For every business, the critical goal is to reduce the outlays and at the same time improve the quality, and provide business continuity. It is the same when we are talking about contact centers no matter if you are using on-premises call center software or cloud-based call center solution.
Call center expenses differ depending on the solution you are using – because of differences in maintenance and technologies. But anyway every wise executive should concentrate on reducing the cost of the call center.
Keep in mind that you don’t need a complicated business transformation strategy to achieve the call center cost savings – you just need the right tools and solutions which we will describe below.
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How to reduce call center expenses without losing quality?
First of all, you should choose the VoIP solution to reduce the cost of the call center due to cost reduction in maintenance and technology in comparison with traditional telephony. Now let’s move forward to other important features which will help you to reduce call center expenses.
Reduction of agents attrition
According to some research studies, the cost of attrition of one agent range from 3,000USD to 10,000USD. The Cornell research states that replacing one customer support representative costs nearly 16% of their annual salary. The annual income for contact center agents in the USA is almost 37 000 USD, so the cost of replacing one of your team members is 5920 USD. To reduce the overall cost of a call center, implement qualitative hiring and training of your representatives.
Improve First Call Resolution
One of the easiest ways to reduce the call center expenses is to monitor the first call resolution. If your representatives can solve the problems of your customers during the first call, you will decrease the cost of a call center by two criteria – lower average cost per call in a call center and lower operational costs by decreasing the salary spending.
Anticipate customer needs and provide an online answer
Another important feature to increase call center cost savings is implementing the strategy of anticipating customer needs. Once the client shows his interest in purchasing some goods, the agent immediately communicates with the customer via SMS, phone, or email. This strategy not only reduces the average cost per call in a call center but also helps to do more sales. Also, here is the great advantage of cloud-based call center software – this software allows agents to get in touch with customers directly.
Proven ways of reducing handle times
Long handle time is a very annoying thing for your clients, and also it makes troubles for you – higher hang-up rates, long queue lines, and massive repetitive calls on the same issues. Because of this, the cost of call center rises. The best tool to reduce the long handle time is ACD (automatic call distribution system). It is also included as an option in our contact center software.
Numerous vendors versus one solution
Some contact centers often work with many different technology vendors, and this approach is just more expensive not only because of the higher price of technology solutions but also because of a longer training time for your agents. The best way to achieve cost reduction is to use solutions, which offer a single interface for your contact center team, where they can find all information needed for qualitative customer service.
SMS alerts
Another solution that can reduce your expenses is SMS alerts. An immediate way to communicate proactively with your customers is by sending them messages about discounts, delivery, news, important notifications, and other information is the key to providing more qualitative service – and achieving call center cost savings at the same time.
Self-service
With modern technologies, self-service solutions became extremely popular because of their possibility to help your customers to solve their issues on their own. On the other hand, you get numerous advantages – great cost reduction of some processes, for instance, your representatives get more time because they now don`t have to solve the routine problems of your customers, so you get a lower average cost per call in a call center and, as a result, the lower overall cost of a call center.
Self-checkouts, FAQ, IVR menus – these features now can make your life and the life of your clients much easier. Just create a thoughtful and competent self-service strategy to minimize your spending.
Agent training and coaching
Agents are those who close your sales and if you want them to become more effective, you should invest in them. Permanent training and qualitative coaching will bring you high results in the future. Think about it as about a long-term investment – by paying now, you`ll call center expenses in the future.
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Constant reviewing of achievements and benchmarks
Monitoring the KPIs of your contact center can greatly improve your contact center performance and reduce your operational costs. Monitor such things, as your agent`s logging time, user occupancy, and talking time. Measure every important rate as often as possible and analyze. Review the rates you have, such as FCR, AHT, and abandon rate, to amend the processes which have to be improved.
Monitor agent activities
On-premises call center software and cloud-based call center software give your managers the possibility to monitor the activity of your agents. You should understand that even highly-experienced representatives can make mistakes and sometimes they need help to solve the issue. Monitor such things, as your agent`s logging time, user occupancy, and talking time. Such options as recording, listening, barging, and whispering can help you control the work activity and to solve issues in real-time.
Omnichannel Communication
The omnichannel approach is the greatest way if you want to reduce call center expenses. Many contact centers waste a lot of time spraying efforts on the same issues or shifting between different systems or programs – and they don`t understand how it affects their operational costs. If your goal is to achieve the call center cost savings, you should put all communication channels in one interface.
Decrease representative routine
The most annoying thing is when the customer needs to repeat the same information to different agents, one by one. The wise solution is to use the smart routing – approach, which will not only allow the customer to solve his issue during one call, but also it will reduce your average cost per call in a call center. Another great solution that can help your contact center team is an auto dialer – the system, which will make mass outgoing calls.
Improve schedule adherence
The management of your representative`s schedule can boost your rates and help to achieve better results without investments – what’s more, it helps to increase your call center cost savings. As we have mentioned higher, such functions are available in our contact center software.
Proactive hiring
The era of remote work opened new horizons to optimize the work activity of contact centers and achieve great cost reduction. Now you are able to hire people from almost every place around the world and make your team work 24/7 by working from different time zones. On the other hand, you achieve the possibility to control every team member with the tools in your contact center solution.
And what now?
As you have just discovered, there are numerous ways to reduce the cost of your contact center – by using the right software, effective call center management, automation, and so on. But the key statement is that if these solutions exist, you should use them and permanently look for some new approaches on how to make your business more productive and less expensive. Where to find these solutions? Contact us and get more useful tips!