Auto lenders wanting greater efficiency in managing the increasing call volume from borrowers may be hesitant to consider outsourcing their call center functions to an outsourced managed servicing provider. If they’ve established a successful lending business and developed a reputation for great service, it’s understandable they might be reluctant to outsource. However, with more than three decades of experience in providing outsourcing services, not only for call centers but also for a complete range of lease and loan servicing needs, defi SOLUTIONS can help ease some of the concerns they and you may have regarding the disadvantages of call center outsourcing. This article will explain how and why you’re likely to provide a higher level of efficiency and quality by outsourcing your call center operations.
Call Center Providers Lack Lending-Industry Knowledge
One of the most frequently mentioned disadvantages of call center outsourcing is the lack of industry knowledge. That’s a valid point when your outsourcing provider is a generalist, offering a wide range of services such as accounting, staffing, payroll, customer support, supply chain, and many other standard business activities. While a generalist offers the advantage of a one-stop source for these services, they don’t have the lending industry expertise and experience to efficiently handle the range and complexity of lease and loan inquiries.
This perceived disadvantage of call center outsourcing disappears when you work with a provider that focuses exclusively on the lending industry. An industry-focused provider staffs professionals who have in-depth lending experience. They’ve handled simple “how do I?” questions as well as guided borrowers through the intricacies of curing a loan. The best call center outsourcing providers are staffed with multilingual agents to better serve the needs of a diverse borrower base.
Compliance is another major concern for any auto lender. It’s all the more challenging as you do business in multiple states and have to track both federal and state regulations. Many lenders see compliance as one of the main disadvantages of managing a call center in-house. An experienced call center outsourcing provider will:
- Maintain collection licenses in all 50 states.
- Have systems and practices in place to streamline servicing processes.
- Have a professionally trained staff to ensure compliance, regardless of where your borrowers are located.
Lack of industry knowledge isn’t a disadvantage of call center outsourcing when you work with a provider who focuses on the lending industry. In fact, the level of lease and loan knowledge and ability to efficiently field borrower inquiries are likely to be higher than most auto lenders can provide in-house.
By outsourcing, you’ll no longer have to worry about recruiting, hiring, and training call center agents. Instead, you can focus more of your efforts on lease and loan originations. And as the industry experiences cyclic economic changes, the provider assumes the responsibility for scaling up and down accordingly.
Monitoring Call Center Performance and Trends
By delegating call center operations to an outsourcing provider, you may think that you’ll no longer be able to closely monitor the volume and variety of calls. That information helps gain insight into your borrower’s concerns and guides the development of your lending strategy. However, that perceived disadvantage is eliminated when your call center outsourcing provider uses the latest contact center software to record borrower interactions across all channels. The software analyzes call center metrics such as call volumes, handling time, resolutions, escalations, quality control, and service level attainment. The detailed metrics are reported monthly, allowing you to:
- Monitor performance to ensure the provider is delivering the agreed-upon level of call center service.
- Discover developing trends that may present portfolio risk that can proactively be addressed or opportunities that can be exploited for business growth.
- Compare performance metrics against industry benchmarks to find areas for potential improvement.
The best call center outsourcing providers invest in innovative call center technology that captures detailed information from the moment the calls are answered to the time they are resolved. Powerful analytic tools applied to this data will be able to provide greater detail and insight into your borrowers’ inquiries regarding leases and loans and help guide your lending strategy.
No Disadvantages of Call Center Outsourcing With the Right Provider
There aren’t any disadvantages to outsourcing your call center as long as you choose the right provider. Delegating call center responsibilities allows you to focus energies on lease and loan origination, not hiring, training, and supporting call center infrastructure and operations. With an experienced provider’s level of industry knowledge, innovative call center technology investments, and understanding of compliance regulations across the nation, you’ll be able to provide a significantly better level of call center service than you would in-house. For many auto lenders, dismissing the benefits of call center outsourcing could come as a great disadvantage.
Getting Started
defi SOLUTIONS partners with finance companies, captives, credit unions, and banks to help lenders improve the efficiency and quality of their call center services. Whether you’re focused on subprime, near-prime, or prime loans or leases, we have proven call center experience and expertise to handle the full spectrum of needs. Contact our team today to learn how you can benefit from understanding the disadvantages of call center outsourcing activities.
