starting a call center business plan

Call Center Business Plan Template

Written by Dave Lavinsky

Call Center Business Plan

Over the past 20+ years, we have helped over 1,000 entrepreneurs and business owners create business plans to start and grow their call centers. On this page, we will first give you some background information with regards to the importance of business planning. We will then go through a call center business plan template step-by-step so you can create your plan today.

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What is a Call Center Business Plan?

A business plan provides a snapshot of your call center as it stands today, and lays out your growth plan for the next five years. It explains your business goals and your strategy for reaching them. It also includes market research to support your plans.

Why You Need a Business Plan for a Call Center

If you’re looking to start a call center, or grow your existing call center, you need a business plan. A business plan will help you raise funding, if needed, and plan out the growth of your call center in order to improve your chances of success. Your business plan is a living document that should be updated annually as your company grows and changes.

Sources of Funding for Call Centers

With regards to funding, the main sources of funding for a call center are personal savings, credit cards, bank loans and angel investors. With regards to bank loans, banks will want to review your plan and gain confidence that you will be able to repay your loan and interest. To acquire this confidence, the loan officer will not only want to confirm that your financials are reasonable, but they will also want to see a professional plan. Such a plan will give them the confidence that you can successfully and professionally operate a business. Personal savings and bank loans are the most common funding paths for call centers.

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How to write a business plan for a call center agency.

If you want to start a call center or expand your current one, you need a business plan. Below we detail what should be included in each section of your own plan:

Executive Summary

Your executive summary provides an introduction to your business plan, but it is normally the last section you write because it provides a summary of each key section of your plan.

The goal of your Executive Summary is to quickly engage the reader. Explain to them the type of call center you are operating and the status. For example, are you a startup, do you have a call center that you would like to grow, or are you operating call centers in multiple markets?

Next, provide an overview of each of the subsequent sections of your plan. For example, give a brief overview of the telemarketing industry. Discuss the type of call center you are operating. Detail your direct competitors. Give an overview of your target customers. Provide a snapshot of your marketing plan. Identify the key members of your team. And offer an overview of your financial plan.  

Company Overview

In your company overview, you will detail the type of call center you are operating.

For example, you might operate one of the following types of call centers:

• Inbound Call Center : this type of call center focuses on answering inbound phone calls usually from new and existing consumers.
• Outbound Call Center: this type of call center specializes in calling customers and consumers on a company’s behalf and are responsible for selling a product/service and expanding a company’s reach in their phone calls.
• Automated Call Centers: this type of call center has a computer-based system that is interactive and allows the callers to handle some of the responsibilities of directing their call.

In addition to explaining the type of call center you will operate, the Company Overview section of your business plan needs to provide background on the business.

Include answers to question such as:

• When and why did you start the business?
• What milestones have you achieved to date? Milestones could include the number of customers served, number of positive reviews, reaching X amount of clients served, etc.
• Your legal structure. Are you incorporated as an S-Corp? An LLC? A sole proprietorship? Explain your legal structure here.

Industry Analysis

In your industry analysis, you need to provide an overview of the telemarketing industry.

While this may seem unnecessary, it serves multiple purposes.

First, researching the industry educates you. It helps you understand the market in which you are operating.

Secondly, market research can improve your strategy, particularly if your research identifies market trends.

The third reason for market research is to prove to readers that you are an expert in your industry. By conducting this market research and presenting it in your plan, you achieve just that.

The following questions should be answered in the industry analysis section:

• How big is the industry (in dollars)?
• Is the market declining or increasing?
• Who are the key competitors in the market?
• Who are the key suppliers in the market?
• What trends are affecting the industry?
• What is the industry’s growth forecast over the next 5 – 10 years?
• What is the relevant market size? That is, how big is the potential market for your call center? You can extrapolate such a figure by assessing the size of the market in the entire country and then applying that figure to your local population.

Customer Analysis

The customer analysis section must detail the customers you serve and/or expect to serve.

The following are examples of customer segments: telemarketing companies, large organizations, charities, and help desks/customer support teams.

As you can imagine, the customer segment(s) you choose will have a great impact on the type of call center you operate. Clearly, charities would respond to different marketing promotions than help desks, for example.

Try to break out your target customers in terms of their demographic and psychographic profiles. With regards to demographics, include a discussion of the ages, genders, locations and income levels of the customers you seek to serve.

Psychographic profiles explain the wants and needs of your target customers. The more you can understand and define these needs, the better you will do in attracting and retaining your customers.

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Competitive Analysis

Your competitive analysis should identify the indirect and direct competitors your business faces and then focus on the latter.

Direct competitors are other call centers.

Indirect competitors are other options that customers have to purchase from that aren’t direct competitors. This includes in-house customer support departments and online support websites. You need to mention such competition as well.

With regards to direct competition, you want to describe the other call centers with which you compete. Most likely, your direct competitors will be call centers located very close to your location.

For each such competitor, provide an overview of their businesses and document their strengths and weaknesses. Unless you once worked at your competitors’ businesses, it will be impossible to know everything about them. But you should be able to find out key things about them such as:

• What types of customers do they serve?
• What type of call center are they?
• What is their pricing (premium, low, etc.)?
• What are they good at?
• What are their weaknesses?

With regards to the last two questions, think about your answers from the customers’ perspective. And don’t be afraid to ask your competitors’ customers what they like most and least about them.

The final part of your competitive analysis section is to document your areas of competitive advantage. For example:

• Will you provide shorter call times and higher call volume?
• Will you provide call center services that your competitors don’t offer?
• Will you provide better customer service?
• Will you offer better pricing?

Think about ways you will outperform your competition and document them in this section of your plan.  

Marketing Plan

Traditionally, a marketing plan includes the four P’s: Product, Price, Place, and Promotion. For a call center agency, your marketing plan should include the following:

Product : In the product section, you should reiterate the type of call center company that you documented in your Company Analysis. Then, detail the specific products you will be offering. For example, in addition to a call center, will you provide call forwarding, market research, lead generation, and any other services?

Price : Document the prices you will offer and how they compare to your competitors. Essentially in the product and price sub-sections of your marketing plan, you are presenting the call center services you offer and their prices.

Place : Place refers to the location of your call center company. Document your location and mention how the location will impact your success. For example, is your call center located in a busy retail district, a business district, a standalone office, etc. Discuss how your location might be the ideal location for your customers.

Promotions : The final part of your call center marketing plan is the promotions section. Here you will document how you will drive customers to your location(s). The following are some promotional methods you might consider:

• Advertising in local papers and magazines
• Reaching out to websites
• Social media marketing
• Local radio advertising

Operations Plan

While the earlier sections of your plan explained your goals, your operations plan describes how you will meet them. Your operations plan should have two distinct sections as follows.

Everyday short-term processes include all of the tasks involved in running your call center, including answering inbound calls, making outbound calls, finding solutions to customers’ issues, track statistics of your call length and volume, and expand the reach of your client.

Long-term goals are the milestones you hope to achieve. These could include the dates when you expect to land your Xth client, or when you hope to reach $X in revenue. It could also be when you expect to expand your call center to a new city.

Management Team

To demonstrate your call center’ ability to succeed, a strong management team is essential. Highlight your key players’ backgrounds, emphasizing those skills and experiences that prove their ability to grow a company.

Ideally you and/or your team members have direct experience in managing call centers. If so, highlight this experience and expertise. But also highlight any experience that you think will help your business succeed.

If your team is lacking, consider assembling an advisory board. An advisory board would include 2 to 8 individuals who would act like mentors to your business. They would help answer questions and provide strategic guidance. If needed, look for advisory board members with experience in managing a call center or successfully running a sales or customer support team .  

Financial Plan

Your financial plan should include your 5-year financial statement broken out both monthly or quarterly for the first year and then annually. Your financial statements include your income statement, balance sheet and cash flow statements.

In developing your income statement, you need to devise assumptions. For example, will you take on one new client at a time or multiple new clients ? And will sales grow by 2% or 10% per year? As you can imagine, your choice of assumptions will greatly impact the financial forecasts for your business. As much as possible, conduct research to try to root your assumptions in reality.

Balance Sheets : Balance sheets show your assets and liabilities. While balance sheets can include much information, try to simplify them to the key items you need to know about. For instance, if you spend $50,000 on building out your call center, this will not give you immediate profits. Rather it is an asset that will hopefully help you generate profits for years to come. Likewise, if a bank writes you a check for $50,000, you don’t need to pay it back immediately. Rather, that is a liability you will pay back over time.

In developing your Income Statement and Balance Sheets be sure to include several of the key costs needed in starting or growing a call center:

• Cost of computer software.
• Cost of equipment and supplies
• Payroll or salaries paid to staff
• Business insurance
• Taxes and permits
• Legal expenses

Attach your full financial projections in the appendix of your plan along with any supporting documents that make your plan more compelling. For example, you might include your office location lease or invoices of client projects you are working on.  

Putting together a business plan for your call center is a worthwhile endeavor. If you follow the template above, by the time you are done, you will truly be an expert. You will really understand the call center industry, your competition, and your customers. You will have developed a marketing plan and will really understand what it takes to launch and grow a successful call center.  

Call Center Agency Business Plan FAQs

What is the easiest way to complete my call center business plan.

Growthink's Ultimate Business Plan Template allows you to quickly and easily complete your business plan.

How Do You Start a Call Center?

Starting a call center is easy with these 14 steps:

• Choose the Name for Your Call Center Agency
• Create Your Call Center Business Plan
• Choose the Legal Structure for Your Call Center Agency
• Secure Startup Funding for Your Call Center (If Needed)
• Secure a Location for Your Business
• Register Your Call Center Agency with the IRS
• Open a Business Bank Account
• Get a Business Credit Card
• Get the Required Business Licenses and Permits
• Get Business Insurance for Your Call Center
• Buy or Lease the Right Call Center Equipment
• Develop Your Call Center Agency Marketing Materials
• Purchase and Setup the Software Needed to Run Your Call Center
• Open for Business

Learn more about how to start your own call center agency .

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Other Helpful Business Plan Articles & Templates

How To Write a Winning Call Center Business Plan + Template

Creating a business plan is essential for any business. Still, it can be especially helpful for a call centers business that want to improve their strategy or raise funding.

A well-crafted business plan not only outlines the vision for your call center business but also documents a step-by-step roadmap of how you will accomplish it. To create an effective business plan, you must first understand the components that are essential to its success.

This article provides an overview of the key elements that every call center owner should include in their business plan.

Download the Ultimate Business Plan Template

What is a Call Center Business Plan?

A call center business plan is a formal written document describing your company’s business strategy and feasibility. It documents the reasons you will be successful and your areas of competitive advantage, and it includes information about your team members. 

Your business plan is a critical document that will convince investors and lenders (if needed) that you are positioned to become a successful venture.

Why Write a Call Center Business Plan?

A call center business plan is required for banks and investors. The document is a clear and concise guide to your business idea and the steps you will take to make it profitable.

Entrepreneurs can also use this as a roadmap when starting their new company or venture, especially if they are inexperienced in starting a business.

Writing an Effective Call Center Business Plan

The following are the critical components of a successful call center business plan:

Executive Summary

The executive summary of a call center business plan is a one- to two-page overview of your entire business plan. It should summarize the main points, which will be presented in full in the rest of your business plan.

• Start with a one-line description of your call center business 
• Provide a summary of the key points in each section of your business plan, which includes information about your company’s management team, industry analysis, competitive analysis, and financial forecast among others.

Company Description

This section should include a brief history of your call center business. Include a short description of how your company started and provide a timeline of milestones your company has achieved.

If you are just starting your call center business, you may not have a long company history. Instead, you can include information about your professional experience in the call center industry and how and why you conceived your new venture. If you have worked for a similar company before or have been involved in an entrepreneurial venture before starting your call center firm, mention this.

You will also include information about your chosen call center business model and how, if applicable, it differs from other companies in your industry.

Industry Analysis

The industry or market analysis is an essential component of a call center business plan. Conduct thorough market research to determine industry trends and document the size of your market. 

Questions to answer include:

• What part of the call center industry are you targeting?
• How big is the market?
• What trends are happening in the industry right now (and, if applicable, how do these trends support your company’s success)?

You should also include sources for the information you provide, such as published research reports and expert opinions.  

Customer Analysis

This section should include a list of your target audience(s) with demographic and psychographic profiles (e.g., age, gender, income level, profession, job titles, interests). You will need to provide a profile of each customer segment separately, including their needs and wants.

For example, a call center’s customers may include small businesses, Fortune 500 companies, or non-profit organizations.

You can include information about how your customers decide to buy from you as well as what keeps them buying from you.

Develop a strategy for targeting those customers who are most likely to buy from you, as well as those that might be influenced to buy your products or call center services with the right marketing.

Competitive Analysis

The competitive analysis helps you determine how your product or service will be different from competitors and what your unique selling proposition (USP) might be that will set you apart in this industry.

For each competitor, list their strengths and weaknesses. Next, determine your areas of competitive differentiation and advantage; that is, in what ways are you different from and ideally better than your competitors.

Marketing Plan

This part of the business plan is where you determine and document your marketing plan. This is also the section to include pieces of your market research into the telemarketing industry. Your plan should be laid out, including the following 4 Ps.

• Product/Service : Detail your product/service offerings here. Document their features and benefits.
• Price : Document your pricing strategy here. In addition to stating the prices for your call center services, mention how your pricing compares to your competition.
• Place : Where will your customers find you? What channels of distribution (e.g., partnerships) will you use to reach them if applicable?
• Promotion : How will you reach your target customers? For example, you may use social media, write blog posts, create an email marketing campaign, use pay-per-click advertising, or launch a direct mail campaign. Additionally, you may promote your call center business via a mix of mediums.

Operations Plan

This part of your call center business plan should include the following information:

• How will you deliver your product/service to customers? For example, will you do it in person or over the phone?
• What infrastructure, equipment, and resources are needed to operate successfully? How can you meet those requirements within budget constraints?

The operations plan is where you also need to include your company’s business policies. You will want to establish policies related to everything from customer service to pricing, to the overall brand image you are trying to present.

Finally, and most importantly, in your Operations Plan, you will outline the milestones your company hopes to achieve within the next five years. Create a chart that shows the key milestone(s) you hope to achieve each quarter for the next four quarters and then each year for the following four years. Examples of milestones for a call center business include reaching $X in sales. Other examples include adding new employees or opening new locations.

Management Team

List your team members here, including their names and titles, as well as their expertise and experience relevant to your specific call center industry. Include brief biography sketches for each team member.

Particularly if you are seeking funding, the goal of this section is to convince investors and lenders that your team has the expertise and experience to execute your plan. If you are missing key team members, document the roles and responsibilities you plan to hire for in the future.

Financial Plan

In the Financial Plan section, you will include a summary of your complete and detailed financial plan (your full financial projections go in the Appendix). 

This includes the following three financial statements:

Income Statement

Your income statement should include:

• Revenue : how much revenue you generate.
• Cost of Goods Sold : These are your direct costs associated with generating revenue. This includes labor costs and the cost of any equipment and supplies used to deliver the product/service offering.
• Net Income (or loss) : Once expenses and revenue are totaled and deducted from each other, this is the net income or loss.

Sample Income Statement for a Startup Call Center

Balance sheet.

Include a balance sheet that shows your assets, liabilities, and equity. Your balance sheet should include:

• Assets : All of the things you own (including cash).
• Liabilities : This is what you owe against your company’s assets, such as accounts payable or loans.
• Equity : The worth of your business after all liabilities and assets are totaled and deducted from each other.

Sample Balance Sheet for a Startup Call Center

Cash flow statement.

Include a cash flow statement showing how much cash comes in, how much cash goes out and a net cash flow for each year. The statement should include cash flow from:

• Investments

Below is a sample of a projected cash flow statement for a startup call center .

Sample Cash Flow Statement for a Startup Call Center

You should also include an appendix section in your call center business plan, which will include:

• Your complete financial projections
• A complete list of your company’s business policies and procedures related to the rest of the business plan (marketing, operations, etc.)
• Any other documentation which supports what you included in the body of your business plan.

Writing a good business plan gives you the advantage of being fully prepared to launch and grow your call center . It not only outlines your business vision but also provides a step-by-step process of how you are going to accomplish it.

A well-written call center business plan is a valuable tool for new and existing businesses. Following these tips will give you the best chance for success when starting or growing your call center company.  

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Call Center Business Plan Template

Written by Dave Lavinsky

Call Center Business Plan

You’ve come to the right place to create your Call Center business plan.

We have helped over 1,000 entrepreneurs and business owners create business plans and many have used them to start or grow their Call Center businesses.

Below is a template to help you create each section of your Call Center business plan.

Executive Summary

Business overview.

