SUBSCRIBE TO TMCnet
TMCnet - World's Largest Communications and Technology Community

CHANNEL BY TOPICS


QUICK LINKS




Call Center Jobs Come Back Home - Where's the Celebration?

TMCnews Featured Article


January 18, 2012

Call Center Jobs Come Back Home - Where's the Celebration?

By Susan J. Campbell, TMCnet Contributing Editor


For years, offshore call center outsourcing was promoted as the best way to reduce costs and maintain positive customer care. A recent piece in the Star-Telegram suggests that this assumption ignored specific costs and lost revenue as a result of an offshore move.


The piece highlights the recent invitation received by Mary Murcott, CEO of Novo 1. This Fort Worth company handles call center outsourcing, but keeps operations onshore. The aforementioned invitation was to the White House for a round table discussion with the President and other industry leaders.

Novo 1 is a founding member of the Jobs4America Coalition. President Obama, Vice President Joe Biden and other executives joined Murcott in a private panel broadcast on C-Span. Aside from the company’s involvement in the Coalition, Murcott also pitched that outsourcing U.S. call center jobs to offshore locations was actually more expensive than keeping U.S.-based call centers in business.

Murcott bases this argument on figures calculated when companies consider all of the costs involved in moving operations, as well as lost revenue when customers leave as a result. She also pointed out that companies are starting to recognize this truth and jobs are returning to the U.S. The biggest challenge – no one is talking about this success.

The lack of publicity surrounding the moves back home could be driven by a company’s desire to camouflage their mistakes, according to Murcott. At the same time, companies may have only brought home some call center jobs – not all. Any boasting done about moving some back home will only bring too much attention to those jobs still abroad. Competitors can quickly view this as a weakness.

It could also be argued that when companies made the decision to move these jobs, 10, 15 or 20 years ago, there was a need to transfer the easy calls to lower cost operations. On paper, this arrangement made sense. With advancements in self-service options and additional interaction channels, live calls are now more complex and require enhanced skill sets.

Customers also have a number of ways to gather information and be more informed before they contact a company. If language barriers get in the way, or the customer knows more than the call center agent, frustration can easily arise. The customer who is frustrated on the phone and can’t get resolution won’t be willing to listen to up-sell or cross-sell attempts.

For her part, Murcott believes that companies have experienced significant brand damage as a result of moving their call centers overseas. If her arguments ring true and jobs can come back home, it could be a win for all.


Susan J. Campbell is a contributing editor for TMCnet and has also written for eastbiz.com. To read more of Susan’s articles, please visit her columnist page.

Edited by Chris DiMarco







Technology Marketing Corporation

2 Trap Falls Road Suite 106, Shelton, CT 06484 USA
Ph: +1-203-852-6800, 800-243-6002

General comments: [email protected].
Comments about this site: [email protected].

STAY CURRENT YOUR WAY

© 2024 Technology Marketing Corporation. All rights reserved | Privacy Policy