With a number of companies turning to contact center outsourcing today to cut costs and increase customer satisfaction, there are important criteria decision makers should consider that can make or break success.

 

Because there are some many providers offering call center outsourcing services they claim are “the best” it can be difficult to narrow down the service that truly meet a company’s needs.

 

A recent Forrester (News - Alert) report by analyst Elizabeth Herrell, with Simon Yates and Lauren E. Nelson, “Twelve Criteria for Contact Center Outsourcers,” reveals 12 key requirements and considerations to help guide decision makers.

 

Aside from considering costs, the organizational structure of a provider and identifying the technology in use, it is also essential to examine the outsourcer’s customer support offerings and their internal processes.

 

A closer look at these elements will help decide if the provider can effectively manage its operations and deliver quality service for customers with every interaction.

 

According to the white paper, the top four criteria to look into are the outsourcers staffing, quality assurance, training and service level adherence.

 

Questions like, “How are your back-office functions managed?”, “What is the ratio of supervisors to agents?” and “What is the average length of employment for managers?” will provide valuable insight.

 

Uncovering how the company trains agents and the ways in which they measure agent performance is also key in the decision making process.

 

Once the outsourcer’s responses to these questions are collected, companies can use the information to decide if the vendor is a true match that can support all their needs.