TalkCentral is a new inbound call center located in San Antonio, Texas. Our call center will provide customer service and help desk support for customers of tech, software, and telecommunications companies. We can provide customers support through phone call or text and will always help customers with the utmost patience, compassion, and respect. Clients who work with us will experience a significant improvement in customer satisfaction and retention.

TalkCentral is founded by Dave Harper. Dave was previously a senior manager at one of the leading telecommunications companies in the country. However, his company had a horrible reputation for untimely and unhelpful customer service. Therefore, he was inspired to create a call center that would improve the support experience for customers of similar companies.

Product Offering

TalkCentral will provide customer support for the customers of our clients. Since we will work with clients in the tech, software, and telecommunications industries, we will primarily help their customers with billing services, questions regarding products and services, and technical issues. Customers can call or text our service lines for support. They will quickly be matched with an appropriate agent by answering the prompts from our automated system.

Customer Focus

TalkCentral will primarily serve tech, software, and telecommunications companies that are in need of a good customer support team. Though TalkCentral is located in San Antonio, we will assist any companies in these industries that are located in the United States.

Management Team

TalkCentral is founded by Dave Harper. Dave was previously a senior manager at one of the leading telecommunications companies in the country. Unfortunately, his company had a horrible reputation for untimely and unhelpful customer service. He found that the customer service team was inadequately trained and had a high turnover rate. This led to low customer satisfaction and retention scores. Since the company was slow to resolve these issues, Dave was inspired to create an inbound call center that would help provide quality customer support to similar companies.

Success Factors

TalkCentral is primed for success by offering the following competitive advantages:

• TalkCentral will provide quality customer service for a more affordable price than clients would pay hiring their own customer service team.
• The company will offer high-quality customer service that increases customer retention.
• TalkCentral has a management team with extensive experience running a multi-billion dollar telecommunications company.

Financial Highlights

TalkCentral is currently seeking $700,000 to launch. The funding will be dedicated to the office build out, equipment and supplies, overhead, marketing expenses, and working capital. The breakout of the funding is below:

• Office design/build: $250,000
• Equipment, technology, and supplies: $100,000
• Three months of overhead (rent, utilities, salaries): $200,000
• Marketing expenses: $100,000
• Working capital: $50,000

The following graph below outlines the pro forma financial projections for TalkCentral.

Company Overview

Who is talkcentral.

  When our clients’ customers call our number, their call will be answered quickly and efficiently. Customers can call in for questions regarding billing, services, or products as well as get answers and help to technical problems they are experiencing. We will have an easy phone system that will guide them to the perfect agent who can help them.

While working as a senior manager, Dave was inspired to create a call center that would provide quality customer support for tech, software, and telecommunications companies. He conducted a market analysis and surveyed his previous employer’s customers to see if there was demand for these services. The results from the analysis and survey were overwhelmingly positive, which inspired Dave to immediately start planning his new business.

TalkCentral’s History

After conducting his market analysis and survey, Dave Harper incorporated TalkCentral as an S-Corporation on May 1st, 2023. Since incorporation, Dave has achieved the following milestones for TalkCentral:

• Developed the company’s name, logo and website
• Finished the list of services the company will provide
• Determined equipment and inventory requirements
• Found a potential office location

TalkCentral’s Services

TalkCentral will primarily offer customer service and help desk support for customers of tech, software, and telecommunications companies. Customers can either call or text our support lines and will be guided to an appropriate agent to help them with their problem. We expect most customers will call to discuss billing or technical problems they are experiencing.

Industry Analysis

Revenue for the inbound call centers is expected to grow over the next five years. This growth is due to the increasing demand for quality customer support teams and the need to outsource these services. Poor customer support results in low customer retention. However, hiring and training a quality customer support team is expensive so many companies outsource these services to call centers to save money. Therefore, there is significant demand for these services and that demand is not expected to slow down anytime soon.

According to Research And Markets, the global call center outsourcing market was valued at $249 billion in 2021 and is expected to grow at a compound annual growth rate of 8.93% until 2027. This is significant growth for any industry and shows just how much companies will continue to depend on these services. Therefore, this is a great time to launch a new inbound call center as we are sure to be successful and profitable.

Customer Analysis

Demographic profile of target market, customer segmentation.

TalkCentral will primarily target the following customer profiles:

• Tech companies
• Software companies
• Telecommunications companies

Competitive Analysis

Direct and indirect competitors.

TalkCentral will face competition from other companies with similar business profiles. A description of each competitor company is below.

Fusion Support Services

Fusion Support Services has been a popular business process outsourcing company in San Antonio for 20 years. They offer numerous services for local companies, including inbound customer service, human resources, and marketing. Since they can offer a whole package of services, they have created several long-lasting relationships with medium and large sized businesses in the area. However, Fusion Support Services does not specialize in inbound customer support. Therefore, companies looking for professionals in this field will prefer our services.

Texas Tech Support

Texas Tech Support is an inbound call center that specifically helps tech companies with customer service and tech support services. Tech companies are usually more invested in the development of their products than providing customer support, so they need a partner company that can provide these services to their customers. Texas Tech provides a fully trained staff of professionals that can help customers with basic questions regarding billing, products, or technical difficulties. Every call is answered with compassion, patience, and incredible expertise that helps improve customer satisfaction and retention.

Genesis Support Services

Genesis Support Services is a highly fast-paced call center environment located in the heart of San Antonio. They offer a wide variety of outsourced inbound call center services and cater to numerous industries and businesses located in the San Antonio area. They have been in the business for 30 years and are often the first call center businesses think of when they need customer service support. However, their reputation has suffered in recent years, which gives TalkCentral an advantage as we enter the market.

Competitive Advantage

TalkCentral will be able to offer the following advantages over the competition:

• Management : Our management team has extensive experience leading and managing telecommunications companies and providing customer support services.
• Affordability : We will provide quality services at a more affordable rate than the competition.
• Quality Service : TalkCentral is committed to providing quality customer service and support. We guarantee our services will help improve customer satisfaction and retention.

Marketing Plan

Brand & value proposition.

TalkCentral will offer the unique value proposition to its clientele:

• High-quality customer support and help desk services
• Affordable rate
• Highly trained staff
• Guarantee of improved customer retention

Promotions Strategy

The promotions strategy for TalkCentral is as follows:

Website/SEO Marketing

TalkCentral will design an efficient and appealing website to attract clients. The website will be well organized, informative, and list the services that we provide. We will also invest in SEO so that we will appear at the top of search engine results when clients are searching for call centers to partner with.

Social Media

The company will have several social media accounts and invest in ads on all social media platforms. The company will also use targeted marketing to appeal to our target demographics.

Targeted Cold Calls

TalkCentral will initially invest significant time and energy into contacting potential clients via telephone. In order to improve the effectiveness of this phase of the marketing strategy, a highly-focused call list will be used, targeting startups and small businesses. As this is a very time-consuming process, it will primarily be used during the startup phase to build an initial client base.

Advertisement

Advertisements in print publications like newspapers, magazines, etc., are an excellent way for businesses to connect with their audience. TalkCentral will advertise its services in popular magazines and news dailies. Obtaining relevant placements in industry magazines and journals will also help in increasing brand visibility.

The pricing of TalkCentral will be moderate and on par with competitors so clients feel they receive value when hiring our services.

Operations Plan

TalkCentral will utilize the following operations plan. Operation Functions:

• Dave Harper will be the President of TalkCentral and will oversee the general operations of the company. To launch, he will need to hire the following staff:
• An Administrative Assistant to help with administrative functions.
• An Accountant who will manage all client invoicing, billing, and payables.
• A Human Resources Manager who will oversee all employee hiring, onboarding, payroll, retention, and benefits programs.
• A Marketing Manager to oversee all the marketing and promotional campaigns.
• Training Managers who will train the customer support staff.
• 50 customer support staff to provide our customer support and help desk services.

Milestones:

TalkCentral will have the following milestones complete in the next six months:

• 6/1/202X – Finalize lease agreement for office space
• 7/1/202X – Office build out
• 8/1/202X – Hire and train essential staff
• 9/1/202X – Begin marketing campaign
• 10/1/202X – Launch TalkCentral
• 11/1/202X – Reach break even

As a former senior manager, Dave has extensive experience in the management and operations aspects of running a large, successful business. He will hire several staff to help him manage the administrative, marketing, accounting, and customer service functions of the company.

Financial Plan

Key revenue & costs.

The key revenues for TalkCentral will come from charging our clients for our services.

The major cost drivers will include salaries, overhead, equipment purchasing and maintenance, and marketing expenses.

Funding Requirements and Use of Funds

Key assumptions.

The following outlines the key assumptions required in order to achieve the revenue and cost numbers in the financials and pay off the startup business loan.

• Number of clients:
• Annual lease: $100,000

Financial Projections

Income statement, balance sheet, cash flow statement, call center business plan faqs, what is a call center business plan.

A call center business plan is a plan to start and/or grow your call center business. Among other things, it outlines your business concept, identifies your target customers, presents your marketing plan and details your financial projections.

You can easily complete your Call Center business plan using our Call Center Business Plan Template here .

What are the Main Types of Call Center Businesses? 

There are a number of different kinds of call center businesses , some examples include: Inbound Call Center, Outbound Call Center, and Automated Call Centers.

How Do You Get Funding for Your Call Center Business Plan?

Call Center businesses are often funded through small business loans. Personal savings, credit card financing and angel investors are also popular forms of funding.

What are the Steps To Start a Call Center Business?

Starting a call center business can be an exciting endeavor. Having a clear roadmap of the steps to start a business will help you stay focused on your goals and get started faster.

1. Develop A Call Center Business Plan - The first step in starting a business is to create a detailed call center business plan that outlines all aspects of the venture. This should include potential market size and target customers, the services or products you will offer, pricing strategies and a detailed financial forecast. 

2. Choose Your Legal Structure - It's important to select an appropriate legal entity for your call center business. This could be a limited liability company (LLC), corporation, partnership, or sole proprietorship. Each type has its own benefits and drawbacks so it’s important to do research and choose wisely so that your call center business is in compliance with local laws.

3. Register Your Call Center Business - Once you have chosen a legal structure, the next step is to register your call center business with the government or state where you’re operating from. This includes obtaining licenses and permits as required by federal, state, and local laws.

4. Identify Financing Options - It’s likely that you’ll need some capital to start your call center business, so take some time to identify what financing options are available such as bank loans, investor funding, grants, or crowdfunding platforms.

5. Choose a Location - Whether you plan on operating out of a physical location or not, you should always have an idea of where you’ll be based should it become necessary in the future as well as what kind of space would be suitable for your operations.

6. Hire Employees - There are several ways to find qualified employees including job boards like LinkedIn or Indeed as well as hiring agencies if needed – depending on what type of employees you need it might also be more effective to reach out directly through networking events.

7. Acquire Necessary Call Center Equipment & Supplies - In order to start your call center business, you'll need to purchase all of the necessary equipment and supplies to run a successful operation.

8. Market & Promote Your Business - Once you have all the necessary pieces in place, it’s time to start promoting and marketing your call center business. This includes creating a website, utilizing social media platforms like Facebook or Twitter, and having an effective Search Engine Optimization (SEO) strategy. You should also consider traditional marketing techniques such as radio or print advertising. 

Learn more about how to start a successful call center business:

• How to Start a Call Center

How to Start a Call Center Business in 2024

Despite the recent rapid rise of digital communication channels and an increased demand for self-service support, phone still continues to dominate as the most preferred support channel. In fact, according to a Salesforce study , 59% of consumers favor traditional phone calls to reach a customer support representative. Phone sales are also here to stay as one of the most efficient and cost-effective ways for businesses to promote and sell their products or services.

If you’re looking to set up a call center business in 2024 and beyond, you’ve landed on the right page. While building your own call center – whether inbound, outbound, or blended – might seem too challenging to start, knowing exactly what to do will instantly blow your fears away.

Looking for a Contact Center Solution?

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Based on VoiceSpin’s 15-year experience in the call center industry, we’ve decided to come up with a step-by-step guide on how to start a call center and walk you through every phase of the process.

• How to Start a Call Center Business in 10 Steps
• 1. Set Your Call Center Goals

Just like with any other business, building a call center requires careful planning. Before you actually start setting up your own call center, have a clear understanding of wh y you want to start a call center and outline the goals you are looking to achieve. Make sure, however, that these goals are specific, realistic, achievable given your current budget and resources, and align with your broader business objectives.

On top of that, setting goals will help you establish clear criteria for measuring performance (we’ll talk about call center metrics and KPIs in more detail below) and the overall success of your call center.  

• 2. Decide on Call Center Type

Inbound vs. outbound vs. blended call center

Inbound call center

Inbound call centers primarily deal with incoming calls from existing customers, clients, or prospects. Businesses set up inbound call centers for general customer service, technical support, processing orders, payments, returns, and exchanges, handling upgrades and renewal requests, appointment scheduling, and inbound sales. The most typical industries to benefit from inbound call centers are e-commerce and retail, travel and hospitality, healthcare, finance, and insurance.

Outbound call center

In outbound call centers, agents are placing outbound phone calls to prospects or customers. Outbound call centers are commonly used for lead generation, telemarketing, sales campaigns, appointment setting and reminders, debt collection, market research and CSAT surveys, etc. For providing outbound call center services, you need call center software with auto dialing capabilities that will enable you to automate the dialing process, so that agents don’t have to dial each number manually.

Blended call center

Blended call centers (also known as hybrid call centers) combine both inbound and outbound calling capabilities and are best suited for businesses that have relatively equal volumes of incoming and outgoing calls. Luckily, many call center software providers offer a fair share of features to support both inbound and outbound calling activities. E.g., VoiceSpin call center solutions are perfectly suited for inbound customer support and outbound sales teams alike.

On-site vs. remote vs. virtual call center

On-site call center

In a traditional on-site call center, agents are going to work from a physical location, which might be the best option for fixed-location businesses and those with large teams. Improved team collaboration, direct supervision, and increased data security are some of the advantages that will follow. However, there are also certain downsides to selecting on-site deployment, such as higher operational costs, a rather limited talent pool, and a lack of flexibility of remote working.

Remote call center

Remote call centers are entirely offsite call centers, typically powered by outsourcing. This might be an ideal option for small businesses and startups that would like to avoid paying for physical office space, office equipment, and hardware, making remote call centers much more cost-efficient compared to on-premises solutions. That also provides you with access to a broader talent pool while allowing greater flexibility for agents.

Virtual call center

Similarly to remote call centers, virtual call centers aren’t tied to one geographical location, with agents often being distributed across multiple regions, working from various remote locations. Virtual call centers run on cloud-based VoIP call center software, allowing agents to access the system and work from nearly everywhere, as long as there’s a stable internet connection. That offers businesses access to an even broader talent pool, easy scalability, and cost-efficiency.

Call center vs. omnichannel contact center

Call center

If you’re looking to set up a traditional call center where agents will only handle voice communications, you would basically need to purchase a business phone system with call-handling features like IVR, call routing, call forwarding, call transfer, call queueing, call recording, call reporting and analytics, click-to-call, auto dialing, etc.  

Omnichannel contact center

If you’re planning to handle customer interactions across multiple communication channels, you may want to set up an omnichannel contact center that integrates both voice and digital communication channels like email, live chat, SMS, social media, and Instant Messaging apps. With an integrated solution, agents will be able to manage all interactions from one platform, with no need to switch between the apps, eliminating the risk of communication silos.

Related article: A Complete Guide to Omnichannel Contact Center

• 3. Establish a Budget

The total cost of setting up a call center will ultimately depend on a range of factors, such as the setup type, software and hardware, required features, the number of employees, etc. Here’s what you should consider when putting together your budget:

Office space and hardware : In addition to office space and office equipment expenses, running an on-site call center will also require you to pay for the hardware and infrastructure, not to mention ongoing maintenance fees and updates. However, you can eliminate office and hardware expenses by setting up a remote call center.

Call center software: Take into account software licenses and set-up costs for on-premises tools and monthly subscription fees for cloud-based solutions. Pricing plans of cloud-based providers may differ based on the features offered in a specific pricing tier, the billing structure (fixed monthly fee, monthly fee per user, per-minute fee), and the number of users.

Employee salaries: Agent salaries may significantly vary based on location and experience level. Besides, you may also encounter additional expenses that may come up later, such as rewards and incentives for top-performing agents, ongoing training costs, or expenses for holding team-building events, to name a few.  

Training and customer support: While most call center software providers include basic employee training and some level of customer support in their subscription plans, custom in-person training and 24/7 dedicated omnichannel customer support may require extra expenses, adding up to your overall costs.

• 4. Select Call Center Software Provider

On-premises vs. hosted vs. cloud-based

Once you’re clear on what type of call center you are going to run, it’s finally time to choose a call center software provider that will align with your business goals, IT resources, budget, and scalability needs.

