Recently it has been announced that UK Telecommunications Company Talk-Talk has decided to shut their call centres and instead outsource their requirements to a call centre outsourcing company.

Outsourcing arrangements are becoming more popular as companies are realising the benefits of letting someone else handle the work on their behalf –these benefits include cost savings and time savings. With changing consumer habits such as businesses using online communications to communicate with their customers, outsourcing seems to be a better all round choice for businesses big or small.

Many small businesses need to watch their expenses and hold back on hiring more employees due to the costs that come with recruitment, human resources and staff wages. The top benefits of outsourcing for small businesses include:

• Outsourcing gives access to experienced professionals. Small business owners may not have experience in areas such as human resources, which can often be an area full of complicated rules and regulations. Outsourcing these areas of business can allow small businesses to grow, without being weighed down with the often laborious task of learning something you may not have experience with.
• Save money. Outsourcing can reduce costs compared with the cost of keeping core business tasks in house. These cost savings come from keeping staff levels down, plus saving on the cost of facilities needed to complete these business tasks and rent to house extra employees.
• Saving time. Allowing somebody else to complete key business tasks such as telephone answering (which can deal with annoying telemarketing calls and cold callers for you) can save you time to get on with more important day to day tasks.

There are many core business tasks which you can outsource including copywriting and editing, human resources, marketing, or legal services.

One area that small businesses can benefit from in particular is outsourcing telephone answering services. Whatever type of business you run, telephone answering can play a crucial part in the day to day operations of a business as it is often a first point of contact for potential customers. Although it is a necessary part of running a business, it can often be time consuming and disruptive of day to day tasks for small businesses. If you are on the other line, or too busy to take a call, many customers become frustrated by answering machines and will often call elsewhere. This is an example of how outsourcing can be beneficial – you never need miss a new business opportunity.

If you are a small business considering outsourcing, some pointers to make sure you do it correctly:

• Get references. Your outsourcing company should be able to provide references or testimonials from current or previous customers.
• Get quotes. Don’t settle for the first quote you receive. Have a look around and obtain quotes from at least three different outsourcing providers.
• Reliability. Find out the details on the company – good questions to ask are, how long have they been in the outsourcing business? How many clients do they currently have? Why are they located and how many employees do they have?
• Experience. What experience do they have? What projects have they worked on in the past?
• Know the costs. Make sure there are no additional hidden charges. Ask for the set up fee’s, training costs, etc before agreeing to anything.
• Contact. Make sure you hire an outsourcing provider, who can stay in frequent contact, monthly updates are essential so you know the job is being done correctly.

Outsourcing can be incredibly beneficial to small businesses, saving time and money and allowing the business to prosper. However, time must be taken to choose the correct outsourcing company for you.

Author: CallCare are a call centre outsourcing company in the UK providing a professional telephone answering service to a variety of public and private sector clients.