# Explore Benefits of Inbound Call Center Outsourcing for SMBs | Capterra > Learn how to maximize customer experience by outsourcing your inbound call services to a CCaaS provider and let the professionals handle the heavy lifting. Source: https://www.capterra.com/resources/inbound-call-center-outsourcing --- Call CenterCustomer Services & Support # Is Inbound Call Center Outsourcing Right for You? Written by: David J. Brin David J. BrinAuthor David is the Managing Partner for the Code Ninjas franchise responsible for the Baton Rouge, LA market, where he facilitates the education of youth in progra... [See bio & all articles](https://www.capterra.com/resources/author/david-brin/) and edited by: Carolyn Santa Maria Carolyn Santa MariaEditor Carolyn Santa Maria is a senior editor at Capterra. Carolyn has been working in content for more than five years as an editor. With her keen eye for detail, ... [See bio & all articles](https://www.capterra.com/resources/author/carolyn-santa-maria/) Published April 8, 2024 | Updated on August 26, 2024 12 min read Table of Contents - [What does an inbound call center do?](#what-does-an-inbound-call-center-do) - [What are the benefits of hiring an inbound call center?](#what-are-the-benefits-of-hiring-an-inbound-call-center) - [Outsourced vs. in-house inbound call center services](#outsourced-vs-in-house-inbound-call-center-services) - [Signs you should outsource inbound call center services](#signs-you-should-outsource-inbound-call-center-services) - [Finding inbound call center tools and services](#finding-inbound-call-center-tools-and-services) - [Make answering inbound calls a priority in 2024](#make-answering-inbound-calls-a-priority-in-2024) ## Discover benefits of inbound call center outsourcing to enhance customer journey In a [recent article](https://www.capterra.com/resources/inbound-vs-outbound-call-centers/), Capterra explored the various types of call centers and the roles each type played in the overall success of small businesses. In this article, small-business owners and customer service professionals interested in making improvements to their customer journeys can follow along as we take a deeper look at inbound call centers. If you’re handling client phone traffic, you’ll want to discover the benefits of an inbound call center, what function they fill in lead generation, and the signs that you should consider outsourcing to a service provider.  We talked to Shep Hyken[\[1\]](#sources), an NYT bestselling author and customer service and customer experience expert, to get his insights into what small-business owners need to look for to determine whether outsourcing their customer service is the right call. Shep Hyken, an NYT bestselling author and customer service and customer experience expert ## What does an inbound call center do? Inbound call centers can be handled as an in-house business process or can be outsourced. While there are dedicated call center service providers, many managed services have pivoted to a contact center as a service (CCaaS) provider model in order to provide a full range of services.  In both cases, inbound call centers handle incoming calls from customers or potential customers. Inbound call center agents handle product inquiries and information requests. For small-business owners, a call center can improve and augment the customer journey by providing a reliable point of contact for resolving issues as efficiently as possible. ## What are the benefits of hiring an inbound call center? Consolidating the responsibility for managing and handling inbound calls as a business process to a contact center provides a host of benefits to an organization. ### Increased lead generation The purview of inbound call centers extends beyond existing customers. They can also be tasked with handling inbound service and product inquiries from leads sourced through your social media content, paid advertising, and SEO efforts. In exchange for providing a superior experience at the call center level at this stage, studies show 77% of callers will be willing to provide their personal data for future follow-up.[\[2\]](#sources) The leads captured by the call center can be fed into the company’s lead-tracking customer relationship management (CRM) database and targeted in followup marketing efforts, such as direct outreach from an outbound center, retargeting using paid advertising channels, and email campaigns. This approach to customer service in your call center ensures your team is capturing lead data that might be missed if they were reaching out to staff directly. ### Reduce costs and improve efficiency Referred to as first call resolution (FCR), many call centers strive to resolve a customer concern or complaint on the first call. A strong FCR is 71% or higher, which is indicative of the efficiency a well-trained team can achieve in problem solving and reducing costly follow-up communication.[\[3\]](#sources) Another important metric tracked by call centers is the average handle time (AHT), or the average time it takes an agent to fully address a caller’s concerns. A low AHT allows agents to maximize the customer experience and can be achieved by providing agents with a comprehensive topical database agents can use to quickly address the needs of callers.  Together with a strong FCR, a low AHT injects efficiency into your customer service cadence that leads to lower costs in customer service and retention efforts. ### Enhanced customer service and expertise Call centers allow businesses to gather important customer feedback as part of the service experience. Once agents have engaged with and handled a caller’s concerns, the company can prompt the caller to complete a survey on the phone or via email. This feedback, often presented as an overall customer satisfaction score (CSAT) that should average between 75%-85%, allows businesses to gauge satisfaction levels and opportunities for improvement.[\[4\]](#sources)  Inbound call centers track several other metrics to ensure the customer experience meets caller expectations. Inbound centers generally rate their agents’ performance on the number of calls they field within a certain time frame, as long wait times indicate to call center leadership that additional staff or changes in procedure might be warranted.  