Consider these things before moving your customer support operations to another provider.

There could be many reasons why you’d want to switch to a new call center: diverging business interests, poor performance, and unreasonable costs, among others. Nothing’s truly wrong with looking for a new provider, especially if you’re not getting the best results for the money you’re shelling out.

The entire transition, however, can be tricky and complex. Here are the five main things to consider to make sure you’ll be making the right decision.

          

1. The project’s goals

   
   Ask yourself why you outsourced your brand’s customer service in the first place. Usually, business owners team up with outsourcing companies to cut costs while maintaining the high quality of their services. Another benefit of outsourcing is you’ll be able to tap into a skilled workforce minus the effort required in screening and recruiting applicants. All these advantages ease up business management by lifting some workload off your shoulders and allowing you to focus on your core expertise

   If your provider is no longer contributing toward achieving your business goals, the best thing to do is talk to them. You may need to revisit your agreements and re-strategize. If this doesn’t fix the situation, it may be time to look for another call center whose values, performance, and vision are aligned with yours          

          

2. The outsourcing contract

   
   Another thing to consider is the lifecycle of the contract you signed with your current call center. Naturally, it’s easier to shift to another provider at the end of the contract rather than halfway through the contract’s validity. If you want to switch to a new vendor at the soonest time possible, you should examine the penalties that may be incurred such as termination fees and other sanctions.

   For this, you need to consult your legal team. If you’ve made the decision to transfer to a different vendor, they can help you minimize the damage and risks involved in the process.           

          

3. Your motivations

   
   At this point, you should reflect on why you want to cut ties with your current customer service provider. If you’re willing to consider a re-negotiation with them, you may need to talk about the project’s flaws and how they can be fixed. It may be possible to start again with an improved strategy rather than subject your business and your employees to a drastic shift.

   Nonetheless, if you still end up switching to a different provider, make sure that it s for the right reasons. Carefully weigh the pros and cons and think about what will be best for your brand in the long run.           

          

4. The risks and costs

   
   Making the transition can be costly. You may have to temporarily stop your customer support operations as you build a new one with a different vendor. But you have another option, which is to set up a new arrangement even if your contract with your existing provider hasn’t officially ended yet. This overlap would incur extra costs, but it would let you provide uninterrupted services to your customers

   Another way to minimize disruptions is to temporarily execute your services in-house. The biggest drawback here, however, is that it will put an added burden on your staff, so you need to consider that as well          

          

5. Building new partnerships

   
   Forging new business partnerships can be challenging, and this is another thing to consider when switching to a new provider. It requires a lot of time and effort to be able to nurture healthy professional relationships. You have to spend more time to really get to know the people you’ll be working with to make sure that their principles and performance standards can help you reach your goals.          

Are you looking to outsource with a new vendor? Do you need a secondary call center to support your in-house CX? Open Access BPO is here to help you. Contact us to find out how easy it is to switch to a new outsourcing partner when you find the right one.