Call Center Outsourcing: A Cost Comparison of the Value for Auto Lenders

Call center outsourcing is not a one-size-fits-all solution, just as your business doesn’t provide one-size-fits-all customer service.

Making the switch to an external call center can cut overhead costs significantly, but poor service could lead to a substantial loss of customers. As a result, it’s essential to carefully weigh the pros and cons of call center outsourcing for your brand.

After decades of experience in the industry providing white-glove customer support and call center services, we’ve compiled a call center outsourcing cost comparison for auto lenders to examine the value of third-party services.

Pros	Cons
Save time, money, and other valuable resources	Loss of quality control
Take advantage of leading-edge technology	Lack of company knowledge
Customer satisfaction made easy	Miscommunications and lack of feedback

Call Center Outsourcing Defined

Outsourcing call center services occurs when a business, in this case auto lenders, hires a third-party provider to staff and manage their customer service externally. The provider will typically have staff with the knowledge and expertise on hand, which means you won’t have to hire additional staff in-house, provide training, and essentially dry up resources that could and should be used elsewhere. In terms of value, the call center outsourcing cost comparison that we’ve provided will break down the pros and cons of choosing a third-party source and why it’s the optimal choice for auto lenders.

Call Center Outsourcing Cost Comparisons

The Pros

#1: Save Time, Money, and Other Valuable Resources

Call center services can be a high-stress job. The customer’s always right, your staff is expected to know everything, and so on. Developing an in-house center means you need to ensure your employees, however many (or little) that may be, have the skills to handle any of these customer interactions, including brand and industry knowledge, all in a professional tone. Your teams already have plenty of responsibilities on their plate, and chances are, the last thing they want to do is put menial tasks at the top of their to-do list. You could hire more staff, but that gets pricey. You could devise a revolving schedule for employees to cover calls at certain hours, but that can be time-consuming.

An expert provider will already have the customer contact solutions developed to be seamlessly integrated into your operation, taking a significant amount of this weight off your shoulders. That way, you can refocus everyone’s time on other in-house tasks that require attention without having to go over your payroll budget.

Each customer interaction has the potential to impact your brand positively or negatively. defi contact center solutions is designed to make every customer interaction count. There’s no need to waste your time searching for better-qualified staff when you can pay a single reasonably priced expert to do it for you. It’s a partnership that could be well worth the investment.

#2: Take Advantage of Leading-Edge Technology

Nearly our entire world is digitized. Everything is expected to be online—grocery shopping, eCommerce, and even financial services. Auto lenders have no choice but to keep up, especially since it’s doubtful that your office hours are 24/7. But how are you expected to? Cloud-based systems may seem easy, but it’s almost as if technology upgrades are introduced daily, and we’re required to make continual investments. Now that is expensive.

Third-party providers can solve this issue quickly. With resources like defi SOLUTION’s CONNECT and SERVICING , team members have easy, single sign-on access to the data and insights they need to work smarter, not harder. After all, that’s what keeps employees engaged and productive and your customers happy. With this type of technology integrated at low costs into your operations, you’ll be able to:

• Track data and make better-informed decisions.
• Give customers the convenience of online loan processing and management with mobile apps.
• Save valuable time that’s otherwise consumed by manual work.
• Take advantage of a scalable, reliable, web-based platform.
• Reduce human error.
• And more!

It’s evident how all these features can make operations more efficient and less time-consuming for lenders and borrowers alike. So, how does that affect your call center? Easy. This technology creates a direct channel for customers to access or provide their information, significantly reducing large call volumes. But, on the other hand, your staff won’t need to worry about falling behind on additional responsibilities and working extra hours to catch up.

#3: Customer Satisfaction Made Easy

Intelligent call center outsourcing providers know what it means to meet customer expectations. They work with their clients to schedule the correct number of agents for peak demand times, software, and network systems to scale up their workforce as needed. As an auto lender, you fully understand the importance of keeping your customers happy. defi SOLUTIONS makes customer satisfaction a breeze.

If you’re still on the fence about needing assistance with customer satisfaction, ask yourself the following questions.