Despite the popularity and increased adoption of cloud-based call center solutions, on-premises tools are still a large part of the industry. So, if you’re looking to own and manage the entire call center infrastructure, including hardware and servers, choose one of the on-premises call center software providers. With hosted call center tools or cloud-based solutions, the provider will manage all of that for you. These solutions are also easier scalable, more flexible, and can be quickly adapted to your evolving business needs.

Next, depending on whether you need to manage inbound calls or make outbound calls , you will need to evaluate potential providers based on the range of inbound/ outbound call center features they are offering. These are some of the fundamental features to pay attention to when evaluating call center software vendors:

Inbound call center features

Inbound call handling: Automatic Call Distribution (ACD), Interactive Voice Response (IVR), and advanced call routing options are some of the most basic features to look for when choosing an inbound call center software. E.g., with skill-based routing, you can ensure that inbound calls will be routed to the most appropriate agents based on their skill set, allowing for faster issue resolutions and improving your FCR scores.

Call queue management: Call queue management capabilities are essential for call centers with typically high inbound call volumes. E.g., VoiceSpin’s queue callback feature enables callers to request a callback from an agent instead of having to wait on hold until an agent becomes available to handle their request. That helps reduce the number of dropped calls and improves customer service experience.

Call recording and monitoring: The ability to record customer calls for compliance, quality assurance, and agent training purposes is a must-have feature for inbound call center solutions. Managers and supervisors should also be able to monitor calls in real time to evaluate call quality, assess agent performance, and identify agent training and coaching opportunities. In addition, features like call whispering and call barging are also valuable for supervisors.

Integrations with CRM systems: The software’s ability to integrate with CRM (Customer Relationship Management) systems and other business apps is critical, as it provides agents with a 360-degree customer view, including the history of previous interactions, enabling agents to deliver more contextual and personalized interactions. That will also reduce manual work for agents, eliminate the need to switch between apps, and improve team performance.

Outbound call center features

Auto dialing capabilities: For sales-oriented outbound call centers, auto dialing capabilities are key. E.g., VoiceSpin’s outbound call center software provides auto dialing as part of its call center package. The AI auto dialer enables agents to place hundreds or even thousands of outbound calls with minimal human input and minimizes agent idle time between calls thanks to predictive dialing, improving the efficiency of your outbound calling efforts.

Lead and campaign management: Lead and campaign management features are also essential for outbound call center teams. Agents should be able to easily manage lead lists and outbound calling campaigns. VoiceSpin’s call center software can also automatically score and prioritize leads and connect them to the best-fitting agents based on the probability of making a successful sale, improving conversion rates of outbound calling campaigns.

Local caller ID: Local presence dialing and local Caller ID are must-have features for running outbound calling campaigns in multiple, geographically distributed locations. Since people aren’t likely to answer calls from unknown numbers, being able to display a local number on the Caller ID will instantly increase your Call Answer Rates , meaning your sales agents can engage in more conversations and convert more leads.

Reporting and analytics: Reporting and analytics features are equally important for both inbound and outbound call centers. By leveraging reporting tools, call center managers can monitor critical call center metrics and KPIs, evaluate the effectiveness of calling campaigns, keep tabs on agent performance, uncover inefficiencies in the process and operations, and make more data-driven decisions on the necessary improvements.

• 5. Get Call Center Hardware and Equipment

If you opt for setting up an on-premises call center , you will need to invest in call center hardware and equipment. That may include a physical PBX (Private Branch Exchange) system, dedicated servers and data centers, telephony hardware, networking equipment, power supply systems and backup generators, desktop computers, headsets and VoIP phones, desks, office chairs, and other office equipment. All of that might require significant upfront investment that should be considered in your budget.

When setting up a cloud-based call center , you can eliminate the need for expensive hardware, making it an attractive option for smaller businesses. Thus, to set up and run a cloud-based call center, you would only need a high-speed internet connection with sufficient bandwidth for uninterrupted connection, computers, laptops, or other devices agents will use to access the call center software system, headsets, hardware VoIP phones, or softphones, and office equipment. The rest is managed and maintained by a cloud-based call center provider.  

• 6. Determine Your Staffing Needs

To run a successful call center, you need the right number of employees to handle inbound/ outbound calls and meet your performance goals. If you hire too few employees, your call center is going to be understaffed, resulting in long wait times for callers, an increased number of abandoned calls, and lower customer satisfaction scores. Hire too many – and agents are going to be underutilized, adding up to your overhead costs.

To estimate the number of required employees, you may need to take into account call volume, the average wait times and call handle times, the average number of missed/ abandoned calls, and other metrics and factors. You’ll also need to clearly define positions to be filled. While roles and titles may differ, the basic ones are:

• Call Center Agent: Call center agents are at the frontline of your call center, representing your business, directly communicating with prospects and customers, providing the necessary information, resolving requests, handling customer complaints, or selling your products or services. Agents report to supervisors.
• Call Center Supervisor: Supervisors are responsible for managing and supporting agents, arranging and providing training and call coaching sessions, measuring agent performance and ensuring they adhere to call center quality standards, giving regular feedback to agents, etc. Supervisors report to the call center manager.
• Call Center Manager : Call center managers set goals, performance expectations for agents and supervisors, and SLAs for a call center, plan and manage call center staffing levels (including recruitment, onboarding, and scheduling), conduct quality monitoring and call center Quality Assurance , analyze call center metrics and KPIs, etc. Managers report to the business owner.
• 7. Hire a Call Center Team

Call center jobs aren’t for everyone. Most of the time call center agents have to spend interacting with people (who may be frustrated or even abusive), answering their questions, helping them resolve issues, or selling products and services. When searching for, selecting, and interviewing potential candidates, hiring managers shouldn’t only focus on a person’s industry experience and familiarity with call center software systems and CRM tools. On top of that, it’s important to look for those who possess a variety of soft skills that are much-needed to succeed in the role, such as:

• Excellent communication skills: Along with active listening, clear verbal and written communication skills are fundamental for call center employees. Agents should be able to convey information in a clear and concise way that is easy for others to understand and act on.
• Empathy and emotional intelligence: An ability to demonstrate empathy and emotional intelligence when interacting with customers helps build rapport and trust with customers, which is why empathy and EI are vital skills to take into account when evaluating potential hires.
• Conflict-resolution: Challenging interactions and conflicts with dissatisfied customers or even colleagues are bound to happen. A candidate’s problem-solving and conflict-resolution skills and an ability to address customer complaints and de-escalate tense situations are a must-have.
• Ability to multitask: As agents may need to quickly switch between inbound and outbound calls or manage multiple communication channels (in the case of omnichannel contact centers), an ability to efficiently multitask and transition between various tasks is an essential skill to look for.
• Stress management: Agents would often need to work in high-pressure environments where they must handle challenging customer interactions, deal with irritated customers, and meet their performance metrics, making an ability to effectively manage job-related stress crucial.
• 8. Build Your Onboarding and Training Processes

In call centers, employee onboarding is often a lengthy and complicated process. But when done right, it results in many long-term benefits for call centers, such as improved engagement, increased agent efficiency, and reduced turnover rate. A Glassdoor survey found that organizations with a strong onboarding process are able to improve new hire productivity by over 70% and retention by 82%.

However, building a highly efficient call center team doesn’t end with proper onboarding. You should create a consistent process of ongoing learning through regular training and coaching initiatives. These are some of the examples of what your agent training materials, resources, and activities may include:

• A comprehensive internal knowledge base with FAQs
• Live or pre-recorded agent training webinars
• A library of successful customer interactions pulled from call recordings
• A library of scripts and canned responses for handling different types of calls
• Call-handling procedures, call flow, and call escalation protocols
• On-the-job training through live call whispering during customer interactions, etc.
• 9. Know How You Will Measure Call Center Performance

Based on your call center type (inbound/ outbound), your specific goals and objectives, and analytics capabilities of your call center software, you may track a different set of metrics and KPIs (Key Performance Indicators) that will allow you to measure the overall efficiency of your call center operations and performance of individual agents. These are some of the most common and most critical metrics and KPIs you may want to keep close tabs on:

The Average Handle Time (AHA): The Average Handle Time represents the average time it takes for an agent to handle a customer call, including hold time, talk time, and after-call work time. Along with other metrics, it’s a key indicator of how efficiently agents are able to handle customer inquiries. A high AHT may mean inefficient call routing or poor agent training.

The Average Speed of Answer (ASA): The Average Speed of Answer shows the average time callers have to wait in the queue before their call gets connected to an agent. A high ASA indicates that a call center may need to work on improving its operational efficiency and call management process, adjust staffing levels, or implement self-service options.

First Call Resolution (FCR): First Call Resolution Rate measures the percentage of customer issues resolved during the first interaction and shows how efficient your agents are in handling customer requests. A low FCR rate suggests that agents need more training or that they simply lack access to the necessary information and tools to resolve issues on the first call.

Call Abandonment Rate: Call Abandonment Rate is the percentage of calls terminated by customers before being connected to a customer support representative. A high abandonment rate is commonly caused by insufficient staffing levels, forcing callers to wait on hold for a considerably long time, poor call routing, and lack of callback options.

Customer Satisfaction (CSAT) Score: Customer Satisfaction (CSAT) Score measures the overall customer satisfaction with your product, service, or customer service and shows whether your call center is meeting customer expectations. A low CSAT score related to your service quality might mean that you need to work on improving your ASA, AHT, and FCR rates.

Conversion Rate: Conversion rate is an essential metric for sales-focused outbound call centers, which shows the percentage of outbound calls that resulted in a successful outcome (a closed deal, a booked appointment, etc.). A low conversion rate might be an indicator of low lead list quality or that the agents require more training.

Related article: Top 10 Outbound Call Center Metrics Your Call Center Should Measure

• 10. Build a Supportive Call Center Environment

Call centers are known to have traditionally high employee turnover rates due to the intense and stressful nature of the job, which is a huge problem for businesses. Not only is it because hiring, successfully onboarding, and training new agents takes time, much effort, and financial resources, but also because when agents leave – that may disrupt your call center operations and negatively impact the morale of the remaining team members. That is why it’s essential to build and consistently maintain a positive and supportive workplace environment within your call center. Here’s what you can do:

• Allow for flexible scheduling and remote work options to help agents achieve a better work-life balance.
• Maintain a psychologically safe environment where agents are encouraged to share their opinions and suggestions.
• Regularly provide and collect feedback from agents through one-on-one meetings.
• Hold team-building events in and out of the office to boost employee morale and engagement.
• Develop and implement an employee recognition program and reward top-performing agents.

Related article: How to Build an Efficient Call Center Environment to Drive Agent Performance

• Set up Your Omnichannel Contact Center with VoiceSpin

That all being said, why should you start your journey with VoiceSpin ? Whether you’re just looking to set up your call center from scratch or researching alternative options to upgrade your current call center tech stack, VoiceSpin’s AI-powered contact center solutions might be the right fit for both customer support and sales-oriented teams, empowering them with the tools they need to support clients across multiple communication channels or sell faster and more efficiently. What’s more, you can seamlessly integrate your contact center with your CRM or other business tools to keep all data in sync and enable your teams to be even more productive.

Book a demo call now to get a tailored walkthrough of the features and how to get started.

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Call Center Business Plan

If you are planning to start a new call center business, the first thing you will need is a business plan. Use our sample call center business plan created using Upmetrics business plan software to start writing your business plan in no time.

Before you start writing your business plan for your new call center business, spend as much time as you can reading through some examples of services-related business plans.

Reading sample business plans will give you a good idea of what you’re aiming for, and also it will show you the different sections that different entrepreneurs include and the language they use to write about themselves and their business plans.

We have created this sample Call Center Business Plan for you to get a good idea about what a perfect business plan should look like and what details you will need to include in your stunning business plan.

Call Center Business Plan Outline

This is the standard call center business plan outline, which will cover all important sections that you should include in your business plan.

• Mission Statement
• Vision Statement
• Customer Focus
• 3 Year profit forecast
• Business Structure
• Startup cost
• Products and Services
• Market Trends
• Corporate Organizations
• Advertising and Marketing Agencies
• Political Parties
• Religious Organizations
• SWOT Analysis
• Sales Strategy
• Advertising Strategy
• Sales Forecast
• Important Assumptions
• Brake-even Analysis
• Profit Yearly
• Gross Margin Yearly
• Projected Cash Flow
• Projected Balance Sheet
• Business Ratios

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After  getting started with Upmetrics , you can copy this sample business plan into your business plan and modify the required information and download your call center business plan pdf and doc file. It’s the fastest and easiest way to start writing your business plan.

Download a sample call center business plan

Need help writing your business plan from scratch? Here you go;  download our free call center business plan pdf  to start.

It’s a modern business plan template specifically designed for your call center business. Use the example business plan as a guide for writing your own.

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How to Start a Call Center

Call centers are often outsourced by smaller businesses to meet their customer service needs without setting up a new department. Agents must be highly adaptable because call centers may handle multiple companies simultaneously. Call centers can either charge per call or per hour, which ‘bakes in’ the price of all overhead (wages, rents, equipment, etc.)

Learn how to start your own Call Center and whether it is the right fit for you.

Ready to form your LLC? Check out the Top LLC Formation Services .

Start a call center by following these 10 steps:

• Plan your Call Center
• Form your Call Center into a Legal Entity
• Register your Call Center for Taxes
• Open a Business Bank Account & Credit Card
• Set up Accounting for your Call Center
• Get the Necessary Permits & Licenses for your Call Center
• Get Call Center Insurance
• Define your Call Center Brand
• Create your Call Center Website
• Set up your Business Phone System

We have put together this simple guide to starting your call center. These steps will ensure that your new business is well planned out, registered properly and legally compliant.

Exploring your options? Check out other small business ideas .

STEP 1: Plan your business

A clear plan is essential for success as an entrepreneur. It will help you map out the specifics of your business and discover some unknowns. A few important topics to consider are:

What will you name your business?

• What are the startup and ongoing costs?
• Who is your target market?

How much can you charge customers?

Luckily we have done a lot of this research for you.

Choosing the right name is important and challenging. If you don’t already have a name in mind, visit our How to Name a Business guide or get help brainstorming a name with our Call Center Name Generator

If you operate a sole proprietorship , you might want to operate under a business name other than your own name. Visit our DBA guide to learn more.

When registering a business name , we recommend researching your business name by checking:

• Your state's business records
• Federal and state trademark records
• Social media platforms
• Web domain availability .

It's very important to secure your domain name before someone else does.

Want some help naming your call center?

Business name generator, what are the costs involved in opening a call center.

The cost of opening a call center can be quite high, and 33 states also require a license to open one. Licenses may be free in one state, and several thousand dollars in another, so be sure to check with your state. Lease agreements may be as high as $12 per square foot, and workstations can cost up to $1,250 each to update with the right furniture, cables, and equipment. Annual costs for taxes and utilities will likely be around $6 per square foot. The good news is there are hundreds of abandoned call centers throughout the US, and they typically come with (sometimes heavy) discounts for new start-ups. You can often use the equipment that’s left behind too.

Alternately, you may want to convert a standard retail space, which will save up to half on rent. However, it will cost you more to equip (up to $2,000 per workstation). Generators can also cost up to $200,000 if your building doesn’t come with one. Average wages for call center employees are around $9-12 an hour, but you may want to consider investing more, as the quality of the workers will reflect heavily on your company and on the image of your clients. Labor will likely be about 80% of your budget.

What are the ongoing expenses for a call center?

Much of your spending will be done at the beginning, but you should keep the following costs in mind:

• Employee salaries
• General office supplies (including equipment replacement)
• Utilities and building fees
• Travel costs to persuade new clients
• Upgrading equipment (e.g., VoIP technology, etc.)

Who is the target market?

Call centers are looking for companies who don’t have the resources to start a call center on their own. Between equipment costs, hiring employees, and managing high call volumes, most companies aren’t prepared to run a call center the way it needs to be run. Their needs are best left to a company that specializes in providing high-quality service that will boost their revenue and retain their customers.

How does a call center make money?

Call centers need to determine whether to charge per staff hour or per call. Because call times can be erratic, it may be best to structure it per staff hour. A call center company may take the wage of their workers, and multiply that number by four to estimate the cost of equipment, lease payments, etc. Typically, international companies may charge $.35 per call or $8 per staff hour, while US companies may charge closer to $1 per call or $25 per staff hour.

It depends on the type of industry you’re targeting. General customer support for a clothing company will require a very different skill set than selling high-end equipment to orthodontists. You can charge more for highly specialized labor, and you can justify your rates if your company is effective. Do not necessarily look to undercut your competitors if it means sacrificing on quality.

