Inbound vs. Outbound Call Centers: 7 Major Differences

Inbound vs. Outbound Call Centers: 7 Major Differences

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Inbound vs. Outbound Call Centers: 7 Major Differences

A call center is a connecting link between consumers and suppliers who provide goods and services as they gather information, consult with consumers, and execute their orders. Let’s understand the difference between inbound vs outbound call centers.

What do you mean by Inbound Call Center Services?

Inbound call center services can be defined as a call center that is mainly responsible for incoming calls of existing customers of a business. Prospective customers give voice calls that are attended by the customer care representatives. The main function here is to provide exceptional services to customers. The inbound customer support team will operate for a complete 24*7 and 365 days and solve all the queries of customers and offer them a great shopping experience.

Types of Inbound Call Center services are:

Technical Support –

This type of call center services guides and supports the clients if their products are found to be broken or defective. During technical support, operators examine the issues of customers thoroughly and solve their problems patiently.

Customer Service –

In customer service, the client calls the operators of the call center in case there’s an issue that needs to be resolved. Operators check all the details of the problems and try to solve them. Operators also transfer calls to appropriate departments when needed or provide users useful online links for further information.

Inbound Sales Support –

This acts as an effective sales tool as the operator here doesn’t receive calls from existing customers and rather talks to potential customers who require additional information. In this case, the sales operator must be talented and should have good convincing skills so that they don’t miss any single opportunity. To generate sales, they need to talk politely and respectfully and communicate using the right words with customers.

What do you mean by Outbound Call Center Services?

Unlike inbound call centers where all incoming calls are being answered, outbound call centers are just the opposite. In outbound customer support, a call center agent will make calls to customers on behalf of its clients. It includes subscription renewal calls, upsell, sales calls, cross-sale, feedback calls, informing customers about discounts and offers, and an introductory call during a launch of a new product.

Types of Outbound Call Center Services are:

Cold Calls: Such calls are a sign of the first interaction made by the company with its potential customers. It is an effective method to attract customers and operators here should be skilled enough to develop the interest of customers in the product.

Hot Calls: These calls are made to interact with clients with whom the operator has interacted earlier to sell a product.

Difference between Inbound Call Centers and Outbound Call Centers

Here’s a list of 7 differences between inbound call centers and outbound call centers.

Types of Services –

Inbound customer support team mainly focuses on customer queries, issues, and complaints and provides them 24 x 7 support assistance. The main aspect here is to gain customer loyalty and provide the most effective customer service so that we can retain them towards the targeted brand. Here, they also have to focus on inbound sales and serve the purpose of customers by converting them into sales.

In outbound service, customer care agents actively reach out to customers and help them in completing their buying process. It includes services like customer feedback, pitching with discounts and offers, cross-selling and upselling.

Difference in Purpose –

The purpose of both the call centers is almost similar i.e. to resolve issues and provide customer satisfaction. However, to accomplish this goal, both call centers use various methods and technologies. The purpose of an inbound call center is to solve the issues, complaints, and questions of clients and give them the best solution. The purpose of an outbound call center is to take the first move and make calls to clients and offer them your products and services.

Difference in Agent Training –

It plays a crucial role in both the call centers. During inbound service, agents handle all the requests of customers and thus the interaction should be personalized. In the period of training, agents are being taught how to be polite, patient and proactively listen to the problems of clients and understand their problems. Conversely, in outbound service, agents are trained in selling skills as they have to convert users into real-time customers.

Difference in Technology –

Both the call center uses different technologies and software during customer support service. Inbound call center services use technologies like call control, call monitoring that includes mute, hold, call transfer, IVR, automatic call distribution, etc. Outbound call center services use automatic call dialers and CRM systems.

Metrics Measurement –

The metrics measurement used in both the call centers is different from one another as they measure the success rates and efficiency of each customer support. The metrics used to measure inbound services are average handle time, first call resolution, average call transfer rate, abandoned call rate, the average speed of answer, and the score of customer satisfaction. The metrics used to measure outbound services are the first call close, calls per agent, calls per account, conversion rate, average call length, occupancy rate, hit rate, and call quality.

Interaction with Customers –

In inbound customer support, representatives generally receive the calls of customers and thus the interaction is initiated by the customers. But in outbound customer support, representatives initiate the customer interaction through cold calls and inform them about the products, services, offerings, etc.

The difference in Business Challenges and Impact –

Both customer support plays an essential role in generating customer retention and revenue generation by tackling the challenges of customers. Inbound customer support representatives are responsible for offering excellent customer service and creating a huge impact on the growth of the business. On the other hand, outbound customer services focus on challenges and making sales.

Conclusion

The final question that arises is which call center services are better? Well, both customer support service is unique and equivalent in their ways. One should choose a call center service as per their business requirements. Octopus Tech is a renowned outsourcing company that offers both inbound call center services and outbound call center services to its clients and helps them grow in the market.