Customer Service Outsourcing Companies: What They Do & Why Your Business Needs Them

A whopping 95% of consumers believe that customer support plays a vital role in their loyalty to brands.

To provide clients more value and gain their trust, businesses are increasingly invested in this service.

In this article, you’ll discover the benefits of partnering with customer service outsourcing companies and how they can bring your business more returning clients and higher profits.

Let’s dive in!

What Is Customer Service Outsourcing?

Customer service outsourcing is the practice of transferring all client-facing communication to a third-party service provider.

The outside agency is equipped with trained agents who are typically responsible for handling your business’ incoming phone calls, emails, social media messages and other common forms of customer support requests.

Their job is to help your customers get quick and efficient responses to their questions and solutions to their problems.

They are able to serve your customers 24/7 while allowing you to focus on your vision, core business processes and larger sales drivers.

Top 10 Customer Service Outsourcing Companies Of 2021

These are the leading agencies on the market that provide outsourced customer support services:

#1: Go Answer

Go Answer is a New York-based customer service outsourcing company that specializes in answering services and contact center services.

The agency has HIPAA trained and bilingual agents offering 24/7/365 coverage to small, mid-sized and large businesses across various industries like hospitality, government, education and medical.

Their key services include:

• Call answering
• Helpdesk
• Order taking
• Customer follow-ups
• Market research
• Lead qualification
• SMS and email alerts
• Web chat
• Real-time mobile app and dashboard

Pricing:

Go Answer offers several pricing packages based on the call volume, ranging from 100 minutes to 10,000 minutes.

Plans start at $50/month, however, you need to ask for a custom quote on their website.

#2: TeleDirect

TeleDirect is a California-based agency assisting businesses with inbound and outbound services, available 24/7/365 even during weekends and holidays.

The company’s agents are HIPAA compliant and fluent in several languages including Spanish.

They partner with small businesses and Fortune 500 companies across various industries, from healthcare and telecommunications to retail and legal.

The key services they provide are:

• Interactive voice response
• Email management
• Live web chat support
• Order processing
• Helpdesk
• Call cording
• Data security
• Reporting

Pricing:

TeleDirect’s pricing is custom, so you need to contact the company for a quote.

#3: Peak Support

Located in Massachusetts, Peak Support provides inbound and outbound support services for U.S. and European brands across industries like retail, technology and gaming.

The agency employs highly trained industry agents whose job is to optimize your support processes to make certain your clients get exceptional service.

The agents provide customer support via:

• Email
• Phone
• Chat
• Social media

Pricing:

Peak Support offers custom quotes and the agency typically charges a flat monthly fee or an hourly fee, depending on the clients’ preferences.

#4: Aidey

Aidey is a Philippines-based business process outsourcing company serving startups, eCommerce and SaaS companies.

They offer 24/7/365 customer support services with native English agents, helping businesses manage their operations through flexible solutions.

The agency can help you with:

• Phone support
• Chat support
• Email support
• Cold calling
• Lead generation

Pricing:

Aidey’s pricing starts from $1,499, depending on the volume of services you need.

#5: Five Star Call Centers

Five Star Call Centers is a South Dakota-based agency that offers customer service outsourcing services to businesses that need inbound and outbound calling solutions.

The agency employs friendly, responsive and informative agents who customize each campaign based on the unique client needs.

Their inbound services include:

• Scheduling
• Help desk
• Referral services
• Tech support
• Order management
• Upselling and cross-selling
• Reservations
• Consumer information
• Customer loyalty programs

The outbound services they offer are:

• Upselling
• Cross-selling
• Recruiting
• Market research
• Cold-calling
• Direct mail follow-ups
• Fundraising

Five Star Call Centers does not require a long-term contract.

Pricing:

The agency offers custom pricing, so you need to request a free quote on their website.

#6: SAS

SAS is an outsourcing customer service provider located in Pennsylvania. The agency offers live operator solutions, including:

• Telephone answering services
• Lead generation services
• Calls enter services
• Virtual receptionists

They employ bilingual representatives who serve clients across various sectors like real estate, medical, property management and attorneys.

Pricing:

SAS’ pricing is based on the number of minutes dedicated to client support. Their plans are:

• Economy ($34/month + $1.29 per minute)
• 100 minutes ($128 per month + $1.19 per additional minute)
• 220 minutes ($219 per month + $1.19 per additional minute)
• 500 minutes ($539 per month + $1.09 per additional minute)
• 1,000 minutes ($999 per month + $1.05 per additional minute)
• 2,500 minutes ($2,400 per month + $0.99 per additional minute)
• 5,000 minutes ($4,599 per month + $0.99 per additional minute)
• 10,000 minutes ($8,599 per month + $0.89 per additional minute)

#7: Signius Communications

Signius Communications is an Illinois-based call center service provider that works with both small businesses and Fortune 500 companies across various industries, including healthcare, education, utility and government.

