In the early days of your business, you may encounter only a handful of customer interactions per day. However, as your business grows, you may interact with dozens, if not hundreds, of customers on a daily basis. The question is, what happens when one of them encounters a support issue?
If you are focused on delivering an exceptional customer experience during the purchasing process, you may not have the time or bandwidth to handle support too. While investing in new software will certainly assist with the delivery of customer support, technology alone won’t solve all of your problems.
Sometimes, your customers just need to pick up the phone, hear a friendly voice on the other end of the line, and receive some expert support. Meeting your customers’ expectations for prompt, high-quality support is easier than you might expect, thanks to call center services for small businesses. Here is everything you need to know.
What Is a Call Center for Small Businesses?
A call center for small businesses is a third-party service that grants you access to a talented support team. The service provider manages the call center agents and provides the software, phones, and other infrastructure necessary to deliver prompt support to your customers.
When you partner with a customer support center, the provider will train their staff on your products and educate them on your business. Once the call center is live, support phone calls made to your business will be redirected to the call center. An agent will assist callers with their concerns and deliver an exceptional customer experience.
Leading providers use call center software with CRM integrations, which means that your customer relationship management platform can communicate and exchange data with the provider’s technology tools. This ensures that everyone is on the same page and allows you to verify that your customers are being treated well.
Doing right by your customers has never been more important to the long-term success of your business. According to a recent study, 83% of customers cite good customer service as the third most important factor when deciding what to buy and where to purchase it. (The first two factors are product and price.)
4 Call Center Services for Small Businesses
When it comes to call center solutions for small businesses, there are four options that will deliver optimal value for your growing company. These solutions include:
- Inbound Contact Services
Inbound contact services are what most people think of when they hear “call center services for small businesses.” As the name suggests, this service handles inbound calls. Whenever one of your customers makes a support request, they will be directed straight to the call center.
The best part is that they will never know it is a third-party provider. Highly trained agents will ensure the experience feels organic by exhibiting familiarity with your products, services, and brand voice.
Your customer will receive prompt and efficient support while you reduce the burden on your in-house team and save on administrative costs. Sounds like everyone wins.
- Outbound Contact Services
Outbound contact services give you the opportunity to connect with prospective customers, build trust, and boost sales. There are a variety of different outbound services that your small business can take advantage of.
An outbound contact services provider can assist with:
- Lead generation
- Lead nurturing
- Data cleansing
- Sales
- Market research
- Appointment scheduling
- Win-back campaigns
If your business model relies on proactively calling customers, outbound call services can help your business make contact, drive conversions, and grow.
- Online Customer Service
Some customers simply prefer to seek support via your website. Online support is a fast and convenient way to resolve your customers’ challenges and allow them to resume their normal routines.
However, implementing online support yourself can be a tedious and costly process. Additionally, you still need to staff support channels with at least a few employees to provide adequate coverage.
Fortunately, leading call center services for small businesses also offer online customer support. They will communicate with your customers via live chat applications, gather information about their problems, and devise an amicable solution.
Diversifying your support strategy with live online chat is a great way of ensuring you meet every audience segment’s needs. Whether a customer prefers phone-based support, online chat, or self-service, they will be able to obtain the services they need using their preferred channel.
- Self-Service Solutions
Leading providers empower your customers by equipping you with small business call center software, including self-service tools. Self-service tools make it easy for your customers to find the answers and support they need before or after the sale.
In the event they cannot resolve the issue via self-service tools, the software will route them to a live support agent. The agent can access the information the customer submitted to the self-service portal — this means the customer will not have to restate the problem during each point of contact.
From answering simple questions to accelerating the delivery of support, small business call center software removes friction from the customer journey. The end result is a smooth experience that leaves customers elated that they chose to partner with your brand.
What to Look For in a Call Center for Small Businesses
When you are comparing call center services for small businesses, ensure that the provider offers:
- After-hours or 24/7 support
- Domestic agents
- Multi-channel support (i.e., online, self-service, and phone-based support)
- Scalable solutions
- Size- and usage-based pricing
- Quality assurance
- Transparency
The right provider for your business will deliver high-quality support via a well-trained domestic support team.
While some offshore teams can deliver adequate support, it is difficult to implement and enforce quality assurance measures when the workforce is thousands of miles away. A domestic team is better equipped to provide personalized experiences that make your customers feel valued and important.
If you want to support the continued growth of your company, domestic call center services for small businesses can serve as the catalyst that propels you forward. With that being said, carefully vet your provider to ensure that they will represent your brand in a way that cultivates trust and loyalty among your target audience.