How much profit can a call center make?

According to firstresearch.com , US call centers bring in a total of approximately $21 billion annually, with an average revenue of $4 million.

This exact numbers are based on the margins of the contracts you bring in, but typically you can expect to start building profit after you’ve secured several major clients. Remember that this is a competitive industry, and you will need to be able to offer something special in order to gain a competitive edge.

How can you make your business more profitable?

Adding more services is the best way to bring in profit. Consider selling further services to clients, such as video, targeted campaigns or additional support calls.

Want a more guided approach? Access TRUiC's free Small Business Startup Guide - a step-by-step course for turning your business idea into reality. Get started today!

STEP 2: Form a legal entity

The most common business structure types are the sole proprietorship , partnership , limited liability company (LLC) , and corporation .

Establishing a legal business entity such as an LLC or corporation protects you from being held personally liable if your call center is sued.

Form Your LLC

Read our Guide to Form Your Own LLC

Have a Professional Service Form your LLC for You

Two such reliable services:

You can form an LLC yourself and pay only the minimal state LLC costs or hire one of the Best LLC Services for a small, additional fee.

Recommended: You will need to elect a registered agent for your LLC. LLC formation packages usually include a free year of registered agent services . You can choose to hire a registered agent or act as your own.

STEP 3: Register for taxes

You will need to register for a variety of state and federal taxes before you can open for business.

In order to register for taxes you will need to apply for an EIN. It's really easy and free!

You can acquire your EIN through the IRS website . If you would like to learn more about EINs, read our article, What is an EIN?

There are specific state taxes that might apply to your business. Learn more about state sales tax and franchise taxes in our state sales tax guides.

STEP 4: Open a business bank account & credit card

Using dedicated business banking and credit accounts is essential for personal asset protection.

When your personal and business accounts are mixed, your personal assets (your home, car, and other valuables) are at risk in the event your business is sued. In business law, this is referred to as piercing your corporate veil .

Open a business bank account

Besides being a requirement when applying for business loans, opening a business bank account:

• Separates your personal assets from your company's assets, which is necessary for personal asset protection.
• Makes accounting and tax filing easier.

Recommended: Read our Best Banks for Small Business review to find the best national bank or credit union.

Get a business credit card

Getting a business credit card helps you:

• Separate personal and business expenses by putting your business' expenses all in one place.
• Build your company's credit history , which can be useful to raise money later on.

Recommended: Apply for an easy approval business credit card from BILL and build your business credit quickly.

STEP 5: Set up business accounting

Recording your various expenses and sources of income is critical to understanding the financial performance of your business. Keeping accurate and detailed accounts also greatly simplifies your annual tax filing.

Make LLC accounting easy with our LLC Expenses Cheat Sheet.

STEP 6: Obtain necessary permits and licenses

Failure to acquire necessary permits and licenses can result in hefty fines, or even cause your business to be shut down.

State & Local Business Licensing Requirements

33 states require a special license to operate a telemarketing / call company. To find out more about licensing requirements in your state, check out the Telemarketing Laws page from sba.gov .

Most businesses are required to collect sales tax on the goods or services they provide. To learn more about how sales tax will affect your business, read our article, Sales Tax for Small Businesses .

Service Agreement

Call center businesses should consider requiring clients to sign a service agreement before starting a new project. This agreement should clarify client expectations and minimize risk of legal disputes by setting out payment terms and conditions, service level expectations, and intellectual property ownership. Here is an example service agreement.

Recommended: Rocket Lawyer makes it easy to create a professional service agreement for your call center business when you sign up for their premium membership. For $39.95 per month, members receive access to hundreds of legal agreements and on call attorneys to get complimentary legal advice.

Certificate of Occupancy

Businesses operating out of a physical location typically require a Certificate of Occupancy (CO). A CO confirms that all building codes, zoning laws and government regulations have been met.

• If you plan to lease a location:
• It is generally the landlord’s responsibility to obtain a CO.
• Before leasing, confirm that your landlord has or can obtain a valid CO that is applicable to a call center.
• After a major renovation, a new CO often needs to be issued. If your place of business will be renovated before opening, it is recommended to include language in your lease agreement stating that lease payments will not commence until a valid CO is issued.
• If you plan to purchase or build a location:
• You will be responsible for obtaining a valid CO from a local government authority.
• Review all building codes and zoning requirements for you business’ location to ensure your call center will be in compliance and able to obtain a CO.

STEP 7: Get business insurance

Just as with licenses and permits, your business needs insurance in order to operate safely and lawfully. Business Insurance protects your company’s financial wellbeing in the event of a covered loss.

There are several types of insurance policies created for different types of businesses with different risks. If you’re unsure of the types of risks that your business may face, begin with General Liability Insurance . This is the most common coverage that small businesses need, so it’s a great place to start for your business.

Another notable insurance policy that many businesses need is Workers’ Compensation Insurance . If your business will have employees, it’s a good chance that your state will require you to carry Workers' Compensation Coverage.

FInd out what types of insurance your Call Center needs and how much it will cost you by reading our guide Business Insurance for Call Center.

STEP 8: Define your brand

Your brand is what your company stands for, as well as how your business is perceived by the public. A strong brand will help your business stand out from competitors.

If you aren't feeling confident about designing your small business logo, then check out our Design Guides for Beginners , we'll give you helpful tips and advice for creating the best unique logo for your business.

Recommended : Get a logo using Truic's free logo Generator no email or sign up required, or use a Premium Logo Maker .

If you already have a logo, you can also add it to a QR code with our Free QR Code Generator . Choose from 13 QR code types to create a code for your business cards and publications, or to help spread awareness for your new website.

How to promote & market a call center

Make contacts in the circles where your clients are likely to be, and establish trust and continuity there. Call centers operate on their efficacy, and many call centers fail because they can’t establish themselves quickly enough.

Owners should focus on what makes their call center different. If a call center is more about pushing contracts in clients’ faces than it is about showing off their assets, then they’re much more likely to go under.

How to keep customers coming back

The best way to attract new clients is to increase either sales or your customer satisfaction levels. When talking to potential clients, use real-world examples when speaking of your accomplishments. You can even let new clients listen to previous calls, to see how agents handle complex situations without relying on transferring the call to the manager.

STEP 9: Create your business website

After defining your brand and creating your logo the next step is to create a website for your business .

While creating a website is an essential step, some may fear that it’s out of their reach because they don’t have any website-building experience. While this may have been a reasonable fear back in 2015, web technology has seen huge advancements in the past few years that makes the lives of small business owners much simpler.

Here are the main reasons why you shouldn’t delay building your website:

• All legitimate businesses have websites - full stop. The size or industry of your business does not matter when it comes to getting your business online.
• Social media accounts like Facebook pages or LinkedIn business profiles are not a replacement for a business website that you own.
• Website builder tools like the GoDaddy Website Builder have made creating a basic website extremely simple. You don’t need to hire a web developer or designer to create a website that you can be proud of.

Recommended : Get started today using our recommended website builder or check out our review of the Best Website Builders .

Other popular website builders are: WordPress , WIX , Weebly , Squarespace , and Shopify .

STEP 10: Set up your business phone system

Getting a phone set up for your business is one of the best ways to help keep your personal life and business life separate and private. That’s not the only benefit; it also helps you make your business more automated, gives your business legitimacy, and makes it easier for potential customers to find and contact you.

There are many services available to entrepreneurs who want to set up a business phone system. We’ve reviewed the top companies and rated them based on price, features, and ease of use. Check out our review of the Best Business Phone Systems 2023 to find the best phone service for your small business.

Recommended Business Phone Service: Phone.com

Phone.com is our top choice for small business phone numbers because of all the features it offers for small businesses and it's fair pricing.

Is this Business Right For You?

Those hoping to own and maintain a call center will need to understand the subtle art of customer service, upselling, and straight sales. As more of our communication becomes automated, it’s the human touch that will stand out. However, because call centers are easily outsourced to other countries with much lower wages, there will be a need to balance the rates of each call. Owners must be business savvy and no stranger to networking.

Want to know if you are cut out to be an entrepreneur?

Take our Entrepreneurship Quiz to find out!

Entrepreneurship Quiz

What happens during a typical day at a call center?

At first, owners will likely be heavily focused on advertising and finding new clientele. There will be a decent amount of cold calling and networking. As clients build up, owners will be able to focus more on ensuring clients are happy, hiring the right managers and agents, and looking for cost-effective ways to hit goals.

• Find and maintain an inexpensive space
• Buy all relevant equipment
• Write scripts for agents
• Handle client complaints
• Listen to calls for quality assurance
• Create schedules for employees
• Determine what markets to target next
• Stay ahead of emerging technology

What are some skills and experiences that will help you build a successful call center?

The biggest skill an owner requires is the ability to foresee their clients’ needs before they realize they have them. Owners will need to have some experience in sales and advertising to get more eyes on the call center’s services.

Owners need to be upbeat and enthusiastic even when under pressure, and quick on their feet to put out fires throughout the day. They should also be interested in new technology that comes out in the market, and open to integrating new services (meeting software, video technology, etc.) into their platform if it will improve customer experience.

What is the growth potential for a call center?

Call centers have the potential for unlimited growth when they provide valuable service to customers. Call centers may choose one particular niche of the market (such as high-end shoe sales), or they may open themselves up to something more general, like healthcare marketing. A call center business must establish their name as the go-to source for educated agents who can handle tough questions and situations.

TRUiC's YouTube Channel

For fun informative videos about starting a business visit the TRUiC YouTube Channel or subscribe to view later.

Take the Next Step

Find a business mentor.

One of the greatest resources an entrepreneur can have is quality mentorship. As you start planning your business, connect with a free business resource near you to get the help you need.

Having a support network in place to turn to during tough times is a major factor of success for new business owners.

Learn from other business owners

Want to learn more about starting a business from entrepreneurs themselves? Visit Startup Savant’s startup founder series to gain entrepreneurial insights, lessons, and advice from founders themselves.

Resources to Help Women in Business

There are many resources out there specifically for women entrepreneurs. We’ve gathered necessary and useful information to help you succeed both professionally and personally:

If you’re a woman looking for some guidance in entrepreneurship, check out this great new series Women in Business created by the women of our partner Startup Savant.

What are some insider tips for jump starting a call center?

Owners should already have some ties to the industry they’re hoping to break into, as networking will be crucial to the business’ success. Many call centers fail because they’re venturing into a saturated market. There will likely be a lot of slammed doors at first, so having a strong sales mentality is really necessary to survive.

You may want to offer potential clients the chance to see what your agents can do by staging fake calls. Give your best agent a day to learn more about a particular company, and then let the owner pretend to be a general consumer who has some fairly difficult questions. This is no doubt time-consuming for everyone, but the payoff can be worth it.

Finally, choose software that is fluid in case you decide to offer further services. Your programs should aid in general tasks, like note-taking and call-making, but also be customized to do everything from general sales to highly specific surveys.

How and when to build a team

In short, no one can run a call center alone. Your strength as a company will rely largely on the quality of your team.

Read our call center hiring guide to learn about the different roles a call center typically fills, how much to budget for employee salaries, and how to build your team exactly how you want it.

Useful Links

Truic resources.

• TRUiC's Call Center Hiring Guide

Industry Opportunities

• Franchise opportunity
• National Association of Call Centers
• Association of Customer Contact Professionals

Real World Examples

• Moderately sized business
• Virtual receptionist business model
• Larger business

Further Reading

• Tips for starting a call center
• Call center sample business plan

Have a Question? Leave a Comment!

How to Start a Call Center Business: A Comprehensive Guide

Starting a call center business can be an exciting and potentially profitable venture. Nevertheless, as with any other undertaking, it necessitates cautious arranging and wise decision-making. This guide will provide you with the necessary steps to establish your own successful call center operation.

We’ll explore various aspects of this industry, from understanding the basics of running a call center to weighing the pros and cons associated with it. You’ll learn about cost considerations in setting up your business, choosing between virtual or on-site operations, legal requirements such as obtaining business insurance, and how to set up efficient workflows for managing calls.

Beyond these operational aspects, we will also delve into strategies for promoting your services effectively. Key among these is providing excellent customer service – a critical factor in retaining clients and attracting new ones in any call center business.

This comprehensive guide aims to equip you with all the knowledge needed on how to start a call center business successfully. So let’s get started!

Table of Contents:

The pros and cons of the call center business, cost considerations in starting a call center business, know your clients, type of calls, set clear goals, regulations and legalities, selecting between virtual or on-site call centers, understanding legal aspects, the abcs of llc services, tax registration: an unavoidable reality, a separate bank account for your business absolutely., building efficient workflows, define your brand clearly, create an engaging website, retaining clients through excellent customer service, how profitable is a call center business, how do i write a business plan for a call center, how to start a telemarketing business from home, how do you become successful in the call center industry, understanding the call center business.

Explore the vibrant realm of contact centers, where answering calls is just the beginning.

Call centers are like the superheroes of customer service and sales, saving the day for businesses big and small.

Virtual call centers are taking over the world, leaving their on-site counterparts in the dust.

Inbound or outbound? It’s like choosing between chocolate or vanilla, but with phone calls.

Retail businesses rely on inbound call centers to handle order inquiries and provide product information.

Tech companies use both inbound and outbound services because even technology needs a little human touch.

Banks and financial institutions have call centers for customer queries and selling financial products.

• Pro: You get to talk to people all day, and they can’t hang up on you (well, most of the time).
• Con: Dealing with angry customers can make you question your life choices.
• Pro: It’s a great way to sharpen your multitasking skills – juggling calls like a pro.
• Con: The constant ringing of phones can turn your brain into mush.
• Pro: You can work from anywhere, as long as you have a reliable internet connection.
• Con: Your friends will envy your ability to handle calls while they’re stuck in a cubicle.

Starting a call center business can be a rollercoaster ride, but with the right strategy, you can turn it into a profitable venture.

The Pros and Cons of Starting a Call Center Business

Alright, let’s dive right in.

We’re about to dissect the good, the bad, and maybe even some ugly truths tied up with launching your own call center business.

A well-run call center can be quite lucrative – US-based ones rake in roughly $21 billion annually.

Beyond potential high revenue, virtual call centers offer flexibility that on-site counterparts often lack.

Plus, virtual call centers broaden your talent pool while reducing overhead costs.

Kick-starting a successful operation isn’t exactly cheap or easy.

• You could find yourself shelling out as much as $12 per square foot for lease agreements if you opt for an on-site setup.
• Purchasing essential equipment like headsets or dialers might cost upwards of $1k each time around.
• In addition to these initial expenses are ongoing costs such as wages (typically between $9-12/hour) for your hardworking team of call center agents. source PayScale .

Starting a call center business can be likened to a rollercoaster journey – with plenty of highs and lows. That’s something only you can decide.

Planning Your Call Center Business

To kickstart your call center company, you need a solid business plan. It’s like the roadmap guiding you to success.

First off, know who needs your services. Are they small businesses or large companies? Understanding this helps tailor-fit your offerings.

Next up is defining what type of calls you’ll handle. Will it be incoming calls for customer support (inbound call centers) or outgoing sales and marketing calls (outbound call centers)?

Set clear goals for operations – How many agents will receive and make calls? What are their targets? And don’t forget about budgeting – from agent wages to purchasing necessary call center equipment, every penny counts.

Now that we’ve got planning down pat, there’s one more thing worth noting. Call center operations have regulations to follow. So better check on those regulations too.

Deciding between virtual and on-site setups can be tricky. Virtual ones offer flexibility while on-site provides direct oversight over employees’ performance. Factors such as cost-effectiveness and technology requirements should influence this decision.

By now I bet you’re wondering how all these plans translate into action legally speaking? Well then buckle up because next stop is understanding the legal aspects involved when starting a call center business.

Legal Aspects of Starting a Call Center Business

Starting your own call center business? Better buckle up for the legal rollercoaster.

Creating an LLC can be compared to donning a cape of invincibility, shielding you from any potential liability should something go awry.

We all hate taxes, but they’re as certain as death and bad hold music. Register for federal and state taxes before you start raking in the dough. The IRS website has all the info you need on how to get an EIN (Employer Identification Number).

Don’t mix your personal and business finances like a bad cocktail. Get a separate bank account from day one to keep things neat and tidy.

Necessary Permits/Licenses: Better Safe Than Sorry.

Don’t be caught with your permit pants down. Make sure you have all the necessary licenses and permits before you start dialing for dollars.

—End—

Setting Up Your Call Center Operations

The foundation of a successful call center business lies in its operations. You need to equip your setup with reliable technology, like an efficient business phone system .

Selecting suitable software from among numerous call center software options is crucial. This will streamline both inbound and outbound calls, ensuring top-notch customer service.