For example, the call center might set a goal that 90% of calls must be answered within 30 seconds of being placed on hold by the automated intake system, and use that goal as a way to determine if customer needs are being met by the current system. ### Scalability Without an inbound call center in place, your team’s ability to respond to inbound calls is limited to your existing team’s bandwidth. Customer wait times to speak with experienced staff might exceed their expectations and create a negative perception of your brand. In conjunction with other factors, this could prevent growth over time and even result in lost business. Call centers, especially those that are outsourced, provide an inbound call solution that can scale with your business needs while ensuring a consistent level of customer service and engagement. This can be especially useful if your call volume fluctuates regularly due to seasonality in your business or if you often launch new services and products. ## Outsourced vs. in-house inbound call center services As with any outsourced business process, the decision of whether to run your inbound call center in-house or through a third-party CCaaS provider depends on which of the models provides your business the most beneficial arrangement. ### Scalability versus greater control By outsourcing your inbound call center operations to a third-party, businesses sacrifice the ability to control day-to-day operations, the quality of the employees working in the call center, and the ability to control costs at a granular level. In exchange, they gain the scalability and flexibility made possible by a CCaaS provider in order to field a call center team capable of handling any fluctuations in inbound call volume that might arise. #### Greater control over data security Call centers are crucial sources of data collection. That data is facing increasingly stringent regulatory requirements dictating data security and usage due to the passage of the European Union’s General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), California’s Consumer Privacy Act (CCPA), and similar privacy laws passed or pending legislative review throughout the United States.  While call centers often have centralized security and safeguards in place for client data, it’s crucial you understand how your industry is impacted by regulatory requirements, as some industries require very specific data protection measures to be taken. For example, in some situations, data cannot be stored in a shared database such as those that are often used by managed service providers. In these situations, it might be necessary to house and manage your call center in-house. ### Operational cost savings versus cultural alignment The overhead costs associated with establishing a call center in-house can be overwhelming for your average small business and start-up. Consider that your average call center would require the business to shoulder a slew of additional costs, from facility costs to the costs associated with the acquisition and upkeep of the necessary technological infrastructure. There are also the costs associated with hiring, training, and maintaining a management team and staff large enough to handle your call volume. Hyken mentions that the best thing about going with an outside agency or BPO is that they’ve already been trained to use customer service systems. “All you have to do is train them on how your customer service program works, so it’s a great opportunity to help grow your company without having to focus on hiring and training a huge number of new staff.” While CCaaS providers are at an advantage because they’ve built these costs into their service model, they are at a disadvantage as a service provider in that they aren’t immersed in the day-to-day culture of their clients, and this might come across in the quality of the service they provide to callers. An inhouse call center ensures the company’s call center agents are aligned with the culture, mission, and values that are most important to the brand. ## Signs you should outsource inbound call center services While there might be benefits to running your inbound call center in-house with existing resources, it’s becoming more rare for businesses who can field less than a thousand call center agents to invest in the necessary call center infrastructure.[\[5\]](#sources) Alongside the need to maximize the customer experience and limited staff or resources, this shift toward outsourcing has led to staggering growth in the CCaaS provider industry, with recent data showing that the CCaaS segment is a nearly $9 billion market growing at 19%.[\[6\]](#sources) While we’ve talked about the benefits CCaaS providers bring to the table, you might still be asking yourself what are the signs you should consider outsourcing your inbound calling services rather than investing in an internal solution?  Hyken goes on to state that you need to recognize patterns in customer behavior to know when you might need extra support staff on hand. “If you have a busy season and a season where you aren’t as busy, you need to be able to adjust how much you’re spending on customer service, and outsourcing to a call center can help make sure you’re staffed properly at the right times.” ### Is your staff overwhelmed with call volume to the point that wait times are out of control? Consumers calling your company are looking to have questions answered, get technical support, set an appointment or place an order, or receive around the clock support for services they pay for. And they expect to accomplish these tasks spending a minimal time on hold before talking to an agent—in fact, anything over two minutes will result in overall lower customer satisfaction scores.[\[7\]](#sources) This sensitivity to wait times translates into 57% of customers feeling that long hold times are the most annoying aspect of dealing with a customer service call line.[\[8\]](#sources) - Outsourcing to a CCaaS provider for inbound calling minimizes wait times and ensures the team dedicated to handling your callers will scale accordingly. ### Do you have the resources to provide call support around the clock? It’s no longer enough to provide customer support during normal business hours. A globalized economy focused on ensuring consumers can get anything they want on-demand means that your business must be able to field customer inquiries around the clock. Absorbing the costs to maintain the staff and infrastructure to support a call center that operates 24 hours a day, seven days a week isn’t sustainable.  - Outsourcing inbound call services ensures a consistent customer experience with a representative of your business regardless of the time of day. ### Do your inbound call metrics indicate a healthy customer experience? If you’re tracking your service levels alongside other KPIs such as AHT, CSAT, and FCR, you should have a fairly informed view of what the customer experience looks like. If your CSAT scores are low, and you’ve got customers having to call multiple times to resolve their issues, and it’s taking agents a significant amount of time to resolve customer issues, you might not be equipped to provide a healthy customer experience via your inbound call practices. - Inbound call centers are equipped to track KPIs related to their performance in providing a positive customer experience. In the event those KPIs aren’t to a client’s satisfaction, they have the resources and tools to adapt their approach and practices to ensure that the customer experience improves. ### Are you tracking and analyzing your inbound calls and the customer experience? Chances are, as a small business, you might not actually be tracking any of your KPIs related to the customer inbound call experience. You might not have the time or resources to dedicate to properly assessing your customer service data, or you might not even be collecting meaningful data through CRM tracking and surveys. An inbound call center can help you establish a system for tracking and monitoring client satisfaction. - In outsourcing your inbound call center services, you can tap into the valuable insight the data gathered by a well-established service provider in order to close the gap between customer expectations and the services you’re providing. ## Finding inbound call center tools and services As a small-business owner, protecting the customer experience is crucial to your ongoing success and ability to remain competitive in your industry segment. One of the most important things you can do to maximize the customer experience is to ensure customers can reach your business when they have questions or problems, and be able to provide them with the solutions or resolutions they need. If you’re struggling to accomplish this with your current infrastructure, but you’re not able or willing to invest in an in-house solution, consider exploring Capterra’s directories to explore call center service providers or options for purchasing a call center software system: - [Call Center Software](https://www.capterra.com/call-center-software/) In addition to these strategies, Hyken has some more practical advice once you begin talking to agencies. “Before you hire a call center, you should ask the agency what their company culture and customer service philosophy are. Decide if they align with your own customer service philosophy and culture because you want the customer experience to be consistent no matter how your customer interacts with your business.” Ask how they measure success. What key performance indicators do they use? Does that align with how you would measure success for your own agents? Does the outside agency have experience in your industry? If not, ask how they plan to adapt.  ## Make answering inbound calls a priority in 2024 In this article, we’ve run through the benefits of outsourcing your inbound call center needs to a third-party service provider. Crafting a high quality customer service experience takes having the right tools in place to ensure existing and potential customer needs are addressed to their satisfaction on a timetable that meets their expectations. As you consider partnering with one of our expert partner agencies that specialize in inbound call center services or purchasing a software solution that meets your needs, expand your knowledge of inbound call centers with these other Capterra resources: - [Call Center Software Pricing Report](https://www.capterra.com/resources/call-center-software-pricing-report/) - [Call Center Software Key Features](https://www.capterra.com/resources/call-center-software-key-features/) - [Category Compare: Call Center Software vs. Contact Center Software](https://www.capterra.com/resources/call-center-vs-contact-center/) * * * Sources 1. [Shep Hyken](https://www.linkedin.com/in/shephyken/), LinkedIn 2. [20 Contact Center Statistics to Know in 2024](https://fitsmallbusiness.com/contact-center-statistics/), Fit Small Business 3. [What Is a Good First Call Resolution Rate?](https://www.sqmgroup.com/resources/library/blog/what-good-first-call-resolution-rate), SQM Group 4. [Call Center Statistics: Taking the Pulse of Customer Service](https://www.cmswire.com/contact-center/16-important-call-center-statistics-to-know-about/), CMSWire 5. [Market Guide for Contact Center Infrastructure](https://www.gartner.com/document/4171799?ref=algobottomrec&refval=4017062), Gartner 6. [Competitive Landscape: Contact Center as a Service](https://www.gartner.com/document/4154399?ref=solrAll&refval=400743982&), Gartner 7. [What Is an Acceptable Average Wait Time for Customer Service?](https://www.sqmgroup.com/resources/library/blog/acceptable-average-wait-time-customer-service#:~:text=However%2C%20wait%20times%20higher%20than,than%202%20minutes%2C%20Csat%20drops), SQM Group 8. [Longest Call Hold | Voxco Call Center Software](https://www.voxco.com/longest-call-hold/#:~:text=Most%20people%20are%20able%20to,part%20of%20their%20service%20experience), Voxco * * * Looking for Call Center software?Check out Capterra's list of the [best Call Center software](https://www.capterra.com/call-center-software/) solutions. ### Was this article helpful? * * * ## About the Authors [### David J. Brin](https://www.capterra.com/resources/author/david-brin/) David is the Managing Partner for the Code Ninjas franchise responsible for the Baton Rouge, LA market, where he facilitates the education of youth in programming, game design, and STEM education fundamentals. A lifelong learner, David combines a passion for strong business practices and solid marketing strategies honed throughout his 20-year career in the food and beverage industry with his desire to share those best practices with other business owners to create content for Capterra. When... [### Carolyn Santa Maria](https://www.capterra.com/resources/author/carolyn-santa-maria/) Carolyn Santa Maria is a senior editor at Capterra. Carolyn has been working in content for more than five years as an editor. With her keen eye for detail, technical experience, and cross-team collaborative expertise, she has developed new content types, briefs, and processes for a variety of different projects and teams. She has edited a large variety of content, including research reports, white papers, eBooks, email marketing campaigns, and many other types of technical papers. 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