As with most decisions every business owner faces, considering use of a call centre is best made with in-depth and frank analysis of what your business really is about, where it is at, where you want it to get to and if and how a call centre can help it get there.
Start by considering if your business has a big need for product service support, IT or help desk support or telephone/Internet sales support, which are the most common functions of a call centre. If the answer is yes, then consider the extent of your resources dedicated to that function and whether or not it is the core competency of your business or a distraction, says Gordon McKenna, president of TeleQuest Global, a U.S.-based call centre consultancy, and past president of the American Teleservices Association.
If the dedication of such resources is a distraction, then a call centre could make a lot of sense.
"What impact are these functions having on the organization right now?" says Beverly Lundh, programs chair, B.C. Contact Centre Association. "Key motivations for outsourcing call centre activity are typically cost management in an area that has become a factor in business growth or increasing service requirements. If there's a disproportionate amount of time going in to general inquiries, for example, and it is impacting your ability to grow the business in other ways, then that's a perfect
opportunity to outsource that activity to a call centre."
If your small business is currently shrugging off the doom-and-gloom economic news because it is well positioned to grow, it might also be an opportune moment to call up a call centre company, especially if you are facing added labour and technology requirements in any of the functions.