Luster of Call Center Offshoring is Fading, But Are At-Home Agents The Answer?

Contact center outsourcing is nowhere near as obsolete as many critics allege, but it is decidedly less debatable that the practice has at least somewhat lost its luster.

In an era overrun with concern about driving the best possible customer experience, the notion of shipping that function elsewhere is, at least in theory, considerably less attractive.

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And when one adds in analysis related to the various cost challenges associated with offshore outsourcing ("offshoring") in particular, its outlook as a customer management best practice seems outright illogical. It was reasonable enough to accept that some organizations would prefer the massive cost savings of offshoring to the less-significant customer experience benefits of insourcing, but if those cost savings are no longer so massive, on what grounds is it still justified?

Based on the findings published in Alpine Access’ new whitepaper "Homeshore vs. Offshore: The Changing Landscape of Outsourced Customer Care," whatever ground does exist is shaky.

"When the expense of managing foreign sites, losing customers, and regaining loyalty from a dissatisfied customer base are factored into the equation, the inexpensive offshore option actually can be the most costly. For these reasons, less than 10% of companies now see offshore centers as a positive way to reduce operational costs, and only 4% have plans to offshore in the next three years," says the report.

Blaming five specific categories for the struggle—rising costs, legal risks, economic and political instability, anti-offshoring legislation and consumer backlash—the whitepaper portrays offshoring as an unnecessary burden of the past. When it was an irrefutable source of cost savings and efficiency improvement, it made sense to shoulder some of the hassle associated with the practice.

But with the cost gap narrowing, thanks to a combination of the overseas markets becoming more costly and the financial consequences of the customer satisfaction issues associated with offshoring, it is easier and more logical to dwell on the undesirable consequences. The lack of autonomy—and lack of certainty—now must weigh on the mind of all customer management leaders (as well as their C-level superiors).

Business like Alpine Access, therefore, see an opportunity for their virtual and at-home solutions to gain footing. Dubbed "homeshoring," the at-home model, Alpine argues in the paper, erases the perceived service gap between outsourced and insourced care. It offers agents capable of more complex, unscripted calls, and it vastly expands the talent pool, producing a typical applicant-to-hire ratio of 100:1 rather than the traditional call center average of 10:1.

This means smarter, more driven, more intelligent representatives who will theoretically paint a better image of the brand when dealing with customers.

From a cost standpoint, it also leverages many of the same concepts as offshoring—minimal overhead and fixed costs due to the reduced need for facilities, in-house training and supervision and improved scalability.

Those benefits noted, some remain hesitant to fully-embrace the at-home model, citing issues like corporate culture as a huge factor. If a significant portion of agents is not at an on-site facility and exposed to the premier elements of the corporate culture, it might struggle to understand some of the experiential elements so crucial to customer management success.

Offshore outsourcing, granted, does not typically offer the cultural benefit either, but those in possession of the cultural objective cannot rule out the possibility that insourced, traditional call center environments (like Zappos) are best for achieving some key customer experience objectives.

Where do you stand? Is offshoring dying? Is the at-home agent model locked in as the wave of our future?

Check out the complimentary whitepaper "Homeshore vs. Offshore" to gain a clearer perspective on the issues at hand. And definitely share your thoughts in the comment section below!