Inbound Call Support - How To Start A Call Center

One of the key aspects of finding success as a company is delivering robust customer service, which you can’t have without accessibility. If your customers have a problem, it’s solely your responsibility to provide them with plenty of channels to contact you. 

Despite living in the age where internet communication reigns supreme, inbound call support is still the best way for businesses to provide instant customer service. 

As a result, many companies are looking for ways to set up an inbound call center in order to service customer complaints and requests - something that’s not an easy feat. 

Here’s everything you need to know about inbound call support strategy and the intricacies of starting a call center. 

Definition of inbound calls

An inbound call is any phone call made by a customer to a company’s customer service or inbound call support department. Generally speaking, help desks and call centers field these calls and handle the request or the complaint of a customer. 

Taking care of inbound calls is one of the most popular ways for many organizations to enhance the customer experience, with a call number made specifically for it. 

The task of inbound call support falls on either a remote call center or an in-house one. In the modern era, it’s common for companies to outsource this area of their business to a call center that offers support in multiple time zones. That way, a company can provide 24-hour support. 

Call centers utilize tech tools that help them properly distribute inbound calls. For example, a call system may screen calls, analyze customer requests, and then transfer the call to a rep specializing in a specific issue. If that particular individual is unable to resolve the problem at first, they can follow up via email or another call later. 

This is why along with inbound call support, most customer service teams also field outbound calls (calls initiated by a company). This drastically improves support availability, as customers can schedule a time to speak with a rep.

The rep can then come up with a solution and call the customer back, avoiding the dreaded issue of lengthy holds the customers have to endure.

How to start a call center

If you have the resources, you can take full control of your inbound call support by starting your centers. Here are the basic steps.

1. Create a strategy

Before hiring agencies, you first need to determine an overarching strategy that dictates the method of implementing an additional service channel. For instance, you should clarify whether you want your call center to provide proactive customer service, technical support, or both. 

If your main goal is providing inbound call support, then a customer support call center is the right choice. On the other hand, if you want to promote products and focus on outbound calls, then a customer service call center is the way to go. As an alternative, you can train your employees to do both, which helps significantly cut costs. 

Afterward, you need to figure out a plan to support the expansion of your organization. Naturally, more customers means a higher volume of calls, so you have to anticipate a shift in your strategy at a later date. 

2. Determine an optimal amount of people to hire

To avoid situations where your call center is understaffed or overstaffed, you need to estimate the volume of calls you can expect every month. There are many ways to go around this. You can obtain customer feedback to establish how often customers interact with your business or analyze product usage reports.

Another approach is surveying your main competitors to establish an average number of hires for call centers in your particular industry.

3. Hire the right people

When looking for the perfect inbound call support team, you shouldn’t settle for less. Only hire those who have a certain level of charisma and energy and rank high when it comes to emotional intelligence. This is necessary, as these individuals will have to handle stressful interactions on a daily basis. 

Furthermore, customer service professionals also need to be patient and have a natural inclination for problem-solving.

4. Purchase the proper equipment

For an effective call center, you need a robust system. Many companies provide communication software that can process calls such as Twillio or Avaya. 

Sourcing the equipment doesn’t end there as you also need to invest in the hardware your team will operate. This includes items such as computers, monitors, peripherals, and call-center headsets. 

While not necessary, you can also benefit from investing in calling software to track calls and a CRM to keep track of customer information. You can use these tools to improve the customer experience even further. 

5. Promote the call center

Before launching the call center, you should promote it to your customers. This is where your sales and marketing teams will have to work hard to spread the word. 

The way you promote your call center will depend on the type of your organization. For example, if you are selling a SaaS solution, you can offer this new channel to premium users. This not only helps promote the call center but also tests out the system before unveiling it to the larger public. 

6. Analyze your call metrics

Once you begin taking or making calls, you can start analyzing different metrics. While KPIs will vary depending on customers’ needs and the target audience, some indicators are identical across the board.

You can analyze KPIs such as abandon rate, average call time, and overall volume to ascertain if your call center can realistically provide consistent support. 

Can you handle it?

Improving your inbound call support capacity is a great way to take your business to the next level. By using the tips provided above, you can start testing out the feasibility of opening your very own call center.

Make no mistake though, such a feat will require a large upfront investment, and you can expect your overhead to skyrocket as your business grows. While this may not be a big deal to established companies, taking in a large amount of inbound calls is somewhat of a fantasy for small businesses.

If you don’t have the resources, you can outsource your inbound call support to a company that offers call center services, such as Aspen Media. 

We’ve handled calls for many businesses over the last thirty years, and we can guarantee that by outsourcing your operations to us, you won’t be losing out on anything. In fact, you can only eliminate the costs of setting up a call center and worrying about intricate issues such as staffing. 

Since this is our core competency, your customers will always be in good hands, at a fraction of the cost of starting and maintaining your center. 

Learn more by dialing 800-853-2240 or filling out our contact form.