In order to acknowledge customer feedback, queries and complaints, a dedicated inbound and outbound BPO call center service is essentially needed to address the same. Basically, it is a centralized department that is meant to handle the inbound process and outbound process calls from customers aim to increase profit and maximize productivity. For many reasons call centers are either located within an organization or outsourced to a third-party company that specializes in handling calls.
What is an Inbound Call Center?
In a call center process, both inbound process and outbound process takes place. The first process widely known as the inbound process or inbound call center is a call center process whose primary responsibility is to handle incoming customer phone calls. It is a customer-oriented call, which contains several reasons, that includes, query for an order, voicing a complaint, asking a question, canceling a flight reservation etc. However, in the above-mentioned process, it is the call center's responsibility to answer the calls quickly and provide customers with a professional and competent experience of voice chat.
Live chat – In an inbound call center, live chat is a part of an inbound process that involves addressing customers’ queries over the live chat process. This chat process can be done on the company’s website or on various chat messenger platforms.
Phone call – Attending phone calls is a traditional inbound process that exists in inbound and outbound BPO. Phone calls are the default medium to address customers’ calls in an inbound call center.
Emails – Emails is also another medium, where an inbound process can take place. All types of customer queries that come over emails, can be treated under the inbound process in an inbound call center.
SMS - SMS service is another form of inbound process service that most businesses follow. Being one of the popular modes of communication with the customers, SMS stands cost-effective, faster and improves overall customer experience.
Social media – With the onset of social media, the inbound process to acknowledge customers can be effectively done without any hindrance. Queries on comments or any feedbacks can be efficiently accomplished under the inbound process in an inbound call center.
Most Common Services of Inbound Call Centers
Customer service – Customer service can be found both for inbound and outbound BPO. For an inbound process, an incoming call from a customer need to be attendant by a BPO executive. This is what customer service is meant for, which comes under the ambit of the inbound process.
Feedbacks – For an inbound process, feedbacks are the ones that are also part of the inbound calling. A BPO executive needs to be versatile enough to handle feedback inbound calls from the customers. Feedbacks are generally a customer’s responses that have been provided based on the experience that they had.
Returns – Returns are actually a situation that occurs if a customer wants to return a particular product. In an inbound process, a BPO executive should be knowledgeable to guide the customer regarding all technicalities associated with return policies.
Address changes – Change in address is also another form of query that customers seek in the process of inbound process. As in a form of an inbound call, customer’s do make necessary changes to their correspondence address.
Questions about policies or practices – Questions about policies or practices of the company and products are also one of the queries that customers seek in the form of an inbound process.
Technical support – Any technical support regards to placing an order or website navigation can be raised in an inbound process. A BPO executive should be a technically sound person and should assist the customer with all technical supports.
Inbound sales – Inbound sales is the technique where companies pull interested prospects and start the inbound process to see if they’re a fit for their product. In other words, inbound sales focus on the customer’s needs and the salesperson adapts the buyer’s perspective, acting as a trusted advisor.
Most common types of outbound call center services
Lead Generation – In an outbound process lead can be only generated by finding the right target audience from various marketplaces. Whether it's online or offline, leads can be found anywhere. A proper lead generation will allow getting the right audience while making a simple outbound call.
Marketing research – In an outbound process, extensive market research proves beneficial to get in touch with the customers. With genuine research, one can find the required customers essentially required for outbound call center services.
Customer Retention – Customer retention is an important type in a BPO service, and it should be considered seriously in an outbound process. It is the responsibility of an outbound process call center in India, to maintain loyalty, trust among their existing customers by giving them the best resources and services. In an inbound and outbound call center, customer retention stands important with regards to the fact that 20 per cent of existing consumers are responsible to bring more than 80 per cent of profiles for future revenue for the business.
Inbound versus outbound call center - What are the main differences?
The inbound and outbound call center is the lead foundation of a BPO industry. There is a difference between the two and one should know how the entire BPO industry works with the amalgamation of the inbound and outbound call centers.
Purpose – The primary function of an inbound call center is to receive incoming calls from customers. It also involves monitoring inbound process centers since the calls tend to come from existing customers with issues or questions. Whereas an outbound call center makes outgoing calls to shoppers. In the outbound process sales team run outbound centers to call all those potential customers that might be targeted for the benefit of the business. Apart from sales, companies can also use an outbound process to get a hang of the market research in a form of a survey.
Technology – The technology for the outbound process consists of simplified solutions by boosting automating dialling, filtering answering machines while providing the agents with an option to click to dial a contact number. Whereas in the inbound process, apart from physical calls, interactive IVR voice prompts are also available which simplifies the process and allows better workflow.
Why should your business use both inbound and outbound contact centers?
Inbound and outbound call centers are a foundation of a BPO service. Without having both of them, a BPO will come to a standstill no matter how good the strategies are. In an inbound process, the primary focus is on resolving customer issues, complaints, and also answering questions about a product or a service that the particular business offers. Being the utmost method for customer interaction, the inbound process is crucial because any negligent behaviour will lead to a loss of loyal customers.
Apart from communication inbound process serves as a knowledge base for billing questions, tech support, and other consumer care issues. These reasons make a business successful, making inbound call centers an utmost need for most businesses.
Whereas an outbound call center is just the opposite of the inbound process. In an outbound process, the main focus is on sales and marketing, where an agent in an outbound call center usually follows a list of potential customers to make calls related to sales and help them to upgrade their current products and services.
Outbound call center services
Telemarketing – Through telemarketing in an outbound process agent interacts with customers to share the required products and services. Telemarketing is basically generating PR promotion through telephonic calls and making consumers aware of the latest happenings around.
Lead generation – Lead generation in an outbound process is a method where prospective customers or clients are called by a business or brand to inform them about their various products & services and to raise interest and awareness among those offerings.
Surveys – Conducting a customer survey is the most important in an outbound process. For improved consumer experience, businesses often need to conduct surveys to understand the behaviour and changing demands of the customers.
Customer Retention – In an outbound process, customer retention is an attempt to make outbound calls to the customers in order to make them feel connected with the brand. The motive behind this exercise is to retain loyal customers and also engage new customers for the brand’s overall expansion. This type of service is needed mostly by service providers.
Inbound call center services
Customer services – In an inbound process, customer service is the primary service to update customers about day-to-day queries and services.
Help desk – If there is any sought for help that customer needs about service or products, then the inbound process has a segregated division in the name of a help desk. This help desk is dedicated to addressing all sought queries and complaints from the customer and resolving those at the earliest.
Technical troubleshooting – Technical troubleshooting is a technical service that the inbound bpo call center offers under its domain. To place an order or to know about website technicalities inbound call gets initiated. Inbound process agents who are experienced over the same are hereby assigned to deal with such inbound process calls, for assisting customers effectively.
Conclusion
Customer service makes a firm big in terms of recognition and size. With a robust network of inbound and outbound call centers, a company can attract valuable customers at large. With an efficient set-up of inbound and outbound BPO, many business models get strategized more broadly and hence retains customers to attain better business outcomes.
