When choosing to outsource part of your operations, the factor that worries companies the most is the investment. You want to offer a top tier service for your customers, but you also don’t want it to take a toll on your business’ finances. With this in mind, we have created this short guide with the best advice to begin calculating potential call center outsourcing costs.
The price will depend on the type of outsourcer you choose to hire
The location matters, as nearshore, offshore, and onshore outsourced call centers are priced differently. On average, the salary of an on shore call center agent in the US is $35,321 plus benefits; This is often out of a company’s budget, or even if it isn’t the preference is to spend that money elsewhere in the business. It’s worth noting that this amount doesn’t include things like training, supplies, and commission when measuring the cost of your in-house call center. On top of this, the average call volume that a contact center manages requires a handful of customer sales representatives, which can tighten your budget quickly.
On the other hand, the hourly rate of outsourced call center agents ranges from $30+ in countries like Canada, and goes as low as $6 in locations like India. This call center pricing applies only for providers, but most companies are expecting to hire partners, which involves having trained agents, customer care and customer support knowledge, and clear statistics to actually improve the callers’ experience.
The services offered within the contact center also affects the price
An outbound call center will manage only outgoing calls, and can only be tasked with approaching and doing these one-sided interactions. This type of service would come cheapter than a call center that handles both inbound and outbound calls, but you may need to up your price if you have a need for fully equipped customer service agents. Inbound and outbound calls are just an example, as outsourcers offer a variety of services, some unique to each center.
You should also take into account the customer experience data you have gathered so far. Is your business in need of a 24/7 customer support? Are your customers affected because of the lack of bilingual/multilingual agents? Is phone customer care enough?
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Differential cost analysis is the way to go
We know you’ve heard it a thousand times: outsourcing customer service is the most cost effective option for companies. But how much exactly are you are saving?
The simplest way of knowing would be through a differential cost analysis, meaning the amount of money you have left when you deduct outsourcing costs from in-house costs. What should you include in the in-house expenses? Here are some examples to use in your analysis:
- Productive and non-productive agent time
- Supervisor salary
- Quality assurance
- Infrastructure costs
- Recruiting
- Payroll
- Benefits
- Training (may vary depending on the field of expertise)
When partnering with an outsourced call center, most of thes items are included in the agent’s hourly rate. You would pay only for the time that your agents are productively working, as opposed to a salary, plus training, quality assurance and infrastructure.
This is just an overview on how to calculate costs of outsourcing customer service vs in-house. If you wish to have a more definitive quote of the cost of outsourcing with us, contact us! And read more about the benefits of outsourcing a part of your business in our complete guide to outsourcing.
About the Author: Neal Topf