Your call center agents are the face of your company, interacting directly with clients. So invest time and resources into their training for long-term benefits.

A well-structured onboarding process helps new hires adapt quickly to their roles, boosting overall productivity and employee retention.

To manage incoming and outgoing calls effectively, create efficient workflows that directly impact customer satisfaction and overall productivity. Streamline processes like routing incoming calls or scheduling outgoing ones based on agent availability.

You’re now equipped with essential knowledge about setting up effective call center operations. Next stop? Promoting your services. Let’s dive into how you can attract potential clients by defining your brand clearly and creating an engaging website along with other digital marketing tactics.

Promoting Your Call Center Services

Once you’ve established your call center operations, the next step is to effectively market and promote them to attract potential customers. But wait. The real challenge now is promoting your services effectively to attract potential clients.

Your brand isn’t just a logo or tagline; it’s an experience that distinguishes you from competitors in the crowded call center market space.

Investing time into creating a professional, user-friendly site can pay off big time.

Leverage Digital Marketing Tactics

In this digital age, content marketing and social media advertising play crucial roles in attracting customers. Implementing these strategies helps increase visibility online and drive more traffic towards your business.

Remember: A happy client equals repeat business plus new referrals. Delivering excellent customer service not only retains existing clients but also attracts new ones through positive word-of-mouth referrals.

To achieve this goal:

• Invest in regular training programs for agents so they’re always updated with industry trends & techniques.
• Maintain transparency with clients by providing timely updates & feedback.
• Last but definitely not least, treat each caller like gold – because they are. Always listen attentively to understand their needs better before offering solutions.

FAQs in Relation to How to Start a Call Center Business

The profitability of a call center business depends on factors like operational efficiency, client base, and service quality, with profit margins typically ranging from 10% to 15%.

A business plan for a call center should include market analysis, financial projections, marketing strategies, organizational structure, and an overview of services.

To start a telemarketing business from home, you’ll need reliable call center software, effective sales scripts, skilled agents, and compliance with legal requirements.

Becoming successful in the Call Center Industry requires efficient workflow management , excellent customer service skills , robust technology infrastructure, and strong leadership abilities.

 Here’s what you need to know:

Virtual or on-site, choose wisely and set up efficient workflows for maximum productivity.

Don’t forget to consider the financial aspects, like buying equipment and paying wages.

And protect your investment with business insurance.

By following these steps, you’ll be on your way to call center success!

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Want to help contribute to future articles? Have data-backed and tactical advice to share? I’d love to hear from you!

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About Author: Justin McGill

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How to Start a Call Center? Step by step Guide 

• October 7, 2023

Starting a call center can be an excellent business opportunity if done right. With the global contact center market expected to reach over $300 billion by 2025, there is massive potential for growth and success.

However, launching a call center requires careful planning, significant investment, and the right strategies. 

This comprehensive guide will walk you through the key steps involved in starting a call center from scratch.

Follow this 9-step plan to set up a fully functional contact center tailored to your business needs.

What is a call center?

A call center acts as a central point of contact between a company and its customers.

Call centers provide customer support, handle inquiries and complaints, offer technical assistance, process orders and transactions, and carry out telemarketing and survey activities.

The key functions of a call center include inbound call handling, outbound call handling, email support, social media support, and chat support.

When starting a call center, you need to make major decisions regarding location, technology, staffing, operations, and strategies.

Careful planning and research are required in terms of infrastructure, equipment, software, human resources, training processes, and compliance.

This guide will take you through the essential steps involved in launching a call center successfully.

Step 1: Develop a Solid Business Plan 

The first and most critical step is to create a comprehensive business plan.

This will act as your roadmap and help secure funding and investments. Your business plan should cover:

• Executive Summary: Briefly summarize your company profile, objectives, market analysis, operations plan, and projected growth. This gives investors an overview of your proposed call center.
• Company Description: Provide background on your company, founders, location, and type of business (LLC, partnership, etc.). Mention your mission statement, values, and unique approach.
• Market Analysis: Research your target market thoroughly. Analyze demand for call center services in your region, profiling customer demographics and psychographics. Conduct competitor analysis to identify the strengths and weaknesses of other players in the locality. Estimate market size and projected growth using surveys, focus groups, and other methods.
• Operations Plan: Describe your operating model, technology infrastructure, equipment, workforce strategy, training programs, compliance policies, quality management, and business processes in detail. Outline your facilities, layout, telecom systems, and cybersecurity measures.
• Financial Plan: Project your startup and operating costs. Estimate capital requirements, funding needs, and sources of financing (loans, investors, etc.). Develop income statements, balance sheets, cash flow statements, and break-even analysis for the first 5 years. List key assumptions behind your projections.
• Risks and Mitigation: Identify potential risks such as competition, regulatory changes, talent shortage, tech disruptions, etc. Describe strategies to mitigate these risks to ensure smooth operations.
• Appendix: Include relevant data, surveys, Infographics, images, and projections to support your plan.

A solid plan demonstrates thorough research, reasonable assumptions, and a viable business model.

It is instrumental in securing licenses, financing, partners, talent, and infrastructure.

Step 2: Select a Strategic Location

Choosing the right location is crucial for any call center. Analyze the following factors while deciding your location:

• Infrastructure: Prioritize locations with reliable power supply, high-speed internet connectivity, strong network coverage, and good public transport links. Avoid areas prone to frequent outages.
• Talent Availability: Pick regions with an abundant workforce skilled in customer service. Gauge language proficiency, accent neutrality, educational qualifications, and relevant experience.
• Scalability: Opt for cities that allow seamless expansion in terms of real estate, labor supply, government regulations, etc.
• Costs: Focus on tier-2 or 3 cities offering competitive labor rates, affordable real estate, and lower operational expenses.
• Government Support: Prefer states with policies favoring BPO/ITES sectors through tax incentives, subsidies, training programs, etc.
• Compliance: Choose locations facilitating legal compliance in areas like minimum wage, labor standards, data protection, etc.
• Competition: Steer clear of regions with too many existing call centers to avoid saturation.
• Proximity to Customers: If serving a local customer base, evaluate setting up operations within your state or region.
• Linguistic Needs: Areas with multilingual workforce suit call centers targeting global clients.

Do extensive research, calculate long-term costs, visit potential sites, and consult local agencies before deciding on your call center location.

Places with sustained growth prospects and availability of qualified, affordable talent make ideal choices.

Step 3: Design Your Facilities

Your call center facilities and layout directly impact productivity and efficiency. Key elements to consider:

• Size: Have adequate space for your workforce, allowing 60-100 sq. ft per agent. Account for future expansion too.
• Design: Structured cabins with low partitions boost privacy. Open spaces promote collaboration. Strike the right balance.
• Lighting: Bright lighting with no glare improves engagement. Use natural light where possible. Install occupancy sensors.
• Ergonomics: Choose ergonomic furniture to avoid strain. Invest in height-adjustable desks, armrests, and footrests.
• Noise control: Use acoustic tiles, carpets, and sound-absorbing furnishings to minimize noise. Create quiet zones.
• Air quality: Ensure proper ventilation, air conditioning, and humidity control for comfort. Promote green plants.
• Power backup: Install generators and UPS for uninterrupted electricity to systems.
• Security: Control access with ID cards and biometrics. Install surveillance cameras, fire alarms, and sensors. Hire onsite security staff.
• Amenities: Offer wellness rooms, kitchenettes, gender-neutral bathrooms, nursing stations, and recreation areas for staff.
• Technology: Build server rooms, IT support stations, and a robust telecom and internet network. Implement cybersecurity measures.
• Warehouse: Have dedicated space to store equipment and materials, if required.

An efficient layout promotes collaboration while allowing focus. Ergonomic furnishings and top-class infrastructure also help attract and retain agents.

Step 4: Set up Technology Systems

Seamlessly integrating the right technology systems is vital for call centers. Key solutions required:

• Automatic Call Distributor (ACD): Routes incoming calls to agents efficiently based on configurable rules like skills, availability, etc. Enables call monitoring, reporting, and analytics.
• Interactive Voice Response (IVR): Automates call handling with menu options for callers to route calls, check information, or conduct transactions using voice commands or keypad inputs.
• Computer-Telephony Integration (CTI): Links telecom systems to computers. Enables call control and screen pop-ups on agent desktops for customer data. Boosts productivity.
• Dialers: Automates outbound calling. Predictive dialers connect answered calls to agents while skipping unanswered ones to maximize agent time usage. Preview dialers display contact info before connecting.
• CRM: Stores customer data and interactions. Helps agents access information to personalize service. Enables recording call details for traceability.
• Workforce Management Software: Forecasts call volumes, schedules agents, and manages performance. Balances staffing to meet service levels.
• Call Recording: Records call for quality evaluation, compliance, and training. Options include full recording or on-demand recording. Encrypt sensitive data.
• Analytics: Provides insights through reporting metrics on call volumes, wait times, agent performance, customer satisfaction, etc. Helps identify improvement areas.
• Knowled ge Base: Central repository of documents, resources, and FAQs for agents to find information easily and deliver consistent service.

Choose solutions that integrate well and suit your size and needs.

Deploy cloud-based systems for flexibility and scalability. Partner with expert vendors and IT consultants.

Step 5: Set up Telecom Channels 

Omnichannel presence is key for call centers today. Set up channels based on your offerings:

• Voice: The telephone remains the primary communication medium. Have a toll-free number and sufficient inbound lines to minimize dropped calls.
• Email: Dedicated email IDs for customer queries and order forms. Integrate with CRM system.
• Website: Self-service portal for common requests like order tracking, appointments, bill payment, etc. Offer web chat.
• Social Media: Respond to comments, queries, and complaints on all social platforms regularly. Assign platform-wise teams.
• Mobile App: Enable key functions through the app itself like raising tickets or ordering goods/services. Offer push notifications.
• IVR: Build intelligent automated IVR with speech recognition to handle caller needs around the clock. Integrate with back-end.
• Video Calling: Incorporate video chat and conferencing for select services like tech support, telemedicine, etc. that benefit from visuals.
• Chatbots: Use AI-powered bots on websites and messaging apps to handle common questions or make appointments before routing complex issues to agents.
• Messaging Apps: Offer real-time support on popular platforms like WhatsApp. Use for appointment reminders, delivery updates, etc.
• Social Messaging: Respond to direct messages and comments on social media messaging apps like FB Messenger, Twitter DMs, etc.

Omnichannel presence and context-aware routing to the appropriate channel/agent create a seamless experience. Partner with telecom providers to enable the required channels.

Step 6: Staff Your Call Center 

Building a skilled, motivated workforce is central to call center success. Key steps:

• Demand Forecasting: Project staffing needs based on expected call volumes using historical data. Factor in absenteeism, attrition rates, skill needs, etc.
• Recruitment: Hire staff through job portals, recruiters, advertisements, and referrals. Assess communication skills, aptitude, and customer focus during interviews.
• Training: Conduct thorough induction training on systems, processes, products, soft skills, compliance, and company values. Have ongoing training programs for development.
• Organization Structure: Group teams under skilled supervisors and managers. Key departments required – call handling, customer care, technical support, HR, admin, finance, quality, etc.
• Scheduling: Use workforce management tools to predict hourly call volumes and schedule adequate staffing. Set up shift rotations to have coverage at all times.
• Monitoring: Observe calls randomly for quality. Track metrics like call resolution rates, wait times, adherence to processes, etc. and provide feedback.
• Motivation: Offer incentives like bonuses, vouchers, extra time off, etc. for top performers. Recognize achievements publicly. Promote a positive work culture through team events.
• Performance Appraisal: Set individual targets aligned to contact center goals. Review periodically and link to rewards. Take remedial action for underperformers.
• Career Progression: Offer clearly defined career paths to retain agents. Enable movement to supervisory and managerial roles based on performance and potential.
• Work-life Balance: Follow leave policies, prevent excessive overtime, and offer remote working options and health benefits to enhance well-being and satisfaction.

Invest in skilled resources and motivate them through competitive compensation, a congenial environment, growth opportunities, and rewards.

Step 7: Develop Efficient Processes 

Well-designed processes boost productivity and customer satisfaction. Key aspects:

• Contact Routing: Use skills-based routing to map caller needs with agent expertise. Implement priority routing for premium customers.
• Service Approach: Train agents to greet customers warmly, show empathy, actively listen, and clarify issues patiently. Standardize call opening and closing.
• Query Resolution: Empower agents to resolve queries independently within defined parameters. Escalate complex issues seamlessly to specialized staff.
• Ticketing System: Log all requests and complaints into CRM. Assign service level agreements (SLAs) for response time. Track till resolution.
• Knowledge Management: Make the knowledge base, FAQs, and internal forums easily accessible to agents to find solutions quickly.
• Quality Monitoring: Listen to call recordings and score agents as per criteria like resolution, accuracy, etiquette, process adherence, etc. to identify training needs.
• Customer Satisfaction: Seek post-call feedback through IVR surveys, emails, etc. Review periodically to understand pain points and improve processes.
• Complaint Management: Have a clear escalation matrix for complaint resolution. Close the loop with dissatisfied clients and seek feedback on resolution.
• Continuous Improvement: Analyze call data, metrics, customer feedback, audit reports, etc. regularly. Implement corrective and preventive measures to address root causes.
• Update Processes: Review policies and processes periodically to maximize efficiency. Incorporate feedback from staff and best practices.

Well-designed processes that enhance customer and employee experience are key to call center excellence. Seek ongoing feedback and continuously improve.

Step 8: Comply with Regulations

Call centers must comply with diverse regulations covering operations, sales, data security, and employment:

• Telemarketing: Honor Do Not Call registries. Follow rules regarding calling hours, frequency, disclosures, etc. Train reps on compliant practices.
• Data Security: Encrypt sensitive customer data. Control access. Follow norms related to international data transfers, third-party usage, etc.
• Labor Laws: Provide breaks, overtime pay, minimum wages, and time off as mandated. Avoid forced overtime. Honor union regulations.
• Anti-discrimination Laws: Ensure fair recruitment and pay regardless of gender, race, religion, sexual orientation etc. Accommodate disabilities.
• Workplace Safety: Follow safety codes regarding office equipment, ergonomics, fire, sanitation, etc. Offer health insurance and wellness programs.
• Harassment Laws: Enforce zero tolerance on workplace harassment through awareness, investigation procedures, disciplinary action, etc.
• Financial Regulations: Adhere to accounting standards, taxation norms, audits, etc. applicable to your location and industry.
• Industry-specific Rules: Follow guidelines relevant to your vertical like healthcare, insurance, debt collection, etc. regarding ethics, transparency, and consumer protection.

Designate resources to stay updated on existing and emerging regulations.

Conduct periodic audits to identify and rectify non-compliance. It is cheaper to invest in compliance than to pay fines.

Step 9: Plan Your Call Center Launch 

Meticulous planning and execution is key for successfully launching your call center:

• Stakeholder Alignment: Conduct project kickoff meetings with all internal stakeholders – leadership, department heads, architects, IT consultants, etc. to align on strategy, plans, budget, responsibilities, and timelines.
• Infrastructure Development: Oversee construction, interiors, IT systems set up, security measures, and telecom implementation as per agreed designs and quotes. Perform inspections at key milestones.
• Software Customization: Work with vendors to configure software suites to your processes, reporting needs, and desired workflows. Test integrations extensively.
• Content Development: Create scripts, FAQs, tutorials, forms, email templates, etc. as per brand guidelines to equip agents. Set up a knowledge management portal.
• Compliance Review: Finalize operating procedures and policies in line with regulations. Put disclosures, confidentiality clauses, customer consent forms, etc. in place.
• Recruitment & Training: Start talent acquisition 2 months before launch as per staffing plan. Conduct rigorous induction training on all aspects followed by floor simulations.
• Operations Blueprint: Document detailed standard operating procedures for every workflow from call handling, query resolution, and escalations to closures.
• Vendor Selection: Finalize vendors for catering, security, logistics, stationery supplies, etc., and onboard them after due diligence. Establish systems for management.
• Trial Runs: Conduct extensive dry runs to test every process, system integration, policy, workflow, etc. Refine based on observations before going live.
• Go-Live: Celebrate the grand opening with staff. Cutover telephony and sales channels seamlessly. Ramp up operations gradually after assessing initial volumes and capacity.

With clear goals, robust planning, and the right technology, talent, and processes, you can build a world-class call center that drives customer and business value.

Adapt the steps outlined to suit your specific context and launch your venture successfully.

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)

Ques 1: how can i improve my call center’s customer satisfaction scores.

Ans: Some ways to improve customer satisfaction include reducing wait times, training agents on empathy and active listening, setting realistic customer expectations, gathering feedback through surveys, and having a simple IVR menu system.

Ques 2: What metrics should I track for my call center?

