistake to overlook the opportunities it offers.
There’s just one problem – very few operators have been able to make a decent profit from this industry.
Why? Because there are so many elements to take into account when starting up a call centre-based business, from the location of your office, staff, the type of services you’ll offer and of course the software that you’ll use.
Launching a call centre outsourcing business is about more than just working with clients – it’s about providing a service that’s reliable, cost-effective and efficient in order to develop long-term relationships with your customers.
We’ve taken an in-depth look at this topic and come up with some of the best ways for you to get started.
Is a call centre business profitable?
Yes, call centres are very profitable. In fact, it is one of the most profitable business models.
The basic idea behind any call centre business is to provide a service to customers by receiving and responding to calls from them. A call centre can be organized by an individual or a company.
It is not a capital-intensive business and you can scale it with clients. You start with one client, then add another and another.
Source: Convoso
The beauty of this business model is that you have no fixed costs. You pay only for the time your agents work on calls. You also have (almost) no technology or infrastructure costs to worry about. And if you need to hire more agents, you just spend whatever amount of money you want on new employees.
The main benefits of a call centre are:
No inventory — Stock management is not required because there is no inventory involved in this business model. So there are no inventory costs either!
Less required investment — This type of business requires less investment as compared to other businesses like manufacturing or trading which require heavy machinery and infrastructure along with other expenses like rent etc.
A call centre can be set up at home or any other place where there is sufficient space available with basic amenities such as electricity, water supply etc.
High-profit margin — The profit margin for a call centre business is typically high because of the low start-up cost and affordable working capital requirements.
Minimal operational costs — The operational costs are also minimal since there are no machines involved in this type of business operation but only human resources who need to be trained well before they can start working on their own independently without supervision from experienced people like managers etc.
Low overheads — Since modern-day call centre software applications are SaaS-based, you pay as you go, meaning you only pay for the resources you consume.
Scale with clients — The number of agents you hire depends on the number of clients you land. So overheads are always in check.
Profitable right off the bat — You charge based on agents you want to dedicate to a client (for example, $25 per agent per hour) — so if you pay the agent $15 per hour, then the balance is profit.
Client or Agent – who to hire first?
If you’re looking to start your own call centre outsourcing business, you’ll have to make some decisions about how you will operate and who you will hire first.
It’s important to know that there are two ways of doing business:
Agent-led: You will be hiring agents first and then finding clients for them. The benefit of this is that it allows you to build your client base without having to spend money on the salaries of workers who are not being used.
The downside is that you may have trouble finding enough work for all your workers if they’re idle for too long.
Client-led: You will be finding customers first and then hiring agents who can handle their calls. The benefit is that you’ll have more demand than supply and won’t have any idle time at all. However, this method requires more investment upfront as well as in terms of resources like technology and infrastructure.
In most cases, it makes sense to start by testing and hiring agents and then finding clients for them. The reason for this is that it will be easier for you to find clients once you have some agents working for you. Clients will want to know that their calls will be answered by experienced agents who know how to handle customer calls effectively.
Please remember that adopting the agent-led method would at some point mean paying workers money for doing nothing. It makes sense only when you can comfortably swallow this ‘expenditure.’
Which option is right for you? It depends on how much money you want to spend on initial costs and how much risk you’re willing to take in the early days of your business venture.
Start by networking and finding clients for your business. The first step would be to decide what type of services you want to provide.
If you have expertise in any particular field, then that can form the basis of your business. However, if you do not possess any special skills, then it is advisable to offer general services like customer support, sales and technical support etc.
You can always start by sub-contracting to another call centre business in the initial days till you build your own setup.
If you do not have any leads, you can also approach a few companies and ask whether they need any help in their call centre operations. This will give you an idea about the opportunities that are available in this field and also help you understand what kind of clients would be interested in hiring a new service provider like yours.
Now it is time to get your employees together. This could be done through recruitment agencies or by hiring people directly from the marketplace. There are many training institutes which offer courses on how to handle customer complaints professionally and efficiently.
Now that the basics are covered, it is time for marketing your product or service! This can be done through several means like advertising on radio and television channels or through word-of-mouth publicity among friends and relatives. If budget permits, hiring an advertising firm may also be considered for better results.
You may also wish to consider working with local businesses directly as they will be more familiar with your area and the local market conditions.
You may even want to consider offering free trial sessions to potential clients so they can test out your services before committing fully.
How To Find Your First Client?
Source: AZQuotes
Finding your first client can be a challenge for any new business. But it’s particularly difficult if you’re launching an outsourcing business. You don’t have the contacts, experience or reputation to attract clients.
If you’re just starting out, here are some ways you can get your first client:
Think big — The bigger companies have more money and they also have more complex needs than small businesses do. Oftentimes, niche requirements are often outsourced to third-party specialists.
