You may be looking for an external contact center provider for a variety of reasons: to handle spikes in call volume during an online banking or mobile conversion, to handle overflow for regular operating needs, or in the event of a natural disaster, breach or crisis.

Outsourcing, however, doesn’t come without considerations. While ultimately a smart move, it’s important to take the time to find the right supplier for your organization. Here are three of the most common challenges — and solutions to making outsourcing your contact center a success.

Common Challenges (and Solutions!) to Outsourcing

1. Maintaining Control Over the Customer Experience

When you outsource any task, whether it’s administrative, fiscal, or service-based, you are giving control of that area of your organization to an external provider. Perhaps the biggest challenge, therefore, to outsourcing your contact center is delivering a consistent customer experience — a crucial component to any organization’s success.

Solution: Supplement What (and When) You Need

Instead of taking an “all or nothing” approach to outsourcing your contact center, consider it only when necessary. Are you planning an online conversion? Have you experienced a data breach? Do you have changes in your environment that will drive incremental inbound volume or the need for ancillary outbound calls?

By outsourcing only what you need, when you need it, you maintain and in some instances improve your servicing objectives and accountholder satisfaction metrics.

A third-party relationship allows you to expand the inbound and outbound capacity of your contact center during critical conversions or events for a defined period of time. This short-term solution augments the existing contact center staff so that you can adjust as needed.

2. Maintaining Customer Satisfaction

Speaking of customer service, maintaining a high level of it can be a big challenge when outsourcing contact center functions. In fact, competition in the contact center space revolves around exactly this: Who can deliver a truly seamless experience.

Solution: Take the Time to Evaluate a Quality Supplier

The ultimate goal is to have a supplier that can be an extension of your brand and fulfill the quality of service your customers have come to expect. In addition, you should look for a supplier who has a team of dedicated, knowledgeable professionals and who can onboard your program as seamlessly as possible.

How do you get all that? By taking the time to carefully vet prospective contact center suppliers. Believe me, it will pay dividends down the road.

Finding a supplier with financial industry experience is also crucial. If possible, consider a supplier you already have a relationship with — they will know and understand your brand and can help you navigate regulatory and compliance issues.

3. Additional Concerns (Like Security and Privacy)

Security is at the forefront — particularly in the financial industry. After all, your customers rely on you to keep their most sensitive financial information safe. Between high attrition and lack of quality control, security is an inherently increased risk.

Solution: Go With Experience

Experience matters.

Pick a supplier who has strict processes around information and physical security, as well as adherence to all regulations applied to the financial industry.

Keep The Benefits in Mind

If this is your first time implementing a conversion, planning for increased call volume can be challenging. This makes it difficult to staff and assess your capacity. A contact center partner can help you manage incremental call volume with a tailored program that’s right for your organization.

Working with an outside vendor offers the flexibility to scale up or down as your call volume dictates, providing a cost-effective and efficient solution for managing change. It gives you control over how much (or how little) and for how long you utilize the solution. This enables you to focus on other strategic initiatives.

I want to reiterate how important it is to keep flexibility and scalability top of mind when considering suppliers to augment the strategic and growth objectives for your contact center.

Doing so will further increase the chances of your enterprise event being successful.

> Download Vericast’s “Ultimate Guide for Successful Contact Center Outsourcing”.