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Make A Site Visit Before Outsourcing Your Healthcare Calls
Submitted by Call Center Sales Pro

July 12, 2017

Make a Site Visit Before Outsourcing Your Healthcare Calls


 
We’ve already talked about five things to check before outsourcing your healthcare calls. Once these items all pass, a site visit is the next step. No matter how good their proposal or how impressive their references, you need to go onsite to check out the reality of their operation. Here are eight keys to consider:
 
1) Location: In many respects the location of a call center doesn’t matter, but in one sense it does. If it’s in a questionable area then employees may not feel safe coming to work or even being at work. This will hurt the call center’s ability to attract and keep a qualified workforce, which will affect their ability to serve you with excellence. When it comes to quality staffing, location matters.
 
2) Security: Call centers must deal with security on two levels, one is building access and the other is internal access to the operations room and equipment room. Building security keeps nonemployees out and provides appropriate oversight of visitors. Internal security keeps unauthorized employees from going where they don’t belong. This is especially critical at healthcare call centers, which has a legal and ethical obligation to protect personal health information and keep it confidential.
 
3) Supervision: Are supervisors actually on the call center floor and actively supporting the call center agents? Is a manager present to support the supervisors?
 
4) Order: A neat and organized call center is best positioned to provide professional, quality service to callers. A cluttered environment serves as an impediment to staff efficacy and a distraction to their work.
 
5) Amenities: Check out the employee breakroom. Is it inviting and pleasant? Are people actually using it? The breakroom and other staff amenities provide agents with a nice respite from call center work. Employees who retreat to their cars on their breaks signal something is amiss.
 
6) Demeanor: While most call centers have a casual dress code, attire has a proven relationship with professionalism. Expect neatness and an absence of sloppy dress. At minimal consider staff body language as they work. Are they sitting attentively at their stations? Or are they slouching as they type, leaning on elbows when they talk, or resting their heads between calls?
 
7) Technology: Unless you have a strong technical background, you cannot assess the technological infrastructure on a site visit, but you can observe the technology. At minimum the equipment room should be locked. Expect a neat, clean, organized area. This suggests their supporting technology is properly and professionally maintained, reliable and ready.
 
8) Vibe: What is your overall feeling of the operation. Set logic aside and go with your gut. What do your instincts tell you? They are probably right.
Of course when you use a broker to find a call center for you, the broker has already made a site visit so you don’t have to. This saves you time and travel, speeding you to making a successful selection.
 
Janet Livingston is the president of Call Center Sales Pro, a premier sales and marketing service provider for the telephone answering service industry that provides a comprehensive billing service. Contact Janet at contactus@callcenter-salespro.com or 800-901-7706
 

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