What are the channels used in an outsourced customer support business?

Monday, December 30, 2013


Customer convenience is a top priority in any outsourced customer support business. That's why call centers today are not confined within the traditional ways of conveying their business, like snail mail. This is rather slow, thus business owners themselves have thought of new ways of delivering the fast and most efficient means of creating a bridge to their clientele.

These are the customer service channels call centers use today:

Calls


"Calls" or telephone support is the first modern customer service after businesses saw the sluggishness of the snail mail.

It all began in the early '50s, after the invention of transistor led a dramatic change in telephone technology. When digital telephones capable of long-distance transmission networks become commercially available, marketers saw this as an effective tool to bridge the gap between them and their customers.

Today, as everyone knows, customer support through the telephone is still existent and remains the most popular way of communicating and conveying brand relevance and customer support to customers around the globe.

Chat support


With the advancements in Internet technology, chat has finally come to grace the business world. In the past years, cheap and efficient live chat software has become useful to brands, accommodating customers who prefer online messaging over traditional phone calls. Call centers and marketers alike use it to cater to vaster consumer demographics and capture wider audiences and prospected clients.

Live chats became more popular when it finally improves into a regular person-to-person chat to simultaneous multiple chatting, which reduced the need to hire more call center representatives.

Social media support


Social media support became an efficient addition to the customer service channels when social media started to create a buzz and somewhat dominate the entire online world. Now, brands, businesses, and marketers use social media to answer customer queries. The great thing about social media networks is that they have their own messaging system which allows brands and customers communicate directly with each other in a private platform.

Today, outsourcers are gradually seeing the importance and efficacy of integrating social and mobile technologies with existing customer relations management (CRM) tools and other databases to their services as people are becoming more into social media. Experts also say that consumers are more honest towards the brand when communications over a social media platform.

Email support


Email has not only helped businesses to market and advertise their products but it has also helped them immensely in bringing their customer service to a higher level.

Though it has somehow lost its luster due to the inception of faster methods such as live chat and social media support, there are customers who still prefer reading a detailed answer from a brand through the e-mail.

Today, call center businesses must not only focus on just one channel. That's why multi-channel support is slowly becoming a trend today. Customers are so diverse now that a call center must have all the means to capture and get the hold of them. All these channels must be incorporated and utilized to improve the customer service efficiency.

Open Access BPO's, a fast-rising off-shoring firm located in Makati, Philippines, offers customer service solutions that aim to deliver you to success. Know more about our other services by visiting our website and our Google+ page.