Call Center Scheduling Featured Article
Call Center Scheduling is More Important as Agent Jobs Move Home
If you get frustrated with call center conversations that take place with an agent on the other side of the world, you’re not alone. Consumers throughout the U.S. have expressed their opinion on offshore outsourcing and companies are starting to pay attention. Those who made the swift move to lower cost labor on the other side of the world felt it on the bottom line when customers took their business elsewhere. Now, call center operations in the states are gaining more appeal.
A recent Contact Professional points to the trend of bringing call center jobs back home, highlighting the top five most significant factors that have contributed to the change. The first and foremost reason for reversing the offshore trend is in the economics. Companies first looked to India and the Philippines due to the significantly lower cost of wages, even with lower quality customer care.
But demand has a funny way of affecting pricing. According to USA Today figures, wages in these parts of the world have increased from 10-20 percent. Phil Fersht, an outsourcing analyst claimed that even before the crash of 2008, some Indian workers were making only about 15 percent less than agents in Nebraska. If service is lacking, this kind of savings hardly helps the company’s bottom line.
Why? Customers are frustrated. They don’t like getting transferred to someone who is difficult to understand, especially for a transaction that’s better suited for a self-service channel. Plus, frustrated customers aren’t likely to experience satisfaction or return to that company if the interaction with the call center simply leads to more frustration.
The adoption of the self-service channels also means that contact centers need to focus on more complex transactions. These complicated calls should be handled by knowledgeable, well-trained agents if they are to reach successful conclusion. Likewise, those interactions need to be secure and private, something the laws in the U.S. are designed to protect. The increased visibility the brand has into the customer experience is also a perk for keeping the customer service division at home as changes are made more easily.
With so many reasons to reverse the trend, call center scheduling is about to get a boost. As companies brace to bring hundreds or thousands of jobs back, the call volume will follow. Call center scheduling will be critical to ensure that this trend doesn’t have unintended negative consequences. No matter the location of the agent, the customer still expects great care.
As a result, call center scheduling platforms with proven results will be in high demand. Those call centers able to identify challenges and apply the right solutions will come out on top.
Edited by Stefania Viscusi