The agency offers fully customized answering services with 24/7/365 coverage.

Some of the solutions they cover include:

• Customer care
• Direct response
• Hotlines
• Help desk
• Order taking
• Disaster backup
• Appointment management

Pricing:

Signius Communications has three pricing plans:

• Starter ($45/month for 50 minutes; $1.00 per additional minute)
• Pro ($109/ month for 125 minutes; $0.95 per additional minute)
• Premier ($213/month for 250 minutes; $0.92 per additional minute)

#8: XACT

Headquartered in Florida, XACT provides contact center services and next-generation telecommunications for organizations around the globe.

Their solutions empower customer experience to help businesses achieve success.

Some of their services are:

• Helpdesk
• Chat and web support
• Outbound survey/response
• Service and support dispatch
• Telephone answering

The agency serves clients across industries, from education and publishing to dental and medical.

Pricing:

XACT pricing is custom, so you need to request a free quote on their website.

#9: Liveops

Liveops is an Arizona-based virtual call center that has over 20 years of experience in helping businesses with their customer service and sales needs.

They have served more than 400 organizations across different sectors, including telecom, healthcare, retail and government.

Their service offerings include:

• Chat support
• Email response
• Inbound sales
• Outbound calls
• Social media support

Pricing:

Liveops offers custom pricing plans. Request a quote by getting in touch with the company through their website.

#10: Working Solutions

Headquartered in Texas, Working Solutions is an on-demand contact center whose clients include mid-sized businesses and Fortune 500 companies across different sectors like retail, healthcare and travel.

Their solutions are designed to maximize growth opportunities and ensure business continuity.

The agency provides customer care service via:

• Voice assistance
• Text support
• Email support
• Chat support
• Social media support

Pricing:

Working Solutions offers custom pricing plans, so you need to contact the company for a quote.

What's The Difference Between Customer Service And A Call Center?

In a nutshell, the difference between customer service and a call center lies in how they handle client communication.

A call center is a department that uses the telephone as a channel to connect with customers.

Trained representatives receive or make calls to answer the clients’ questions, help them resolve issues related to the company’s products or services and even generate sales.

Their job is to deal with the calls those organizations receive and resolve problems in a timely manner.

Customer service, on the other hand, is a department that serves as an extension of the organization’s support. It provides clients with assistance before, during and after using their products or services.

However, unlike call center representatives, customer service experts help resolve customer queries using different mediums, including telephone but also email, social media, live chat and more.

Although call centers play a meaningful role in the customer support strategy, they are typically used for sales purposes only.

Customer service is a broader term, and beyond sales, it deals with increasing client loyalty and retention as well as improving brand reputation.

Common Types Of Outsourced Customer Support Services

Depending on the business type and size, different customer support mediums work better for different companies.

These are the most common solutions for outsourcing customer support services:

#1: Phone Support

According to Zendesk, over 50% of clients across all age groups use the phone to resolve issues with a company.

Phone support is not only the oldest form of customer service, but also one of the most popular choices among businesses to manage their client relationships because:

• It is much faster than any other kind of customer service
• It allows customers to explain complex problems easier
• It enables better recognition of clients’ emotions
• It works across all generations, tech-savvy or not

Assisting customers via the phone allows companies to engage in a conversation, which creates a sense of intimacy. This creates a deeper bond and contributes to establishing meaningful relationships.

Phone customer service is used across a wide range of industries, particularly in the public sector like:

• Government
• Legal
• Healthcare
• Education

#2: Email Support

With 49%, email is the second most popular medium customers use to resolve issues, according to Zendesk.

While it may be much easier to discuss a problem via the phone, some customers prefer to interact with brands in writing, by sending emails.

With email support, some clients not only feel more comfortable carrying out conversations, but by using this medium they can also:

• Contact companies whenever they find it convenient, even outside working hours
• Get in touch with the support team without the need for direct human interaction
• Write down a problem clearly and review it before sending
• Keep conversation history for future reference

However, while email is one of the preferred customer support channels, a new study by SuperOffice shows that 62% of organizations ignore their clients’ emails.

SuperOffice closely analyzed these companies and concluded that they did not have correctly established processes to handle support requests.

This is a bad practice that pushes clients away. In fact, the same study reveals that most companies that failed to meet their clients’ expectations lost millions of dollars.

Partnering with customer service outsourcing companies can make all the difference, since they have the expertise and experience to carry out your email customer conversations properly.

These experts will ensure customer satisfaction. Your company will establish meaningful relationships with your clients by:

• Letting them know that you have received their requests via properly constructed automated messages
• Following up with them in a timely manner
• Personalizing the emails
• Trying to solve the issue in the first reply

Apart from this, customer service outsourcing companies will facilitate access to your contact information, making your email address clearly visible on your website and other digital platforms.

