How to Start a Call Center

If you have ever worked in a call center, you might have wondered how to start a call center of your own. The call center business covers a wide range of services, and you can choose to specialize in one or several possible offerings.

In most all cases, call centers operate 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, so you have to be able to commit a large percentage of your time to building your call center business, especially in the beginning. But if you are willing to put in the work, this can be a very lucrative venture.

What You’ll Need to Succeed

One of the obvious needs when thinking about how to start a call center is a building or space within a building that has enough space for your operation. It is also a good idea to find a space that is expandable, as it is very difficult to move a call center from one location to another, but fairly easy to expand within an existing space.

You will also need desks, chairs, computers, phones, and basic office supplies for each of your call center employees. Your phone system when starting a call center will be the core of your business and must be very reliable and fairly sophisticated. The software you use to run a call center will be able to route calls, record times and duration for each call, provide detailed statistics, separated by client, and give you or your call center manager the ability to monitor and/or record calls.

Additionally, each computer will need to be set up with the call center software, as well as software for live chat sessions, which are becoming a more popular customer service tool all the time with internet sites of all kinds. Your internet connection must also be very reliable and high speed.

When considering how to start a call center, decide whether you will learn all of the ins and outs of the high tech telephone equipment and software you use or if you will hire a manager and/or IT person for this.

It will also be important to have a comprehensive training system in place for your call center employees, to teach them general telephone procedures and etiquette, as well as specific account procedures and requests. They will be representing your clients and must be well trained if you hope to retain clients and get referrals.

If you plan to offer outbound calling as part of your call center services, be sure you are fully aware and compliant with all federal regulations about who you can call and when you can call them. Some online research will help you determine the rules that apply to your call center.

Marketing your call center will be a matter of first and foremost providing outstanding service at low rates to your clients, which will result in your gaining a reputation for excellence and being referred to new clients by existing clients.

Ultimately, learning how to start a call center is about learning how to solve problems and fill needs for business owners. If you can do that on a regular basis, you will have a very successful call center services business.

100 Ways To Make Money

See author's posts