By Marcia Jenkins, Senior Operations Manager
If you are one of the thousands of companies looking for call center services on a daily basis, look no further. QCS has the management know-how and technology to ensure the best results and the best efficiency possible. One of my favorite best practices for managing inbound call handling is the blended seat.
A blended seat is a call center desktop that seamlessly blends inbound, outbound, email, chat and text contacts. Using a blended seat helps keep the call center agent busy and your customers happy. No one wants to hold for minutes at a time. A blended seat helps prioritize inbound calls while filling the wait time with outbound calls. Using a blended seat requires careful planning and the right technology. Let’s look at some best practices.
Companies Looking For Call Center Services: Evaluate the Candidate Company’s Planning Process
As you interview the call center service providers and before you make a selection, be sure the candidate company has a good process for forecasting and planning.
It is important to look at forecasting to prepare a staffing plan that ensures the team can handle the incoming calls and at the same time hit your outbound call objectives. How many calls (Inbound and outbound) are forecasted for the team? When you couple that information with a clear understanding of how long the calls should be, you can accurately forecast staffing needs. Plan on the right amount of agents to handle the calls from the inbound side as well handle the outbound calls you need.
Companies Looking For Call Center Services: Evaluate Candidate Company’s Systems and Technology
QCS ensures solid contact management for our clients by providing the latest and greatest in systems. We can see callers in the inbound queue, how many are holding, how long they have been holding, agents on calls, and agents available. We have the ability to maximize ROI by providing blended seats, keeping reps busy on outbound programs while having them available in a moment’s notice to quickly capture those spikes in inbound, chat or email volume. Technology and the team that sets up your technology will ensure your call blending is maximized to meet your contact center goals.
Companies Looking For Call Center Services: Inspect what you Expect
Great call center service providers know that following up to inspect what you expect is critical for ongoing call center success. At QCS, we advise our clients to be involved with this process. From looking at forecasted call volumes vs actual, to monitoring calls, to doing quarterly business reviews, inspecting what you expect will help ensure long-term success.
Be sure to adjust as needed by looking at the key metrics. Knowing the goals and holding the team accountable for meeting those goals helps to maintain a healthy call center program. QCS uses metrics provided by our clients and trains the front-line call center agents to meet those metrics to help decrease customer frustration and keep costs down for our clients.
Quality Contact Solutions has the best team around whether in house or at one of our owner-operated call centers. We know what to look for and how to meet your contact management service’s needs. If you’re looking for a team that has the ability to meet metrics and provide a great experience for your customers, give us a call at 1-866-963-2889 and press 1 for sales. Or email me at Marcia.Jenkins@qualitycontactsolutions.com
We’ll take care of the planning!
Other Articles You Might Find Interesting:
Successful Outsource Telemarketing Using Call Blending
Reasons to Blend Inbound and Outbound Telemarketing Services
Marcia Jenkins is the Senior Operations Manager for Quality Contact Solutions. Prior to joining Quality Contact Solutions, Marcia was a sought- after 10-year call center veteran with the ability to manage and sell. Marcia is responsible for the day to day operations for the At Home Division. QCS At Home is a work-from-home telemarketing and call center solution focused on business to business outbound telemarketing, test-bed projects and special programs which are typically not well-suited for the traditional brick and mortar call center.
