For years I bought my insurance through the local office of a national insurance company. They insured my cars, house, and business. For a time, I even had my healthcare insurance and a small life insurance policy with them. The agent and his staff provided great customer service and treated me like a friend. Each time I had an insurance need, I’d tell them what I was looking for and wanted to accomplish. Then they’d try to fit me into one of the plans they offered. If I objected to the price, they’d change one of the variables to lower the premiums down to my budget. I knew I could shop around and maybe find a better package elsewhere, but I didn’t because I was pleased with their service and generally pleased with their prices. In hindsight, their policies were limited and their prices were not the best. After my agent retired and a major claim was denied, I had the incentive I needed to make a change. However, instead of calling each local insurance agent to find out what their company offered, I made one call to an independent agent who represented dozens of insurance companies. I explained what I wanted. They didn’t force me into the best policy within one company. Instead they could consider multiple policies from a long roster of insurance companies. And since they would be servicing my account, I knew they wouldn’t recommend a second rate outfit. In the end, they provided me with better coverage for several of my policies and at a lower rate. There is a parallel here to when businesses need to find a call center or a telephone answering service. If you call one company, they’ll try to shoehorn you into one of their plans, whether it fits or not. And if you want to do some comparison shopping, then you end up dialing through a long list of possible service providers. This is time-consuming and frustrating. A better way is to contact an “independent agent” that represents multiple call centers and answering services. They will ask about your needs and your goals so they can recommend the service provider that best meets your situation. This saves you time and headache. The next time you need to find a call center or answering service, call a call center broker first. I bet you’ll be as pleased with the results as I was with my independent insurance agent. Janet Livingston is the president of Call Center Sales Pro, a premier sales and marketing service provider for the call center and telephone answering service industry – and who provides a call center matchmaking service. Contact Janet at contactus@callcenter-salespro.com, or call 800-901-7706. Peter DeHaan is a freelance writer from Southwest Michigan.