Are you planning to start a call center? Well if so, you’re in the right place. Here in this article, we will guide you through this rather difficult task which is to start a successful call center business.
For your ease, we have compiled everything that you need to know in an easy-to-follow step-by-step manner.
Below are the topics that we have covered in this article:
- How to start a call center business?
- What are the best industry practices when starting a call center?
- How to market your new call center business?
We have a lot to cover so without further ado let’s get started.
16 Steps to Start a Call Center Business
1. Decide On The Objective
Try to come up with clear objectives for your call center. Doing this will help you accomplish the desired business outcomes easier.
There should be a clear structure in place that addresses all of the “whats” and “hows.”
Collecting data (such as emails, phone numbers, etc. ); giving tailored suggestions (based on past); raising customer satisfaction ratings, and so on are just a few examples of call center objectives.
Also, try to think about the future, do you want to expand your business shortly? How quickly do you want to see your profits?
2. Check If A New Call Center Business Is Profitable
Before you start your call center business, you have to conduct a market survey to find out if a new call center in the area you wish will be profitable.
It will assist you in determining your return on investment, the amount of time required, and the potential for development, among other things.
To obtain a sense of this, look at social media platforms and speak with people who have worked in the call center sector.
To the greatest extent possible, do a market survey to determine the degree of customers’ needs for a call center, their profitability, and their pace of growth. As per a study from Salesforce, 59% of consumers go for traditional phone calls to reach a customer support representative.
3. Learn About The Call Center Industry In Your Area
As the proprietor about to start a call center business, you must be well-versed in all aspects of your industry.
This is because only with a proper understanding of all the aspects of your business can you ensure that your new call center fulfills its function and that you reach your objectives.
This includes the following:
- Technology
- Branding
- Changes in the industry
- Performance of team members
This understanding extends to broader topics such as organizational strategy (commercial, corporate, and operational) and how they contribute to the call center’s success.
Since you will be the owner, you will have to learn to take up all these responsibilities and liabilities.
4. Create a Call Center Business Plan
It is essential to write a business plan before actually jumping into the call center business. This plan document works as a road map for the present and the future of your call center. Furthermore, it helps in finding out the gaps in the market so that the business can be planned to exploit them as much as possible.
Some of the key factors one must include in the call center business plan document are the following:
- Initial and recurring costs
- Services to be offered
- Target customer profile
- Pricing plan
- How do you plan to promote your call center services?
5. Look For The Most Promising Area To Setup Your Call Center
Location plays a critical role in the long-term success of a call center business. If you are a beginner with a small budget but have a surplus space in your garage or home, consider starting a home-based call center. It will hugely reduce the startup cost.
When determining where to locate your new call center, you must consider several things.
Consider the expertise you’re attempting to draw into your organization as a starting point.
If you require multilingual personnel, for example, locating your call center close to an airport or a large city might help you find the people you need.
If you’re carrying on a local service for a specific location, though, you should consider hiring people from that area who are already familiar with the culture.
Another important factor is how your staff will arrive to work and how easily your call center is accessible by public transport.
6. Identify The Type Of Call Center
The objective of your call center is a driving factor in how it runs, impacting everything from the number of individuals to hire (and the capabilities they’ll require), as well as how you’ll monitor success and revenue earnings.
In most cases, your call center will handle incoming or outgoing calls.
a) Call Center For Inbound Calls
Calls handled by an incoming call center are those initiated by the client.
The majority of these calls will be for customer service objectives.
Customers’ questions and technical help, as well as processing or sending orders, can all be handled by an incoming call center.
b) Call Center For Outbound Calls
A call center employee shall make calls to a client in an outbound call center.
This is usually done for advertising, scales, questionnaires, or fundraising reasons.
These calls might be cold calls (an unannounced contact to a possible buyer who has not indicated an interest in your service) or warm calls (a contact to someone with whom you’ve previously communicated and who has shown interest in your service).
7. Fix The Cost of Your Call Center
The sort of call center you intend to open will have a significant impact on your initial expenses.
We can provide a broad overview, however, the equipment you’ll require will mostly rely on the sort of call center you intend to operate.
For example, call centers that utilize cloud-based mobile operating systems require high-speed internet, but call centers that employ mechanical telephones do not.
If you’re searching for a low-cost option, consider server-based technology, which is becoming more popular due to its low cost and ease to interact with web-based systems.
8. Decide On A Call Center Name And Logo
By now you must have had a fair share of know-how on how to start your call center business. The next thing to do now is to name it!
