Call center operations are critical for managing consumer interactions: From fielding customer service questions to resolving billing issues to troubleshooting products, an internal contact team comes with a serious price tag. However, companies of all sizes can deploy high-level call center support by implementing business process outsourcing (BPO) cost reduction strategies.
Outsourcing specialists make it possible to reduce overhead costs, improve operational efficiency, and seamlessly scale your call center capacity based on demand. If you’re looking for a way to cut contact center costs, start exploring how customer service outsourcing works and how Confie BPO can save money for your business.
The True Cost Drivers of Running a Call Center
Every company should have some sort of front-line team to handle incoming and outgoing communications – even omnichannel and social media support. As your business grows and demand increases, you’ll eventually need a full-fledged contact center to keep up with the flow of communication. While call centers serve a critical role for modern businesses, they can also be costly to operate.
What Are Overhead Costs in a Call Center?
There are costs associated with in-house call centers, including labor, facility, and technology. You need representatives to staff your phone lines, a place for your reps to work, and the equipment they need to work. Because modern contact centers often span multiple channels and forms of contact, you also need to pay for the tech tools to integrate customer service interactions fully, route calls appropriately, and manage a high volume of customer interactions.
Why In-House Call Centers Face Rising Operational Expenses
Managing internal customer service teams has only become more expensive in recent years. Utility and facility costs are constantly increasing, and internal labor costs can quickly spiral. When hiring team members directly, you need to factor in direct expenses like salaries and secondary costs like benefits, the cost of time off, and hiring expenses. Having an internal call center team can also increase your hiring needs for other administrative departments, such as human resources, which creates a ripple effect of overhead costs.
How BPO Solutions Help Reduce Call Center Overheads
Outsourcing enables the elimination of internal overhead and allows for a lower, fixed rate to access more advanced external services. Once you weigh the costs of an outsourced call center with an internal one, it becomes clear how BPO providers make it possible to streamline operations and reduce overhead costs from labor to tech.
Lower Labor and Training Costs Through Outsourcing
BPO providers tap into extensive talent networks to optimize staffing and ensure they can provide dependable 24/7 support. They leverage existing training systems and recruitment funnels, decreasing the cost of onboarding new employees and managing labor needs. Nearshore BPO providers access top candidates at a lower cost based on favorable exchange rates and more affordable labor costs – typically in areas that allow for communications and meetings to take place in reasonable time zones.
Savings on Infrastructure and Technology Investments
Large contact centers are constantly innovating and updating their call center tech tools to ensure they can remain competitive and maximize BPO cost reduction. They take full responsibility for their technical infrastructure, so you won’t have to pay for equipment, software licensing, training and ongoing updates. Call center outsourcing gives you access to the latest in customer service technology as part of the service instead of a separate cost you have to build into your budget.
Additional Financial Benefits of Partnering With a BPO Provider
Reducing overhead through business process optimization is just one of the financial benefits of customer service outsourcing. Beyond just saving you money up front, BPO also helps you generate more income and increase profit margins long term.
Streamlined Management and Performance Optimization
When you partner with a BPO provider, you can allow specialized internal teams to focus on core projects. BPO contact centers are geared toward operational efficiency, and they’re constantly leveraging business process optimization strategies to improve their performance and support BPO cost reduction. This ultimately helps you get more value for your call center services and enhance your profit margins on back-office activities.
Flexible Scalability To Match Business Demand
Contact centers make it possible to access the exact level of support your business needs. If your company suddenly experiences a surge in demand, you won’t have to scramble to hire more team members or risk missing out on sales; you can simply leverage your BPO provider’s existing resources to meet company needs. Scalable BPO support enables you to meet business demands without upfront investments in internal infrastructure, allowing you to capture more sales and avoid unexpected costs.
Start Saving on Call Center Overheads and Explore BPO Solutions Today!
As overhead expenses increase across the board, it’s more important than ever to find cost-saving measures that don’t disrupt your operations. Call center outsourcing saves you money while improving workflows and enhancing the customer experience, so you can get more and pay less.
Using BPO solutions gives you access to the 24/7 customer support you need while eliminating overwhelming overhead. If you’re concerned about reducing overhead for your customer service operations, Confie BPO has custom contact center solutions designed to optimize staffing and save you money. Contact us online or on the phone at 800-684-2276 to explore affordable outsourced services today.
FAQs
Want to learn more about how BPO can help you save money on your contact center needs? Below, we answer some of the most common questions business owners have about cutting costs through outsourcing.
What Specific Overhead Costs Can Call Centers Reduce With BPO Services?
When you work with an outsourcing partner, they take responsibility for all of the individual overhead costs associated with running a contact center team. As a business owner, that means you can eliminate overhead costs related to labor, facility management, and operational tools.
Because you won’t have to hire and manage an internal team directly, you can cut costs related to employee salaries, recruitment and training, benefits packages, and even facilities and office spaces. Your BPO partner will also take responsibility for the infrastructure for their contact centers, so you can reduce spending on tech tools, software, and physical equipment.
How Does Outsourcing Improve Cost Efficiency Without Sacrificing Quality?
Outsourcing lowers costs while maintaining quality by leveraging economies of scale. BPO providers thrive at high volumes; they design their systems to support multiple companies and clients at once, so they can pool resources and pass the savings along to you.
Because they specialize in customer service and other back-office tasks, BPO companies have trusted systems for training employees, routing calls, and completing other tasks at maximum efficiency. Instead of building these systems from the ground up for your internal team, you can essentially rent access to BPO infrastructure and streamline operations at a fraction of the cost.
Are BPO Call Center Solutions Suitable for Small and Midsize Businesses?
BPO contact centers are beneficial for small and midsize companies. These businesses may not have the capital to build advanced routing and customer service systems on their own; with affordable outsourced support, they can access a level of service that competes with that of large enterprises.
Along with making back-office support more affordable for small businesses, outsourcing offers future-proof service for growing companies. Because BPO centers handle high volumes of calls for multiple clients, they can also easily scale their capacity as small and mid-sized businesses expand.
How Can Businesses Measure the ROI of Call Center Outsourcing?
Established BPO providers like Confie BPO work closely with their partners to track BPO cost reduction and measure the impact of outsourcing initiatives. They can determine their return on investment (ROI) by measuring metrics like cost per call, call resolution rates, and handling times. You can also look at the cost of managing these services and compare them to your regular outsourcing costs.
