Top 7 Qualities of an Answering Service Specialist

by: Mel Turao

Not all outsourced answering services are created equal. Some are better than others. And these are those that offer not only superior customer service experience but also smooth and seamless order taking features.

The buzzword these days isn’t about reducing cost and customized service. These are clichés. What business people are looking for is the right mixture of technology and talent. Before you sign up with an inbound call center to handle your answering service needs, look for these fool-proof qualities:

1. Up to par English. We’ve heard of language and cultural issues that result in customer frustration. This shouldn’t have any place in answering and order taking service. If it’s to be customer-centered, no confusion should arise from things as basic as vocabulary and sound. When there is a disconnection between associate and customer no order or processing can ever go forward. Taking in calls and processing them is pretty much a communications issue. See to it nothing gets in the way of clarity.

2. Excellent overflow call management. You can’t afford to put your service on the line by bumping off calls and putting your customers on hold for minutes. There’s such a thing as an average hold time, and it varies according to which inbound call center standards you follow, but no call should be left out. All calls, however bad, are potential sales.

3. Keep it out in the open. By all means private policies should be kept private. But for your business to optimize its outsourced answering service, you and the inbound call center should maintain a high level of transparency. That also covers your customer’s personal data. So, sit down and thresh out the privacy policies and choose an inbound call center that offers the most see-through terms.

4. Back up plan. It’s not a rosy picture all time, so you need to protect your operation from any unforeseen event such as fires, power outage, hacking and so on. When one of these happens it results in disruption and it’s going to cost your investment. Choose an order taking specialist that is secure from all forms of risks.

5. Solid and stable. Work with an outsourcing partner that has a proven stability, management and cutting edge equipment. You can’t seem to choose from too many players on the market today, but getting referrals from experts helps a great deal. Your outsourced answering service should have the tech support features that can route and direct calls to breathing and speaking associates.

With superior equipment comes superior training and customer service features. You have a right to know about how quality control is carried out because how the inbound call center conducts business speaks volumes about its expertise. You need to look into financial issues as well.

6. An outsourced partner that delivers on its promises. The key word is trust. When your relationship is built on trust it reflects in your customer service. And this can’t be more obvious than in appointment setting, order taking and order processing. In short, listen to customer’s comments.

7. An inbound call center that understands your business. A successful answering service is a result of synergy. This can only happen when your company and the inbound call center work on clear terms that are mutually observed. More than the exchange of knowledge, technology and skills, there seems to be no limit to the exchange of information. So you need to make sure your outsourced partner sees where you’re coming from.

It’s pretty easy to find these qualities in most inbound call centers that specialize in answering and order processing. But the supreme test is how they put these into action to widen your customer base, and ultimately, to give you a slice of the pie.