Your browser does not support JavaScript!

Category: Tech

The Largest Call Centers in the US

Posted on by Ilsa Morales

Source: Stockphoto.com O#23559 – ID#100174291746

Call centers can handle inbound and outbound calls for your business, and can be within your company or you can outsource the call center to other companies that specialize in customer service.

These call centers are departments where your current and potential customers will be directed to when they have an inquiry or comment.

Call centers can be used by telemarketing companies, online retailers, help desks, charities, and more. Any organization or company can use the telephone to sell products, answer customer questions, or provide services.

There are two types of call centers, inbound call centers and outbound call centers. Inbound call centers handle phone calls from customers and may have to take many calls at the same time, and will therefore need services like call forwarding and interactive voice response. The inbound call center usually handles technical support, accounts management, complaints, questions, scheduling appointments, and sometimes purchases can be made over the phone as well.

Outbound call centers usually utilize an agent to represent the company or a client. This agent will carry out tasks including, telemarketing, fundraising, debt collecting, surveys, and lead generation. To maximize the amount of calls that will go out, the outbound call center will usually use an automated dialer that can transfer to an agent when the phone call is answered.

call center employees
Source: Stockphoto.com O#23559 – ID#100204682278

Outside of inbound and outbound call centers, there are four additional classifications of call centers. Theses are in-house, outsourced, offshore, and virtual call centers.

  • In-house call centers are part of the company in which that they represent, meaning that the company itself has its own call center and finds and hires its own agents.
  • Outsourced call centers are third party organizations that handle the inbound and outbound calling of any company that it has been hired by. This organization hires and trains the agents for the company on its own. Many businesses opt for this call center if the business is smaller and cannot accommodate its own in-house agency.
  • Offshore call centers are basically outsourced call centers but the outside organization is from another country. The costs are usually cheaper to use a call center from abroad, however customer complaints often go up because of language issues or lack of knowledge about the products or services.
  • Virtual call centers use cloud call center technology to answer calls, which means the agents can work from anywhere in the world. Virtual call center agents work from small offices or their own homes.

As companies expand, their call centers grow alongside them. The largest call centers are in-house operations that employ thousands of people with different positions. These employees are divided into customer service, technical support, claims processing, and more. The biggest call centers can carry out tasks from both inbound and outbound services.

The majority of these huge call centers are owned by Fortune 500 companies that can afford huge facilities to house all of their agents and the latest call center technology. The majority of companies prefer to use states in Southern region of the United States such as Georgia and Texas.

The following are the top companies with the largest call centers in the United States.

  • State Farm- State Farm owns three high-tech call centers around the US. Their largest call center, and the biggest one on this list, is located in Atlanta. Georgia and employs 10,000 people. The next two call centers are located in Richardson, Texas and Tempe, Arizona and each employ around 8,000 people.
  • Geico- Geico’s call center is fourth placed behind all three State Farm Insurance centers. Their call center is located in Macon, Georgia and employs 5,600 people.
  • Fidelity Investments- Fidelity Investments call center is located in Westlake, Texas and employs 4,400 people.
  • Humana- In Louisville, Kentucky Humana employs 4,000 people at their call center.
  • Citibank, Verizon, and Progressive Insurance- Each of these companies employs 3,500 people. The call centers are located in Irving, Texas; Alpharetta, Georgia; and Tampa, Florida, respectively.

The majority of companies looking to outsource their call centers or create their own tend to find places within metro locations or nearby larger cities. The reasoning behind these decisions is that they want to make access easier for their clients and they want to pick from a larger labor market. However, companies rarely go above metro areas with a population over 1 million. If you’re looking to expand your operation to include call centers, look to some of the biggest companies and their call centers for the right strategies.

The Best Business Voicemail Greetings

Posted on by Ilsa Morales

Source: Stockphoto.com O#22773 – ID#5239406

There’s nothing more annoying than getting sent to a voicemail box that is full or hasn’t been set up yet. And you could be missing out on customers if you don’t have an automated voice response system for those callers who contact you outside of business hours. If you can’t be available 24/7, the best thing to have set up is a fail-safe. After all, you don’t want to miss out on a potential sale.

serious businessman talking on the phone
Source: Stockphoto.com O#22773 – ID#100044073359

One of the best things you can do for your business is to set up the best voicemail greeting for your business so that your customers actually want to leave a message, and trust that you will get back to them.

Here are the Dos and Don’ts of creating the perfect business voicemail greeting

  • Do apologize that you are unavailable to take their call
  • Don’t use an overused phrase that will annoy callers right off the bat
  • Do encourage your customer to leave a message
  • Don’t just keep the default voicemail greeting
  • Do let the customer know which department and voicemail box they have reached
  • Don’t over-complicate the voicemail message; it should be simple and to the point
  • Do give the customer an expected time that you will return their call, such as during regular business hours
  • Don’t forget to follow up with them
  • Do give the customer alternate ways to get the information that they need, whether that is directing them to an FAQ page on your website or providing a customer service email address. If your business deals with emergencies, there should be an emergency line available for them to call.

Now that you know the Dos and Don’ts of creating an awesome outgoing voicemail message, you are ready to follow a very simple formula to creating a professional business greeting that gets the information you need out while keeping the message short. Here’s how:

  1. State your name or the name of your business.
  2. Apologize for missing the calls (you can give a quick reason why you’re not available such as “not at my desk” or “closed for the holiday.”
  3. Ask for their information so you can call them back. For example, asking them to state their name, number, and issue with the service or product will be very helpful for you. It is very important to find out why they are having an issue and calling before you call them back. You need to be prepared to be able to solve their problem.
  4. On the other hand, you can encourage them to call back at a certain date and time where you are more likely to answer the phone. Offering to call them back and giving them an option to call you again at a better time will establish trust between you and the customer. They know that no matter what, they will be able to reach you next time, whether you call them or they call you back.
  5. Seize the opportunity to tell them about a promotion. Since you already have them on the phone, let them know about any new products or information that they may be interested in learning about.
  6. End the message politely. It is as simple as thanking them for making the call and wishing that they have a great rest of their day.

An example of a great voicemail greeting is, “Hi you’ve reached the office of (your company name). Unfortunately, we cannot get to the phone right now and apologize for the inconvenience. If you leave your name, number, and the reason you are calling we will get back to you as soon as we can. Otherwise, you can reach us at our regular business hours, Monday thru Friday 8am-8pm. Thank you for calling and I hope you have a great rest of your day!”

If you have a virtual phone system set up for your business, then you already have the tools to create a great business voicemail message. When you’re creating the perfect voicemail greeting, simply apply these guidelines and remember to be polite, informative, and encourage the customer to leave a voicemail so you can follow up with them. It’s as simple as that!