Outsourcing call centers overseas – which country?

Oct 19
outsourcing call centers overseas

Outsourcing call centers overseas – which country?

Sending the front line of your customer service overseas is a big call, and one that has serious financial and productivity benefits. Once you’ve dotted your ‘I’s and crossed your ‘T’s and know that this is the way forward for you, you need to take yourself back to year 9 geography class and have a think about the potential regions for outsourcing call centers overseas, and which are appropriate for your business.

Call quality is king, and the further you get away from your postcode the more this quality will be compromised. When outsourcing call centers overseas, you also want agents who are proficient in English, educated and preferably are relatable to your customers. A bit of banter about the rugby goes a long way (as long as your allegiances are aligned of course). Here are 5 countries to consider outsourcing to:

South Africa

This is a strong contender as your agents will be fluent in English and will likely have a high level of customer service and efficiency. We are both girt by sea, so can trade stories about lolling by the seaside and enjoying a pretty amazing climate (except if you live in Melbourne of course). They are quite far away, so call quality may be an issue.

India

Chances are, you will be able to recruit into your Indian call centre educated, eloquent college graduates at a bargain price. They will be fluent in English and perhaps the international language of cricket. Who doesn’t love trading stories about Warnie, or at the very least express a bit of Sachin Tendulkar love. On the downside, they are located a bit further away from Australia, so call quality may be compromised. They are also known to have quite noisy call centers so you might need to do a bit more work to ensure the environment is conducive to a good customer experience.

Philippines

In the Philippines working in a call centre is a high paying job, relative to other fields. This is a strong motivator for your agents, in a game where motivation is frankly one of the hardest aspects of the call center world. The voice your customer will hear at the end of the line will sound American, they will have a high level of fluency in English, and a good level of specialised skills. In a very customer service-oriented country, you can feel assured your customer’s experience will be a good one. Oh and you will save over 50% in labour costs. Not too shabby.

New Zealand

Our bros across the ditch are a decent option for outsourcing. Clearly they have strong cultural similarities, with a shared dry sense of humour, and an understanding of the Aussie lingo. They’re fair dinkum straight up tops. Aussies are well and truly familiar and comfortable with the Kiwi twang. Their proximity means call quality will be strong. With up to a 30% savings in labour cost, they’re a strong contender, however not as cheap as other countries.

Fiji

The new kid on the call center block, they’re harder to judge as we don’t have as much information available. But a key point of difference for the Fijians is that they are an innately friendly culture- if you spent your days in Fiji you’d probably be loving life as well. They tend to love people, love talking and your customers will be greeted and treated well. The natural aptitude of Fijians to customer service makes them an ideal fit for a contact center and they are close enough for call quality to be good. With up to 40% savings they’re worth considering when planning your strategy for outsourcing call centers overseas.

When it comes to outsourcing call centers overseas, the solution for you might be one country, or a combination of several to ensure your customer service is ‘on’ around the clock with no down time. Remember, customer experience is key, which means call quality needs to be strong and your agents should be motivated and like people (always a bonus). Keep this in mind when deciding where to outsource to, you are spoilt for choice with so many capable and willing countries– the world is your oyster!

 

Want to explore the offshore world a bit closer?

call centre offshoring

 

Flickr cc: Noelle C.