Outsourced Call Center Pricing Model

Have you ever tried to evaluate the outsourced call center pricing model and its benefits? In the last decade, several businesses have outsourced their call center functions to third-party service providers for improved productivity and cost-effectiveness. However, many of the companies have doubts about whether call center outsourcing is cheaper than maintaining an in-house call center team. In this blog, let’s debunk the myths related to call center outsourcing costs and their benefits.

Why is Call Center Outsourcing Cheaper?

Nowadays, companies outsource their business functions, especially customer support functions, to serve their customers in a better way. Hiring an outsourcing company is proven to be much cheaper than maintaining an in-house team for customer service. Let’s have a sneak peek at the reasons why call center outsourcing is cost-effective.

1. No Infrastructure

   One of the most important benefits of outsourcing a call center is that there is no headache in maintaining infrastructure. To set up a traditional call center, companies have to pay for office space, electricity, hardware, computers, software, maintenance, tech support, etc. Moreover, you need experienced staff not only for serving customers but also for maintaining the infrastructure. But if any company outsources its call center, they don’t have to pay for all these.

2. Pay for Productive Time

   For an in-house team, a company has to pay for everything like workspace rent, coffee runs, lunch breaks, and the monthly salary of the employees. On the contrary, a company has to pay only for the working hours of the call center executives if it has outsourced the service to a specialized agency.

3. Save on Training Time and Costs

   Outsourcing call center services can save a lot of time and capital that goes into the training of the customer service agents. The in-house call center team of a company has to arrange training for its employees, which takes time and money. On the other hand, it is the responsibility of the BPO agency to provide experienced staff so that they can work efficiently.

4. Liability Protection

   Outsourcing companies can help you avoid the liability of a wide range of situations that are essential for maintaining an in-house call center team. From security breaches to restructuring and data protection to natural disasters, outsourcing companies can protect your company from many situations.

Call Center Outsourcing Pricing and its Options

If you are an agency that is considering shifting from an in-house call center team to outsourcing it to a third-party service provider, then consider the following types of call center outsourcing pricing options:

1. Inbound Call Center Pricing Model

Inbound call centers usually accept calls from customers, i.e., providing customer support or technical support. The costs incurred when a company outsources its call center to an inbound call center company are as follows:

1. Shared

   A shared pricing structure means that the company only pays for the number of hours or minutes the customer support executives speak to the customers. The rates in this case range from $0.27 to $0.45 per minute for offshoring agencies. However, the rate goes up to $0.75 to $1.25 per minute when the agency is from the US or Canada. Shared inbound call centers are ideal for small businesses with medium to low volumes of customers.

2. Dedicated

   Dedicated processes are suitable for companies that have a larger customer base and require expert staff to resolve complex issues. In this process, clients get a dedicated team or an agent. Here, the service is priced on an hourly basis. Hence, the rates range from $8 to $10 for offshoring agencies. But the rate for normal advisors goes up to $20 to $30 in the case of agencies from the US or Canada.

3. Monthly

   In this type of call center, the pricing rate is charged monthly from a client instead of hourly. The functionality of these call centers is a subset of the ‘dedicated’ inbound call center. Usually, inbound call centers from India offer this kind of pricing. However, North American and European countries do not provide monthly pricing for inbound call center activity.

2. Outbound Call Center Pricing Model

Outbound call centers are generally involved in making outbound calls for conducting surveys, taking customer feedback, making follow-up calls, lead generation, or cold calls. These call centers may also call customers to solve their queries if they have requested a callback. The outbound call center pricing model is described below.

1. Hourly Rates

   This is the normal outbound call center pricing model across the world. However, the rates vary location-wise and depending on the extent of specialization a client requires. Call center outsourcing in South Asian countries like India costs around $6 to $10 per hour. However, call centers in Latin America and Eastern Europe cost around $8 to $15 per hour. Countries in Western Europe and North America charge hefty fees from their clients that amount to $20 to $30. In these countries, very specialized companies can charge up to $35 to $50 per hour.

2. Commission Based Rates

   The commission structure works best for lead generation. Commission-based pricing works only when both parties agree to the pricing structure. The costs incurred while hiring call centers that charge based on commission can range from 10% to 20% of the hourly rates. Depending on the type and number of leads, commissions are charged by these agencies to their clients.

3. Hourly Rates + Commission

   When it comes to sales or generating leads for any client, this call center pricing structure works best. Just like a company pays their employees for inside sales and lead generation, in this case, the company needs to pay the call center agency. This pay is the normal base pay and the premium extra for the leads and sales, where base pay refers to hourly rates and premium refers to the commission.

3. Location Wise Call Center Pricing Model

For determining the costs of outsourcing call centers, location plays a vital role. As it is already discussed above, outsourcing in South Asian countries like India is much cheaper than outsourcing in European countries. Here is an insight into the call center pricing model that is based on geographic location.

1. United States/Canada: $20 – $30 per hour

2. Asia/Philippines: $8 – $14 per hour

3. Australia: $35 – $55 per hour

4. Western Europe: $40+ per hour

5. Latin America: $8 – $18 per hour

6. India: $6 – $10 per hour

7. Eastern Europe: $12 – $25 per hour

8. Africa/Middle East: $15 – $20 per hour

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