Beat the Recruitment Crisis with 24/7 Telecoms Support

choruscx on July 28, 2023


One of the biggest challenges facing companies nationwide is the recruitment crisis — and the telecommunications industry is no exception.

The pressure has always been on for telco support desks. After all, a reliable and effective communication system is the cog that keeps the whole industry turning.

But despite the importance of customer communication and the evolving technologies that support it, contact centre recruitment remains a challenge in 2023.

In the UK, the average employee turnover is 15% — for call centre roles, it’s 26%. That’s a big jump. Not only do telcos need to fill positions quickly and efficiently to cover the increasing skills gaps, but they also need to retain their staff. High staff turnover is expensive; training costs, recruitment fees and loss in output all add up.

And as the cost-of-living crisis continues to soar, budgets are getting lower, yet the demand for outstanding customer service is getting higher and higher.

We know we’re painting a pretty gloomy scene. But we’re here with a solution — and we think you’ll like it…

It’s time to outsource your communications

When there are gaps in your workforce, it can feel like ‘all hands on deck’ still isn’t enough hands. So, instead of making do with an understaffed workforce, why not enlist the support of a managed services provider (MSP)?

An MSP is an outsourced third party that assumes responsibility and control of the day-to-day operations of a business, assisting with 24/7 support to help companies cut the cost of providing these services themselves.

These managed telco services can include anything from technology consulting and help desk assistance to product support, minimising downtime of business-critical services and freeing up resources for other functions.

See, we told you there’d be good news! And it gets better. Take a look at all the benefits MSPs can offer…

Scalable for a growing business

Right now, businesses are struggling to hire, train and maintain staff, resulting in understaffed and overworked communications teams that are unable to get everything done

There’s no longevity in this structure for businesses looking to survive — let alone excel.

Using a managed service provider can help you expand your offering without the pressure of finding and onboarding new employees — and you’ll never have to worry about your experts jumping ship!

Plus, we all know the telco industry is fast-paced and constantly evolving. An MSP helps your business stay flexible to accommodate ongoing market changes.

Cost-efficient (without comprising quality)

After the COVID-19 pandemic, the customer services sector saw a 32% increase in employee wages.

Since then, this wage inflation (not to mention the general cost-of-living crisis) has made it difficult for many telcos to recruit and retain customer sales staff, and businesses can no longer ignore rising costs. But that’s where MSPs come in…

Without adding a single person to your payroll, MSPs can help fill any technical skills, knowledge or headcount gaps to ensure your business runs smoothly without additional hiring costs.

All-encompassing services

If all that wasn’t enough, managed telco services make it easier to do your job.

You can trust an MSP to provide the knowledge and expertise necessary to boost customer satisfaction and increase sales whilst focusing on your core business efforts and goals.

From improving productivity with white-labelled services to minimising expenses with hands-on maintenance, an MSP can fill any gap your telco has (or bolster your existing team), allowing you to stay focused on building your business and keeping competitive in the market.

Which MSP is right for you?

Before you go diving into the MSP pool head-first, take some time to consider what your business needs to excel…

24/7 telecom support service, so end-users are never left in the dark. MSPs that offer round-the-clock support allow you to extend your business’ opening hours and drive-up customer satisfaction effortlessly. Plus, professional 24/7 telecoms support is totally white-labelled, acting as a true extension of your business.

A solid business continuity plan (just in case). A good MSP will include a contingency plan in its services to help keep customer dissatisfaction at bay should a problem arise — giving your team confidence and security and reducing recovery timescales.

The ability to actively tackle potential caller fraud. An MSP that can identify the tell-tale signs of fraud is a good bet in our books. Data breaches affect millions of users every year, and we don’t see fraudulent calls going away anytime soon. So, safeguarding your businesses from number spoofing scams and other cyber attacks is essential.

The maths is simple: a robust team plus happy customers equals a successful business. Don’t let skills gaps put you out of business — instead, lean on the support of a managed service provider and reap the rewards…

With ChorusCX Pro Services, you can outsource dozens of telco functions to our friendly and experienced team — and benefit from 24/7 support. Call 0161 444 3333 to learn more or book a demo of our services today.

