Outsourcing Et al..

In an effort to cut costs and increase efficiency many companies have outsourced some functions. In some cases data proves that making that move can save a company millions per year. That is no small sum in any business.

There are only some functions of a company that can be outsourced, call centers maybe choice number one. As the man in charge of HR, I would have to think about the opportunity costs we are paying in good customer service versus the savings we get from the call centers abroad. I would have to look at control, quality and the maintenance of the call centers. One major drawback with offshore call centers is the lack of quality control. Who trains the CSRs? That is usually done by the contracting company.

Another of the major problems with call centers is the linguistic differences and the inherent knowledge of certain terms that customers in America use. The bottom line is, as long as we can maintain the cost effectiveness of such a strategy, I would opt for fixing the other areas that affect good customer service and keep the call centers open here. Outsourcing is a management tool, and like other tools, it has to be used effectively. The savings from outsourcing has to be looked at and compared to the overall strategy and direction we intend to take. 

I think training the customer service representatives in these call centers would be priority number one. Communicating the goals, directives and overall organizational strategy to them is important to maintain our standards. The customer should not be able to determine that their calls are being handled overseas. This perception alone can be damaging to our image. The decision to outsource should be undertaken carefully, weighting the pros and cons against long term goals.