Retail Call Center Challenges and Ways to Solve Them

For years, the retail business has been evolving in response to shifting consumer preferences and habits and the advent of new technology that enables seamless digital interactions. The epidemic hastened the migration to eCommerce by closing brick-and-mortar establishments. Retailers are now facing a do-or-die situation: either spend heavily on digital infrastructure or risk losing customers to the competitors.

After the pandemic, consumers will continue to favor online shopping. Today's consumers are extremely discriminating, well-informed, and always on the lookout for companies that can give the quality, convenience, and great customer service they want.

Retail contact centers' evolving needs

The job of the call center is becoming increasingly important as new technologies usher in better standards of personalization, customization, and service. One of the issues that huge merchants confront in the post-pandemic environment is maintaining a good level of service.

A proactive plan in place might help your team of retail call center services prepare for unplanned spikes. With these tried-and-true tips and tricks, retailers can deal with excessive phone volume:

1. The team in charge of various responsibilities in their area must plan ahead of time.

The first and most important step in controlling a surge is to manage the team's working schedule. Ascertain that enough retail call center vendors have been assigned and are prepared to handle high-volume calls. Make a list of the team members, including their holidays and sick days, to offer extra help if necessary. To boost productivity while overburdening the team, keep track of the active reps that must be present on the floor and their productivity results throughout the shift.

2. Consider integrating customer support channels across platforms and offering self-service options.

According to those above, countless numbers of the same repeated questions must be answered in a line. There might be various reasons for live chat outsourcing, including a special offer, the debut of a new product, or a service upgrade.

In such cases, self-service resources are sensible to get out to the field. Self-services based on the knowledge that deflect frequent queries that are readily answered and take less time. Customers might use a knowledge base on your website as a reference before contacting your support team. The more comprehensive and useful the material, the fewer questions the salespeople will have. As a result, your staff will be able to answer more difficult inquiries, making it easier for your consumers.

3. Well-analyzing the data provided by the associated call center

Starting to look at the historical data from the previous several years will aid in determining when the surge occurs. The precise moment that a product was introduced, including any problems in its release or any public relations blunder that resulted in consumer complaints.

A good understanding of these reasons will enable you to anticipate events that might lead to a surge. Your team for outsource back office work will be more prepared if you respond quickly. The better it becomes to minimize the increase in high call volume once the outliners have been correctly identified.

Retail organizations may place themselves up to manage the expected—and the unexpected—by addressing the problem of high call volume with proven, data-driven methods.

 

Inbound Call Center Outsourcing Services for Your Company Growth

 Customer engagement is essential for brand expansion, and outsourced customer support enables you to assist your clients around-the-clock. Using inbound call center outsourcing solutions to assist manage call volumes for inbound calls may be beneficial for both big and small enterprises.

Vcare tries to create a smooth customer experience across all incoming channels, unlike other inbound call center firms (i.e. phone calls, chat, messaging, email, social media, etc.). Our sophisticated phone systems and intelligent routing skills connect consumers with the best inbound call center process to solve their problem the first time, maintaining the customer connection at all costs.

Vcare provides the best call center services that can easily up-sell or cross-sell and finish the deal in scenarios when clients call an inbound call center service for help but could benefit from another product and/or other products.

Read more:  inbound call center outsourcing

Everyone talks about a good contingency plan, but very few have it. Especially when it comes to call center services, there is rarely any entrepreneur who goes above and beyond to safeguard his customer-facing image. But times of crisis like the Covid-19 outbreak has shown us the value of call center support outsourcing.

How Specialist Call Center Support Outsourcing Can Help?

When there is a crisis-like situation, you are unable to maintain the consistency of work because of an unavailability of workforce. But when you outsource call center services to a specialist, it becomes a much better alternative in the longer run. Have a look at some reasons why:

·         Access to experienced agents who are so well drilled in their responsibilities that they can maintain high standards of work even from home

·         Availability of cloud-based infrastructure to provide a stable platform for call center support from home

·         Rigorous monitoring of DPA and SLA to ensure security and due diligence in daily work

In some cases, experienced call center services veterans even have in-house call center software development and customization capabilities. This means that if there is any technical issue or customization required, you do not have to go elsewhere.