Tis’ the Season for Professional Telco Services…

choruscx on September 30, 2022


Ah, Christmas. For many people, it’s the most wonderful time of year. Businesses, on the other hand…

Frantic customers. Last-minute requests. An enormous rush to get everything done before businesses close up for the year. Not to mention higher than average call volumes — ouch.

In the UK, the average employee turnover is 15% — for call centre roles, it’s 26%. That’s a big jump.

High staff turnover is expensive; training costs, recruitment fees and loss in output all add up. And as the cost-of-living crisis continues to soar, budgets are getting lower, yet the demand for outstanding customer service is getting higher and higher.

The maths is simple: happy customers plus happy staff equals a successful business. So, a reliable and effective communication system is an absolute must at the peak of Christmas and beyond.

But how can you maintain your contact centre’s service level and ensure customer satisfaction without compromising staff well-being?

Pull up the data

Assessing your staffing needs can be tricky, but you can use data to help.

If you have the information available, look at past seasonal customer service trends to try and predict if demand will increase, decrease or stay roughly the same. With this knowledge, you can calculate workloads for the festive period.

Did customer service demand increase or decrease last Christmas? By how much? What date did changes start, and when did things return to normal? Considering many businesses extend their opening hours for the Christmas period, it’ll be helpful to use this data to manage workloads and staffing.

Make sure you continue to log this data for next year, too. The more data you have, the more prepared and strategic you can be year on year — leading to bigger success for your team and your company in the long run.

Communicate with customers

It’s important to manage customer expectations over the Christmas season. No one wants to be left in the dark, so if customers know when your help desk or support team is available, you’re far less likely to face any last-minute support requests.

It also helps to be proactive about the expected surge in demand. If you know your business will see more calls over the festive period, why not get ahead of the rush? List your holiday operating hours and all your available contact channels on your website or send a pre-Christmas email that contains all this information so that customers are pre-warned and prepared. ‍

Enhance self-service options

Self-serve is an emerging contact centre trend that can be incredibly helpful in managing seasonal customer service demand. Essentially, it’s about allowing customers to answer their own questions.

By enhancing your frequently asked questions, resource library and the user-friendliness of your website, customers can easily find the answers to their questions online, and they’ll be less likely to call your company. This can help reduce call volume and free agents to field more critical calls, increasing service levels and avoiding frustrations over long hold times.

Optimise your workforce

Service levels tend to drop if interactions take longer than usual or call volumes spike.

Sometimes, not much can be done about longer calls. But ongoing training and effective communication between departments are essential to make sure calls are handled as efficiently as possible.

Similarly, if an agent needs to transfer a customer to another agent, it automatically slows down resolution times. Make sure your agents have the proper training and knowledge to handle requests from start to finish.

Lacking a flexible workforce? That’s a pretty common issue most businesses see. Consider training your staff in backup skills; for example, if you have an agent who primarily deals with calls, teach them to run the online chat function, too, so that they can meet an influx in demand from that channel and vice versa. This will help to relieve pressure from different areas when needed.

 Outsource your business communications 

With a growing demand for different products and services, especially during the busy Christmas period, outsourcing has become common practice.

Professional telco services assist businesses with hosted communications between them and their customers for 24/7 support. It helps companies cut the cost of providing the service themselves and can include outsourcing various IT management services, such as help desk and product support, technology consulting, operational services and much (much) more…

Without adding a single person to your payroll, professional telco services can help fill any technical skills, knowledge or headcount gaps to ensure your business runs as smoothly as possible. So, why not branch out this Christmas and present your customers with excellent communication? It seems professional telco services are the gift that keeps on giving…

 Struggling to manage overflow? Need the help of several technical experts for a project? Being prepared is the best way to beat the rush as Christmas approaches. With ChorusCX Pro Services, you can outsource dozens of different services to our friendly and experienced team — and benefit from 24/7 support. Get in touch to learn more, or book a demo on any of our services today.