You may be considering outsourcing with a call center, but you have some unanswered questions. What country would be best suited to take U.S. calls? Will a call center increase customer escalations? Will a call center bring positive results? The following article by Paul Stockford of the National Association of Call Centers answers these outsourcing questions and concerns.
What To Think About When Considering Outsourcing
We recently received an inquiry from an NACC member asking for advice about outsourcing some of their calls to an offshore contact center. This member wanted to know how performance of her contact center might be affected by sending calls to an offshore center as well as which countries might be best suited to handle inbound customer calls. Naturally, we went out to the NACC membership and asked if those members with experience outsourcing to an offshore contact center would be willing to share what they have discovered. Here’s what we learned.
In terms of the countries best suited to take inbound U.S. customer calls, the Philippines emerged as the top choice. According to NACC members with experience in this part of the world, Filipino agents are naturally very polite, friendly, speak slowly, and listen to the customers. Agents in Filipino BPOs are best suited to handle simple to mildly-complex service queries. More complex calls, such as explanation of bills or additional charges, should be left to the in-house contact center.
The member was also curious to know if experience showed that there is an increase in customer escalations when the calls are outsourced offshore. The consensus answer was affirmative with estimates of anywhere between a five to eight percent increase in escalations. It was pointed out however, that initial training and close supervision of agents in the early days of the contract can go a long way toward controlling escalations.
There is always a learning curve when customer service calls are offshored and this often leads to a negative impact on performance scores. The member was advised to expect an initial dip in customer satisfaction (CSAT) scores until time and investment in training fills the experience gap created when calls are sent to an offshore facility.
The experiences of NACC members who have used offshore contact center BPOs were generally positive. This is an outstanding example of how NACC members pool resources and experiences in order to collectively serve our membership community. If you are interested in joining our community, please send me an e-mail and I’ll reply with details.
If you are considering outsourcing but still have some questions, we can help!
Outsource Consultants are call center experts with over 25 years of outsourcing industry experience that have spent thousands of hours vetting and analyzing the strengths and specializations of the industry-leading outsource call center vendors. If you’re considering call center outsourcing, simply call 888-766-4482 or request a free call center cost proposal today and we’ll help you find the solution that best fits your exact requirements.