Ans: Important call center metrics to track are service level, average handle time , first call resolution rate, average wait time, customer satisfaction, turnover rate, and absenteeism. Tracking these KPIs can help identify opportunities and problems.

Ques 3: How can I optimize my call center’s staffing?

Ans: Look at historical call volume patterns, forecast demand, calculate required staffing levels, schedule agents to match projected call volumes, overstaff during peak periods, and use part-time or contract workers during fluctuating demand.

Ques 4: How can I reduce customer hold times in my call center?

Ans: Some strategies are to match staffing levels to call volume, use call-back options, implement an automated IVR, offer self-service options online, improve first-call resolution rates, and educate customers on slower service times.

Ques 5: What can I do to improve call center agent retention?

Ans: Offer competitive pay and benefits, create a positive work culture, provide training and growth opportunities, set clear expectations, recognize good performance, empower agents, and give feedback and coaching.

Evelyn Brown

Evelyn Brown is a knowledgeable and dedicated reviewer of business communication softwares. When she's not testing the latest platforms or providing in-depth analyses for his readers, you can find her playing guitar and hiking local trails.

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How to start a call center (processes, tips, tools)

Are you looking to start a call center?

With loads of businesses looking to outsource their call operations, running your own call center continues to remain a lucrative business!

However, that doesn’t mean you can do it overnight.

In this article, we’ll go through everything you need to know before setting up your own call center.

Here’s what this article contains:

(Jump to a section of your choice using the links given below)

• Planning Your Call Center
• Hiring the Right People
• Using the Right Tools

Let’s get started.

Planning your call center

1. decide the setup and the focus of your call center.

Before you start your call center company, you need to decide on the type of call center you want to run.

Your setup determines the structure of your call center. You can choose to run an on-site call center or a virtual call center .

Here’s a breakdown of these two setups:

1. On-site call centers

On-site call centers operate from a central location. All your employees will work at the office, and all your work will be handled there.

An on-site call center is a great option if you want to build your business at a fixed location and cater to large companies or businesses with high compliance and security requirements. This is also a good option if you’re going to hire a large team as you can easily source local talent manage them from a central location.

Running an on-site call center in an urban area can get you perks like high-speed internet and easy access to public transport. It’ll also be close to other small business operations that could potentially use your call center services.

However, running an on-site contact center can be expensive. Rent in most cities is high, and you’ll likely have to pay a premium for utility services in the city.

To combat this, most companies offshore their on-site call centers. They open them in foreign countries where:

• Rent is cheaper.
• Setup costs are minimal.
• Wages are lower.

2. Virtual call centers

A virtual call center is a business that is usually entirely remote. Your employees will likely work from home, and most of your interactions and operations will be via the internet.

A virtual call center is a good option if you don’t have much money to spend on setup costs .

As your operations are carried out by your employees remotely, you won’t have to pay for overheads like rent, electricity, and the internet.

However, this comes with its fair share of issues.

Managing a large remote workforce isn’t easy – especially if you don’t have the right tools . You’ll find it hard to measure productivity and gauge work performance. Also as your employees work by themselves, they can feel lonely and isolated – lowering their morale and productivity.

So if you are planning on going virtual, you should seriously consider using the right productivity software and performance monitoring tools.

The focus of your business determines the services you provide. You can focus on outbound call services or only respond to incoming calls.

Here’s a closer look at each one:

1. Outbound call centers

An outbound call center only focuses on outgoing calls. They engage in cold calling for sales , telemarketing, conducting surveys and setting up appointments.

Here is our complete guide to Outbound Call Center .

2. Inbound call centers

An inbound call center specializes in services like taking orders, providing customer support and responding to inquiries. They don’t make any calls to customers – they just receive calls from them.

Learn more about Inbound Call Center here .

C. Industry

It’s also important to zero-in on a particular industry for your call center operations.

Remember, specific industries, like the medical industry, require a level of expertise that you may not already have. Carefully go through potential clients you’re comfortable working with to decide the type of business that comes your way.

2. Decide your goals

It’s important to outline your goals in a business plan before you start setting up your call center.

Because your goals are going to dictate:

• The number of employees you hire.
• The kind of operations you’ll handle.
• The processes you’ll implement.
• The costs you’ll incur.

For example, if your goal is to reach a specific revenue target, you’ll have to hire a certain number of people and bill your clients at a particular rate.

Creating goals is a great way to scale up your business because it breaks your progress down into achievable parts. You can constantly chip away at your goals to grow your small business consistently.

3. Find a suitable location

The location of your call center plays a big part in your success.

While you can set up a local business, offshoring it may be more cost-effective.

But where do you offshore your call center?

Countries like the Philippines are great locations to consider when setting up a call center. They offer you:

• Minimal setup costs.
• Favorable corporate laws.
• Lower wages.

However, offshoring to foreign countries can be risky if you don’t know what you’re doing. Team up with a local lawyer to understand the costs involved and the permissions you need with each country.

4. Deal with the paperwork

Starting any business involves going through tons of paperwork.

Talk to your local government agents to obtain any permits you’ll need to open your call center. You may even have to file paperwork for a virtual call center – so carefully go through the existing laws and regulations.

If you’re planning on offshoring your business, you will have to talk to a lawyer regarding the necessary paperwork. Different countries have different laws – so carefully go over them before doing anything.

5. Establish a budget

Running a call center isn’t cheap.

You’ll have to spend on:

• Call center equipment.
• Business registration fees.
• Websites and marketing.

If you’re not careful with your money, you can easily overspend on things your business doesn’t need. However, it’s also important to note that your budget will vary based on the setup and focus of your company.

For example, an on-site call center will have way more admin costs than a virtual business. You’ll have to spend on:

• Electricity.
• High-speed internet.
• Office equipment.

Similarly, an outbound call center uses different equipment than an inbound call center. While an outbound call center largely relies on CRM software, your inbound call center may depend heavily on knowledge databases and help desk software.

Decide on a budget that’s realistic for your setup. Align it with your goals to give yourself enough breathing room to grow at a consistent rate.

Hiring the right people

1. Decide how many people you need

To run a successful call center, you need the right number of employees:

• Hire too many and you’re looking at unnecessary costs.
• Hire too few and you’re going to be understaffed and miss your targets.

So how do you arrive at the right number?

By analyzing your call center setup.

For example, if you’re looking to run a virtual business, start with a small, experienced team.

Firstly, they’re a small team – so it’s easier to manage them – even if they’re remote.

Secondly, as they’re experienced, they’ll already know the ins and outs of the industry. They’ll work fairly independently and can help you stabilize your operations faster.

For an on-site call center, you can hire anywhere from 50 to 100 agents.

Sounds like too many employees?

Not really.

Remember, setting up an on-site call center business is costly, so you’ll need to amp up your revenue. You’ll need that many employees to help your call centre reach its revenue targets.

To lower your spend on salaries, consider hiring a balanced mix of trainees and experienced agents. Your experienced agents can guide your trainees on the job to keep your business running smoothly.

2. Establish a recruitment process

Your hiring process should be transparent, thorough and quick.

There’s a lot that goes into managing a call center . You can’t be wasting hours on each candidate!

However, remember to tweak your recruitment process to align with your setup .

If you run an on-site call center, your recruitment processes will mainly target people in your city. This can help you find quick replacements for employees, but not every candidate may be skilled enough for the job.

Consider giving them an assignment before you offer them a job. This will let you determine their skill level and competency. It’s also a good way to see if they’ll fit in with your company’s work culture.

Virtual call centers can widen your hiring scope as you can recruit agents working from different time zones. However, it’s harder to monitor remote employees (unless you use employee monitoring software .). To combat this risk, hire them on a part-time trial basis to test them out before offering them a permanent position.

In addition to this, ensure that you test your candidates on these important call center qualities:

• Confidence.
• Attention to detail.

A good call center agent needs all these qualities to deal with customers in a way that increases customer satisfaction. It’ll help put customers at ease and ensure that they leave with a positive customer experience.

3. Establish training programs

Being a call center agent isn’t easy. You can’t just turn up and be great at it.

Most call centers use rigorous training programs to ensure that their agents are capable of dealing with their daily phone calls.

In most cases, call center agents should be skilled at:

• Communicating effectively with callers.
• Empathizing with customers.
• Maintaining a high service level.

Consider going over recorded phone calls with your trainees to help them identify what they should and shouldn’t do. It’s also a good idea to educate them on the different tools they’ll be using. For example, if you’re using a tool that helps your time management , you’ll have to show them how to use it.

Use the right tools

1. business phone system.

A typical call center handles a large number of calls every day. Unfortunately, a basic phone system can’t handle such a large volume of calls. To manage this call volume, you’ll need to invest in a dedicated business phone system.

Here are your best options:

1. PBX (Private branch exchange)

These systems operate through physical phone lines and traditional handsets. This is a good option if you’re running an on-site office and renting office space on a long term basis.

2. IP PBX (Internet protocol private branch exchange)

This system handles communications through VoIP (Voice over Internet Protocol) . This allows your agents to use phones that are routed through an internet connection instead of traditional phone lines. This system is lighter than PBX; as the server can be placed in-house or even remotely.

3. Virtual VoIP (Voice over internet protocol)

Virtual VoIP is currently the most popular business phone system. It requires no hardware setup as every call occurs through an app on your desktop. You only need a pair of headsets to operate, and the server can be accessed remotely. This is the perfect option for a virtual call center.

2. CRM (Customer relationship management) system

Call center agents need an easy way to store and access customer records. This makes it easier for them to interact and engage callers.

Think about it.

If you have all their details available on call, you’ll be able to address their concerns better, right?

Except, how do you store and access this information?

Through a CRM .

A CRM stores all your customer data and presents it to your agents whenever they need it. With a CRM, you can manage thousands of contacts with the click of a button!

If you’re using a VoIP system, look for a CRM that integrates with it to make it easier on your agents. As it’s integrated, whenever a customer calls, you’ll instantly have all their details pop up.

3. Internal communications system

Internal communication plays a huge role in your call center’s success. Your agents need to be able to communicate concerns with each other and reach out to supervisors when they need to.

Many business owners think investing in an intercom will do the trick – and while that may help in-office employees, it’s not useful to virtual teams.

If you’re managing a virtual call center, consider using instant messaging apps like Slack or Fleep. They allow your agents to collaborate over calls and tasks to get things done quickly. These apps also have channels/groups that you can use to communicate with specific people such as client-specific teams.

4. Performance monitoring tool

Call center management isn’t a piece of cake.

You’ll have to:

• Look for new tools.
• Manage finances.
• Oversee client onboarding.
• Implement your business ideas.
• And tons more!

As you have so much to oversee, you can’t afford to spend hours manually monitoring your employees, right?

But at the same time, you can’t afford to leave them unsupervised. This could lead to productivity nosedives and lower customer satisfaction rates.

So what do you do?

You invest in a performance monitoring tool like Time Doctor .

Time Doctor is a powerful monitoring tool. It will:

• Monitor what your employees are doing during work hours.
• Track the time they spend on calls and tasks.
• Help you bill clients for work done with accurate work records.
• Identify time-wasting activities.
• Help you separate your productive and unproductive employees.

Here’s a closer look at what Time Doctor can do for you:

1. Give you accurate project reports to bill clients

Time Doctor accurately monitors the time your employees spend on projects and tasks to help you identify how much time it took them.

With the Projects Report, you’ll see a breakdown of how much time a particular project took and which employees worked on it. You can create billable records from these reports to bill clients on an hourly basis.

2. Ensure that your employees are actively working

Are you concerned that your employees are passing off idle time as productive hours?

Time Doctor has a built-in inactivity tracker that stops tracking time after three minutes of inactivity. This way, your employees have to be actively working on a task for their work to be recorded.

Note: Time Doctor tracks keyboard and mouse activity to determine activity levels. However, it does not track which buttons were pressed for privacy reasons.

3. Keep your employees focused on their work

With Time Doctor, you won’t have to worry about your employees accessing unproductive sites during work hours.

Whenever an employee accesses an unproductive site (like shopping or social media), Time Doctor shows them a pop-up asking them if they’re still working.

This nudge is enough to get them back to answering and receiving calls.

You can also access individual “Poor Time Usage” reports for each employee. This report highlights what unproductive sites they accessed, when they accessed it and how long they spent there.

4. Integrate with workplace software

Time Doctor can instantly integrate with other call center software to streamline your operations. You can integrate Time Doctor with your CRM, help desk software, and even your accounting tools to maintain productivity at all levels.

With tons of businesses looking to outsource their help desks and call center operations, setting up a call center can be a very lucrative business decision.

However, running a call center is not easy.

You’ll need to plan it carefully, hire the right people and use the right tools to keep things running smoothly. Performance monitoring tools like Time Doctor are invaluable to call centers, so why not sign up for it and give it a try yourself?

Book a free demo of Time Doctor

Andy is a technology & marketing leader who has delivered award-winning and world-first experiences.

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Don't bother with copy and paste.

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Call Center Business Plan

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Vashon Solicitation Services

Executive summary executive summary is a brief introduction to your business plan. it describes your business, the problem that it solves, your target market, and financial highlights.">.

Introduction It is the mission of Vashon Solicitation Services to provide clients with top quality call center services 24 hours-a-day. A service that provides our clients with the greatest chance of communicating with their end customers. We do B2B and B2C services including both inbound and outbound calls. We have a dedicated and well trained cadre of customer support specialists who are able to consistently provide excellent services delivered in a timely and cost-effective manner.

Whatever a client’s customer relations goals are: quantifying sales leads, taking orders, responding to ad inquiries, market research, or general information requests, VSS has the people with the expertise to professionally service those needs.

The Company VSS will be a limited liability partnership registered in the state of Delaware for tax purposes. Its founder is Mr. Martin Gibbs, a former telemarketing head with Medfone, Inc. Mr. Gibbs has brought together a highly respected group of telemarketing and customer relations specialists who have a total of 35 years of combined experience with this industry.

The company has a limited number of private investors and does not plan to go public. The company has its main offices in Gig Harbor, Washington. The facilities include office spaces, conference rooms, and a phone center. The company expects to begin offering services in June of Year 1.

The Services Vashon offers a wide range of call center service including both inbound and outbound calls. We provide bilingual services in both english and spanish. The most common needs that we can fulfill are:

• Generate sales leads
• Set appointments
• Market research
• Surveys (including statistical analysis and political surveys)
• First level help desk
• Database or mailing list information
• Business development
• Point-of-sale product promotion
• Seminar and conference invitations

VSS is not a telemarketing company, we do not create the marketing campaigns for our clients. Experience has shown that many companies desire to create their own marketing campaign since they already have marketing personnel with extensive contact and experience in the industry.

The Market The telemarketing industry is a growing industry with most companies having an annual growth between 6.5% and 8%. This is due to businesses that are becoming increasingly aware of the need for market information and the desire to reduce customer turnover rates in a hard hit economy. A significant trend in this industry is the growing number of clients who wish to outsource telemarketing functions to client companies instead of developing such infrastructure in-house. This makes for an excellent opportunity for VSS. However, long-term analysis of growth rates in this industry show a cyclical pattern and VSS does not expect this high growth rate to continue.

VSS plans to enter into two market segments. First, we will work in the medical services industry since they have a high need to maintain contact with their patients at all times. We will also be working as a first level help desk for a number of small high-tech companies, and be taking on short-term projects such as surveys from small clients.

Financial Considerations Start-up assets required are shown in the tables accompanying the Start-up Summary topic. This includes expenses and the cash needed to support operations until revenues reach an acceptable level. Most of the company’s liabilities will come from outside private investors and management investment, however, we have obtained current borrowing from Bank of America Commercial Investments, the principal to be paid off in two years. A long-term loan through Charter Bank of Tillamook will be paid off in ten years. We also have a line of credit from Viking Bank that we can draw upon if need be.

The company expects to reach profitability in year two and does not anticipate any serious cash flow problems. We conservatively believe that during the first three years that about three ongoing contracts per month will guarantee a break-even point.

1.1 Keys to Success

Vashon’s keys to long-term survivability and profitability are:

• Create long-term contracts that demand constant monitoring or on-call services.
• Keeping close contact with clients and establishing a well functioning long-term relationship with them to generate repeat business and obtain a top notch reputation.
• Establish a comprehensive service experience for our clients that includes consultation, progress reports and post-program feedback.

1.2 Mission

It is the mission of VSS to provide our clients with top quality call center services 24 hours-a-day that provide the greatest chance of communicating with end customers. We do B2B and B2C services including both inbound and outbound calls. We have a dedicated and well trained cadre of customer support specialists who are able to consistently provide excellent services delivered in a timely and cost-effective manner.

Whatever a client’s customer relations goals are: quantifying sales leads, taking orders, responding to ad inquiries, market research, or general information requests, VSS has the people with the expertise to professionally service your needs.

