Overview
1. This blog explores the two main customer support approaches—Dedicated and Shared—to help you make an informed decision.
Here’s what you’ll discover:
a. Understand the dilemma businesses face when deciding on their customer support strategy.
b. A breakdown of the benefits, limitations, and use cases for Dedicated and Shared Customer Support models.
c. How a hybrid approach can combine the best aspects of both models to maximize efficiency and personalization.
d. Critical questions to evaluate your business needs and choose the right model.
2. By the end of this blog, you’ll have a clear understanding of these models and actionable strategies to align your customer support approach with your business objectives.
“One size does not fit all in customer support. Your model should reflect your unique business needs.”
– Sarah Jenkins, Contact Center Consultant
Introduction: Navigating the Customer Support Dilemma
Imagine this: you are a business owner struggling between building more dedicated call centers and controlling the rising customer inquiries. You could either invest in a call center or a Shared Services Center that could satisfy the soaring customer calls.
I have seen many companies, over the years, operate on the two strategies being discussed as if torn between them. Actually, however, there is no such thing as one size fits all because what fits a small startup may not fit within an old, established enterprise.
In this blog, I will be breaking down the pros and cons of both models so you can find the best fit for your business. Through this, you’ll not only have clarity but also actionable insights at the end, elevating your Customer Service Support.
Understanding The Two Models
1. Dedicated Customer Support
This model assigns a team exclusively to your brand. Agents become your company’s representative, well-familiarized with your products and services as well as customer peculiarities.
Key Benefits:
a. Interactions become personalized and aligned toward the brand.
b. Training, processes, and even performance metrics will be more controlled.
c. When specialized knowledge is required in specific industries like healthcare and finance.
Example:
Imagine a luxury high-end brand that has bespoke services. They can’t afford generic interactions; a dedicated call center is the only way to ensure a seamless customer experience.
2. Shared Customer Support
Here, agents support various companies. The model helps save money, especially for companies with variable support requirements.
Key Benefits:
a. Lower operational costs due to shared resources.
b. Scalability during seasonal spikes.
c. Access to a pool of skilled agents without full-time commitments.
Example:
Consider a small e-commerce startup firm at the holiday season. While it may build an entire support team, it can rely on the shared services center to handle surges, if they are only needed for a short period.
Dedicated vs. Shared Customer Support
The Hybrid Option: Bridging the Best of Both Worlds
The hybrid model, as the term may suggest, refers to combining the merits of both dedicated and shared customer support models. It is quickly gaining ground because it becomes the best option for businesses that will require the shared services but which also need dedicated attention in critical functions. Here’s why the hybrid is going to suit your business:
Key Features of the Hybrid Model
1. Flexible Resource Allocation
a. The company can allocate a specific team for those high-priority activities like escalations, complaints, or premium customers. This is whilst the shared agents handle usual inquiries or seasonal spikes.
b. Therefore, this approach enables businesses to maximize resources and costs with minimal sacrifice on the quality of service.
2. Scalability During Seasonal Peaks
a. Hybrid models allow for easy scaling of operations during peak seasons or promotional periods.
b. Committed teams ensure quality service to high-priority tasks, and flexible capacity for handling unsteady volumes
3. Cost-Effective Yet Personalized
a. The hybrid saves cost as shared resources for simpler tasks, with personalized contact placed where it matters the most-the high-value customer touch points
b. Companies opt out of a full dedicated call center expense yet enjoy the benefit when needed for specific areas.
4. Expertise Across Functions
a. With the hybrid approach, businesses can exploit special skills for certain activities while still drawing from diverse skills by shared agents for problems traversing multiple topics.
b. As an example, a company dealing with health matters may utilize dedicated support for confidential patient inquiries and let the shared agents handle the process of booking appointments.
Example Use Case: Hybrid In Action
Imagine an e-commerce brand taking part in a huge sale event. Hybrid models can:
a. Dedicated teams for the management of VIP customers and returns.
b. Shared teams to handle general questions like the availability of a particular product and tracking on delivery of a particular product.
c. This would ensure the brand keeps great service levels while at the same time keeping the costs to reasonable levels.
Thoughts To Ponder: What’s Your Priority?
Before diving into a decision, ask yourself:
a. Does your business mainly need cost or quality? A dedicated model would ensure top quality but at a premium price
b. Do you have seasonal fluctuations in demand patterns? If yes, a shared services center is flexible.
c. Does your industry call for special knowledge? For example, healthcare or legal industries will require dedicated support.
To me, business houses do not play enough attention to the importance of a long-term vision towards aligning their customer support model. A shared model may be cost-effective at the end of the day, but brand loyalty might suffer eventually.
Conclusion: Choose Wisely, Grow Strategically
The decision to choose between a Dedicated Call Center and a shared services center is based on more than just cost competitiveness. It is more about aligning your support strategy to the brand values and customer expectations.
The right decision can elevate your brand’s reputation and profitability. So, what will you do?
Mastering Customer Excellence with DialDesk
Customer experience is not only a service but rather a strategy, art, and nucleus of business growth. At DialDesk, we understand this better than anybody else. We are an innovative BPO company that offers customized, cost-effective solutions in customer care and can change the face of how businesses interact with their clients.
Why DialDesk?
a. Customized Solutions: Size doesn’t fit all when it comes to customer experience. We design one-of-a-kind strategies for sectors ranging from e-commerce to healthcare.
b. Pay As You Go Flexibility: Start small. Scale seamlessly. And only pay for what you use.
c. Expert CSRs & Quality Assurance: Our trained agents, along with strict quality checks, make sure that your customers are taken care of.
d. 24*7 Availability: Never let go of a potential engagement or resolution opportunity.
With DialDesk’s proven capabilities for reducing costs while driving improved customer satisfaction, you can raise the customer experience bar.
Tune In To Our Podcast: Mastering Strokes
Looking for insights, strategies, and behind-the-scenes knowledge on mastering customer relationships? Check out our podcast, “Mastering Strokes,” where we dive deep into the art of delivering exceptional customer service.
Why Listen to Mastering Strokes?
a. Inspiring Stories: Hear from businesses that turned and shifted customer service through innovative approaches.
b. Actionable Tips: Learn from the experts most directly applicable in your customer service strategies.
c. Expert Guests: Learn from experts in BPO as well as leaders in the industry.
d. Interactive Format: We answer listener queries and discuss real-life challenges.
Let’s redefine customer excellence together!
When you use DialDesk and Mastering Strokes, you are not just choosing a service; you’re choosing a partner dedicated to your growth. Let’s get the customer support game elevated.
Subscribe to our podcast today!