Key Virtues of Call Center Support Outsourcing Vendors

If you want to stabilize your customer-facing operations, then you need the services of call center support outsourcing vendors that are well-prepared to meet your every requirement. Have a look at some of their important attributes/virtues:

Vertical scalability

In a call center operation, you can have a flood of new calls that can be very difficult to handle in the time of crisis. So, you need a workforce that can be increased at any time you want.  A scalable partner can become a worthy asset for your business – in the present and in the future. Above all, it can help you stay relevant when your competitors are falling apart due to crisis.

Contingency for in-house support

If you run a mixed call center operation i.e. some percentage of in-house employees and some offshore employees, you give yourself the best chance to get out of a tough situation. Even if there is a problem in your part of the world, you can get the work done from the other part of the world. Although the scale and level of work will be compromised to some level, but you would still be able to do better than your competitors.

Removes burden off your shoulders

The person who actually cares for your business is not your hired employees but ‘you’. When there is a crisis situation, you need to make several critical decisions and at the right time. In such scenarios, you cannot be encumbered with multiple other tasks like running an inbound or outbound call center, or administering back office support services. You require a free mind and that is only possible if you outsource call center and other ITES work to a competent vendor like Vcare.

Zeal to work hard for clients

While every vendor says that they have the zeal to succeed for their clients, the one who actually care are very few. When things go wrong, you need a partner that you can rely on completely. Have a look at the portfolio of your vendor to see its consistency. At Vcare, we let our work speak for our brand, as it is evident from the long line of successful projects that we have delivered year after year.

Vcare is one of the most reputed call center services company in the world. It has a proven track record and can provide support to your customers 24x7x365.

Stay Stable in Times of Crisis with Call Center Support Outsourcing

Everyone talks about a good contingency plan, but very few have it. Especially when it comes to call center services, there is rarely any entrepreneur who goes above and beyond to safeguard his customer-facing image. But times of crisis like the Covid-19 outbreak has shown us the value of call center support outsourcing.

                                                                                       

How Specialist Call Center Support Outsourcing Can Help?

When there is a crisis-like situation, you are unable to maintain the consistency of work because of an unavailability of workforce. But when you outsource call center services to a specialist, it becomes a much better alternative in the longer run. Have a look at some reasons why:

·         Access to experienced agents who are so well drilled in their responsibilities that they can maintain high standards of work even from home

·         Availability of cloud-based infrastructure to provide a stable platform for call center support from home

·         Rigorous monitoring of DPA and SLA to ensure security and due diligence in daily work

In some cases, experienced call center services veterans even have in-house call center software development and customization capabilities. This means that if there is any technical issue or customization required, you do not have to go elsewhere.

Key Virtues of Call Center Support Outsourcing Vendors

If you want to stabilize your customer-facing operations, then you need the services of call center support outsourcing vendors that are well-prepared to meet your every requirement. Have a look at some of their important attributes/virtues:

Vertical scalability

In a call center India operation, you can have a flood of new calls that can be very difficult to handle in the time of crisis. So, you need a workforce that can be increased at any time you want.  A scalable partner can become a worthy asset for your business – in the present and in the future. Above all, it can help you stay relevant when your competitors are falling apart due to crisis.

Contingency for in-house support

If you run a mixed call center operation i.e. some percentage of in-house employees and some offshore employees, you give yourself the best chance to get out of a tough situation. Even if there is a problem in your part of the world, you can get the work done from the other part of the world. Although the scale and level of work will be compromised to some level, but you would still be able to do better than your competitors.

Removes burden off your shoulders

The person who actually cares for your business is not your hired employees but ‘you’. When there is a crisis situation, you need to make several critical decisions and at the right time. In such scenarios, you cannot be encumbered with multiple other tasks like running an inbound or outbound call center, or administering back office support services. You require a free mind and that is only possible if you outsource call center and other ITES work to a competent vendor like Vcare.

Zeal to work hard for clients

While every vendor says that they have the zeal to succeed for their clients, the one who actually care are very few. When things go wrong, you need a partner that you can rely on completely. Have a look at the portfolio of your vendor to see its consistency. At Vcare, we let our work speak for our brand, as it is evident from the long line of successful projects that we have delivered year after year.

Vcare is one of the most reputed call center services company in the world. It has a proven track record and can provide support to your customers 24x7x365.

