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How To Start A Call Center Business In Nigeria

Call Center Business

Running a call center business is an effective way to earn extra income. Call center business is a popular business with high demand all over the world. Despite technological advancement, most companies still prefer to outsource their calls to contact center agents.

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Call centers assist organisations to meet up with the demands of their customers. It’s like an extension of the brand services and presents opportunities to interact and attract loyal customers.

Start Your Business in 30 Days Even If You Don't Have An Idea
Start Your Business in 30 Days Even If You Don’t Have An Idea
Call Center business

Generally, many businesses outsource their calls because of the flexibility of the industry which might not be available in-house in most companies. In a call center business, help is available to customers at all times. It can be operated from home, office space, or anywhere at every hour of the day.

With a call center, organisations do not have to take additional space or worry about extending the normal work hours to service customers’ needs. Instead, they employ the services of call agents and leave the worries to them.

If you are interested in rendering customer support services to companies of different kinds, a call center business is the best business for you. Fasten your belt, as I take you through the journey of starting your call center business.

Watch the full video on how to start the call center business here. Also, subscribe to our channel to get more business ideas and insights.

Call Center Business

A call center is a dedicated office of representatives set up to receive or transmit a high volume of inquiries from customers and potential customers. They provide information about an organisation and support for a company’s products or services.

It can be organised to serve a number of business purposes, such as inbound and outbound calls i.e sales and marketing, lead generation, customer service, tech support.

Also, they may handle other forms of communication like letters, faxes, social media, e-mail, live support software, instant messaging. They can operate as much as 24 hours a day, and 7 days a week.

A call center is more than a room full of phones with people answering calls. The people who work in call centers are trained and knowledgeable and are familiar with their employers’ policies.

Call centers can be operated by either an in-house department of an organisation or as a full-fledged business.

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Types Of Call Center

There are two major kinds of call center businesses you can operate; inbound and outbound.

Inbound Call Center

It is operated by a company to provide product or service support, take orders and answer questions from customers. It is created to handle incoming customer queries. Some of these may include; email responses, technology support, complaints, and claims.

Go from idea to starting your business in 30 days
Go from idea to starting your business in 30 days

It can be within a corporate office by a business itself or another central location with many call agents working together for several companies. It can be remotely done from home or from a commercial office space.

However, outbound calls can also be made in an inbound call center.

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Outbound Call Center

Outbound Call Center exists for telemarketing, solicitation for charitable funds or donations, debt collection management services, market research, etc. Also, they can serve an urgent/critical need.

In addition, outbound call centers can take a survey and track clients or cases. Also, they can do election polling, warranty extensions, appointment scheduling, generating leads for products or service sales, etc.

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call center business

Other Specific Areas Where Call Centers Can Operate

Telemarking

This is advertising a product or service by describing key features or telling potential customers about special discounts. It is a way of finding new customers.

Web-enabled Service

If you run a web-enabled service, customers may want guidance or information before placing an order. So, they will place a call which will come through the computer.

Now that you have an idea of the basic types of call center businesses, it is time to move on and learn how you can start this business.

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How To Start A Call Center Business

Step 1: Create A Niche

First identify the niche of the call center business you want to operate. After identifying the niche to focus on, identify the industry or companies you want to service. To arrive at this conclusion, you must have done research to understand what is obtainable in the industry.

You can decide to focus on receiving inbound calls for the tech industry, or oil and gas industry.

As soon as you decide on the niche, the next thing is to swing into action proper.

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Step 2: Write A Business Plan

A business plan helps you identify what you need to scale in a business. It states the mission, vision, organisational structure, marketing strategy, pricing, product or service information, financial projection, etc, of the business. It is a good reference point and a map that gives a sense of direction in the business.

In writing a business plan, first, conduct a survey on the nature of the business, how it works, and the existing competitors. The result will be documented and can be modified to address likely changes that may occur in the future.

Besides, a well-detailed business plan can help in securing funds from bank and other financial investors.

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Step 3: Register with CAC and NCC

Every business owner who wants to run a structured business must register the business with the relevant authorities. A registered business is credible and will allow you access opportunities tailored to entrepreneurs. In Nigeria, the Corporate Affairs Commission is the body responsible for business registration.

To register your business, choose a name, and proceed to register on the Corporate Affairs Commission (CAC) website. In case you do not understand the process, you can contact ReDahlia to help you with the process. ReDahlia is a resource center for every entrepreneur. Offers include beautiful co-working spaces, consulting services, and business registration services.

After registering your business with CAC, you will need to register with the Nigerian Communication Commission (NCC), the body that regulates the communication sector in Nigeria. You can log on to www.ncc.gov.ng, the official website of NCC, and upload the required documents to process the license.