#3: Live Chat Support

According to HubSpot:

In other words, you have as much as 10 minutes to respond to your customer service inquiries.

Just like all other customer support mediums, live chat has its unique benefits, including speed.

It gives customers who don’t prefer calls instant access to a company’s representative, allowing quick issue resolution.

This is why this medium has the highest consumer satisfaction rate, at 92%. (Zendesk)

Apart from client satisfaction, live chat is one of the best support mediums for converting leads.

Potential buyers can ask different questions and make easy purchases based on your company representative’s feedback.

Live chat is a great asset that your company can make use of to keep clients satisfied.

However, while this medium makes it easy for customers to reach support and for companies to provide feedback, getting more requests than they can handle can be overwhelming.

When outsourcing customer service, your organization will get access to professional help where experts can cope with more inquiries and provide rapid resolution.

That way, you can do the work more efficiently without worrying about the time you cannot allocate to client communication.

#4: Social Media Support

Social media support is provided on social platforms like Instagram, Facebook or Twitter through:

• Private messaging
• Comments
• Group discussions

This type of support is effective because customers can get in touch with brands easily and quickly through the platforms they use daily.

Data supports this fact, and according to Facebook, 69% of U.S. users claim that they feel more confident about brands if they can message them on the channel.

Also, organizations should take advantage of social media support and form groups where they provide answers to all of their clients’ questions publicly.

That way, they can potentially decrease the number of similar questions and save time.

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— Starbucks Coffee (@Starbucks) January 31, 2021

The drawback of using social media as a client support channel is that posts are available to almost everyone. So, companies need to ensure that they deal with negative feedback with honesty and diplomacy.

Especially now, when people are spending more time online due to the COVID crisis, companies need to optimize their communications and provide comprehensive customer experiences.

Customer service outsourcing companies can help you take a proactive approach and provide your customers with the maximum value of your service.

How Much Do Customer Service Outsourcing Companies Charge?

The cost of outsourced customer support services will depend on several factors, including:

• The type of services your company needs
• The number of dedicated professionals engaged in the process
• Employee training
• Time availability
• Complexity of customer requests
• Number of expected contacts
• The number of support channels needed
• The location of the outsourcing partner

Customer service outsourcing companies typically charge clients by the hour and, on average, you can expect firms located in various regions in the world to ask for:

• $10 in India
• $14-$30 in Eastern Europe
• $15-$40 in the USA

While basic call answering services may range between a few cents to one dollar per minute, usually brands end up paying about $1300-$2,500 each month.

The cost may be higher if the company requires additional services like:

• Call recording
• Quality assurance
• Collecting contacts for lead generation
• Business consultation
• Analytical programs
• Reporting
• Managerial training

The Benefits Of Outsourcing Customer Service

From cost optimization to higher revenue, these are the key benefits of outsourcing customer service:

#1: Optimized Cost

Hiring and onboarding customer support agents can be a long and costly process.

According to Glassdoor, the average US employer spends about $4,000 to hire a new worker.

The full price of setting an in-house customer service team also includes:

• Setting up the infrastructure
• Employee salaries
• Equipment

By outsourcing customer service, businesses can save a significant amount of money.

Customer service outsourcing companies not only have fully trained experts, but they also have the equipment needed to handle client communication.

In addition, the cost of hiring a third-party company is significantly lower than paying a fixed salary to a team of in-house agents.

This practice allows you to save resources and optimize costs.

#2: Reduced Workload And Improved Efficiency

The beauty of outsourced customer support services is that you can keep your focus on running your business and doing profitable activities rather than responding to calls or emails.

Customer support agents can help you reduce workload and free up time for you and your employees, to focus on internal operations and larger sales drivers without sacrificing customer satisfaction.

This partnership will contribute to higher work efficiency and productivity and will ultimately result in increased sales.

#3: Access to Best-in-Class Technology and Processes

Another benefit of outsourcing customer service is that professional client support companies come equipped with cutting-edge technologies.

We are talking about expensive tools like Hootsuite for social media management or Vanilla, a software that allows you to set up your own community forum, whose prices reach $689/month.

These tools are needed for improving your business operations and handling your customer communications with ease.

In addition, these companies also have dynamic processes and they know how to keep up with new customer demands as well as solve issues in a timely manner.

Their agents have years of experience, so they can be more efficient at their job than you.

#4: Improved Customer Satisfaction And Loyalty

Apart from the professionalism that your clients will get thanks to your outsourcing customer service team, there are a few more facts that contribute to satisfaction and loyalty.

On the one hand, there is the multilingual service.

Customer service outsourcing companies have a team of bilingual experts who are proficient in the most commonly spoken languages like Spanish and Chinese.

If your customer base speaks another language, these professional companies can help you overcome the communication barriers, allowing your clients to feel more confident about your company.

