How to Close More Sales Using Outsourced Customer Service Reps (CSRs)

Customer service reps (CSRs) are always under the microscope. At the end of the day, despite all the other departments involved in the customer journey, the CSR is the one who ensures that the customers are always satisfied and their needs are met. Without quality representatives, companies are quickly learning that their business is suffering. One option that many businesses are choosing today is to outsource customer service representatives. 

Why outsource CSRs?

If customer service is such an important part of business, wouldn’t you want to keep it in-house? That’s what a lot of business owners and leaders think, but that’s hardly the case. In fact, the importance of good customer service is all the more reason to outsource it to a team of experts. When you choose to partner with a third party for customer service, you will find several benefits:

Save time and resources 

When you outsource customer service, you alleviate the need to provide those resources yourself. You will not have to invest in the hiring and onboarding of customer service staff, the equipment or space for them to work, or any of the other costs. You can simply hire a team of experts that becomes an extension of your company and know that you have great customer service on deck. 

Customer service partners reduce set-up and hiring costs, overhead costs, and more. They also reduce call handling time and increase resolution times, bolstering your reputation while improving your processes. 

Flexibility and scalability 

Today’s business landscape is rapidly changing and evolving. It can be difficult for the modern business to keep up with internal resources. Outsourcing to a third party allows you to have instant access to scale up or down or change the solutions that you’re using entirely, with little to no prior notice. You can choose to add another CSR, or five more if you need them, and even scale back during slow times. 

Whether you’re growing or just have a lot of seasonal fluctuations, this kind of agility can make all the difference. Customer reps that are outsourced mean that you don’t have to hire, onboard, and train people yourself every time that you need someone new. 

Expertise and quality 

You also get a different level of expertise and quality when you hire outsourced customer service reps. Their entire job is customer service and they do it day in and day out. They have dedicated training and expertise. They’re capable of delivering a level of service that might take you years to cultivate in your own team. They also usually have their own quality assurance processes in place to make sure work is done accordingly. 

When your outsourced CSRs are delivering a better experience for your customers, that’s automatically going to increase sales by creating repeat business, referrals, and securing those on-the-fence leads. 

Increased efficiency 

Outsourced customer service teams have processes that allow them to operate like well-oiled machines. Part of their professionalism comes in their efficiency and that’s something that any business can take advantage of. While the CSRs are handling service, your sales team can focus on closing more leads. Plus, if those service reps are also upselling or helping with sales, you’ll close more deals that way, too. 

If nothing else, they allow your business to operate more efficiently in several ways, which improves your reputation. This leads to more sales and more repeat business because people are happy with their experience. 

How your outsourced CSRs can improve sales 

When you work together to create a strategy for handling customer service inquiries, your outsourced customer service team can become an extension of your sales department. They will have better opportunities to make more upsells and product suggestions because of their role in the customer experience, and they often gain more trust than sales reps, too. 

Using customer service to boost sales includes:

• Building customer trust through communication and problem-solving 
• Allowing your sales reps to focus on sales 
• Getting valuable feedback on processes and products
• Making the process more convenient for the customer 
• Upselling products or services 
• Predicting trends 
• Gathering reviews and referrals 

And when you outsource customer service, you get all of this without having to worry about training your own staff, managing them, or anything else. It’s really going to make driving sales a lot easier in so many ways. 

How to choose a customer service partner 

So, now that you know the perks of outsourcing and how you can use your CSR partner to get more from your sales, you’ll want to make sure that you have the right team on your side. Look for CSRs that have plenty of experience in serving businesses like yours. Not all customer service providers are right for all industries. You don’t necessarily need an industry-specific team, but they should have some knowledge in the realm of what you do. 

Make sure that you choose a partner that offers the services and solutions that you need and customizable strategies to go along with them. Packages and plans are great, but when it comes to customer service, a custom solution is usually better—it’s in the name, after all. See what other people are saying about the available solutions and customization options. 

Finally, and perhaps most importantly, stick to local, U.S.-based 24/7 support if you are a U.S.-based company. The last thing that you need is people having difficulty with communication and access because that can tarnish your reputation. If you can get more services than just CSR support, that’s worth considering, too. 

Upgrade from CSRs to virtual receptionists and get full-service solutions 

If you want more than just customer service, you need more than just an outsourced CSR team. Partner instead with the virtual receptionists at Smith.ai and you’ll get a 24/7 answering service that also delivers support for lead intake and appointment scheduling, too. Still working on the marketing? Ask how we can help with outreach campaigns. 

To learn more, schedule a consultation or reach out to hello@smith.ai. 

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