Outsourced Phone Support

[MisterT]

Does anyone have experience with outsourcing telephone support for their ecommerce website? Have you tried using one of the countless call-center companies or used a work at home freelancer "virtual assistant" type who provides this service? I have a small size e-commerce site and don't have the bandwidth the phone personally. I'm looking for a way to have someone there to always answer the phone and answer questions. I'm leaning towards finding an individual via craigslist or elance instead of a call center. If I found a reliable individual I could train them personally for few hours on all the common questions etc.. Thoughts on this? I'm not looking for cheap (India). I'd like to find a competent way to do this in the USA. I'm thinking I could offer to pay per minute, and guarantee a minimum amount of $ per week/day/month regardless of call volume. I need someone, or a group of people, who can answer phones at the minimum during our working business hours. Ideally I could find a person or company I can trust, so I can gradually give them more responsibility. I'm open to ideas... :)

[MrHard]

Why not just post a job ad? There would be a huge response for this sort of thing from a Craigslist ad.

Just make sure they are trustworthy and ask for references if they will be taking credit card numbers.

Another option would be to contact a temp agency like Adecco which does all the hiring work for you. You don't have to worry about scheduling interviews, checking references, or getting sued as much.

You could always call in secretly and ask questions to see if they were answering or leaving work late.

[edited by: MrHard at 7:31 pm (utc) on Feb. 7, 2009]

[MisterT]

Thanks for your reply MrHard. Posting a job ad is definitely one way to go... As I think about it, I'm hoping I can find a reference to a small outfit that specializes in this sort of thing. Good idea with regard to calling and asking questions in secret...

[willybfriendly]

Might depend on the business, but in my opinion outsourcing something as fundamental as customer service is a poor strategy. I have always considered customer service a core business operation. I would be far more likely to outsource fulfillment, warehousing, etc.

That said, I know many others that do it. In fact, one of our competitors, who walked this road, has recently been trying to headhunt our main customer service rep.

[MisterT]

willybfriendly, thanks for your feedback. I guess when I say "outsource" what I really mean is: hire someone or a company who works for us, but from their location. I'm not talking about outsourcing customer service and just forgetting about it. Customer service is very important, which is why we're thinking about going this route: to provide better service. Unless we hire a dedicated support person in-house, we just will not have the bandwidth to keep all customers happy.

[willybfriendly]

We nearly went belly up a few years ago and cut back to the bare bones. We have 2 1/2 full time staff on payroll.

1. Customer Service Rep
2. Supply Chain Coordinator
3. Bookkeeper

We also have a part time guy (retired and on SSI) that helps in the warehouse and bring in temps as needed.

The 2 1/2 FTE's can and do wear any hat when needed, but each brings their own strengths to the company. We have been fortunate to retain these folks for well nigh 5 years now.

Those three positions represent the core of our business - customers, inventory and money. I would be hard pressed to outsource any one of the three positions. Each of them intimately knows the inside workings of the business. Each is very good at what they do. I know if I have a question about anything at any detail that I will get an accurate and timely answer, and I know that if anything arises that I really need to know about that I will be immediately informed.

I could not have the same certainty if I were dealing with an employee of another company who was contracted to provide the service.