A customer is the centre-point of all businesses today. If you want to retain your existing customers or want to attract new ones, it is essential to provide them with after-sales service and assistance. Here is where the role of a call centre comes into the picture.

Call centres consist of customer service specialists who offer their skilled services to organisations that want to address customer queries. A call centre attends both inbound and outbound calls. Inbound call centre receive calls from customers and offer them services and assistance. An outbound call centre calls customers to sell a company’s services or products.

It is essential to understand the difference between both types of call centres, as the choice of call centre significantly impacts the business reputation, customer satisfaction, business growth, etc.

What is an Inbound Call Center?

As the name suggests, an inbound call centre majorly handles incoming or inbound calls. The calls are from customers or potential customers seeking assistance. Thus, inbound call meaning implies attending to customer calls and helping them to find a solution to their issues or answering their questions. 

The main objective of an inbound call centre service is to solve customer issues, offer technical assistance and provide them with a solution to their concerns. To carry out these tasks, the representatives attending the calls must be kind, helpful and cooperative, representing a company. Also, they must possess excellent knowledge to answer the clients satisfactorily. 

Types of Inbound Call Center

An inbound call centre is the central support system that an organisation provides to its customers. It is versatile yet tailor-made to match the business requirements. Inbound call centres can be classified on the basis of the services they provide.

• Customer Service: The most crucial task handled by an inbound call centre is providing support to the customers. They are at the frontline answering queries that customers may have regarding a product or service they have purchased. The attitude and approach of the representatives play a key role in shaping the image of an organisation.
• Account and Billing Information: Another type of inbound call centre is one that handles client questions related to accounts and billing. It may involve queries regarding the billing of a service or product purchased, account-related information or management, and renewals of accounts, subscriptions, etc.
• Call Routing: Another type of inbound call centre is one that routes the customer’s call to the concerned department by using advanced technologies. 
• Appointment Scheduling: This type of call centre handles the appointment scheduling, cancelling and rescheduling tasks so the burden is taken off the organisation.
• Technical Support: Inbound call centres also provide technical support to customers who face issues with their products. The representatives at this type of call centre are tech-savvy individuals with expertise in troubleshooting, technical glitches, etc.
• Sales Inbound Calls: These types of inbound call centres attend calls from potential customers who may be interested in purchasing a product or service.

What is an Outbound Call Centre?

Outbound call centres are those call centres that make calls to existing and potential customers rather than accepting incoming calls. Outbound meaning stands for those calls that target potential customers for sales, market research, lead creation, fundraising, reminders, etc. 

In contrast to inbound calls, outbound calls services aim at attracting customers, briefing them on the features and benefits of a product or service, or spreading awareness about its existence. To make outbound calls more effective, the representatives must follow specific practices to add value to their words. They must possess excellent sales skills and the ability to grasp the customer’s attention towards the product or service.

Types of Outbound Call Centre

An outbound call centre is thought to mainly be associated with sales. However, in reality, an outbound call centre does much more. Based on the functions it performs, an outbound call centre is divided into several types, as mentioned below.

• Telemarketing: Telemarketing is the most common type of outbound call centre. The purpose of these call centres is to market the products or services of an organisation through calls. Though they are similar to sales, the objective is wider.
• Surveys and Outreach: Another type of outbound call centre conducts surveys and outreach. The primary objective of such call centres is to conduct market research and collect insights from the customers.
• Fundraising: One of the types of outbound call centres is those whose objective is to raise funds. One may receive calls from such call centres for donations towards a noble cause.
• Customer Update: Keeping customer information up to date is crucial for organisations. Hence, outbound call centres exist that make calls to customers and acquire their existing details to ensure they match the information in the database.
• Customer Feedback: This is one of the most important types of outbound call centres. They collect customer feedback on the products or services. The feedback allows them to note the customer experiences, allowing the products or services to improve in the future.

Key Differences Between Inbound and Outbound Call Centres

Inbound and outbound call centres have different purposes for which they exist. It is crucial to know what is inbound and outbound call so an organisation can understand what type of call centre it wants to hire to achieve the organisational goals.

Inbound vs outbound calls are described on the basis of their fundamental differences below.

• Purpose

The primary difference between an inbound and outbound call centre is in their purpose of existence. An inbound call centre exists to attend to or receive calls from existing or potential customers. 

