The BPO sector has seen many changes over the past decade. There are several call center services that have been added to an ever-growing list of offerings that contact centers are now offering businesses across the globe. There was a time when a call center was only synonymous with answering calls of troubled customers. While that is still a big part of the inbound call center services that are offered, many new additions have been made to the services.
Contact centers have adapted to the changing times and the changing needs of businesses. Outsourcing has been an important cost-cutting measure for companies for over two decades. The list of tasks to outsource to India has grown significantly. Inbound services have always been significant as they help businesses provide customer service in a cost-effective manner, all the while being able to focus on their core objectives. We shall now understand what other inbound call center services businesses today need.
Technical support or as it’s also known as – help desk services, are inbound services that are outsourced by companies that usually sell some sort of hardware. An OEM (Original Equipment Manufacturer) usually outsources this service to provide support to those customers that face challenges using their products after making the purchase. These organizations can include – desktop manufacturers, laptop manufacturers, mobile, and tablet manufacturers to name a few.
Even though outsourcing help desk services is more common for hardware companies, there are certain software companies who do it as well. Whether they have utility software or a web-based application, whenever customers face any challenges with it, they need technical support. With the growing number of applications that are released every year, I believe 2017 can be the year that software companies will overtake device manufacturers in availing inbound call center services.
Inbound sales can be considered an extension of telemarketing services. The whole concept is to try and convert a potential customer who calls in with a business inquiry into a paying customer. This inbound sales service enhances the revenue of the company and is a business model that many service providers offer. These inbound sales can be generally of three types –
Up-selling – Up-selling refers to when an existing customer calls in for information about any aspect of their service and you try to sell them on a higher plan or a costlier plan than the one they are already subscribed to.
Cross-selling – This is a similar concept to up-selling but here you do not try to sell a more expensive plan, you try to sell a service or product that is related to the one a customer already uses.
Customer Acquisition – Unlike up-selling and cross-selling, here the individual that calls you is not an existing customer. They are just someone that saw your company’s number on its website or social media page and called in for information. The goal here is to educate the caller on the products and services of the company and their various benefits in order to convert them into customers by making a sale.
As the name suggests, this inbound process involves booking orders from customers when they call in. There are so many websites that sell their products online these days. However, there are situations where your customers may not be able to order online for the products. That is where order booking processes come in. Inbound calls are received from customers who want to place their orders over the phone. Their details like product number, product description, shipping address, payment method etc are confirmed and their order is booked over the phone. Just like inbound sales process, this process also helps enhance the revenue of the business
Even though customer service has been mentioned above in the beginning of this post, it deserves a mention in this list as well. Customer service remains the most important and widely outsourced service as far as inbound call center services are concerned. Providing customers with good customer service ensures their loyalty with the brand and keeps them retained. That is why this aspect is never over-looked and companies outsource their customer support to reliable inbound call center services providers.