How to brief an outsourced call center team

The short answer

Before you outsource customer service, prepare eight things:

1. Goals and how success will be measured
2. Volumes, channels and hours
3. Who your customers are and why they contact you
4. Knowledge material and tone of voice
5. Systems access
6. Escalation rules and what agents may decide
7. Data protection and compliance requirements
8. Reporting and review rhythm

You do not need everything perfect on day one. Rough figures get you a quote; detail gets you a smooth launch.

1. Goals and how success will be measured

Say what the program is for: resolving support issues, taking orders, booking appointments, qualifying leads or retaining customers. Then agree the measures, such as service level (for example, the share of calls answered within a set number of seconds), average handle time, first-contact resolution, customer satisfaction and, for sales, conversion rate. Agreeing them up front avoids arguments about what "good" looks like later.

2. Volumes, channels and hours

• Monthly contacts by channel: phone, email, chat and social media
• How volume falls across the day and week, and any seasonal peaks
• Average handle time, if you track it
• The hours and days you need covered, and in which time zones

Volume patterns decide staffing and often the pricing model. See per-seat vs per-minute pricing.

3. Who your customers are and why they contact you

List your top ten contact reasons with a rough share of volume each, and include a few real examples, such as call recordings, emails or chat transcripts with personal details removed. Describe your customers too: consumers or businesses, new or long-standing, and anything that makes conversations sensitive.

4. Knowledge material and tone of voice

• Product and policy documents, FAQs and your help center
• Existing scripts or call guides, if you use them
• Brand voice: how formal to be, words to use and avoid, how to sign off
• Examples of great and poor interactions from your own team

5. Systems access

List the tools agents will use: CRM, ticketing, order management, knowledge base and phone system. Start access requests early, because security reviews and user setup are the most common cause of launch delays.

6. Escalation rules and what agents may decide

Write down what agents can do on their own, such as issuing refunds or credits up to a limit, rebooking or waiving fees, and what must be passed to your team. Name who receives escalations, how (ticket, email or warm transfer) and how quickly you will respond.

7. Data protection and compliance

Say which rules apply to your customer data and industry, for example payment card handling, health information or call-recording consent, and any limits on where data may be stored or who may see it. Your partner should explain how its processes meet them before launch.

8. Reporting and review rhythm

Agree what you will receive and when: a weekly performance report, a monthly review meeting, and how quality scores, customer feedback and trends in contact reasons are shared. Regular reviews are where most improvements come from.

How KCG BPO uses your brief

Onboarding at KCG BPO runs in four steps: discovery, program design and recruitment, training and integration, then go-live with ongoing quality assurance. Most programs go live in 2–4 weeks. Agents work in your own CRM and ticketing systems, including Salesforce, HubSpot and Zendesk, and you receive weekly performance reports and monthly review meetings against the service levels agreed with you.

Last reviewed: October 2026