Think of outsourcers as ‘flexible muscle’

WE HAVE we have seen a huge surge in popularity for outsourced services over the last six months.  Why?  Because it provides companies with plenty of opportunities to continue increasing their revenues during a downturn with no rise in overheads. 

Profit from existing customers Why not concentrate on retention, cross-selling, up-selling or even re-activation of old customers who haven’t bought from you in a while?  Flexible outsourced trial campaigns can be set up quickly with pre-agreed targets and fees, so it is relatively easy to test the water without incurring massive costs.

Extend your markets and opening hours Another way of extending your marketing reach without huge expense is to simply widen your sales territories via the web.   An example is the well-established shirt-maker Charles Tyrwhitt whose on-line telephone sales order line is now open around the clock for customers across the globe.  It was uneconomical to open its own in-house call centre out of hours, but by using our 24/7 operation they could take advantage of a cost-effective bureau-based service.  Another company that is planning to increase business opportunities overseas by using a UK based outsourcer is Verrus, a technology specialist known for its pay by phone parking services.  The company already uses us to manage customer calls about parking, but will soon also rely on outsourcing to provide multi-lingual agents to support a number of French projects, including a bicycle hire service in Paris.

Maximise orders during peak periods by supplementing your existing call centre — another way of ensuring you don’t miss out on sales.  Flying Flowers is using outsourcing to supplement in-house sales.  During the run up to Christmas we processed thousands of orders with an average value of £25 enabling them to capture sales that would otherwise have been lost.

As you can see there are plenty of untapped marketing activities that outsourcing could help with in the current climate.  Remember though it is crucial to select the right partner.  Make sure they offer flexibility, know your industry, can provide references and offer guaranteed quality control and performance SLAs. With these in place, the extra sales muscle could offer a welcome boost.

Stuart Walland, business development director, Converso; stuart@converso.co.uk