Cold outreach — If you have industry experience, try cold-calling people in your network and people they know. Customer support is something all businesses need, and so anyone starting up may need a call centre agency to outsource to. Reach out to them! Let them know about your new business and see if they would be interested in outsourcing their customer support operations to an experienced company like yours.
Reach out to other bigger call centre companies — They may want to subcontract excess supply to smaller companies like yours that are just starting out or have capacity issues due to high demand or seasonal fluctuations. Reach out to other call centre operators in your area and ask them if they have any spare capacity they could pass on to you.
Reach out through social media — Facebook groups related to your niche can give you leads on where there are gaps in the market
Use Google Adwords and SEO — With an adequate budget set aside for marketing, you can use SEO techniques to target local businesses that have not yet outsourced their customer service functions.
Attend conferences and events — Go to trade fairs, expositions and marketing events where you can meet potential clients face-to-face.
Simply Google — Find out what kind of call centre solutions companies are looking for by Googling “[company name] call centre solutions” – this will give you an idea of the types of services they use most often.
How To Pick The Right Call Centre Software?
Call centres are the backbone of any business. It is the first point of contact for customers who want to reach a business or ask for its product and services. In this digital era, call centres play an important role in building strong customer relationships.
Source: RubyGarage.org
In order to build a successful call centre outsourcing business, one needs to invest in top-quality software to handle all the incoming calls from customers.
Call centre software is designed to manage the entire call centre process – from taking calls, routing them to agents and then recording the proceedings of each call. There are many options available when it comes to picking out a suitable call centre software package for your business.
Here are some tips on how to choose the right call centre software for your business:
Consider Your Budget
There are several types of call centre software available, each with varying price tags.
Before you make a decision, take into account the size of your business and what type of service you plan on providing. As a general rule, the more complex your business model is, the more expensive the system will be.
Before purchasing any call centre software, you must compare the cost of different solutions and choose one which fits within your budget. You can also look for affordable ways to cut down on costs.
For example, if multiple members of your team need access to customer information at the same time, consider buying a single copy instead of multiple copies.
Evaluate Your Needs
The next step is to evaluate your needs and determine whether or not they align with what’s available within the marketplace.
There are many options available when it comes to outsourcing solutions and each one has different features that may or may not fit into your business model.
When choosing call centre software, make sure that it has all the features you require.
For example, if you want to provide a unified communications channel to your customers and let them, service customers, by email, and chat, then make sure that this feature is available in the software before purchasing it.
Type of call centre software
There are two main types of call centre software – hosted and on-premise.
Hosted call centre software is cloud-based and is easier to set up and use, but you will have to pay a monthly fee (usually per agent). In addition to this, you may also have to invest in cloud security tools in order to ensure that your communication channels are secure from potential data breaches.
On-premise call centre software is usually more flexible and scalable, but it requires you to invest in hardware and software upfront. This also means that your IT team will need extra training and support if they’re not familiar with this type of system.
Flexibility
Call centres come in all shapes and sizes and their needs vary greatly depending on their size, industry, location etc.
For example, a large multinational corporation may need high-end features like multi-language support or complex routing rules whereas a small startup could get by with basic features like speech recognition or email integration.
Look for applications that can easily integrate with third-party tools that can execute specific use cases. For instance, if you are servicing an online business, you may often require the customers to share screenshots of error messages and bugs.
Make sure the software has a decent app ecosystem to cater to your target customer needs.
Before choosing a specific product make sure it meets all your requirements at an affordable price point.
Deployment Time
If you are looking for a quick deployment option, then we suggest looking into cloud-based phone systems and similar solutions as these allow you to get up and running within minutes by simply signing up for an account through their website and downloading their application onto your server or desktop computer system.
This way, you do not have to worry about installing any additional software onto your computer system before being able to use it right away!
Scalability
The most important thing when choosing a call centre software is its scalability factor.
If you have plans of expanding your business in future then you need a scalable solution that can grow with your company while maintaining a high customer experience.
This means that if you start with a few agents and then increase your team size by 50%, there should be no glitch in handling calls and recording them properly on time without affecting the quality of service provided by your agents or impacting their performance level because of delayed recordings.
Look At Reviews And Testimonials
The best way to evaluate call centre software is by looking at reviews and testimonials from previous customers who have used their services in the past. This will give you an idea of what type of experience others had with using their services before deciding if they’re right for your company too!
A call centre outsourcing business is an excellent idea for someone who wants to get into business for themselves, but who doesn’t necessarily have the money required to do so.
Developing this venture doesn’t only mean making money in the present, but can also be used to build a solid client base that you can use for future ventures when your business is up and running.
If all goes well, starting a call centre outsourcing business could be the first step towards your very own empire!