What percent of sales should I budget for customer service for an
online store?  Assume customer service will be outsourced to a 24 hour
call center.  The product is more complex than a simple online store. 
It will require consumers to download a software - process is
extremely easy from my point of view.  I have estimated one call for
every four orders and each call lasting 3 minutes.  Is this realistic?
 Also, what is the cost/minute for outsourcing?

Thanks

Visit http://www3.best-in-class.com/bestp/domrep.nsf/SubjectBrowse!OpenForm&Category=Customer+Service~Call+Centers
for various call center best practices and benchmarking reports.  You
can download report summaries as well as purchase the reports.

-THV