Who would have thought that you'd be able to setup and run an entire virtual contact or support center right from your own home and for far less than you ever thought possible?
Well, it's possible. In fact, it's easier than you might think once you understand what's essentially a recipe' that simply needs some time and attention.
Can You Outsources And Still Maintain Quality?
The short answer is a resounding "Yes!". Lots of organizations are outsourcing core service operations with tremendous success and reductions in cost. The key to quality and a successful outcomes is ensuring your building a cross section of skills from different places around the country or the globe, and removing any of the barriers that stand in the way of consistently delivering a good experience for your customers.
Tools & Technology
Cloud computing is enabling a really compelling set of low cost options that simply were not available five years ago. By now most have heard of and are using SaaS solutions that allow a customer service or support rep to logon and start working immediately.
But did you also know you can find an open source PBX and combine it with a free Voice over IP clients such as Zoiper to deliver robust call center like functionality at a fraction of the cost companies have historically been paying?
Did you realize that a simple Wordpress Blog can be an absolutely excellent Knowledge Base solution that costs next to nothing? Or that ZenDesk can be configured to do just about anything you'd need in a small or medium sized business? Then there's Skype!
The tools and technology are all there. The hard part is developing the workflow and business processes that enable a truly respectable customer facing service or support organization.
Managing The Team
If you've got a small or medium sized team working in your building, managing them reasonably well isn't too difficult to comprehend. You look up and see if Sally is at her desk. If she's not, when she's around next you have a conversation. But virtual teams require a different kind of management attention and touch. And training them isn't always easy. They aren't, after all, in the same building. Having a plan to manage everyone through several key areas is essential.
Such as:
- Hiring & Performance Reviews
- On-Boarding, Training, and Mentoring
- Technology and Entitlement
- Workflow and Escalation Management
Bootstrap "Virtual" Service
At Bootstrap Service we've already made a bunch of mistakes and learned from them for you. Why struggle through it and risk harming your business's valuable reputation if you don't have to? It may be an old clich�', but we've "been there, done that", and that's ok.