subject: How Customer Service Outsourcing Helps Companies During A Crisis [print this page] Customer service outsourcing is nothing newCustomer service outsourcing is nothing new. For years companies have relied on phone answering agencies to be the go-between when dealing with urgent situations. Here, well look a couple areas where call centers provide great benefits to companies in crisis.
During an emergency, companies need to be able to respond rapidly to incoming calls. One area where outsourcing customer service can benefit a company is when a product recall is ordered. Depending on the size of the manufacturer or seller and the number of products involved, many entities simply would not be able to manage the number of calls they could receive.
Through customer service outsourcing, inquiries about recalls get dealt with quickly and professionally. For calls that need a live operator to impart information or take messages regarding the recall, those operators are there. In cases where a live operator isnt necessary, most call centers provide interactive voice response (IVR) services.
With IVR, callers hear specific recorded messages that, like live operators, can relay critical recall information, direct callers on how to return the recalled product, refute any media hype that might have risen around the recall and many other tasks. The nature of the recall situation, of course, will dictate whether a company needs live phone agents or recordings, but either way, the call center can meet their needs.
Another crisis situation where outsourcing customer service responsibilities can help a company is when a disaster happens at one of its locations that causes people in the area to perceive a threat to their safety. Examples could be fires, explosions, floods, chemical leaks and numerous other catastrophes. In these cases, call centers field calls for their clients and relay the exact information the client wants given out.
An important aspect of crisis management service, as indicated earlier, is to settle the minds of worried or angry callers. If the crisis is a public one (such as with recalls and disasters), the media may have hyped up the issue, as the media is known to do, causing citizens to panic. Customer service outsourcing allows companies experiencing this type of problem to know that all communication with the public is being handled in a way that lessens emotions and provides all necessary information.
By outsourcing customer service crisis management tasks to a professional call center, the directors of companies can focus on the long list of internal functions they must undertake and not worry about the potential flood of calls that could pour in. Call centers, naturally, provide many more services than just crisis management, but this is one area they can particularly benefit a business.
