Business owners will always want to save company money because that will enhance the financial bottom line. They also want to maintain a team of customer service agents who will keep their clients happy.  Happy clients are a reflection of a successful business. Good news for business owners: there is a way to fulfill these two objectives. Outsourcing live chat agents can save them serious company money while keeping their client base connected and engaged.

Team Customer Happiness

First, let’s understand what makes live chat agents important to the company’s customer relationship management. They are the front line of defense and they answer customer’s questions real time. Informed and available any time, they can defuse any dissatisfaction and win the customer over. Their use of live chat instead of voice calls can turn a problematic situation around.

Upset customers who read the live chat as the words flash on the screen have the time to reflect on what the live chat agents are saying. On the contrary, a word said incorrectly during a voice call, or perhaps the tone of the customer rep that comes the wrong way can lead to unexpected consequences. Live chat agents can manage the situation more calmly thanks to the availability of live chat software that makes their work a lot easier. Hence, outsourcing live chat agents is a viable solution to this problem.

Benefits of Outsourcing Live Chat Agents

Outsourcing live chat agents has many cost-effective benefits over managing and running your own team of online customer service representatives.

Benefit #1: Reasonable Rates

The rates of remote workers are more flexible, negotiable, and reasonable compared to full-time employees. Full-time employees in certain industries, such as live chat operators, do expect a certain rate. Aside from the basic salary, they also have to be paid overtime pay and performance bonuses. What’s more, they also ask for benefits like medical insurance or paid vacation.

On the other hand, outsourcing live chat agents will spare your company these expenses. You can choose to pay these remote workers by the hour or by the project. They also get paid for the work that they do. Leave time of any kind is not compensated for (unless you choose to offer this benefit).

Benefit #2: Easier Payment Terms

Payment terms for remote live chat agents can be adjusted according to your need. That’s the beauty in outsourcing live chat agents. Managed outsourcing companies that deploy them can scale up the number of remote workers or reduce them, depending on your current business objectives. This approach helps ensure that you do pay for the worker you hire and who you need at that point in time. Unlike in an employer-employee relationship, you don’t risk paying for staff who are not being maximized.

Benefit #3: Less Overheads

Outsourcing live chat agents saves you from spending on equipment and infrastructure costs. Hiring an in-house live chat team means you also have to buy their desks, cubicles, laptops, headsets, microphones, and other required devices. It also means allocating a budget for overhead expenses. These include the lease of the room where you have to put all these agents. It means paying bills for water, power, and internet connection, among others.

You don’t have to do this if you outsource live chat support. All these live chat agents will be working at home and using their own smart devices and internet connection. The only thing you might need to spend on is the chat software installed on their computers.

Benefit #4: Training Costs no more

Outsourcing live chat agents saves you training costs. Again a full-time team of live agents means investing in their regular training and talent development. Your agents have to be on top of their game to outsmart the competition. This is where regular training comes in, to sharpen their skills. Training, though, does cost money in the form of trainers, learning modules, e-books, and other resources.

Recruitment Genius

HOPLA is a genius in finding dedicated live chat agents fit for every company culture. We do not just screen and recruit live chat agents for our clients. We also monitor their performance and provide the guidance they need to upgrade their live chat skills. And because their skills are continually being upgraded, they keep raising the user experience of their customers. All these translate to more business for you.

You can save significant money while keeping your customer happy when you outsource live chat agents. If you want to go into this direction, HOPLA can help you. Call us now.