How to lower calling costs

The more calls a call center gets, the better, right? Well, not exactly. Each of these comes at a price, meaning the better the business, the more it costs to operate. That’s why owners and managers of these companies need to pay particular attention to a specific metric. We are talking about ”cost-per-call”. However, tracking how much handling phone interactions costs will not cut it. Instead, individuals must put effort into reducing them, by all means necessary, to ensure smooth operation and further growth. That begs the question, how to lower calling costs? While not the easiest and fastest thing to do, minimizing such expenses is possible. And the firm behind the advanced lead calling software, ConvertMore, is here to answer all your related queries!

Calculating cost-per-call

Multiple factors go to determine the price of a single phone call. As a first step in calculating, you’ll need to analyze the number of agents working for the company. Then, consider the period you would like to calculate the cost-per-call. This is typically done hourly, daily, weekly, or monthly. However, it’s also not uncommon for an average price of a phone interaction to be calculated for an entire year.

After a specific time frame has been established, it is most beneficial to collect the total number of contacts made across all channels within that period, including those coming from:

• Phone
• E-mail
• Text
• Live chat
• Video
• Fax
• Support tickets

The next step is to tally up all the money spent on the call center within the time frame in question. However, when calculating the average cost-per-call, it is essential to factor in the wages of all agents that dealt with customers via any channel and the expenditures connected with the call center’s software, business tools, and telephones. Finally, divide the overall cost by the total number of interactions processed during the given period. The number you are left with in the end is your cost-per-call.

How to lower calling costs?

Now that you know how to determine your per-call expenses and the factors that affect them, we’ll develop some strategies for cutting them. Ones that, luckily, won’t compromise your CX. They are more likely to boost website sales. Here are some suggestions on how to lower calling costs associated with running a successful customer support business.

#1 Ensure top-notch training for your employees

Proper training will ensure your staff has the knowledge, data, and resources to satisfy customer demands appropriately. As a result, you will get lower costs and increased customer service quality. To successfully conduct such training, your first goal should be to select suitable candidates. Those that will know how to put the learned into action. Moreover, by working to build a strong team of operators, you may drastically reduce the number of recurrent calls from customers having the same issue. That way, you will also speed up the rate at which problems are solved. After all, the less time is spent resolving queries; the less money is drained.

#2 Take advantage of real-time monitoring

The quality assurance (QA) staff at contact centers must participate in real-time monitoring to spot trends in customer service issues and possibly prevent their reoccurrence. The data analyzed is then passed onto supervisors, who should provide agents with constructive feedback. One that will help them minimize average handle time but maximize efficiency. And it’s precisely that higher efficiency will lead to a drop in calling costs.

#3 Use integrated software

Hiring a highly effective call center team without equipping them with cutting-edge software is like driving a Ferrari with flat tires. In other words, you can’t expect maximum efficiency from your group if they lack in the resources department. That’s where the software designed specifically for call centers comes in. Furthermore, by integrating such software with business solutions like Zendesk, Shopify, LiveChat, and others, you help agents provide better service to customers at a faster rate and, therefore, may even help them convert visitors to leads.

Without going back and forth between several programs, your team can quickly get the necessary data, including call recordings, chat transcripts, tickets, and more. They will spend less time opening, updating, and closing cases using tools integrated into the main software interface, resulting in shorter interactions. And haven’t we already established that shorter interactions equal lower expenses?

#4 Equip the website with self-service options

The best way to cut down on call costs is to reduce the number of calls that come in. By allowing customers to resolve their issues online, you may save money on phone calls and free up your staff to deal with more complicated customer complaints.

But how can you achieve this without sacrificing quality in the process? Well, simple. After all, most customers would rather avoid talking to a representative altogether, meaning they are much more comfortable finding the answer themselves. With that in mind, it’s your job to provide them with the means. Luckily, there are multiple ways to go about this. For one, you may write comprehensive blog posts that provide all the answers. Or you may dedicate a portion of your website to a knowledge base. But, if you want to be more tech-savvy, consider incorporating an interactive voice response system.

#5 Use callback software

Your agents can have the best software, but you are unlikely to see a massive difference in your per-call expenses if it isn’t equipped to handle callbacks. That said, if you are genuinely looking at ways to lower calling costs, it will do your business wonders to rely on ConvertMore callback software. And you know what? Even customers are fond of it! After all, nobody likes calling someone only to be kept on the line waiting for that same someone to pick up. While a callback feature improves customer satisfaction, it also minimizes the number of calls waiting in the queue. As a result, companies can notice a reduction in telephony, employee expenses, and untimely, their cost-per-call.