Gig Workers For Retail Call Center Staffing
By now you’ve heard of the rising number of workers who have joined the Gig economy in search of more flexibility in their work schedule. As expected, this workforce enjoys the ability to work when they want, and where they want. Besides that, they don’t have to battle traffic or sit in a noisy call center all day. What you may not know are the benefits of this model for your business. Besides a 25-30% reduction in costs across the board, this model will take your customer experience to the next level. If you’ve previously rejected gig work because the idea of random people speaking with your customers was unappealing, you should know that this isn’t really how it works. Otherwise known as “flexible staffing” is a group of qualified gig workers who rotate shifts on a flexible basis. In other words, it’s not random. The same individuals just rotate shifts as desired.
The Modified Gig Work Model
Unlike some Gig work models, where staffing consists of a constantly changing workforce, for contact centers, the model is quite different. With Gig staffing you get access to a large talent pool of highly skilled agents, who rotate shifts according to your needs. When a gig employee quits, the gig staffing provider hires and/or trains a replacement at their cost, not yours. To ensure you always have coverage, most gig staffing providers hire 2 to 3 times more staff than you actually need. This also allows more flexibility for the business and the gig worker. So if unexpected business surges cause long hold times, flexible staffing is your answer. In the gig model, you have the flexibility to ensure additional staffing on days you need it, but not when you don’t. Perfect staffing all the time comes with a huge cost savings. When you combine savings with better customer service, gig staffing is a worthwhile consideration for retail call centers.
Benefits of the Modified Gig Model
Besides having to hire, train, manage, and house full time employees, the costs of attrition associated with traditional work models are expensive. In a gig model, attrition costs are absorbed by the gig staffing provider. And while attrition in a traditional in-house call center is significant, in a gig model it isn’t. Gig workers stick around longer since they have more job satisfaction. There are far less reasons for agents to quit when they have this much flexibility.
Supplement with Gig Workers
We realize that completely transforming your call center into a fully managed gig workforce is not a change your willing to make (yet). Start small with a handful of Gig workers to fill in as needed, or when your business surges. You’ll be able to see the benefits provided and how cost effective this model really is. As desired you can add more as you go. Since you only pay for what you need/use there is no added expense. In other words, you have nothing to lose and everything to gain by at least test driving this model in your call center. In fact, not trying it, is a disservice to your business and to your customers.
Have Questions, or Need More Information? Schedule a 20 Minute Consultation