How to Prepare for a Successful Contact Center Integration

If you’re thinking about outsourcing your customer service program in full, or in part, to a contact center, it’s important to have a well-thought-out implementation plan. That’s the only way to ensure a smooth launch and a successful call center integration.

To ensure your integration is seamless and successful, here are some important tips you'll want to consider.

Create an RFP 

When outsourcing your contact center, selecting the right partner is crucial. You want to make sure the third-party partner that you’re working with aligns with your corporate goals and culture. This is one of the most important steps in ensuring smooth integration and long-term success.

The best way to do that is through your request for proposal (RFP) process. An RFP is a business document used by organizations to obtain quotes from potential vendors. When outsourcing your customer service, an RFP will be created to attract quotes from contact centers. These centers will then submit business proposals on how they’ll help your organization meet its goals. 

Plan the launch of your contact center integration 

When launching any new process, technology or strategy you need a carefully considered implementation plan to be successful. This will help reduce the stress and difficulty of your launch and ensure you are prepared if you run into an obstacle. 

Before integrating with a new call center, create a structured plan that identifies deliverables, program owners, timelines, contingencies and KPIs. This will ensure both your organization and your outsourced contact center are working together to achieve the same results. 

Maintain proper communication 

To help ensure a smooth outsourcing partnership, you need to make sure you have frequent, clear and transparent communications between leadership at both organizations. Your company should know exactly what your call center is working on, and your outsourced contact center should be kept updated of any new organizational goals or changes within your service. 

The more your outsourced contact center knows about your business, the easier integration will be and the better service they will be able to provide to your customers. 

Monitor results

The best way to maintain quality customer service operations is to regularly monitor the results achieved by your outsourced contact center. This is often focused on customer experience metrics - such as call volume, average time in queue, average handle time and first call resolution. 

Data on how your vendor is performing will give both your business and the outsourced contact center actionable insights into how to grow and improve your partnership moving forward. 

If you’re interested in learning more about how to implement a successful contact center integration, get in touch with Advantage Communications today.