How to Setup a Call Center Business From Scratch?

Setting up a call center can be a profitable investment in 2022. With the number of companies looking to outsource their call operations, to setup a call center is a lucrative business. However, that doesn’t mean it’s possible to create one overnight. Indeed, this article allows you to know the elements to take into account to create your call center.

What Kind of Call Centers Do I need to Setup?

In general, a call center must handle either incoming calls or outgoing calls. On the other hand, carrying out these two operations constitutes a better option. The first and foremost important thing is to identify why you are opening a call center, focusing on the purpose and objectives. You can setup a call center such as:

 

Inbound Call Center

 

In fact, an inbound call center primarily handles customer-initiated calls. Indeed, these calls are generally intended for customer service. Also, an incoming call center manages customer requests and provides technical assistance. This type of call center also handles order processing and shipping.

 

Outbound Call Center

In an outbound call center, the call cent٢er agent or teleoperator makes calls to a customer. Thus, these calls are generally intended for telemarketing, sales, survey, or telle-prospecting purposes. Moreover, these calls can be cold calls. This involves soliciting potential customers who have had no prior contact with the salesperson making the call. And conversely, calls can also be hot. In other words, the agent makes a call with a customer with whom the teleoperator has come into contact. And that this customer expresses an interest in a service and/or product of the company.

This type of call center is right for you if you’ve worked in sales before. It is also suitable for you if you are particularly motivated by setting and achieving business goals. This is because the focus is often on optimizing operations to generate revenue.

 

Incoming & Outgoing Call Center

It is also possible to handle both incoming and outgoing calls. This can be done, provided that the necessary capacities and personnel are available. However, offering a combination of incoming and outgoing services is very useful. Especially if you want to cater to all customer journeys and work with more customers.

Basic Equipment For a Call Center  

To do this, you’ll need a few essential pieces of equipment to get your call center going. These include in particular the following:

Headsets with Microphone: so that each agent can make and answer calls. The headsets used in call centers need to be selected with a lot of care. The employees have to wear them for long hours, day after day, to answer calls. aLSO, with many people working in the same room, noise cancellation is VERY NECESSARY.

Computers/laptops: to support and use the hardware and/or software used.

Telephone hardware and/or software: to be able to host the telephone call services. But also to dial, route, and record calls, manage data and perform related tasks.

 

Internet connection: a necessity for all call centers, but especially for those that operate virtually. In fact, they need Internet-based calling systems.

Workstations (ergonomic desks, chairs, etc.): for the safety and comfort of your staff. In fact, these types of equipment are generic. However, the specific equipment you will need will largely depend on the type of call center you want to run. For example, a very high-speed Internet connection is suitable for call centers that use cloud telephony software.

Estimate Budget

Set a budget for your call center project within the overall budget of your company and set the minimum and maximum possible costs for it. With a budget, you will ultimately be able to determine the type and technology on which your new call center will be built, as well as the staff required to run it.

You need to understand the difference between the initial investment in the creation of a call center and the current operating costs of maintaining it. It is also necessary to determine the requirements for employees: their number must be predicted based on preliminary estimates of future call volumes, taking into account different job shifts, days off, absenteeism, hospital employees, etc.

 

Recruiting Staff

Your call center team should consist of people who are experts in product support, technical support, or other customer service areas. In order to control the implementation by all operators of the established internal rules and procedures, the position of the head of the call center is a very important decision to make.

Depending on your needs and the size of your team, positions such as Team Leader/Supervisor, Call Center Analyst, Call Center Business Coach, etc. are necessary as well, regardless of the position for which you hire employees, all call center personnel must have a certain set of qualities and skills. Such as excellent communication skills, patience, empathy, and problem-solving skills.

What Other Essentials Do You Need to Run a Call Center?

It is possible to achieve high quality and clarity of customer service only if you have the right equipment and a professional software package for managing a call center. That is why the number of companies using a traditional on-premise call center in their work is gradually decreasing, while more and more companies are switching to cloud-based telephony software solutions. Here Are some of these tools:

Business Phone System

To run a call center for customer service, a business phone system is a necessity. So whether it’s an on-premises or virtual solution. However, you must first consider the size of your team and the strength of your Internet connection. You need to ensure that your telephony solution is scalable, easy to implement, and has the features you want. 

Cloud Call Center Software

This is the brain of your call center and provides both the admin and agent panels. This will include the dialers, IVRs, queue management, analytics, call management, call routing, call recordings, and call reports. 

Try ZIWO For Free! ZIWO Cloud Call Center Software provides you with a complete overview of your call center activity with more than 40 live KPIs, and customizable real-time statistics dashboards, and much more!

ZIWO is accessible from any web-connected device on Google Chrome, connects to real or virtual agents, and connects virtual phone numbers from any country.

IVR (Interactive Voice Response)

It is an automated phone technology, which allows the caller to access information via prerecorded messages. It doesn’t need an agent. It can give detailed information and customer data in a very small time frame. Read more about IVR technology and how it can help your business here.

Communication Channels

You need to know your customers and their preferences in advance. Thus, you must ensure that you are available to serve them on their preferred channels. Indeed, these channels can include social media platforms, live chat, and, of course, voice channels. For this, your contact center software must integrate a multichannel strategy.

Performance Measurement Software

In order to track the performance of your agents, your call center software should have a recording and tracking feature. In fact, this feature will help you precisely control the productivity and responsiveness of your agents.

CRM

When you create a call center, it is important to store your customers’ information and other data. This is to keep the customer service process smooth and in place. Thus, you need to consider various factors to choose the best CRM solution for your business.

Conclusion

Having in your arsenal a plan with a carefully calculated budget along with a business plan, nothing prevents you from making it all a reality, and it is possible to fulfill your dream of opening a call center easily.

According to recent studies, the demand for call center services and to setup a call center is growing by about 15% annually. Therefore, by providing all the necessary indicators and results for your customers, you have a chance to get good reviews about your company and credibility among competitors. So, you will get a stable source of income!