How To Setup a Call Centre From The Scratch

Setting up a call center is not a one day task. Without proper planning and adequate resources setting up a call center becomes next to an impossible thing. It requires extensive research and innumerable process which needs to be followed before the call center is set up properly and ready to function. Therefore, today we will know in detail the proper steps and planning required in order to set up a contact center from scratch.

Calculate The Number Of Employees You Require:

Whenever you are setting up a call center you must know the reason behind opening it and the domain in which you want to operate. This will play a crucial role in determining the number of employees you require for your outsourcing company. You also need to find out how much big you want your call center to be so that you can plan your recruitment and technology based on that.

Here’s the thing.

Never try to guess the number of employees you require for your organization and try to utilize all the information you have in determining the number of employees you actually require. In case of contract-based service, the contract should itself lay down the number of resources required to deliver the service. You can also determine the number of employees you require based on the channels you want to operate. Even a group or team discursion can go a long way in determining the number of people you need in your organization.

Decide The Location Of Your Call Center:

The location of the contact center can play a crucial role in the success of your bpo business in the long run. Decide the location of your call center keeping in the mind the skills you are trying to bring in to your organization. For example, if you require multilingual agents for your call center you should try to set up your call center near a big city or an airport as it will help you get multilingual agents more easily. On the other hand if you deliver services related to a specific area try to hire local agents from that area as they will have prior knowledge about local culture and their needs.

And it doesn’t stop there.

Try to set up your call center at the close vicinity of the company headquarters. In this way, the call center agents will feel more aligned with the brand and its business. The agents might also give a visit to the nearby warehouses, departments, and factories at their off time which will give them a feeling of being more attached to the company and increase their motivation level.

Choose Technology In Line With Your Business:

While setting up your business process you will come across several technologies which you can adopt or implement in your organization. But you will have to decide wisely whether you need all those technologies or not and which one of them goes in line with your organizational structure. If you make a generic list of technologies used in call centers it will not help you in choosing the right technology for your business. Thus instead of looking here and there try to jot down certain important decision-making factors which might help you in choosing the right technology.

Here’s the deal.

Try to find out the channels being used by the customers and the knowledge you need and where it needs to be stored. Also, do some research regarding the CRM (Customer Relationship Management) system you need to have in order to build a complete profile of every customer in your contact center database. Do not forget to keep focus on the segment service that you plan to provide and call routing procedures. If you keep a close watch on all these things and do some research there will be no problem in choosing the right technology for your contact center.

Keep Aside Enough Resources And Time:

The average time to set up and roll out a call center is approximately 6 months. However, it might take more time or less than this depending on several factors. So you must keep adequate time and resources in hand when you move forward in setting up your bpo company. However, it is also possible to set up a call center within a period of 3 months if you work in a tight deadline but it’s not advisable as it results in too much pressure on the people working behind it.

Look - That's not all.

In certain cases, it might even take 24 months to set up a call center because at certain circumstances the planning stage might extend beyond 18 months and an additional 6 months is required for the roll-out phase. So it can be understood that the set up time of a call center is really a subjective matter and might vary on a case to case basis depending on the nature of the business and several other factors.

Employee Hiring and Training before Call Center Opening:

Now this is the tricky part of your call center set up. In most cases, you might be working on a tight schedule and the new call center building might not be ready at the time of hiring your new contact center agents. Moreover, if you organize the interview process in an unfinished building it might leave a negative impression on the minds of the prospective employees and you might lose the chance to hire the best talents in your area.

Here is the deal!

Try to organize the interviews in the nearby head office if it has a conference room or you can also hire a seminar hall in the nearby hotel or college and go for an interview there. The idea is to give the best impression to the candidates who come for an interview so that you can get the best talent in the industry.

Setting Up A Good Work Culture:

Setting up a good work culture full of harmony and cooperation is equally important for the proper working of the call center and it needs a proper commitment from the top-level employees of the organization. The call center managers and team leaders should ensure a friendly and proper atmosphere among the employees in the organization and must look after the proper motivation, support and mentoring of the agents as and when required. The idea is to give a homely atmosphere to all the employees in the organization so that they remain happy and give their best at work.

To conclude we can say that setting up a call center is not a very difficult task. However, it needs proper planning and adequate resources in order to become successful in setting it up correctly. Follow the points mentioned above in order to set up your call center with zero trouble.