Outbound Call Center Pricing

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Outbound Call Center Pricing

Outbound call center pricing models typically fit into 3 different categories:

  • Hourly
  • Pay for performance / Per Transfer
  • Hourly plus pay for performance

In addition, most outbound call centers charge separately for program setup and training. Those fees will range from a low of $2,500 to $10,000 (or higher), depending on the complexity of your program. Here at RBS we will discount setup fees for large ongoing programs. Smaller programs typically pay full price on the setup fee.

Hourly outbound call center pricing

The current U.S.-based outbound call center pricing ranges from $15 per hour to $35 per hour, depending on the following factors:

  • Program size (typically measured in number of hours per month)
    • Program difficulty
    • Program longevity or contract length
    • Special certification requirements, like HIPAA for a healthcare program, PCI Level 1 for credit card capture or Licensed Insurance Agents for an insurance program.

Generally speaking, if a program is less than 1,000 hours per month (about 6 FTEs), clients that hire an outbound call center should expect to pay a base price of $25.00 per hour. And if your program is difficult or has special requirements, you may need to pay $40.00 or more per hour.

If your program is 1,000 to 5,000 hours per month (about 6 FTEs to 30 FTEs), you should expect a discount to about $20.00 per hour for the base price.

And if your program is more than 5,000 hours per month (about 30 FTEs), you should expect to pay $15.00 per hour as a base price but you may get additional discounts if the program is very simple, if you give a long contract term and if the outbound call center can do the training very quickly and easily to get new reps up to speed fast.

How is an outbound call center hour calculated? Here at RBS Data Inc, invoice our clients for every hour that a front-line outbound call center agent is assigned to a client program. And for every 3.75 hours worked, clients pay for 15 minutes of break time. So, in an 8 hour day, a client pays for 7.5 hours of work time plus 30 minutes of break time. If your program needs 10 outbound call center agents to meet your goals on a daily basis, you will be invoiced for 80 hours (10 agents x 8 hours per day).

Pay for performance for outbound call center pricing

Most outbound call centers will not consider working on a pure ‘pay for performance’ basis unless the client can share significant detailed information about the program’s previous success. Be prepared to share the following if you want the call center vendor to consider a ‘pay for performance’ compensation structure.

  • Detailed reports showing sales conversion or appointment conversion rates
    • Script or call guide
    • Training materials
    • Sample recorded calls

If you don’t have this information to share with your prospect outbound call center vendor, consider contracting with them for an hourly test. We recommend a minimum of 500 hours to test new programs.

Hourly plus pay for performance outbound call center pricing model

Once a program is successfully tested, many outbound call centers will consider moving to a lower hourly rate in exchange for a defined incentive that enables the call center to earn a competitive total compensation based on the ongoing performance of the outbound program. At RBS we will often discount our hourly rate up to $5.00 in exchange for a tiered incentive that enables us to earn less, the same or more per hour based on the ongoing success of the program.

For example, in exchange for lowering our hourly rate from $35.00 per hour down to $30.00 per hour, we will ask for an incentive like the following:

At 100% of goal: +$5.00 per hour
At 110% of goal: +$7.50 per hour
At 120% of goal: +$10.00 per hour

Most outbound telemarketing programs are priced between $15 and $40 per hour, plus up-front setup fee and training fees.  If your program will require more a staff of more than 5 full-time employees and the call is simple, we may be able to discount the pricing even lower. 

A telemarketing hour is based on one person dialing on your program for one hour, but behind the scenes that hour also includes our management team supporting the program including an Operations Manager that will be your single point of contact, our I.T. resources that setup your program on our dialing platform, develop reports that provide insight for decision-making, supervision of your front-line telemarketing team including coaching and development, and an experienced senior leadership team that is constantly evaluating each client program to make sure you’re getting maximum results and value from your telemarketing budget. 

So to make it easy, if you have 5 people dialing on your outbound program, 5 x 40 hours per week = 200 hours per week.  200 x $20 per hour = $4,000 per week for a professionally managed outbound telemarketing campaign