Documents For NCC License

  • A bank draft of N1,000 payable to NCC.
  • Certificate of Incorporation
  • Tax Clearance Certificate
  • Certified true copy of Articles and Memorandum of Association
  • 2 passports photographs of authorized representative
  • Certificate of qualified technical staff
  • License fee on submission of application – N10,000

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Step 4: Set Up An Office

A call center business can start from the comfort of one’s room and expand to office space as the business grows.

If you want to operate from a commercial office, lease or rent an office in a serene environment, accessible to both employees and clients. Then, set up desks and chairs, positioning them in a way that call representatives can freely access their computer and other communication equipment.

Step 5: Tools And Equipment

Some of the basic equipment in call centers are;

Desktop/laptop; a computer system set on the desk for imputing information. The information can be stored on the cloud with a connection to the internet.

Headsets; a microphone and listening device to listen and speak for convenience instead of traditional phones.

Predictive Dialer; a computer program that dials a batch of multiple telephone numbers automatically.

Data Handler; a system that organizes and stores data of different classes.

Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP); a system that allows telephone calls through an internet connection instead of a telephone line. With it, call monitoring and recording is easier to do.

Call Recording Software; software for managing and monitoring the quality of incoming and outgoing calls. Calls can be recorded, so, you can evaluate specific calls later if the need arises. They are commonly used with VoIP systems.

Interactive Voice Response (IVR): a software feature that easily connects customers to the qualified agent.

Some of the software that performs the function listed above include; Five9, PureCloud, PhoneBurner, Phonexa, VAgent, Avoxi Genius, Zendesk, CloudTalk, Nextiva, Diva, e.t.c

Call centre business

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Step 6: Hire A Team

This is a sensitive area in the call center business and must be carefully done. It requires hiring a team of agents who have the natural ability for customer services, good listening, and conversation skills. Also, they should have an excellent memory, decision-making ability, and an enthusiastic attitude.

In hiring, you can hire experienced client service managers but, the traits to excel in this business can be taught. Employees must have a good attitude and should be teachable. There should be an onboarding process that communicates the business ethic before an employee can start work.

For training, you can develop a call center handbook or online training videos that new recruits will learn with for a few days before getting on the calling seat.

Also, you must ensure that your team knows and stays abreast of all likely questions and answers that may come up. Also, they must be trained to see customer complaints as an opportunity to provide great service and represent the brand in the best light.

Some important staff you need to hire include;

Team Leader; These are hands-on leaders who handle the daily operations of the center. They motivate, hire, and train staff.

Call Center Manager; They oversee the center and the activities of the customer service officers. Also, they work with the team leader to establish call center processes, policies, and strategies.

Customer Service Officers; They receive inbound and outbound calls and answer questions and queries in a timely manner. They do this with the knowledge they have on the company’s products and services.

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Step 6: Promote The Business

As soon as everything is set, you need to start looking out for ways to attract potential clients for your call center business. This requires a lot of smart strategies to convince large and small businesses that outsourcing their call services to you is one of the best options to drive customer satisfaction.

In the following paragraphs, I will be highlighting the strategies you can use to promote your call center business.

Strategies For Promotion

Firstly, research on potential clients, and contact them directly. Communicate the advantages of outsourcing their customer service and what value you will deliver to them.

Secondly, create social media profiles and join communities of dedicated professionals. In the community, share valuable content about your industry and engage intelligently with other content.

In addition, create a website and optimize for search engines. The website should have a perfect description of your service offering and should be regularly updated. Share testimonials of clients who you have worked with on your website.

Also, invest in marketing materials like business cards, brochures, etc, that you can distribute when you attend targetted events.

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Important Tips For The Call Center Business

To operate a call center business anywhere in the world, you must understand that it is an evolving business. Customers expectations are always changing, so you need to learn to keep up the pace.

One of the ways to keep up with trends is to attend seminars and conferences that center on improving customer satisfaction. In the seminar, engage and watch out for the latest trends that other call centers are using.

In addition, routinely evaluate your call center performance and goals. Invest in knowledge management, performance management, and quality monitoring services within your team. Create a process to consistently track important call center metrics like customer satisfaction, contact quality, and abandon rates. This can easily be done with the use of customer service software.

Also, to render services to a wide range of people, you should operate a multilingual customer support service. Ensure you have within your team people who are multilingual. This will allow you to render services to people of different ethnic groups and countries.

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Conclusion

Call center business is a viable and scalable business. There are several companies out there who don’t have enough resources and knowledge to handle all their inquiries. These companies will be happy to work with companies that can provide high-quality service that will help them boost revenue and retain customers.

If you follow all the steps we listed, you can build a successful call center business.

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4 thoughts on “How To Start A Call Center Business In Nigeria”

  1. How do I get the plug and play book or guide that contains research, business plan , marketing plan, etc.

  2. Thank you for sharing this information, I found it very helpful. I am a customer care professional who has been out of work for a while, I was thinking of what kind of business to set up when I came across your post. I’m definitely giving it a try.

    1. Thank you, Francisca.

      We are glad you found the content insightful.

      We are routing for you. Goodluck.

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