When outsourcing call center services, companies have an important choice to make: maintain their services in the U.S. or outsource to an international location. For years, it seemed that many businesses preferred the latter. This often entailed transferring customer service operations to a third-party provider located overseas to countries like India or the Philippines, where labor costs are lower.
However, this trend has recently reversed in healthcare as well as other industries. What more companies are discovering is that there are benefits to keeping call center services stateside, even if some jobs are outsourced to another location. Recouping dollars lost to low-quality service is just one of those benefits.
U.S.-Based Call Centers Help Retain Customers and Boost Profits
A customer orders a product that arrives with a crack in it. Confused by the online instructions, she calls the customer support line. After navigating the automated prompts and waiting on hold, she is connected to an overseas agent who is difficult to understand due to poor audio quality, language barriers, and a noisy background. The caller explains herself several times, unsure if the person on the other end grasps the problem.
It’s a common scenario that can quickly erase the financial savings that come with cheap labor. Forbes reported on this reversal in the use of off-shore centers, noting that customers prefer to communicate with agents who are based locally. After experimenting with both approaches, more brands are reaching the same conclusion: better customer service ultimately helps retain customers and protect their financial wellbeing.
What Happens When Calls Are Handled Outside the U.S.?
Having certain tasks handled by service workers outside the U.S. still occurs, of course, particularly in areas such as IT and accounting. The process generally involves contracting with a foreign company that hires and trains its own staff to handle customer interactions. As any caller can tell, the workers often rely heavily on scripts and service protocols provided by the business.
Compared to remote customer service within the U.S., offshore outsourcing can also introduce a range of challenges including:
- Time zone misalignments
- Language & communication barriers
- Misunderstandings due to cultural differences
- Reduced control over quality assurance
- Integration challenges with platforms
- Longer resolution times
- Data security & compliance risks
Even with dedicated professionals, certain barriers to high-quality customer service will remain due to factors beyond the workers’ control.
The Benefits of Outsourcing Call Centers Domestically
Meanwhile, domestic outsourcing tends to offer a closer alignment with customer expectations, easier communication, and faster resolutions with operational issues due to proximity and shared cultural context. How does this play out?
Operations That Are Easier to Monitor
When an important process changes, you want to convey that information to all the key players as quickly as possible. The fact is, it’s easier to monitor call center agents within the U.S. because domestic operations avoid challenges associated with international outsourcing – particularly time zone differences and physical distance.
Better Real-Time Coordination
Countries like India and the Philippines are at least 9 to 12 hours ahead of the U.S., making real-time supervision and coordination difficult. In contrast, U.S.-based agents can be remote and cost-effective but still available when you need them. This distinction gives you better oversight, faster communication, and greater control over the quality and compliance of those services.
Lighthouse Offers Trust-Based Customer Support Without the Overhead
Based in Illinois, Lighthouse Enterprises offers customizable call center services to clients in various industries throughout the country. Our team brings a domestic, culturally aligned alternative to offshore outsourcing. Here’s what we offer our clients:
- White Glove Service: Personalized, high-quality service tailored to each client’s internal processes.
- Process Adoption: The call center manager trains staff to learn and follow the client’s specific workflows and systems.
- Fully Managed Staffing: You don’t have to worry about hiring, training, or attendance – that’s our job.
- Trust and Comfort: Being U.S.-based builds trust and offers a cultural fit that’s increasingly appreciated.
- Flexible and Hands-On: Our services range from basic tasks like call logging to handling high call volumes and integrating with your platform and IT processes.
- Ongoing Emphasis on Quality: Throughout it all, our focus is on delivering measurable, high-quality service defined by your standards, with clear metrics and results you can trust.
Reach out to Lighthouse Enterprises to discuss how we can improve your customer service results today.