Outsource Call Center Services Revolution: Make Way for Multichannel Platform

Call center services have evolved considerably in the recent past. First of all, the emphasis on the quality of call center services has increased remarkably as businesses have started treating customer-facing interactions as their top priority. Also, a rise in competition has made call center services a necessity for many business operations that weren’t using it in the past. Nowadays, not running a call center puts you further down the pecking order as far as customer preference for your brand is concerned.

Multichannel Platform: The Surest Way to Sway Customer Interest

A major section of buyers nowadays are millenials who want absolute transparency during with regards to their products/services. Also, this new breed of customers is extremely impatient and wants its queries to be addressed in real-time. Although it is hard to match up to this unreasonable expectation, it is necessary to come close to it.

In this day and age, this new requirement can be fulfilled by employing an Omni-channel platform that is spread over different platforms. Such a platform provides an extra advantage by integrating CRM (Customer Relationship Management) tool, social media monitoring, workflow optimization software etc. When all your customer-facing platforms are integrated, it offers a unified and single view of the customers thus providing agents an easy way to analyze all customer-generated information. An AI-powered CRM can form the heart of this platform and provide all the information about the customer just after the call is connected. This allows an advantage to the agent as he/she can formulate the right response to a query beforehand and win customers’ trust.

As new-age customers like quick resolutions, this fresh approach to inbound call center services can be the difference between their satisfaction and dissatisfaction.

Outsource Call Center Services for Maximum Advantage

A well-equipped call center can offer you the capability to launch a multi-channel call center, also known as a contact center. Below are some more reasons for you to outsource call center services to a capable vendor:

1.  Access to experts – Both agents and managers are vitally important for a successful call center operation. By choosing your call center services wisely, you can get access to a veteran workforce that has immense experience in the field. Vcare is one such call centers India outsourcing company that has served many clients in the past and has the right expertise to handle business of any scale. It has many managers that have worked in the industry for a long period of time and have time-tested strategies that can leverage your business prospects.

2. Software – Quality CRM and workflow optimization tools can change the way you handle your business and revolutionize daily operations. An experienced vendor can offer you the best software solutions, which can be used for bringing in new efficiency into the workflow. The same software may be out of reach for an in-house operator because of its high price and may not make much business sense as it will be used for a non-core task. On the other hand, a seasoned veteran would use one software solution for serving many clients, which is why; it would always invest in the best software.

5 Advantages of Call Center Outsourcing to Cisco Based Call Centers

Call centers have become a quintessential part of businesses these days. In today’s highly competitive world, it is hard to imagine a company that offers product/services to survive without good call center services. One of the biggest requirements of the call center industry has always remained the network and call center software it utilizes. The quality of call and the consistency of connection directly depend on the networking solutions employed by an organization. Amongst the many networking platforms available in the market, Cisco is the most suited platform for any call center process.

Clear Advantages of Outsourcing to Cisco Based Call Centers

Cisco offers the most robust and efficient platform for running a call center operation. 5 clear advantages of Cisco based call center platforms and equipment are listed below:

1.      Quality VoIP phones – Cisco supplies the most appropriate phones for call center operations, so much so, that Cisco phones have become synonymous with call center phones. All the options that you would ever need like mute and hold functions are available on the phone at intuitive locations. Cisco phones are used in almost all call center operations and agents are most familiar with these phones and hence, using anything else apart from Cisco can be a major inconvenience.

2.      Virtualization of process – Cisco call center software can be used for virtualizing CTI (Computer Telephony Integration), contact center routing along with reporting. It is easy to integrate Cisco solutions into interactive voice response (IVR) systems and automatic call distribution (ACD).

3.      Classifies agents and allows for resource monitoring – By employing Cisco software, you are able to manage agent data more effectively. It is possible to classify agents based on different parameters. This data can be used by TLs and managers to allocate calls to the most suitable agents. Also, it becomes possible to monitor resource usage with Cisco software.

4.      Easy to manage customer profiles – Customer-specific data is very important to understand customer preferences and manage customer profiles. Cisco platform makes the task of storing and sorting customer profile data simple.

5.      Scalable solutions – Cisco call center solutions are employed by some of the biggest players in the market because Cisco systems are completely scalable. They can match up to any requirements and help a business gear up for the future needs.

