Off shore call centers provide business owners with the ability to outsource important business tasks. We have heard a lot of hype stating that most Australian companies rather go offline than staying local by employing the services of an offshore call center. This might be true for larger corporations but it also poses many risks of which the biggest would be customer dissatisfaction. Business owners are well advised to weigh the pros and cons of going offshore when considering call center management solutions. We have looked at the pros and cons of offshore call centers and came up with a list of pointers to consider before you make your decision.
Pros:
- There is no doubt that offshore call centers offer very high competitive rates. This starts with the fact that overseas wages (India mainly since most offshore call centers are based in India) and the cost of living is a lot less than in Australia. Were Indian workers might have a sufficient lifestyle with some $5/hour, Australians would never be able to do the same.
- Another bonus is the fact that India has some of the highest trained IT professionals in the world. If your outsourcing requires an IT help desk, then going offshore might be beneficial to your business after all. Obviously costs would have to be compared against each other as well as usability.
Cons:
- The fact remains that staying local will provide a better service. Having the ability to drop into your local call center will provide many business owners with peace of mind. Not only does this help them to get to know key staff but it also helps the staff itself being able to get an insiders view (by means of direct conversations) about the business in question.
- State regulations are sometimes very strict. With the increased security of no call lists, call center operators have to abide by the official rules. No call lists offer private individuals to be blocked from telemarketing calls with certain restrictions.
- A great pro of going local is the quality standard control. It's not that India doesn't provide some form of standards whilst dealing with clients, but often our own standards seem somewhat higher than theirs. This is especially important since customer service is directly related to a high standard. If there is a lack of control and quality, chances are that customers will run.
- With increased security issues we are dealing with an ever evolving level of awareness by consumers. People are getting smarter all the time when giving out private information and by going local your clients are assured top quality privacy protection.
- Last but not least there is a huge language barrier between offshore call center staff and local staff. Customers are increasingly becoming frustrated by straining to understand an overseas call center operator. Often their knowledge of the English language is next to none but the problem starts with the way it is being phrased. Many Australians prefer to hear a familiar accent when marketed to. It provides them with a sense of familiarity and security and they are more receptive to offers.
In the end, whether you are choosing to go offshore or not depends on two things mainly. First, if your budget is more suited to an offshore call center, then you have no other options. But if you rather place client service before everything else, you might be better suited to go local.
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