In today’s low-barrier-to-entry business climate, buyers of products and services have an overwhelming number of companies to choose from. Considering this competitive marketplace, many businesses are outsourcing customer service functions to a BPO contact center to ensure their brands stand out from the crowd.
Investing in your customer service staff is critical, as these are the individuals representing your brand and interacting with customers. A reputable service provider, specifically a domestic one, will be able to elevate the customer experience through the latest technology, experienced staff and multiple customization options. In addition, partnering with a contact center means you don’t have to deal with current labor shortages and staffing issues.
In the past, many companies chose to place their business with off or near-shore contact centers vs. a domestic one, based on perceived costs, specifically their billed hourly rates for support. As many companies quickly discovered, not only were their perceived costs incorrectly calculated, but customer satisfaction scores and revenue often decreased. Today, more and more brands are choosing domestic call centers vs those offshore.
Your own best personal customer service experiences are most assuredly the times when the person assisting you had a clear understanding of your needs. When customers reach a domestic agent who fluently speaks the same language and is culturally attuned, you have a much greater chance of providing the positive experience customers desire when they reach out to you.
As we all know, customer service agents have challenging jobs. Even representatives with solid language skills can struggle with omnichannel communication; not everyone is equally skilled at typing or composing emails and texts, for example. Hiring practices and effective training techniques are two critical elements of delivering staff who can provide excellent customer service, no matter how customers choose to communicate. The probability of providing the right team to deliver the desired service experiences is higher when support comes from domestic staff.
While BPOs throughout the world should abide by the same compliance standards when servicing domestic customers, you still have the challenge of putting a customer at ease when asking them for payment or personal information. Customers may be more reluctant to provide credit card details or personal information to an international representative than to a domestic one.
Who Determines Which Companies Provide Good Customer Service?
Customers determine if they receive good service from your company, as reflected in their satisfaction grades and actions. Companies must interpret the data offered by customers and consider qualitative and quantitative data.
A few key data points to monitor in your efforts include:
- CSAT Scores. Please make sure you regularly request feedback from customers on their experiences.
- Repeat business metrics. Are your customers returning, how often, and how much are they spending? Monitor this data and compare YOY.
- The impact of changes. When making changes to improve the customer experience, compare the before and after data to measure the results. You should also solicit feedback from customers specific to the changes during surveys.
Customers who have issues resolved and are happy with their customer service experiences are more likely to purchase again than customers who did not interact with customer service.
Benefits of a Domestic Call Center
Many companies invest in outsourcing customer service to save money. Choosing the right domestic BPO offers savings and much more. The partner you seek will increase customer satisfaction and enhance the perception of your brand. Here are a few reasons to choose a domestic contact center for your next program.
Providing good customer service isn’t just about answering the phone promptly or resolving a customer’s issue by directing them to your website. Always assume customers have already tried to find help via your website. They are likely frustrated by having to call or contact you, long wait times will not be well received, and poor service will compound the issue.
Domestic providers located in the United States will provide staff who have a clear grasp of the English language. Consumer Reports found that 57% of people in the United States were so frustrated with telephone customer service that they hung up before getting a resolution. Undoubtedly, some of this stems from speaking with foreign agents who worsened the situation by not understanding the issue due to language barriers or cultural differences or taking too long to help (often a result of a language barrier).
There is also the perception that if customers know they are being routed to an offshore agent, your brand is trying to cut costs by providing support with cheaper labor overseas. In addition, international agents are often required to follow scripts precisely to minimize potential problems resulting from misunderstanding issues. This approach could leave customers feeling their experience isn’t personal; they are just another customer. Customers prefer being treated as if they are the company’s only customers.
Learn More About the Advantages of Domestic BPOs
Telecom, Inc. has been providing exclusively domestic support and outsourcing customer service for nearly 30 years. We custom design our support models to the unique needs of your program. Our solutions are focused on maximizing production and customer satisfaction while minimizing costs. Please contact us today to learn more.