5 Call Center Vendor Management Best Practices

As the call center vendor manager, you have a company’s success balanced on your shoulders. While the business has its share of risks, you want to make sure to minimize those risks as much as possible. After all, not only is the business at stake but so is your reputation. Here are five practices that will help you succeed.

Assess Compatibility of Values

When it comes down to talking to a vendor, you need to make sure that the vendor’s values align with the company’s. The best way to check this out is to take a look at their website and find out what their mission is. Look into their social media and get a feel for the organization. The more information that you can learn about the company, the more you’ll understand what’s important to them. This can help with communication and trust in the future.

Establish Prices Right Away

If a vendor is secretive about the price of their services, this is a big red flag. During those first conversations, you want everything to be laid out on the table. Their prices and agendas shouldn’t come as a surprise later on. You should also follow this advice and be completely transparent. If a vendor is honest, what do they have to hide?

Push Boundaries and Ask Questions

Have you ever been in a conversation and thought to yourself: this is too good to be true? It’s important for you to look at your potential vendor’s critically. Don’t be afraid to ask questions. Even if they seem to be saying all of the right things and don’t have any flaws, you need to push those limits. Ask the hard questions so that you can see their true colors.

Track Quality and Set Goals

One of the keys to call center vendor management is to make sure that you know what goals your vendor has. It’s hard to get anything accomplished without a plan as to where you might be going. Talk to your vendors regularly, track their progress, quality and make sure that you’re all on the same side.

Discuss Vendor Time Commitments

Time management is critical to success. As a call center vendor manager you should stay on top of your vendors. Make sure that they follow through with their goals and time commitments. This will keep productivity rolling.

When it comes to vendor management, it’s important that you keep success at the forefront of your mind. Hopefully, with these five practices, you will be able to meet your goals alongside your vendors.

Before you sign: how to evaluate a call center vendor

The five practices above work best when you start with the right vendor. Ask every shortlisted call center vendor for the same evidence, in writing, so you can compare like with like.

• Attrition and tenure. Ask for monthly agent attrition and average agent tenure on programs like yours, not a company-wide average.
• Quality coverage. Ask what share of interactions they review. Many vendors score 2 to 5% of calls; some score all of them.
• Security evidence. Request a current SOC 2 Type II report, and the PCI DSS scope if agents will take payments.
• Time to launch. Ask for a week-by-week ramp plan, from hiring to full production.
• Reporting. Agree which metrics you will see, how often, and who attends the business reviews.
• References. Speak to at least one current client in your industry.

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