There are a lot of factors that you should consider when naming your business.
If you want to get an in-depth idea of what they are, we suggest you read a dedicated article on the top call center business names.
This is also the stage where you will need to design a logo for your call center. You can hire an expert or do it yourself. Just make sure the logo compliments the name of your business.
9. Register Your Call Center
When it comes to starting your call center business one of the most important tasks is to register it.
It’s best if you set it up as a limited liability company (LLC).
There are other options for forming a company, for most new businesses, a Limited Liability Corporation is the most feasible option.
The primary benefit of forming an LLC is that it shields you from personal liability in the case of a business dispute. Your belongings will be safe.
If you’re not sure whether the business structure is appropriate for your call center, we highly advise you to get legal advice.
10. Get Insurance For Your Call Center
When it comes to starting a call center business, getting insurance is crucial.
It may not feel the need to do so at first, but trust us it is a good investment to make.
Most successful businessmen and investors have recognized this as a need for call centers with significant capital.
Call center insurance can safeguard you and provide you comfort that your money will be safe if something goes wrong.
In scenarios beyond your power and with improbable catastrophes such as fires, financial market collapses, earthquakes, and other natural disasters, that coverage is the one that will save you.
11. Apply For Permits And Licenses
It is needless to say local, state, and federal laws must all be followed by your call center.
It is your obligation as the owner to be aware of these regulations and to ensure that your employees are following them.
If your department interacts with strongly regulated areas, your understanding of call-center-management legislation is very important.
Contact an expert who is knowledgeable about your business and the location wherein you operate if you are unclear about the local, state, and federal regulations that apply to your team’s operations and the NDNCR.
12. Buy Equipment Needed For The Call Center
The technology and software of your call center are vital to its success.
Even the most skilled team of customer service agents will grow irritated and fail to satisfy your callers if they are restricted by compromised or inapplicable equipment and software.
Here are some of the resources and technology you’ll need to think about when starting a call center:
Hardware:
- A LAN cable
- Computers with comfortable headphones
- Ergonomic desks, chairs, etc
- ACD (Automatic Call Distributor)
- SIP (Session Initiation Protocol)
Software:
- CTI (Computer Telephony Integration)
- A Call Recording System
- Call Center Software
13. Create The Call Center Layout
It’s also crucial to consider the physical layout of your facility.
Keep lighting and ventilation in mind. Align workstations such that groups and teams may communicate with one another easily.
Maintain a pleasant and practical furniture set.
As much as feasible, ensure that the staff can get up and stretch.
Extraneous noise must be filtered out of your call center so that operators can easily hear and manage each client’s call.
This may be accomplished in a variety of methods, including the use of acoustic wall panels and custom carpets.
14. Recruit Manpower For Your Call Center
Keep in mind the importance of a thorough and fast hiring procedure. You’ll want your company’s ‘voice’ to be informed, kind, and upbeat.
Check for language fluency and recognize the importance of bilingual staff. Do you have a large Hispanic or other ethnic population that requires a second language in addition to English?
Give each candidate a basic grammar exam; you could be surprised (and disappointed) with the results! Are you all set now that you’ve put together a strong team with a supervisory staff you believe you can trust?
15. Arrange For Training Your Staff
To be successful and edge past the competition, your call center workers will require training in the newest technologies and customer service tactics.
Technology is a fast changing one in the call center industry. Hence, employees must be trained regularly.
So, whether you teach your employees in-house or have them outsourced, make sure they have regular, scheduled training sessions.
Peer evaluations and role-playing should be included. Don’t forget to add technical suggestions and what to do if they run across an issue so that your staff isn’t caught off guard when the inevitable occurs.
16. Promote Your Call Center Business
By now have all the knowledge it takes to start a call center business. However, because business is all about competition, you will need to stand out from the rest.
Being able to correctly promote your call center business name is another important consideration.
For your convenience, we’ve produced a list of the top 5 best promotional techniques for your call center.
a) Select A Seo-Friendly Name
Selecting a striking and memorable SEO-friendly name for your call center business is the first and most underrated promotion technique that most people don’t utilize.
If you can choose a cool and appealing name while also being industry-specific half your job is done.
Such a name will set up the business for success immediately as well as in the long run. The name of the call center industry is the most important feature. As a result, also consider the niche you are going to operate on while naming it.
b) Create A Logo
Any client will notice your logo and call center business name combined as the first thing they see.
They would be the first impressions as well.
