Blog Are Outsourced Call Centers Coming Back to the US?

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Are Outsourced Call Centers Coming Back to the US?

The deciding factor to outsource call center services overseas once focused solely on cost savings. The cost savings was significant enough, that many companies overlook the drawbacks of off-shore contact centers vs on-shore.

However, this is no longer true. Two trends have emerged that detract from the cost savings of an off-shore call center.

  1. In countries like India and the Philippines, where outsourced call centers thrive, recent high inflation rates and large annual raises for employees are raising the cost of labor.
  2. The work-from-home call center model has become very cost effective and offers the best of both worlds: Excellent US customer service, delivered at a price competitive with an off-shore call center.

For American business looking to outsource customer service, this means that off-shore call centers are not necessarily the clearest option.

Additionally, the leveled playing field brings light to other deciding factors of outsourced call centers such as language differences, call effectiveness, and overall customer satisfaction.

Research from CFI Group’s Contact Center Satisfaction Index 2010 has shown that US call centers outperformed off-shore call centers in three major categories.

  • “Spoke to more than one representative”
  • “Inquiry was resolved”
  • “Inquiry was resolved on the first call”

Additionally, the report found that the perceived location of a call center is the critical driver of customer satisfaction. Customers who believed the call was handled within the United States reported a significantly higher satisfaction rate than when they believed the call was handled outside of the US.

So when looking at the big picture to outsource customer service, companies should consider the diminishing cost savings of an off-shore call center, and take notice of the other important factors of customer satisfaction. The deciding factor is no longer cost savings, and as these trends continue, it is likely that outsourcing customer service will be brought back to US call centers.