On the contrary, an outbound call centre functions to make calls to existing or potential clients for different purposes, including sales, telemarketing, survey, feedback, etc.

• Focus

The main focus of an inbound call centre is to provide a solution or assistance to the customer. The representatives aim to solve the customer problem by using their product knowledge, technical skills, etc.

An outbound call centre focusses on contacting customers for sales, telemarketing, or fundraising.

• Approach

An inbound call centre adopts a reactive approach as it requires attending to the customer’s query and providing them with an appropriate solution. On the other hand, an outbound call centre adopts a proactive approach as it reaches out to the customers to carry out sales, market surveys, etc.

• Skills Required

Representatives of an inbound call centre must have excellent technical skills and product knowledge. It assists them in confidently answering customer questions and solving any issue that they may be facing with the product or service. Besides, they must also be patient and empathetic.

Inbound call centre representatives require persuasiveness and sales skills to be able to build customer relationships and educate the customers about the product or service. They must have excellent communication skills and must develop resilience to rejection.

Though inbound and outbound call centres have a free key differences, both rely on technology to improve the quality of their services. Technological integration allows them to deliver exceptional services to the customers and improves their efficiency. Many call centres integrate tools such as CRM systems, IVR (interactive voice response), AI-powered chatbots, ACD and call routing, call queuing, and so on.

Pros and Cons of Inbound Call Centres

Pros:

• Leads to customer satisfaction
• Increases sales and revenue
• Boost company reputation
• They are more cost-effective than in-house call centres.
• Provides scalability to growing businesses

Cons

• Language difference exists
• Representatives may lack product knowledge.
• Long wait times can disappoint the customers.
• It can be challenging to manage the high volume of calls.

Pros and Cons of Outbound Call Centres

Pros

• Enhances productivity
• It helps to get genuine customer feedback.
• Helps to meet customer demands
• Provides operational support to the organisation
• Helps to retain customers
• Allows organisations to track crucial metrics

Cons:

• Poses risk to brand reputation.
• Call rejection rates are high.
• Security risk
• Lack of customer interest

Which One is Right for Your Business?

Outsourcing the task of handling inbound and outbound calls is a crucial decision for any organisation. Every organisation has different requirements. It is necessary to assess if your team is struggling with inbound calls or outbound calls. 

If your team needs help with customer assistance, technical support, etc., then you must hire an inbound call centre to improve the customer experience and retain them for a long time. On the contrary, if your team is having difficulty getting leads, carrying out efficient market surveys, etc., then you must consider outbound call centre services.

A third alternative is to consider a hybrid call centre where both inbound and outbound calls are taken care of. Opting for the services of a hybrid call centre allows you to receive comprehensive customer services and also reach out to potential clients.

Conclusion

In conclusion, outsourcing can significantly boost business productivity, allowing companies to focus on core operations while entrusting specialized tasks to experts. As businesses look to scale and optimize their resources, outsourcing offers a flexible and cost-effective solution.

At Ocube, we provide comprehensive call center outsourcing services for both inbound and outbound operations, helping businesses manage customer interactions, lead generation, and more. With our expertise in virtual assistance and BPO services, Ocube ensures efficient workflow management, enhanced customer satisfaction, and seamless communication for businesses of all sizes. By partnering with us, you can streamline your processes and drive success in today’s competitive landscape.

Frequently Asked Questions:

1. What types of services do inbound call centres provide?

Inbound call centres provide customer-oriented services, which include solving customer issues, addressing their queries and giving them the information/help they are looking for.

2. What performance indicators are important for outbound call centres?

Performance indicators, such as average handle time, call abandonment rate, average speed of answer, average call length, cost per call, etc., are crucial for outbound call centres.

3. What metrics are used to measure performance in inbound call centres?

Inbound call centres use metrics such as customer satisfaction rate, first response time, service level, percentage of blocked calls, first call resolution, etc. to measure the performance.

4. How can Ocube help with call centre services?

Ocube helps clients enhance their reputation by providing tech-based solutions that cater to customer requirements. Our services are highly beneficial in improving the customer satisfaction, telemarketing, sales, etc., as our services are scalable, multilingual, and tailored for your business requirements.