There are many overflow call centers out there. The problem is that not all of them have the skills as the primary call center. In fact, some of them don’t have any skills at all other than to babysit clients as they wait. What good is it to transfer your clients to the Philippines just to have them wait? You might as well have an online system to help answer their questions and make payments.
One idea that is popular these days is to have automated systems, but to have a rep guide people in navigating and using the online system. It is sort of cyber-babysitting if you like. Some reps are in a hurry and take you to the first page of the system and then say, “Gotta go.” But, for people who are not familiar with your system, walking people through from beginning to end is helpful. That way, the next time they need help, they will be confident about using your online system as it would be a habit they feel comfortable with.
But, what about training overflow call centers to do basic Q&A. You could create a database of common questions and answers for them. If that is too hard, just stick to the most common twelve as that will get a huge chunk of your customers taken care of without having to be transfered. It doesn’t seem like rocket science to have your overflow people do payments as that doesn’t take hardly any skill at all. You just need to be able to repeat names and numbers as well as expiration dates.
A little training wouldn’t kill you but would make your customer’s lives much nicer. So, make your overflow call center a little more skillful. Instead of building a better mousetrap, build a better cybersitter.