Managing Customer Call Center Costs in an Uncertain Economy
Today’s call center mantra is, “Do more with what you have.” In this uncertain economy there is even more pressure to perform miracles by increasing productivity while lowering costs, yet still continuing to provide expected customer service levels. In our consulting engagements with direct call centers and through our F. Curtis Barry & Company Best Practice ShareGroups, we’ve been able to observe the latest call center trends and how managers are dealing with them. Here are some of the major issues that direct customer call centers face, as they examine their costs and try to reduce them without major disruptions to customer service.
Higher Labor and Benefit Costs
There has been a tremendous acceleration in hourly labor rates over the past five years. In addition, our industry is in competition with call center jobs in banks and other financial services, which often pay more and have stronger benefits. As recently as 2003, many of our clients had average pay rates in the $7.50 to $9.00 range, with benefits adding 15% to 20%. Today those same clients are paying an average of $10.50 to $13.00 per hour. Some of those in urban areas are faced with $16.00 to $17.00 per hour, with added benefits in the 25%-30% range. However, there are still fortunate direct call centers with labor rates of $7.50 to $9.00 in smaller cities and rural areas.
Tweet This 
Delicious 
Digg 
Facebook 
StumbleUpon
Related posts
If you enjoyed this post, please consider to leave a comment or subscribe to the feed and get future articles delivered to your feed reader.