As a result, creating a logo that complements the theme of your business name is critical to your call center’s success.
Because there are so many factors that go into creating the right logo, and not just any logo will suffice, we recommend reading our in-depth article on the subject.
c) Create A Call Center Business Website
For advertising purposes, your call center must have a website.
This will be your online storefront, where you can show off all your call center business has to offer.
This will help your call center business become more well-known and successful faster.
You may even employ a website designer to build your site from the ground up.
However, buying ready-made websites is a faster and easier option, and there are several markets where you may do it.
d) Make A Slogan
The greatest way to turn a call center business into a brand is to come up with a slogan for it.
This phrase will fit well with your logo and company name. Slogans have been proved to be quite successful in their studies.
Because slogans are brief and quirky by nature, they help clients remember the brand. When creating your tagline, aim to incorporate your call center business’s individuality.
It should also be as eye-catching and appealing as possible, rather than dull. We’ve dedicated an essay to it since there’s a lot more that goes into creating a great business slogan. We strongly advise you to have a look at it.
e) Use Social Media
As most things are done online, you need to capture the attention of prospective clients online as well.
Using social media marketing is one of the most effective promotional techniques in this age.
Try to create Facebook groups and pages early on in your business journey and keep them as active as possible.
You would want to capture the attention of clients so target them according to their needs and post your content accordingly.
If it’s too much for you to do alone you can consider hiring an internet marketing specialist.
f) Have A Business Card
Business cards have existed for quite some time. So there’s a justification for that: it’s effective.
It’s a subtle method to sell while also improving your call center’s image of the brand.
Clients are more likely to call back if they are contacted through this technique rather than through internet marketing or other means.
Make sure to include all relevant information, such as the call center’s name, address, logo, and phone number, as well as the website’s email address. You may also add images and graphics to demonstrate your services.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is a Call Center?
A call center is an organization or office that answers inbound phone calls from new and existing clients seeking answers to inquiries or solutions to issues.
Call centers have also done telemarketing and market research in the past. However, to improve efficiency, many firms have divided these functions into their divisions throughout time.
Customers are now almost entirely served via call center using a variety of analog and digital methods, including:
- Phone
- Use of social media
- Video Call
Who is a provider of call center services?
A company that facilitates contact with new or current clients is known as a call center services provider.
Although most contact centers are located in a physical location, some call center providers use online resources to meet client communication needs.
Outbound and incoming call handling are the specialties of call center service providers.
What do you mean by the concept of call center outsourcing?
When someone employs an external organization to staff and handle your sales, new leads, appointment setup, inbound/blended customer relations, tech assistance, and legal operations, they are engaging in call center outsourcing.
You as a call center owner can tap into this Telemanagement outsource business that can specialize in achieving such objectives.
How to enhance my customer service business?
There are a few things you can do to improve your customer service contact center business.
You should employ specialized tools and software, as well as hire experts.
Here are a few pointers from the pros you should adopt:
Use Essential Performance Indicators Dashboards – These dashboards will show key data such as levels of service, average response time, calls in line, the average time to abandon, etc.
Hire Professional Customer Support Supervisors — Such supervisors collaborate with front-line customer service representatives to ensure that knowledge is transferred, call efficiency is maximized, and KPI objectives are met.
Implement Customer Support Personnel Management – These employees are educated in call monitoring and management and staffing adjustments to guarantee that your inbound call center runs well.
Deploy Advanced Call Handling — You can use inbound dialer technologies to route different IVR options to specified agents or other locations for a one-call solution and regional redundancy.
What is the meaning of telemarketing in the call center business?
Telemarketing, often referred to as insider sales, is a phone-based way of promoting items and services to clients or other businesses.
You can use your call center business to start an outsourcing telemarketing management business that employs strategies to contact customers on behalf of your clients.
Summary
Setting up a call center is a highly profitable business move, especially with so many organizations opting to outsource their help desks and customer support operations.
Running a call center, on the other hand, is not easy. To keep things moving smoothly, you’ll need to plan, recruit the proper people, and utilize the correct tools.
Remember that representatives are the arms of your call center and may convert consumers into boosters and marketers. Use this tutorial to set up and maintain a productive call center that delights your customers. As long as you prioritize your people and procedures, your customers will remain at the forefront.
Editorial Team at 99BusinessIdeas is a team of experts led by Rupak Chakrabarty with over 25 years of experience in starting and running small businesses. Started in 2010, 99BusinessIdeas is now one of the largest free small business resources in the industry.