1.3 Objectives

The three year goals for Vashon Solicitation Services LLC (VSS) are:

• Achieve break-even by year two.
• Establish long-term contracts with at least four clients.
• Establish minimum 95% customer satisfaction rate to form long-term relationships with our clients and create word of mouth marketing.

Company Summary company overview ) is an overview of the most important points about your company—your history, management team, location, mission statement and legal structure.">

VSS will be a limited liability partnership registered in the state of Delaware for tax purposes. Its founder is Mr. Martin Gibbs, a former telemarketing head with Medfone, Inc. Mr. Gibbs has brought together a highly respected group of telemarketing and customer relations specialists who have a total of 35 years of combined experience with this industry.

The company has a limited number of private investors and does not plan to go public. The company has its main offices in Gig Harbor, Washington. The facilities include office spaces, conference rooms, and a phone center. The company expects to begin offering its services in June of Year 1.

The company’s main clients will be companies that require high amounts of communication between themselves and their clients. This includes medical services, and companies that wish to outsource first-level help desk support. By focusing on institutions such as these that have special needs, we believe we will be able to better serve our clients and produce a superior service that is more effective that other call center firms.

2.1 Start-up Summary

Start-up assets required are shown in the tables below. This includes expenses and the cash needed to support operations until revenues reach an acceptable level. Most of the company’s liabilities will come from outside private investors and management investment, however, we have obtained current borrowing from Bank of America Commercial Investments, the principal to be paid off in two years. A long-term loan through Charter Bank of Tillamook will be paid off in ten years.We also have a line of credit from Viking Bank that we can draw upon if need be.

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2.2 Company Ownership

The company will have a number of outside private investors who will own 27% of the company’s shares. The rest will be owned by the senior management including Mr. Martin Gibbs, (25%), Ms. Mary Stuart (20%), Mr. Henry Hannover, (20%), and Mr. Nicholas Caput (8%). All other financing will come from loans.

Vashon offers a wide range of call center service including both inbound and outbound calls. We provide bilingual services in both english and spanish. The most common needs for call centers are:

• Database or mailing list information

VSS is not a telemarketing company we do not create the marketing campaigns for our clients. Experience has shown that many companies desire to create their own marketing campaign since they already have marketing personnel with extensive contact and experience in the industry. However, the costs of carrying out such a telemarketing campaign can be prohibitive and often the firm does not wish to develop the infrastructure to do so. This requires developing different skills and core competencies that divert management and resources from their primary duties. This is where VSS comes in. We either connect a prospective client with a telemarketing company (we have arrangements and contacts with three such consulting firms) or once such a campaign is designed we implement it for our clients. We work closely with our clients in the creation of the campaign’s goals, scope, length, and costs so has to create as close a fit between the client needs and our capabilities.

Market Analysis Summary how to do a market analysis for your business plan.">

The telemarketing industry is a growing industry with most companies having an annual growth between 6.5% and 8%. This is due to businesses that are becoming increasingly aware of the need for market information and the desire to reduce customer turnover rates in a hard hit economy. A significant trend in this industry is the growing number of clients who wish to outsource telemarketing functions to client companies instead of developing such infrastructure in-house. This makes for an excellent opportunity for VSS. However, long-term analysis of growth rates in this industry show a cyclical pattern and VSS does not expect this high growth rate to continue.

The telemarketing industry is quite fragmented with companies that vary greatly in size, scope, services offered, and market share. Many companies are general advertising agencies that offer telemarketing services along with a wide range of other consulting services. In addition, many companies, still not realizing the potential advantages of outsourcing, choose to develop their own telemarketing services.

VSS plans to enter into two market segments. First, we will work in the medical services industry since they have a high need to maintain contact with their patients at all times. We also will be working as a first level help desk for a number of small high-tech companies. Mr. Gibbs and Ms. Stuart have already signed contracts with Evergreen Medical and Sno-net, Inc. to serve in these capacities. We will also be taking on short-term projects, such as surveys, from small clients.

4.1 Market Segmentation

Virtually every company, both large and small require some form of telemarketing at some point. Often it is a survey to determine customer satisfaction or awareness. Sometimes it is effectively communicating an upcoming event such as a conference.

Other companies wish to know if telemarketing is a feasible method of sales generation. One of the new uses for call centers is in first level help desk services. About 75-80% of all technical problems faced by end customers can be solved by non-technical customer service representatives who are familiar with a computer or technical system and who have a scripted set of procedures to solve most common occuring problems. This is where an outsourced call center can save a client a large amount of money and allow a reduction in personnel needed on call 24 hours-a-day.

VSS plans to enter into two market segments. First, we will work in the medical services industry since they have a high need to maintain contact with their patients at all times. We also will be working as a first level help desk for a number of small high-tech companies.

Mr. Gibbs and Ms. Stuart have already signed contracts with Evergreen Medical and Sno-net, Inc. to serve in these capacities. Our customer service representatives are already in the process of receiving hands-on training from these two companies to meet their needs. We will also be taking on short-term projects such as surveys from small clients.

Once we have established a good working relationship with these initial clients, we will leverage our reputation and profitability into new contacts and contracts with other local companies. Our ultimate goal is to service the entire west coast region and become the company with a dominant market share.

The market analysis table and graph which follows shows the number of businesses within the state of Washington. This will be our initial geographical focus for the first four to five years of our company’s existance. Later, as we expand to a west coast scope, our future business plans will include all of our potential clients in this area.

4.2 Service Business Analysis

The telemarketing industry is a growing industry with most companies having an annual growth between 6.5% and 8%. This is due to businesses that are becoming increasingly aware of the need for market information and the desire to reduce customer turnover rates in a hard hit economy. However, long-term analysis of growth rates in this industry show a cyclical pattern and VSS does not expect this high growth rate to continue.

The telemarketing industry is quite fragmented with companies that vary greatly in size, scope, services offered, and market share. Many companies are general advertising agencies that offer telemarketing services along with a wide range of other consulting services. In addition, many companies, not realizing the potential advantages of outsourcing, choose to develop their own telemarketing services.

VSS believes that the greatest threat at the moment is in new entrants to the market who perceive an opportunity in a “high” growth industry. The most likely entrants will be pre-existing advertising agencies wishing to horizontally integrate and enter new sub-markets.

The one major disadvantage to new entrants is that all firms engaged in contracting to telemarketing agencies face significant switching costs when bringing on a new partner. Furthermore, VSS understands that in this industry there is a significant learning curve that creates declining “unit” costs as a firm gains more cumulative experience in the field itself and with long-term clients specifically. Finally there are significant start-up costs associated with creating a call center.

Rivalry among different call center agencies is quite intense. The telemarketing industry as a whole is mature with long-term moderate growth. Most of the largest agencies are mutually dependent when it comes to jockeying for position and market share. The fact that there are so many diverse and seemingly “generic” or general telemarketing agencies makes this a cutthroat industry.

4.2.1 Competition and Buying Patterns

Competition Competition includes all potential call centers and telemarketing agencies across the country. In addition we have indirect competition from organizations that handle all their telemarketing in-house. Practically speaking, this means we have the greatest threat from the largest telemarketing agencies such as Crouch & Weasley, Berman Telemarketing, and other big, nationwide call center companies that hold significant market share. The call center industry is highly fragmented, with a large number of small companies that mainly cater to small firms and a few large companies that seek the largest contracts from companies such as Sprint, GM, etc. This makes competition within the industry very intense. Through our focused strategy of serving niche markets such as help desk services, we intend to avoid such a debilitating environment and avoid its drawbacks such as price wars, and etc.

Buying patterns and needs Companies usually enter into contracts with call center firms based on their reputation of professionalism and effective campaigns in the past. This reputation is difficult to obtain by new firms unless its personnel bring it with them from previous companies such as ours. Price and scope are also important reasons for accepting contracts, especially if the company is small.

Strategy and Implementation Summary

Vashon Solicitation Services’ business strategy is to enter into a focused approach to its services rather than being everything to its clients. Our company does not intend to be a telemarketing consultation firm, nor will it ever become so. We are a call center firm that simply implements telemarketing campaigns or help desk functions for its clients. These services are where we can offer a higher standard of quality to our clients. This will allow us to charge a higher profit margin for these differentiated and more focused services.

5.1 Marketing Strategy

Vashon has already concluded two contracts with local companies requiring 24 hour call center services. These will provide us with initial revenue and the chance to build our reputation. Our company intends to use testimonials from such clients to build further contracts. We have begun to establish our presence using various marketing methods such as flyers, cold calls, B2B contacts, and we will be attending conventions and other events as well.

5.2 Sales Strategy

Vashon’s management will be focusing on leveraging its employee’s established reputations and contacts in the telemarketing industry to generate contracts. Both Mr. Gibbs and Mr. Hannover have been in the industry for many years and experience shows that many of their existing clients will still wish to work with them despite having to establish a new contract with VSS. We also understand that we may need to lower costs in our first couple of years in order to attract new customers and close deals.

In addition to our first contracts with Evergreen Medical and Sno-net, Inc. Mr. Hannover has been actively seeking to acquire a large contract with National Conventions & Events over the past seven months. This company is the largest event organizing firm on the West coast and has been seeking a call center firm for a customer survey project to be launched in the near future. VSS believes that its chances for acquiring this contract are excellent.

5.2.1 Sales Forecast

Sales are based on the various contract projects we anticipate acquiring in the various market segments. Revenues are based on average costs per project/contract based on estimated time and complexity of contract plus and undisclosed profit margin. The company does not have any significant direct costs of sales.

We anticipate that our most attractive target markets, medical services and help desk clients will provide us with significant early revenue. As time goes on, and we acquire more customers, the percentage of short-term and other projects will increase.

Management Summary management summary will include information about who's on your team and why they're the right people for the job, as well as your future hiring plans.">

The company will have four officers including our president, Mr. Martin Gibbs. Our head of operations will be Mr. Nicholas Caput, plus 12 customer service representatives. Finances and general admin will be handled by Ms. Stuart.

The company plans to hire additional service representatives, and administrative personnel as we begin to get large numbers of contracts.

6.1 Personnel

Vashon’s management brings to the company strong capabilities in contract negotiation, project management, telemarketing, and a unique combination of skills drawn from other businesses.

Key Personnel

Mr. Martin Gibbs is a graduate of the University of Missouri where he obtained his business degree degree in 1971. Since then, Mr. Gibbs has had extensive experience in marketing, telemarketing, and project management. This includes experience in budgeting, project oversight, etc. In 1996 he obtained a graduate degree in marketing from University of Washington. Mr. Gibbs spent the last four years as the telemarketing department head with Medfone, Inc.

Mr. Nicholas Caput graduated from Arizona State University with a bachelors degree in marketing in 1975. From 1978-1988 Mr. Caput worked for Nelson Marketing Consultants. In 1989 he went to work for Anderson Consulting in their marketing division, where he worked as a project manager.

Financial Plan investor-ready personnel plan .">

Our financial plan anticipates two years of negative profits as we gain sales volume. We have budgeted enough investment to cover these losses and have an additional credit line available if sales do not match predictions.

7.1 Important Assumptions

We are assuming approximately 75% sales on credit and average interest rates of 10%. These are considered to be conservative in case our predictions are erroneous.

7.2 Break-even Analysis

Our break-even analysis is based on the assumptions that our gross margin is approximately 100%. In other words, we will have insignificant direct cost of sales. Since each contract will be of different scope, length, and complexity, it is difficult to assign and average per unit revenue figure. However, it is conservatively believed that during the first three years, average profitability per month per segment will be moderate. This is because we will be dealing with smaller companies at first that have smaller contracts. We expect that about three ongoing contracts per month will guarantee a break-even point.

7.3 Projected Profit and Loss

The following table itemizes our revenues and associated costs. We expect to be paying higher costs in marketing and advertising than other companies as we attempt to build sales volume. As shown in the table in the Appendix, we expect monthly profits to begin in December 2003.

7.4 Projected Cash Flow

The following is our cash flow chart and diagram. We do not expect to have any short-term cash flow problems even though we will be operating at a loss for the first nine months. Our short-term loan will be repaid in two equal payments in 2004-2005. Our long-term loan will be paid off in ten years.

7.5 Projected Balance Sheet

The following table shows the projected balance sheet for VSS.

7.6 Business Ratios

We have included industry standard ratios from the telemarketing solicitation services industry to compare with ours. These ratios are as closely matched to our industry as management could find, however there are some significant differences, especially in sales growth, financing ratios, long-term asset investments and net worth. However, our projections indicate a healthy company that will be able to obtain and retain long-term profitability.

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How to Start a Call Center

Last Updated: December 19, 2023 Approved

This article was co-authored by Michael R. Lewis . Michael R. Lewis is a retired corporate executive, entrepreneur, and investment advisor in Texas. He has over 40 years of experience in business and finance, including as a Vice President for Blue Cross Blue Shield of Texas. He has a BBA in Industrial Management from the University of Texas at Austin. wikiHow marks an article as reader-approved once it receives enough positive feedback. This article received 27 testimonials and 96% of readers who voted found it helpful, earning it our reader-approved status. This article has been viewed 554,299 times.

Starting a call center business can be an effective way to earn income while operating your own business. It is possible to run a call center from your home, but you can also rent an office space. Working from home can be a simpler way to manage a call center because it can be expanded into a full-staffed office later.

Things You Should Know

• You can open and operate a call center as an independent business or as an extension of a preexisting company.
• A call center may specialize in making outbound calls, telemarketing, or handling inbound callers.
• Check your state’s laws and regulations to keep your call center licensed and in good legal standing
• You can find business by contacting other businesses and call centers and offering your services.

Setting Up a Call Center Business

• Inbound calls might involve taking orders from customers, answering questions or providing tech support.
• Outbound calls will entail selling a product or service or setting up appointments. You could also take surveys.
• Telemarketing is advertising a product or service by describing key features or telling potential customers about special discounts.
• A web-enabled service assists clients when they press a "talk" or "call" button on a website and the call comes through the computer. Customers may want more information before placing an order or need "help desk" types of services. [1] X Research source

• The business plan needs to be thorough and detailed, as it will also help you determine what you need financially. Preparing a business plan shows you are serious about the endeavor, and it can help you secure capital with agencies such as the Small Business Administration or with private investors.

• Unless your client provides it, purchase software that will enable you to easily manage incoming and outgoing calls, track data and keep a call log. Check out Virtual Call Center by Five9, inContact Call Center by inContact and Aspect Zipwire by Aspect. [3] X Research source
• You may also want invest in a separate telephone line that is dedicated solely to the call center business. Multiple lines may be required with expansion.

Marketing Your Business

Expanding Your Call Center Business

Expert Q&A

• Many companies allow call center professionals to work from home, so you can start your business as an independent contractor for other businesses until you can set up your own business. Thanks Helpful 0 Not Helpful 4

• This is a high stress job. People don't always behave the same way on the telephone that they do in person, as the anonymity afforded through telephone can cause people to be rude or abusive to call center operators. Thanks Helpful 32 Not Helpful 12

Things You'll Need

• Computer with Internet access
• Office supplies
• Call center software

You Might Also Like

• ↑ http://www.voip-info.org/wiki/view/Web+Enabled+Call+Center
• ↑ https://www.sba.gov/writing-business-plan
• ↑ https://www.capterra.com/call-center-software/

About This Article

Before you can start a call center, research the different types online to find the right one for you. You can set up an inbound call center if you want to take orders or provide tech support. If you're interested in setting up appointments or taking surveys, establish an outbound call center. Alternatively, start a telemarketing call center to advertise products or services to customers by talking about key features or special discounts. Another option is to create a web-enabled call center if you want to answer real-time questions from customers trying to place orders on the web. For more from our Business reviewer on starting a call center, including marketing your business, keep reading! Did this summary help you? Yes No

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10 Steps To Starting a Virtual Call Center in 2024

From a traditional model – agents answering calls on their landline phones – call centers entered a virtual era of broad business opportunities.

Today’s virtual call centers are highly profitable and easy to set up. Perhaps the best thing is that they can make the world your office.

Key takeaways:

• Virtual call centers emphasize global reach and flexibility in the modern business landscape.
• Remote call centers result in broader market outreach, reduced turnover, and 24/7 global customer service. You’ll also be cutting overhead costs with cloud-based operations.
• The process of starting a virtual call center involves identifying purpose, setting goals with key performance indicators, deciding on a budget, and choosing scalable VoIP technology.
• Incorporating comprehensive onboarding processes and regular training sessions, along with providing necessary hardware for remote agents, ensures efficient workflow setup and ongoing skill development.

Do you know how to start one?  It only takes 10 steps . 

Learn more about call center software in our buyer’s guide

What Is a Virtual Call Center?

