Wanting your e-commerce business to thrive means you must prioritize customer satisfaction and nurture their loyalty, but that itself requires more than just great prices and products; you need to deliver top-notch customer service before, during, and after each and every sale, and that’s where e-commerce call center outsourcing steps in.  

When you outsource e-commerce customer service, you effectively sidestep the headaches associated with in-house customer service while simultaneously ensuring the needs of consumers are met — it’s a win-win. 

With that said, if you think it might be time to outsource e-commerce customer support for your business, below is everything you need to know. 

3 Signs You Need to Outsource E-commerce Customer Service 

Outsourcing customer service is a huge decision, one that shouldn’t be made lightly. However, waiting too long to outsource can lead to diminishing customer loyalty, resource waste, and a whole lot of sleepless nights. With that in mind, here are a few telltale signs it’s time to outsource e-commerce customer support: 

1. Your In-House Team Is Overwhelmed 

If your in-house support team is flooded with calls from the moment they clock in, you have two options: Either hire more support agents or look to outsource.  

Hiring more agents can be tricky, as you need to navigate the costs of recruiting and onboarding, all in the hopes that your new hires will end up being a good fit for your team. If they aren’t, you’ll have to start the process from square one, and even if they are, bringing them in means a huge increase in labor costs. 

The alternative is outsourcing, which provides predictable costs and near-instant access to support resources. The provider handles the back end, so you can focus on more important things, like delivering timely, high-quality support.  

2. Loyalty and Customer Satisfaction Are Declining 

Several factors can impact loyalty and customer satisfaction — product quality, prices, delivery efficiency — but the level of support you provide also plays a critical role in loyalty and retention. 

If you’ve recently experienced an uptick in customer churn, but your prices and products are unchanged, the quality of your support may be to blame. A great outsourcing service provider can help you right your course before it causes long-term damage to your brand’s reputation. They can provide sound and timely support that reminds your customers why they do business with you in the first place.  

3. Your Business Is Growing Fast 

Business growth is, of course, a good thing, but increasing demand means you’ll need to scale up your infrastructure to keep pace. During times of rapid growth, it’s easy to become fixated on manufacturing, delivery, and order processing, but you must remember that the importance of quality customer support never decreases. 

If you simply lack the bandwidth to maintain your customer service standards as your business grows, you need to outsource. The right partner will augment your team or even take over your entire support workflow, saving you plenty of time and money and allowing you to focus on scaling up other aspects of your operations.  

How E-commerce Call Center Outsourcing Nurtures Loyalty 

Let’s face it: When customers seek support, they expect near-instant gratification. They want someone on the phone or on the other end of a chat feed to answer their questions and solve the issues they encounter as quickly as possible.  

You may wonder just what all of that has to do with outsourcing, but the answer is, in fact, quite a lot. When you outsource e-commerce customer support, you’ll be able to provide the following: 

Faster Response Times 

Great outsourcing partners can provide rapid response times that are on par with or even better than industry standards. Your customers won’t spend hours or even many minutes on hold; they’ll get the help they need in an efficient and effective fashion, and that is bound to lead to less frustration.  

More First-Call Resolutions 

If there are any situations customers hate more than being put on hold for extended periods, having to call back multiple times or being bounced around to different agents before getting help are certainly contenders. 

Thankfully, the best outsourcing partners prioritize first-call resolution; their agents strive to resolve every query during their first interactions with consumers, thereby eliminating the need for callbacks and minimizing customer frustration.  

An Empathetic Ear 

Well-trained support agents know how to diffuse volatile situations. They can offer a level of understanding to annoyed customers, give them a chance to vent, and work toward a solution that works for everyone. 

When your in-house team is already overwhelmed, they may feel rushed or simply not have time to listen to customers for all that long, but given that outsourcing providers have more resources and staff on standby, they can deliver a more personalized and less hurried experience.  

Outsourcing and Customer Satisfaction 

As may already be clear, e-commerce customer service outsourcing will have a huge impact on overall customer satisfaction. A well-trained team of support agents can get to the bottom of customer issues quickly, offer reasonable solutions, and ensure that everyone is satisfied before hanging up the phone. 

Through outsourcing, you can also expand the scope of your support services. Instead of limiting your live and phone-based support hours to your typical operational hours, you can offer after-hours service, which will differentiate you from many other e-commerce brands and elevate the overall customer experience.  

Outsourcing provides indirect customer satisfaction benefits as well. For instance, you can reallocate the resources you save from outsourcing to more dynamic tasks, such as product improvements, website revamps, and marketing campaign boosts. Thanks to the cost savings you’ll enjoy, you’ll also have the capital necessary to pursue these business improvements. When you and your primary staff have more time to focus on core business goals, everyone wins, especially your customers.  

Ready to Outsource E-Commerce Customer Service? 

If you believe now is the time to outsource e-commerce customer support, your next step is to find the right provider, one that provides global customer care, scalable support, and bespoke services designed to meet the unique needs of your e-commerce business. The right partner can turn customer service into your greatest strength, thereby fueling loyalty and higher customer satisfaction.