On the other hand, outsourced customer support services can provide you with better coverage.

While you may be able to serve your clients at a particular time, these agencies typically work 24/7, as their team members are coming from different time zones.

With this increased accessibility, your customers will be able to reach you at any time, which will leave a positive impression of your company.

#5: Increased Revenue

According to HubSpot, 68% of consumers will pay more for products and services from a business that offers excellent customer support.

Great customer service allows businesses to create meaningful relationships with their clients, built on trust and appreciation.

Many clients focus on how brands treat them, and very often they find this as more important than the product quality and pricing.

In other words, excellent customer support can make all the difference.

When done right, customer service can bring your company more returning clients and higher profits.

Customer service outsourcing companies can help you meet the growing expectations of your clients and provide them with more efficient problem resolutions.

How To Choose The Best Outsourced Customer Support Services Partner For Your Business

Selecting the best outsourced customer support services partner for your business can be a tricky process.

However, the following factors can help you make the right choice and pick an agency that can meet your business needs:

• Industry experience: While industry experience should not be a key decisive factor, it matters because the professional companies that have worked with other clients in your field will be familiar with the regulations in your sector. Additionally, they will have unique insights into your customers and the particular concerns they might have. This can allow them to handle your support tasks more effectively and efficiently.
• Security: You need to understand what security processes each company has in place to keep the personal information of your clients safe. When clients ask for support, they very often give away sensitive data, including phone numbers, addresses and bank card numbers. And you as a serious business need to make sure that this info stays protected. Thereby, ask customer service outsourcing companies for their security protocols and, if necessary, restrict them from accessing or asking for certain info like credit card details.
• Tools and technologies: Customer support is a process that depends on various tools and technologies, and the agencies that have access to the latest hardware and software components will be better positioned to serve your customers. Apart from this, study the prospective agencies’ IT infrastructure and see if they have reliable phone networks and internet lines. These are small factors that can contribute to improved client satisfaction.
• Client reviews and references: Reviews and references are another important factor that will help you make the smart choice. These will show you how reliable these companies are and give you honest insights into their previous work and reputation. They will also tell you if previous clients are satisfied with their work, what results they helped them accomplish and help you familiarize yourself with the ins and outs of the company.
• Communication: Communication plays a vital role in customer service. And to see how well prospective customer service outsourcing companies can do their job, you should evaluate their communication skills from the very start. See how available they are and if they reply to your calls and messages in a timely manner. In addition to that, if the potential partner operates in a different time zone, find out how they can minimize gaps in communication.

10 Questions To Ask Customer Service Outsourcing Companies Before Hiring One

Ask prospective customer service outsourcing companies the following questions:

1. How do you hire and train your agents?
2. Have you ever worked with businesses in the same or similar niche?
3. What is your customer satisfaction score?
4. How do you measure your agents’ performance?
5. What security processes do you have in place?
6. What tools and technologies do you have access to?
7. Will you assign a contact person?
8. Will you send analytical reports and how often? What will they include?
9. What are your pricing options? How much will your services cost me?
10. Can I see what is included in the contract?

How To Evaluate The Performance Of Your Outsourcing Customer Service Company

Customer service is all about making certain your clients are satisfied with your products and services as well as the way you handle the communication with them.

But how can you measure the performance of your outsourced customer support services team? How can you tell if they are doing a good job assisting your clients?

The answer is quality assurance.

Quality assurance (QA) is a process that ensures your outsourcing customer service partner delivers the highest standards of client support.

You can check the performance of your agency by focusing on the following QA metrics:

• Customer satisfaction score (CSAT) or how satisfied your customers are with the support they get
• Average call answering speed or how much it takes your team to answer incoming calls
• Resolution rate or the percentage of received requests vs. resolved requests
• Issue resolution time or the average time the team needs to resolve an issue
• First contact resolution ratio or the ability to solve client’s issues during the first contact
• Customer effort score or the effort it took clients to have their problems solved

The QA process can help you evaluate the work of your partner but also improve your customer service to increase client satisfaction.

Takeaways On Customer Service Outsourcing Companies

Customer service outsourcing companies can help you manage your client communication more effectively and efficiently.

The most common types of outsourced customer support services are:

• Phone support
• Email support
• Live chat support
• Social media support

These professional agencies may charge you between $10 and $40 per hour, depending on their location.

The benefits of outsourcing customer service are:

• Optimized cost
• Reduced workload and improved efficiency
• Access to best-in-class technology and processes
• Improved customer satisfaction and loyalty
• Increased revenue

To choose the best agency partner for your business needs, consider the following factors:

• Industry experience
• Security
• Tools and technologies
• Client reviews and references
• Communication

To evaluate the performance of your outsourcing customer service agency, consider quality assurance and focus on key metrics like customer satisfaction score.