Other Key Points before Outsourcing

Although employing the services of a Cisco based call center is a good decision, you should also seek other qualities in your call center. Some key points you should consider before call center outsourcing are:

1.      Cost advantage – To maximize cost advantage, you should outsource to a company that is located in a country that has an inferior currency value than yours. Outsourcing to developing countries like India can help you cut the cost of your call center operation by up to 2 to 5 times.

Scalability – At any time, you may want to expand your base of operation according to the increasing requirements of your business. Outsourcing to a competent vendor provides you the option to scale your workforce exactly as per your need. Also, you do not have to worry about hiring or training agents, as all the work is taken care of by the call center outsourcing company. 

Why You Need to Outsource Call Center Services to a Creative Outsourcing Partner?

Today’s customers are more fickle than ever. As a business owner, it is almost impossible to gauge their preferences and understand their buying habits. Catering to the modern-day customers requires you to be on your toes at all times. Any slacking off and you risk losing your customer base in no time. And, when it comes to delivering call center services, you need to be on top of your game.

Improve You Call Center Services with Out-Of-The-Box Outsourcing Solutions

Communicating call center services is not an easy task. Especially, if you are not well-versed with customer services operations, your in-house operation may not yield the desired results. At best, you can expect to meet the minimum standards, which is simply not good enough in today’s highly competitive environment. What you really need is out-of-the-box call center service outsourcing solutions that can add new value to your business.

How to Find the RIGHT Call Center Service Outsourcing Partner for Your Business?

Finding the right outsourcing partner for your business can be a difficult task if you do not know about the essential requirements. Below are the things that you should look for in your call center partner:

1.      AI-powered call center software solutions – If you want to keep your old customers and build new ones, you need to have access to analytics in your call center software solution. AI-based CRM can help you predict the behavior of your customers by analyzing the data generated through customer contacts. Over a period of time, you will be able to form better business strategies to address the emerging requirements of your customers.

2.      Innovative managers – While call center agents come and go, managers stay as a part of a call center operation for a longer duration of time. Always associate with a call center that has experienced managers who have worked on multiple projects and delivered success. It won’t be a bad idea to view their LinkedIn profiles or other social media handles to learn more about them. If you are still no convinced, you should even ask the client to setup an interview. Good managers are key to success in any call centers India service outsourcing venture, and you should always remember that.

3.      Good past client experience – Organic client feedback is the best way to form an opinion about your next call center service outsourcing vendor. By learning how a call center company helped a business (by referring to case studies), you will be able to judge their services a lot better.

4.      Core competencies – A call center may overall be the best in the industry, but it does not mean it is best at every type of call center services. You need to find a call center provider that has been successful in your line of work. Whether you want to outsource customer care or technical support or any other service, you should find a call center that has success in the related field.

Summary

Finding a call center that is right for you is not an easy task. Especially in today’s business environment where every mistake of agents is highlighted and customers are more finicky than ever before. You should always be thorough while looking for a new call center and choose a provider that thinks innovatively and has cutting-edge call center solutions to meet the emerging requirements of your business. 

Sync Your Corporate Strategies with Call Center Services for Maximum Business Advantage

On an average, companies across the globe have 4 board meetings every year. These meetings are held to devise new business strategies for a number of reasons. One of the major motives for conducting such meetings is to come up with plans that can be implemented to garner customer interest in product or services offered by the company. However, all the strategies formulated in these board meetings will amount to nothing if the enterprise is unable to keep its customers happy with its call center services.

The Eternal Conundrum: Product vs. Customers

In most board meetings that are held in companies, stakeholders are often arguing about which one to prioritize – customers or product. Not so long ago, when the competition was not as rampant as it is today, the decision was quite simple. Board members, more often than not, settled on product as they thought product improvement was the only way to improve their business prospects. But now, with globalization and rapid increase in competition between companies, the focus of board members has shifted from product to call center services India. The decision makers realize that there customers will leave them and move over to a new supplier if they do not address their every issues on time.