A virtual call center is a modern call center, where representatives work from different places rather than a single office. This flexible setup enables seamless collaboration among virtual call center employees, whether they are working from remote offices or from the convenience of their homes. Adopting the virtual contact center (VCC) model adds flexibility and efficiency to customer interactions, creating a responsive and agile customer support system.

There is basically no difference between traditional and virtual call centers in terms of agents’ responsibilities. The true difference lies in how those agents perform their tasks. Agents in a virtual call center can attend to customers and leads from anywhere in the world via web-based customer service , such as VoIP telephony software.

Why is the virtual call center model a good idea?

For one, it allows you to keep up with current industry trends. According to Gartner, over ⅓ of customer service will be done remotely by 2023. That’s a huge difference compared to 5% back in 2017. Virtual call centers will continue to outnumber on-premises ones. That’s a fact.

Benefits of starting a remote call center

Let us quickly list them for you:

• Broader market outreach: Agents spread across various geographic areas reach a wider customer base. You will also have a better understanding of consumer demands in the regions where you operate.
• Reduced turnover: Agents working in a virtual call center are often more efficient and feel more free due to their own choice of location. Relaxed and satisfied employees are less likely to leave you for another company.
• Expended business hours: When the world is your office, you no longer need opening or closing hours. With a remote call center, you can take advantage of different time zones and serve your customers 24/7. 
• Reduced overhead costs: With a virtual call center that runs on cloud-based software, you need significantly less hardware, such as physical phones. There’s also no need to pay for an office space. In this set up, to start your own call center requires very little investment. More on that later.

Starting a Virtual Call Center

By now, you may be a step closer to understanding why virtual call centers far outperform their on-premises counterparts. But you still don’t know how to actually start one. Well, not for long.

#1 Identify Your Purpose Before You Start Building Your Call Center

What do you hope to accomplish by starting a virtual call center? That’s a fundamental question you need to ask yourself. Too many businesses fail because they don’t have a clear vision.. 

Before you start browsing for equipment and hiring agents, decide what type of call center you need for your business. 

Ask yourself:

• What is the size of my business?
• What industry am I in?
• What needs do my customers have?
• What is my primary concern – to assist my existing clients or generate new ones?

Answers to these questions should uncover whether you need to focus on inbound calls, outbound calls or perhaps a hybrid model. 

Let’s look into it a bit deeper. 

Inbound calls

These are incoming calls made by your customers, generally associated with customer support. Its purpose is to assist people with their issues, answer questions, help with order management, and so on. 

Inbound calls aim to nurture customer relationships, provide unforgettable customer experience, support your clients’ user experience or help clients use your products and services to their full potential. 

That’s why inbound calls are a main focus for larger businesses. Their goal usually  isn’t so much acquiring new customers as retaining the current ones.

Focus on inbound calls if you need to provide:

• General customer service
• Technical support 
• E-commerce assistance – processing payments and orders
• Help with booking of your services
• Inbound sales

The most typical industries to benefit from inbound calling:

Outbound calls

This term refers to calls made by your agents to your clients or leads. Outbound calls are usually sales teams’ domain — their purpose is to sell or upsell a product or service. 

Focus on outbound calls if you want to:

• Generate new leads  
• Retain existing customers
• Start a telemarketing campaign
• Conduct market research
• Run a survey
• Set business appointments

If you own a startup or small business and want to scale up, you should definitely have an outbound team in place.

Hybrid call center

This one’s pretty self-explanatory: use a hybrid model if you’ll benefit from both inbound and outbound calls. 

This model is actually a pretty smart choice, especially for mid-size businesses looking to scale . It lets you provide a full service that creates consistent experience for your customers and generates more profit for you. 

Let’s say that you own a retail store. A customer contacts your support team – his or her order was lost. You can pass this information to a sales department and upsell additional insurance. Or a customer may complain about a long delivery time. What about recommending a premium subscription with delivery the next day?

Another example – you offer a CRM solution. Customers claim that your low tier plans are missing essential tools. But they don’t want to upgrade because they don’t need all the features included in more expansive plans. Here is a great opportunity to create a custom plan so your customers can choose only those tools they need.

#2 Set the Main Goal for Your Virtual Call Center

Once you’ve decided what your overarching goal should be, you need to choose the right call center metrics to follow. These will serve as your KPIs (key performance indicators) and help you track the success of your call center. 

Here are 5 of the most common call center metrics that you should keep an eye on:

First Call Resolution (FCR): Also called First Contact Resolution, it is often considered the most important call center metric. It measures your ability to solve issues during your first conversation with a customer. That means without a need for a call back, follow-up calls, etc. 

First Response Time (FRT): indicates the amount of time customers wait before they are connected with an agent.

Average Handle Time (AHT): Tells you how long it takes on average for your team to handle a call. It measures the time from when an agent picks up the call until the moment the call is disconnected. This metric directly links to customer satisfaction, loyalty and retention over time. 

Average Abandonment Rate: This is the average number of calls that are disconnected by customers, mostly due to long waiting times. Generally, an abandonment rate lower than 5% is acceptable. Everything above it is bad news. Waiting on the line for too long is one of the top sources of customers’ frustration. 

Interesting fact you may want to know: Customers are generally more willing to wait on hold for technical support than for sales support.

Customer Satisfaction (CSAT): tells you how happy customers are with your call center services.

There are many more call center metrics to follow. See more of them in our blog on 10 most important call center KPIs you should be tracking .

#3 Decide on a budget

To set up a business, you need money. First, clearly define the budget and determine how this number compares against the investment you need to start your own call center. What do you need to purchase before you start calling?

The most common expenses are:

• Salaries and insurance for employees
• A stable, high-speed internet connection
• A virtual calling system
• Basic equipment, such as laptops, headsets, screens, etc.

Other expenses may come up later, such as incentives for your best performers or a budget for team buildings. You don’t have to think about these right at the beginning, though.

#4 Choose the Technology That Fits Your Business Needs

The only reason this point ranks fourth on our list is that we wanted to build your guide from the ground up. But choosing the right virtual call center software is essential for your call center business’ success. 

Continue reading to make an informed decision.First, choose a VoIP solution that integrates with all your favorite CRM, e-commerce, helpdesk or other tools. Connecting your VoIP software with the integrations you are using on daily bases will save you an incredible amount of time and effort. And if your preferred solution doesn’t integrate with all systems you’re using, search for one with an API – like CloudTalk .

Here’s more tools every virtual call center startup needs:

We separated our list based on necessary features for outbound and for inbound calling. You’ll also find a list of tools essential for both. 

Features that all inbound call centers should have:

• Call queuing
• Personalized greetings and music
• Call flow designer 
• Automated call distribution
• Interactive Voice Response
• Ring groups
• Skill-based routing
• Preferred agent
• Business hours
• Call forwarding

Features that all outbound call centers should have:

• Sales dialers – Predictive, power and smart
• Outbound call center campaigns tool
• Number porting 
• Automatic outbound caller ID
• Click to call
• Call statistics
• Call recording and monitoring
• Real-time dashboard

Features useful for both outbound and inbound call centers:

• Call tagging
• Contact tags
• Real-time customer card
• After call flow
• Contact history
• Top-class security 

Before you research VoIP software options, keep in mind one thing: your solution needs to be scalable . Your business will grow, that’s your aim. And your aims will grow with it. Always look for a system that provides you with a long term solution.

#5 Focus On Hiring Talent, Wherever It Might Be

With no geographical boundaries, the world gives you 4.5 billion potential candidates. And there’s no shortage of people who prefer working from home. You can search for anybody, anywhere. That allows you to find the best talent. Top-of-the-field agents that you can trust to always make customers happy. In the end, your call center will only be as good as the people who work there.

In the endless pool of talent, search for people who:

• Work well under pressure
• Aren’t afraid to ask questions when they’re not sure about an answer
• Are disciplined and motivated enough to work even when not directly seen
• Obviously, are great with words – both spoken and written
• Ideally have experience with the systems you’re using

One more piece of advice for this step: Dream big, but scale small. It’s better to hire a smaller group of dedicated agents who can handle an extensive workload than start off with a large team. Not only is it a difficult task to manage a huge amount of people right after you start your own call center, you can also run into budgetary issues. You need to pay fair salaries for everyone. 

#6 Invest in Proper Onboarding and Regular Training

No matter how experienced your agents are, you can’t expect them to know everything the very moment they start working. A well-managed onboarding process has an enormous impact on your business’ success. Why? 

Not only does it build a long-term foundation for the team, but according to a Glassdoor survey, onboarding improves a company’s retention rate by 82% if conducted properly. 

But building a competent team doesn’t end with onboarding. You have to create a consistent process of learning. About everything – new tools, policies, procedures. Anything that helps agents do a great job. 

How can you educate your agents:

• Regular trainings
• Weekly meetings
• 1-on-1 consultations with performance and overall satisfaction overview
• Digital knowledge base with FAQs
• Customer service training manual

Prepare for these properly. Use advanced call center tools to analyze your agents’ performance and understand their strengths and weaknesses. Statistics help you to track long-term performance. Call monitoring shows you how agents interact with customers and call recording gives you an opportunity to present the best practices to other agents. 

#7 Decide What Equipment Your Agents Need to Succeed

With VoIP virtual software , the need for hardware in your remote call center is heavily reduced. But you still need basic equipment. Choosing well does affect your agents’ satisfaction and performance, and of course, customer satisfaction. People are not overly keen on communicating with agents whom they barely understand.

Hardware equipment your agents will need:

• Company-issued laptop with the latest operating system. Technically, this is not a requirement. With VoIP software, agents can work from their own devices. But it does show that you care about your employees.
• A monitor to connect with a laptop. Working on a larger screen provides a better working experience. It’s a good idea to invest in a privacy-polarized screen to protect customers’ data.
• A keyboard and ergonomic mouse
• Quality headset. Choose one that has enough sound dampening. That prevents a caller from hearing background noise. A good idea is to issue two headsets – one for immediate use and one to use as a backup.
• A two-factor identification device , e.g. mobile phone. This is for logging in to your systems safely, without a risk of a security breach.
• Don’t forget about fast internet connection. At least 10 Mbps.

We recommend testing the equipment that you are about to purchase before investing in it and shipping it to your agents’ home offices.

#8 Set Up Proper Workflows for Efficiency

So far, we gave you a lot of steps on how to start a virtual call center. But how to start a virtual call center that runs truly efficiently? You need to stay organized, with an emphasis on “stay”. 

Start with putting together company policies that your team should follow. It keeps everyone on the same page. 

Then, set rules of how different aspects of your call center business will run. 

Here are examples of questions you need to ask yourself:

• How will you distribute calls?
• What automation and call distribution tools can you benefit from?
• What will agents say once they answer the call? 
• Will you use call scripts?
• What will be an escalation protocol?
• How often will you make a performance review?

Speaking of call center tools, let’s take a quick look at how technology can help you set up your workflow. 

A well-equipped VoIP software offers many productivity tools that can help to automate your workflows. Think about what type of call center you run. For sales, you can create automated emails. An email will be sent each time callers say they are interested. For customer support, there are tools like IVR flows that help callers connect to the right person or department.

Let’s take a few CloudTalk’s tools as further examples. Our workflow automation eliminates unnecessary, time-consuming tasks inside of our system as well as other systems you have integrated. You can also create tickets and tasks or edit orders in your integrated solutions directly in CloudTalk. If you have many contacts, compile them in a single contact list . 

#9 Build a Good Culture in Your Virtual Call Center

There’s an issue with remote workplaces. People often underestimate the importance of company culture. Just because you’re not sitting next to each other doesn’t mean you’re not a team.  

Once all necessities of establishing a virtual call center are taken care of, take steps to make sure that your workplace is a supportive one. Everyone, no matter what position they are in, needs to feel valued.

What can you do to build a healthy remote company culture?

• Make a set of company culture guidelines so everyone knows what your common values are. 
• Make regular team and 1-to-1 meetings to keep a personal contact, but also to see how employees feel.
• Organize virtual team buildings. Forget work talk for a bit and get to know each other on a personal level.
• Once in a while, if your budget allows, pay for transportation and organize an in-person meetup . 
• Praise agents for their hard work. Don’t only celebrate big wins. Find time to stop and appreciate small ones. 
• Hand out incentives for exceptional performance.
• Don’t overwhelm your agents – Burned out employees are no use to you. They may face a lot of stressful situations, for example dealing with angry customers . Grant them regular breaks and enough time off. 
• Don’t encourage overworking.
• Deploy employee benefits. For example, paid flexible time off is a popular choice. In CloudTalk, it works wonders. 

#10 Promote Your Call Center Everywhere

You set up an amazing virtual call center. You put all your effort, time and resources into it and you’re ready to succeed. Right? … Wrong. Not just yet. 

One last brief but crucial piece of advice: promote your call center everywhere you can. Put contact information in a visible place on your website. Highlight it in your social media accounts. Include it in an electronic signature in your email. 

Let people know where you are and they will start calling, seeking advice. Consequently, your customer satisfaction and loyalty metrics will start to grow.

Building a Call Center: Checklist

Identify the purpose of your call center.

You asked yourself:

• What is the size of your business?
• What industry are you in?
• What needs do your customers have?
• What is your primary concern – to assist existing clients or generate new ones?

Consequently: Do you need an inbound, outbound, or hybrid call center?

Set the main goals 

• Which call center metrics will you measure?
• What are your KPIs for each of them?

Decide on a budget

You have enough money for:

Choose the right calling software

• The solution integrates with all your favorite CRM tools
• The solution has all features your business needs
• The solution is scalable

Hire the best talents – wherever they are

You put together a team of agents who:

• Are great with words – both spoken and written

Invest into onboarding and trainings

• You created guidelines for internal company policies
• You have a digital knowledge base with FAQs
• You know which methods will you use to educate your agents
• Your VoIP solution has all the performance tracking tools you may need

Decide on equipment

You thought of everything your agents will need:

• Company issued laptop with latest operating system 
• A monitor to connect with a laptop
• A quality headset (+ one as a backup)
• A two-factor identification device 
• Fast internet connection

Set up proper workflow

You determined:

Build a good company culture

• You have a company culture guidelines in place
• You know how will you collect data on employees’ satisfaction
• You set up a reasonable workload
• You have enough budget for teambuilding, incentives, fair salaries, etc.

Promote your call center everywhere

• Your call center contact details are on a visible place on your website
• Your call center contact details are publicly visible on all of your social media accounts 
• Your call center contact details are in an electronic signature of your email

Start a Call Center Business Today

So, you are now 10 steps closer to a successful virtual call center. And we would like to get you even further.

So, why should you start the journey with our solution? 

CloudTalk is a top-class cloud calling system for support and sales teams that gives you over 70 advanced features and 30+ integrations. 

You can build a global presence with 160 international numbers . 

Grow with us.

What did you find in this article?

How to start a virtual call center business.

When starting a virtual call center business, start with defining its purpose. Then, do the following:

▪️ set basic metrics and main goals, ▪️ think of your budget,  ▪️ create your  call workflow , ▪️ recruit the best agents for call center, ▪️ find new potential clients for your services, ▪️ invest in a  call center software , ▪️ purchase the necessary equipment, ▪️ choose the best  software integrations .

How to start a virtual call center?

5 easy steps on how to start your  virtual call center : 1. Specify the focus of your virtual call center 2. Determine your budget 3. Choose & implement the right software  4. Set up the  right metrics and KPI’s 5. Don’t underestimate  analytics 6. Hire a team of a call center agents  7. Focus on  ongoing training for your agents 8. Start with basics and slowly iterate your processes

How to start a virtual call center from home?

If you’re planning on starting a  virtual call center  from home, you have to hire reliable virtual call agents. Except for this, you need effective tools, such as call center software for remote work. Choose the right equipment to make your agents’ work as smooth as possible. Next, plan your activities and set up  proper communication  with both your team and your customers.

How much does it cost to start a virtual call center?

Costs may vary a lot, depending on your location, the features you offer, and the equipment you supply.

Here are some  cost estimates :

–  Outsourcing  starts at $10 to $20 per month and goes up to $1,200 per month or higher –  A call center service pack  costs you between $20 and $30 per month –  Auto attendants  usually cost $10 to $20 per month –  Supervisors costs  are around $120 to $150 per month –  Standard agents cost  are $80 to $100 per month

What influences costs of a call center?

There are several factors you need to consider in order to determine this. Such as:

▪️ Hardware is the most expensive investment. Consider what equipment you need. ▪️ The more agents you have, the higher are your  total costs of the call center. ▪️ The location of the call center is an essential factor. It is crucial in which country you will establish it. ▪️ If you want your  call center  to do well, top performing agents are a necessary investment. You also have to pay for their ongoing training.

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