Call Center Staffing Agencies: 5 Benefits of Using a Staffing Agency

Building a successful business takes more than a good business idea. You need to have the right people to support your vision, execute your plans, and work with your customers. The problem arises when you know you need to fill specific roles, but you do not know enough about the job function to make a good hire. That disconnect can cost you, big.

Cost Saving

According to the U.S. Department of Labor, the average cost of a bad hire adds up to roughly 30 percent of that person’s first-year earnings potential with your company. The cost for replacing supervisory and management personnel is even higher. The Society for Human Resource Management (SHRM) puts the cost at 50 percent to several times that person’s first-year salary. If those numbers sound high or shocking, keep in mind that a CareerBuilder survey found that around 27 percent of employers who have had a bad hire estimate the cost of their mistakes at over $50,000, each.

To make matters worse, we have only been talking about the direct monetary cost of a bad hire so far. There are also indirect costs to consider. When the person you hire isn’t a good fit, the impact reverberates through your company. Employee morale goes down and so does productivity because in this case, the proverb that a bad apple spoils the bunch is true. Bad hires may not work as well or as effectively, putting the burden of a good performance on other workers. Over time, good employees become overtaxed and eventually burn out or quit. Poor performers may also start a domino effect that causes standards to drop as co-workers emulate the bad hire’s worst behaviors because, if he or she gets away with it, why not? Then, there are the customers. How many could you lose as a result of that bad hire? The whole process can start a downward spiral that takes time and resources to remedy.

Or, you could start out with the right people by using a staffing agency.

You will save money on the cost of a bad hire as well as on the cost of hiring people to oversee the hiring process. From drug screening to background checks, setting up payroll to pre-employment testing, the time and costs can really add up. However, when you choose a staffing agency, they handle everything for you. The agency does the leg-work in recruiting, identifying, vetting and on-boarding each new employee. And if an individual doesn’t work out – they replace them.

Expertise

Staffing agencies work because they have expertise in hiring people for specific roles. Even entry-level positions are not a good fit for every applicant, and those differences become more pronounced the further up the company ladder you go.

Let’s say you are setting up a call center to handle your customer service activities. You need to hire someone who knows about call centers to manage it for you. The people who are qualified to do that job can have very different approaches leading to varied results. Someone with a sales background might push efficiency above all and focus on resolving customer issues and getting them off the phone immediately. In contrast, someone with a customer service background may tolerate a slower pace, encouraging employees to make sure the issue is resolved on the first call, even if it takes a bit longer. This is just one example. Call centers and customer service facilities are filled with others.

In contrast, when you hire a staffing agency to make that hire, you are getting more than a body to fill the position. You are getting the combined experience of our people and a consultant-like approach to figuring out exactly what you need in a call center manager. Moreover, we have the network connections to get you the best in the business for your specific goals. And our expertise does not stop with supervisory staff.

Call Center Staffing Agencies understand the customer service agents role in working on your behalf as a direct connection to your customers. The selection of the persons in those seats are important. Aside from work ethic and productivity concerns, there is also the issue of brand identity. The agents need to professionally represent your company and culture.

At GCS, we accomplish this by carefully screening potential hires for fit to the role. Then we start a tailored training process that doesn’t stop when our agents start taking calls. All our outsourced center staff are trained and regularly coached. That includes on product or service knowledge, but also on the techniques of great interactions. We even developed proprietary soft-skills training to increase customer empathy and service levels. This ensures, your customers get the experience they expect with each contact. By staffing with a call center agency, you reduce the risk of a bad fit for your organization. You shift the burden of employee selection and development onto the vendor. You gain the experience and knowledge of a company that focuses solely on hiring people for these type of positions.

The Complete Call Center Outsourcing Guide

Get all your questions on outsourcing your call center answered! 

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Time-Saving

Using a staffing agency for your call center saves money, but it also saves time. On the one hand, the time you save is your personal time. You won’t have to waste hours interviewing people who are not good fits for your company. Forget the candidate that looked good on paper but showed up late to the interview, lacked enthusiasm, or just didn’t fit your company culture. Instead, you can spend the time you save focusing on the core ways to grow your company.

By outsourcing the hiring and on-boarding process, you can keep your employees focused on your core business. Hiring new people can be disruptive. Using a staffing agency also helps prevent your employees from getting distracted by the selection, incorporation, and training of new staff. This way, they can focus on what they do best.

Increased Retention

The proper candidate selection goes a long way to reducing turnover. By identifying the person best suited for the job, you increase dramatically the chance of them staying with your company for the long-term. Our years of hiring for contact center and back office staff has honed our ability. In fact, we learned long ago that most new hires left early in the process. They tended to deselect themselves if the fit was not good. After 90 days on the job, we see how turnover dropped dramatically. So we developed an interview process that helps the candidate understand what the job is like. We use physical simulations, assessments, and storytelling to “paint the picture” of a typical workday. There is no arm twisting to get a candidate to just say “Yes.”

We break it down even more in this quick video:

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Improved Metrics

When you trust your hiring to an agency that specializes in call centers, you can also enjoy improved metrics. Simply identify those key performance indicators that you feel will define success for your company, its customer service, or its outbound sales, and let a staffing agency help you get there. Our clients often experience:

1. Improved Customer Satisfaction. It starts with customer satisfaction. When your call center employees are a truly great fit for your company and brand, your customers will experience the difference. These interactions lead to better reviews and higher C-SAT, Net Promotor and other scores.  Over time, that performance keeps customers coming back, builds loyalty and ultimately, growth for your organization.

2. Increased Personalization. The right agents can connect with your customers. Our focus on building empathy and connection in the first few seconds of a call makes a difference. We earn their trust – for your brand – and grow the business with complementary offerings that add to their satisfaction.  

3. Enhanced Engagement. With the right agent, training and management support, the contact center becomes a valuable tool in helping you achieve your organization’s goals and objectives.

You don’t need to try to build a solution in-house. Get more information on how an Outsource Staffing Agency can be the vendor partner you need to succeed.

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The Complete Call Center Outsourcing Guide

Get all your questions on outsourcing your call center answered! 

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