Call Center Outsourcing Services: The Best Way to Address Customer Queries

As customer services become more important than ever before, businesses are trying to improve their call center services to achieve maximum customer satisfaction.  However, customer services are not something that anyone can run with due diligence. There is certain skill and sensitivity required to carry out these operations, which are not found in everyone. This is the major reason why most in-house call center operations either end up costing too much or result in failure. Hence, it is a much better option to resort to call center outsourcing. But before customer service outsourcing, you should look for the following attributes in your call center partner:

1.      Infrastructure – No call center operation can be successful over a long period of time if the infrastructure of a company is not up to the scratch. Look for a vendor that has quality networking equipment like VoIP phones, clear sound audio devices like headsets and a nice place for employees to work from. Partnering with an accomplished customer service outsourcing vendor ensures that your business is handled well and your customers stay satisfied.

2.      Costing – To make the most of a call center outsourcing venture, it is required that you partner with someone who can offer you his services at an attractive price point. Partnering with a company that is based in a developing country like India can offer you great financial rewards, especially if you have a superior currency like the US dollar or British pound.

Scaling – A business owner can never tell for certain when he would have to increase his workforce or decrease their numbers. In this regard, customer service outsourcing can be of great help as it allows an entrepreneur to reduce or increase the number of call takers at any time he wants.

5 Reasons Why You Should Employ the Services of Cisco Based Call Centers

Network infrastructure plays an important role in the success of call center services. Without a good network provider, it becomes hard for a call center to carry out its day-to-day services consistently. Amongst the many network infrastructure providers in the world, Cisco is recognized for the pioneering role it has played in shaping the fortunes of call centers across the globe. Not only does it offer network and communication devices like VoIP phones; it also provides state-of-the-art call centers India software solutions that can be used for intelligent routing, multichannel contact management along with network-to-desktop computer telephony.  

Why Choose Cisco Based Call Centers?

As discussed before, Cisco is a leader in call center domain, both in quality and quantity. The devices Cisco manufactures last for longer periods of time and meet the technical requirements for reliable operation. There are many reasons why a business should put its faith in Cisco based call centers. Some of them are listed below:

1.      Cisco VoIP – Cisco VoIP telephony ensures clearest of sounds during communication. This allows customers and call center agents to communicate with each other comfortably. It has been seen that substandard VoIP phones can hamper communication and force the call center representatives to repeat themselves many a time. This can create confusion during calls and might enrage the customer. However, while using Cisco VoIP phones such problems are rare. Interactions take place without any hindrance, which leads to increased customer satisfaction.

2.      Cisco software packages – Call centers require certain software solutions to carry out their tasks consistently. To fulfill this requirement, Cisco offers unified packages that are easy to install and configure. Cisco based call centers services generally require solutions like Unified Customer Voice Portal (CVP), Cisco Unified Communications Manager along with Unified CCE that comes with built-in email and chat, Cisco Unified Intelligence Center, and the Cisco Finesse, which is a web-based agent desktop.

3.      Omnichannel Cisco solutions – Nowadays, it has become increasingly important for companies to reach their customer base through different channels. Cisco solutions are smart enough to figure out the knowledge of agents and route customer contacts (from different channels) based on the skill level of a customer care representative.

4.      State-of-the-art reporting – Cisco software suite comes with a reporting feature that can be used for comprehensive reporting of an agent’s work. The reports can be utilized for analyzing and rating an employee’s performance over a period of time.

5.      IVR technology – Integrated voice response system better known as IVR is offered by Cisco that can be used for routing calls automatically to the desired department. The use of cutting-edge IVR solutions in Cisco based call centers services make them truly world-class.

Conclusion

Quality of network solutions employed by call center services play a huge role in shaping its fortunes. In this age of competition, the importance of customer communication has risen greatly.  A company should never settle on the second best when it comes to network solutions, which is why; Cisco – a pioneer in the industry – should be the first choice of any company running or outsourcing a call center.

Boost Your Business Prospects with Call Center Outsourcing Services

Outsourcing has been prevalent in the world for centuries. However, its true benefits have only come to light in the past 2-3 decades with the emergence of call centers. Initially, the first and foremost purpose of call center outsourcing companies was to reduce cost of operations. But after a while, companies started realizing its potential in terms of skills. This resulted in a rapid spread of call centers across the globe with many companies trying to improve their business prospects.

