When it comes to Call Center Services Pricing (2021), there are crucial services that are not yet included.

Besides taking in and making calls, there are additional services that can help businesses make a difference in their bottomline.

These services, however, are commonly not part of the service package most call center companies offer. And they often come with additional fees.

That is why in this article we will help you look at the current pricing structure of contact center companies and the optional services that’s not included in it, yet.

Current Pricing Structure for Outsourced Call Center Services

In outsourcing a call center provider, you have a number of choices that may affect the price of your chosen service.

Like in inbound call centers, you have the option of using shared or dedicated call centers. The choice you will make will play a factor in the overall price.

Let us take a look at these pricing rules one-by-one:

1. Inbound Call Center

Inbound call centers handle the majority of incoming calls. This means that rather than the other way around, consumers or potential customers are calling the business.

There are two ways to identify inbound call center services price:

• Shared
• Dedicated

Shared Inbound Services

A shared services center is a paid unit that handles specific company activities like human resources, IT, accounting, and payroll. To improve organization and processing, call centers centralized common tasks from various teams rather than having one for each team.

A shared services model is considered to be cost-efficient because it can centralize back-office operations that are typically used by many different divisions of the same company and eliminate operational redundancy.

When it comes to price, the typical shared/blended service pricing ranges from $0.27-$0.45/minute at low cost International agencies to $0.75-$1.25/minute domestically. 

Minutes are calculated by adding the talk time plus the call wrap-up time. And this is usually a loaded expense, as it includes management and support personnel.

Dedicated Inbound Services

With Dedicated Inbound Services, the agents assigned to your account are “committed” to your business and will serve just your customers with 100% attention. 

Image is vital in a competitive market. You may distinguish yourself from the competition by providing consistent, high-quality customer service, but it is usually not enough.

Customers may have specialized needs, or your product offering may be quite complex to them. Catering to this need is important. 

But by having dedicated customer service representatives to emphasize your brand, you can easily provide the distinguished help your firm can be recognized for.

Dedicated Call Center rates range from $8-$15/hr internationally to $22-$28/hr in the US/Canada. 

2. Outbound Call Center

Let us take a look at these calculation for a moment:

This is the total amount of cost per year if you decide to have an in-house outbound call center.

However, by outsourcing them you can save up to 20% – 30% of the total expense depending on the call center pricing structure. It is because you will not need to pay huge amounts for office space, software and hardware and hiring costs anymore.

It can still go a lot lower.

Outbound Call Center usually follows a pricing structure friendly to entrepreneurs’ wallets. They have three ways to identify outbound call center pricing per call:

• Hourly
• Commission 
• Hourly + Commission

Hourly Model

For outbound telemarketing, notably lead generation and appointment setting, this is the most prevalent call center pricing structure. 

Aside from program size, complexity, and contract term, costs vary depending on the provider’s region.

With an hourly model, you will have more stable pricing rates. Plus you only need to pay for the productive time spent on your business needs.

Commission Model

Commission model is also known as the Pay Per Performance model.

A full commission system makes sense for both services engaged in sales or lead generation. 

The amount of commission is not fixed. In fact, it is entirely determined by the circumstances. To account for the added risk to the call center, the amount received per hour by the call center should provide at least a 10% to 20% premium above their typical hourly rates.

Although, for most outbound call centers, this is not the best pricing model type. 

Agreeing to this call center pricing model, both parties should prepare a detailed report of sales or appointment conversion rates, a script or call guide, training materials, and samples of recorded conversations.

In that way, both are clear on the amount of commission against the company’s performance.

Hourly + Commission Model

As the name suggests, it is a combination of both pricing structures. 

After campaigns, many outbound call centers will contemplate changing to a reduced hourly fee in exchange for a defined incentive. This would allow the call center to earn a competitive total compensation package depending on the outbound program’s continued performance.

Basically, the hourly plus commission model provides call centers with a more stable income, increasing trust between both parties. The added incentive programs help agents to be more motivated in performing optimally for the business.

It is a win-win situation.

3. Location

If you are asking, “how much does it cost to outsource a call center in different countries?” Here is the updated matrix of the price per country:

Location is the single most important cost factor in outsourcing call centers. 

As a result, choosing a call center in the United States or Europe over one in the Philippines will have a significant influence on your call center costs. 

If you are a small to midsize enterprise, these figures are a useful starting point for estimating costs. 

However, you should look for a call center that is more than simply a provider; it should be a partner who can add even more value to your business through data insights, training, innovation, and experience.

What’s Not Included?

Geographies and type of call center can clearly have huge differences in your call center costs. 

However, there are several factors that influence whether you will pay more or less to your call center partner. 

One element is the customer service representative’s level of experience. Those with a lot of experience and a certain technological background will be paid more.

Actually, there are other services that your outsourcing provider may not include in the advertised hourly rate.

Higher prices, for example, usually include extra expenditures, whereas a lower one may include additional fees for linked services. Charges that could be included or billed separately.

Here we compiled some of these add-ons:

1. Campaign Setup and Building

This involves gathering a contact list for lead creation or conducting surveys for outbound calls. It also includes the activity of deciding on the main message for each call and the tracking progress.

2. Script Building

Some call center providers include extra services such as building scripts for outbound and inbound calls. This is handy for SMEs that want to utilize their opportunity talking with customers attempting to resolve their issues or making a sale.

3. Telecoms Cost 

Yes, the cost of the services from the telecommunications provider is sometimes not included on the service package.

It is important to be clear on this with your call center partner.

4. Recruitment

Some call centers also do not shoulder the cost of recruitment. Some charge fees for job openings postings, interviews, and filling positions. Again, it is important that you are clear with this with your partner. Miscommunications with these kinds of things tend to break trust.

5. Porting

Porting or the transfer of any client phone numbers to the outsourced customer support system.

Let us say you have clients that you want your call center partner to get in touch with. That sometimes comes with a cost. There is a risk connected to transferring of client contact details to the customer support system. 

That is why some call centers charge an extra fee for it.

6. Dedicated operations teams

These are teams that will be in charge of supervising your outsourced agents.

Their tasks usually involve answering product inquiries, and ensuring that all agents are performing to their full potential. They are basically Subject Matter Experts slash Team Leaders, but only for your company.

7. Auditing

Do you still want to ensure and improve the quality of calls, emails, webchats, and other customer interactions?

Call centers offer auditing services to help you get an insight of everything related to handling and taking calls. This, however, comes with an extra fee.

8. Reports 

Detailed reports on the status of critical data gained from interactions or surveys, progress toward important performance objectives, and statistics sometimes come with additional fees.

9. Account Management

Do you want your account handled differently than others? Do you want your call center to prioritize your business? Do you want your customers to experience a one-of-a-kind service?

Call centers usually charge a fee for account management. They can do all of these for your business, and it will surely create a positive change in your organization. But it will not come cheap.

10. System Licenses Cost

Licenses that are unique to your business usually have an extra price tag. Call centers usually do not shoulder expenses related to premiums and maintenance of extra system licenses. 

Take note that some services stated here are optional, while others are mandatory. It all depends on your chosen call center partner. 

All, on the other hand, are necessary for achieving high-quality results. You may need an outsourced customer service provider to invest more in some of these than others, depending on your needs.

Cheap Call Center Service Provider

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With our extensive range of services, consistent focus on quality over quantity, cutting-edge technology, pool of skills, and business transparency, we can help you accomplish greater things.

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