• How much time do my staff spend answering routine customer questions?

• How effective are my staff in being able to ramp up when call volumes spike?

• How do I ensure a positive customer experience on our servicing website?

• How can I reduce my mailing costs and time to deliver by enabling customers to see their

statements online?

• How can I enable my customers to access account information or make a payment at

any time, day or night?

Flexibility is key to customer satisfaction. Flexibility is also a built-in advantage of call center outsourcing. Constant access to help, multi-language support, and better services significantly make the customer experience better.

The Cons

#1: Loss of Quality Control

If you want your company to have a shining reputation, you need to ensure that your services run like a well-oiled machine. It’s essential to have standards, which you most likely have already, and the third-party provider must follow them.

However, if a call center functions remotely, monitoring their performance and ensuring they’re following said guidelines becomes challenging. However, it’s not an impossible feat.

defi is ISO 9001:2015 certified, which is defined as the international standard that specifies requirements for a quality management system (QMS). Organizations use the standard to demonstrate the ability to consistently provide products and services that meet customer and regulatory requirements.

Quality BPO providers like defi will go above and beyond to build a trustworthy relationship where they remain in constant contact with you and offer complete visibility in their performance.

 It is critical that auto lenders choose an outsourced vendor that delivers white-glove customer support and remains in constant contact to build a trusting partnership, so you know your call center is in good hands. Sixty-nine percent of customers claim support service drives their commitment to a brand. Working with a provider focused on customer service is the best possible way to take advantage of that demand. If not, the vendor can easily make or break customer loyalty and customer retention.

Fortunately, providers such as defi SOLUTIONS act as a loyal, white-labeled extension of your business, where you can realize the benefits of outsourcing call center services with the peace of mind that everything will be handled professionally and efficiently with open communication.

#2: Lack of Company Knowledge

Outsourced call center agents are often unfamiliar with company culture, practices, and brand values. This isn’t necessarily because they’re not committed enough to learn your company’s personality, but because the provider is likely servicing numerous other businesses, and it can be challenging to keep track of so many different brands.

On the other hand, some providers aren’t dedicated to learning about your company, and these are the ones you should stay far away from. If this is the case, they won’t provide you with a service level that reflects your company’s culture and certainly won’t be devoted to your customers.

defi solutions is committed to learning your brand inside and out.  We work with each and every client during implementation to develop and implement process and brand training to ensure we truly deliver on your brand. We conduct evaluations regularly to ensure your expectations are continually met. defi has been helping auto lenders for 30 years and is committed to delivering a service level that reflects your company’s culture and values.

#3: Miscommunications and Lack of Feedback

One of the best things about receiving customer feedback is using it to improve your services. If your provider doesn’t collect sufficient feedback, you’ll be operating in the dark. Customers are not shy when it comes to telling businesses where their services are lacking. To properly gather their responses, your client service needs to know which questions to ask, some of which may include:

1. How satisfied are you with your experience?
2. How well did customer service address your concerns?
3. On a scale of one to ten, how would you rate the quality of support you received?
4. What can we do to make it better?

Not only is it critical for your provider to collect the feedback properly, but they must know where this information must be redirected and be able to deliver it to you promptly without any mistakes. Cross communications can very easily be misconstrued, and if negative feedback doesn’t reach you sooner than later, you might as well say goodbye to those customers.

defi Solutions collects customer feedback in several ways, including:

• Customer surveys
• Quality monitoring 
• Capturing intent data within the IVR 
• Among others. 

All of this data then gets funneled to clients during regular feedback and calibration sessions.

We cannot stress enough the importance of constant contact with your provider and building a trustworthy relationship. Note that this isn’t a one-sided process. You must put in just as much effort to achieve this.

The Bottom Line

Pursuing outsourced services is a big decision to make. Hopefully, this call center outsourcing cost comparison provides the insight you need. Remember that each provider is unique, but only one is right for you. Take a close look at how significant the pros outweigh the cons, and consider how outsourcing as a business strategy with an expert BPO provider can improve your bottom line.