When you’re ready to take your healthcare call center to the next level, don’t add an expensive call center professional to your payroll and hope for the best. Instead use a contracted services professional to provide what you need, when you want it, and without the hassle. When you go with a contracted services professional, you avoid payroll issues, adding to your human resources overhead, and committing your company to offering expensive benefits and perks. Instead the cost of contracted services is reduced to a single monthly invoice, which becomes an accounts payable action and not a payroll liability. With contracted services you only pay for the services you need and for as long as you need them. This is the smart way to handle growth and optimization initiatives for your healthcare call center, as well as to provide ongoing solutions to incrementally keep your contact center on the leading edge of industry offerings and patient expectations.
Working with a contracted services professional can occur in multiple ways, according to what works best for your budget and matches your needs and expectations. Note that clients often start in one area, such as project-based, and then move to another area such as a monthly retainer or a custom arrangement. When selecting a contracted services provider make sure they’re flexible in their service offerings, able to meet your needs now and in the future. Don’t select a vendor who doesn’t offer options and locks you into a singular service package. Here are four common approaches. The best contracted services providers offer all four.
The per project approach to contracted services is to focus on one area, such as implementing a new technology, optimizing a challenging process, or turning an identified weakness into a strength. Once the goals and objectives of this project wrap up, the contracted services agreement ends, with no further obligation or costs. However, clients who use the project-based approach to contracted services for their healthcare call center will often move from one project to the next, sometimes in rapid succession, and other times after allowing a short buffer between projects. Some call centers like to keep the excitement and momentum moving forward with rapid project deployment, whereas other operations prefer time to catch their breath before jumping into the next project.
The second type of contracted services arrangements is a consultative approach. In this case the contracted services professional provides ongoing assistance to address the biggest needs and the most significant opportunities for the healthcare call center. While they can focus on the felt needs as identified by call center leadership, they can serve even more effectively by making best-practice recommendations based on what they know of current industry standards and emerging trends. This is because your call center leadership can only make requests that they’re aware of, but they can’t direct initiatives into areas they don’t know about. The best way to proceed with the ongoing consultancy approach is to merge the goals of the call center leadership with the recommendations of the contracted services professional.
A third option is essentially the on-call approach, where the contracted services professional is on a monthly retainer. This makes them available to answer questions, assist as needed, or oversee progress of past initiatives. With the monthly retainer option, the contracted services vendor can quickly move into a project-based initiative or an ongoing consultancy agreement. This provides the best flexibility and the greatest value during those times when the call center is between major initiatives.
Though most contracted services initiatives fit into one of these three categories, that doesn’t mean your call center must pick one of them. That’s why leading contracted services providers offer custom packages based on your specific needs, urgency, and budget. If your need for a contracted services professional doesn’t fit into one of these three common areas, just tell them what you need and ask for a custom quote.
Healthcare call center contracted services are an effective way to help your call center quickly implement new technology, navigate industry opportunities and trends, and optimize your operations. Three common approaches are project-based, ongoing consultancy, and using a monthly retainer. If none of these fit your specific requirements, ask for a custom package developed to meet your specific situation. The key with contracted services is that you no longer need to handle every call center situation internally. Instead you can tap the expertise of a seasoned contact center professional to quickly move you from where you are to where you want to be. Call Center Sales Pro, a premier sales and marketing service provider for the call center and telephone answering service industry, helps clients grow their revenue and optimize their business. Contact Janet at contactus@callcenter-salespro.com or 800-901-7706. Peter Lyle DeHaan is a freelance writer from Southwest Michigan.