latest call handling & answering news

Today, the majority of the companies are hiring call centre services to outsource their customer services. With the growth of technology, the companies are on a never-ending hunt for better services from their outsourced firms. But how does a firm check whether its 3rd party call centre outsourcer is delivering? The customers are very demanding. They want a company's representative to be available 24/7 by any means of communication. Moreover, the companies expect their BPO partners to provide quality, quick and courteous service to all its customers. With the facilities of email and internet available to nearly all customers, the job of a call centre agent has become quite a challenge. It has not only made inbound calls important, but the significance of outbound call centres has also multiplied because of the prevalent fierce competition amongst the existing firms.

As the agents are the key components of a call centre, their performance is always under the radar. In order to ensure their quality and efficiency, the call centre outsourcer must provide them with necessary training in the fields of order-taking, processing, responding to enquiries and troubleshooting. A help desk solution should also be maintained to cater to customers specific needs. The quest for survival is heating up as the competition in this industry gets fiercer making the task of an inbound or outbound call centre more important than ever before. 

Ansaback has a very strong not-for-profit client portfolio. We are offering both inbound and outbound telephone fundraising services. Whether we are handling DRTV, press, mail response or reactivation or donor acquisition campaigns we will ensure an effective dialogue with your supporters in order to meet the needs of your donors at all times.

By outsourcing your call handling you will be able to save time and reduce operational cost but most importantly you will be able to maximise your fundraising revenue in order to provide more help in the future.

We are pleased to announce that Ansaback has received Suffolk’s carbon charter award. A big thank you to those that has helped creating a greener environment here at Ansaback!

Tired of missing important after office hours calls? No worries - we can help! Ansaback is a 24/7 UK call centre based in Ipswich - only 1 hour away from London and we help all sorts of businesses to answer their calls in their name when they are not available or closed. No more worrying about lost orders, staff training, holidays or sickness, we can cover your phones whenever you need us to. Take the pressure off your business - try our efficient phone answering services today!

For a free quote, please click here or call us on 0800 088 7878.

There is always going to be hundreds of challenges when you are managing a busy call centre. From HR to technical capabilities such as software integrations. Where do you start? In this article we are going to cover three problems that are constantly coming up. These issues need to be addressed no matter if you are a 24/7 call centre outsourcer and are providing inbound and outbound call handling services or an in-house call centre within an SME or a global conglomerate.

Building success is not that easy; it takes time to identify the processes that works for your call centre. We all know that cultures can be different from call centre to call centre so it is important that you align you strategies with your contact centre’s core goals. Ask yourself – where do you want to be in 3 years’ time and what do you need to do to get there?

The first issue for a call centre is: High staff turnover. This issue is very important as you can appreciate the staff is your biggest asset especially in this industry. It is important to invest in your staff by incorporating a retention programme and career plan.

The second problem is: poor first call resolution. The first step to achieve customer satisfaction is successful first call resolution. Make sure you can help that customer right there & now. Be prepared by thinking outside the box and what the customer might ask you.

The third issue is technology integration: As technology is moving forward so must we. It is important to have the right tools in place in order to provide multi-channel services and support. Be careful though, as agents often find it hard to tackle different software – make sure you have a good training programme in place to improve agents’ efficiency and knowledge.

In today’s competitive environment more and more call centres need to start thinking about creating a more sales-focused culture. As the call centres are more focused on customer service it normally does not generate any profit. So how can an inbound call centre start generate money? The answer is – start up-selling! By asking the customers if they are interested in other services or products, a call centre can become a cash cow. 

To turn agents from a customer service mind-set to a more sales-focused role will require a lot of training and product knowledge investments and support, as well as strong commitment and willingness to change and learn from the agents themselves. 

It is important to set KPIs and targets in order to measure the success and update agents on their performance on a regular basis. On top of this, it is absolutely crucial to reward your call centre agents by incorporating a reward programme and competitions to recognise the top performers.

Do you want to improve customer satisfaction and get your call centre to the top? By incorporating 5 key elements into your existing strategy will help improving your call centre operations and make your customers happy 24/7. 

First step to an improved first call resolution is that you work very closely with your agents in order to understand why customers are calling and what kind of support they need. When you have achieved that, only then you can start optimising your operational processes with these 5 tips below:- 

1. Start measuring your performance and service level

2. Improving your listening skills 

3. Invest in agents’ product knowledge and an on-going training

4. Identifying processes that work for you and stop fixing ‘broken’ processes

5. Enhancing internal communications – break organisational silos

Today’s companies are doing everything they can to ‘be there’ for potential and existing customers 24/7/365. As you know by now customers are an inpatient breed when it comes to waiting on the line, so the big question we need to ask us is, what are the best ways of tackling increased inbound call traffic? What are the paths to success?

We all know that effective call handling results in an enhanced caller satisfaction and an improved company image. What do you do when the volumes of inbound and outbound call traffic across multiple sites become too high?  One option is to get your call centre outsourced. There are a number of operational benefits why companies should outsource their call centre to a 3^rd party but most importantly it is a very cost effective option.

Have you decided where you would like to take your call centre in 2012? With new emerging technology you have to be on top of your game. The way we are going - a multi-channel approach is a must! Can you do it in-house? Great! Can you do it 24/7/365? Fantastic! You are on the right track! If not, then perhaps you need to consider call centre outsourcing services. If you don’t – you will be left behind!