Not All Call Center Services Are Equal

Companies that outsource their call center operations should realize that every call center operates differently. So, while some call center outsourcing services may seem good for some businesses, it is very much possible that the same services may not work for you. Hence, it is essential to analyze them on the basis of the following criteria:

1.      Availability of call center agents – For a business to be successful in the competitive world of today, customers should receive good support and at the right time. So, depending on the type of business you run, you should employ call center services that meet the requirements. For example, if you are an ISP (Internet Service Provider), you should hire a 24/7 call center, so that customers who are unable to connect to their internet connection can call in anytime.

2.      The type of call center software used – While the operations of a call center are customer-centric and depend on the skills of agents, resources used for performing the operations are also very important. A good CRM (Customer Relationship Management) tool coupled with good call center software solutions can enhance the performance of call center representatives and improve customers’ experience.

3.      Availability of quality infrastructure – From the headsets utilized by call center employees to the office premises, everything falls under infrastructure of a call center. To ensure best call handling experience, it is essential that the call-taking agents are located in a comfortable place with access to quality phones, headsets, chairs etc. Before handing over your call center business to a vendor company, a business owner should analyze the infrastructure thoroughly.

4.      Scaling capability of call center outsourcing companies – Companies that are in the process of growing their business should invest in call centers that have ample resources for ramping up the scale of their operations.

Benefits of Call Center Outsourcing Services

Apart from cost, a call center outsourcing venture can help you in the following ways:

1.      Better quality of operation – For smaller companies, it is hard to hire and train workforce as they have a limited budget. Mostly, in-house call center ventures of such companies fall flat because they utilize substandard resources. On the other hand, a call center outsourcing venture costs considerably less and works way better than such in-house call centers.

2.      Better industry knowledge – It is unlikely that a company unfamiliar with call centers operations will have necessary knowledge to undertake a challenging call center venture. On the other hand, call center outsourcing companies spend many years in honing their customer-handling skills. It helps them improve their knowledge, which in turn helps in satisfying their customer base.

Mobile Applications For Outsourced Call Centers

Inexpensive mobile phones and mobile operator services have changed the way we connected with each other. Gone are the days when phone calls were expensive and sending letters was considered a feasible option. You can connect with the world around you at a touch of a button and can use a variety of applications to accomplish your routine tasks. Whether you want to order groceries or book a doctor’s appointment, you can seamlessly accomplish every such task with the aid of your smartphone. As mobile phones revolutionized into smartphones, businesses realized the potential of this gadget. This led to the invention of applications that turned out to be quite user-friendly. Booking a cab, ordering meals, and reserving the best seats for an upcoming movie show; all such tasks are simplified due to innovative mobile applications. It can be said today’s smartphones are nothing less than a small PC that fits in your pocket and helps you do whatever you wish to while living life on the run. 

Mobile App For The Call Center Industry

The paradigm shift in the development of mobile technology has opened new avenues for profit generation and businesses from all verticals are taking advantage of this opportunity.  Amidst all this, a few outsourcing call centers in the USA and in many other parts of the world have started integrating the work process in mobile apps. These apps enable real-time tracking of consumer requests and queries; thereby proving to be an asset for various call center processes. The main aim of integrating outsourced customer care services in mobile applications is to reach out to tech-savvy target audience formed by mostly Millennials. Call centers today aren’t just dealing with cranky and oblivious customers; they are tackling with request and questions of well-informed Millennials, who know what they want and how they want.

Why Is A Mobile Application Required?

A mobile application for businesses that render direct response call center services or any other outsourcing solution is imperative. It is required for a multitude of reasons, a few of which are mentioned below:

·         It enables a better customer service support along with an enhanced service experience.

·         Mobile apps can resolve issues that can otherwise consume a lot of time and money.

·         It helps customers connect with you as per their requirement at any hour of the day.

·         The call-back solution that is one amongst the amazing features offered by such applications help call centers address more issues and answer more queries each working day.

·         Mobile apps can also act as a gateway to offer customers complimentary rewards and compensation.

·         These applications can also be a great tool to amass constructive feedback and to keep a track of customer journey to modify process as per the requirements and expectations of customers.

                     

These are just a few factors that make mobile application development a lucrative investment for businesses in the call center outsourcing domain. If you have not invested in a customized mobile app for your call center yet then consider doing so to get ahead in the race to success.