Outsourcing job roles from your company to outside contractors or even other countries will offer both solutions and problems.
Many companies look to outsource their job roles purely as a cost cutting exercise. They can pay much lower wages to the outsource company staff then they would if they were to employ the staff themselves. This may be beneficial to your company in the short term, but problems will arise.

The 1990's saw a huge number of companies outsourcing their business needs to countries like India. The company was ecstatic with the salary cost savings. With departments moved abroad, the business was easier to manage and more cost effective. The Indian companies were also delighted to be doing business with the English and American companies, bringing in a much needed boost to the countries economy.

Much time and effort went into the Indian call centres training. The staff was being taught how to speak like the English and Americans. Experts were brought in to teach them local dialect and slang words commonly used by the customer's country of origin. Sadly though, the training has not been the success the Indian companies believed it to be. With the speed of the customer's speech, all the training in the world couldn't assist in fully understanding a totally different dialect. Many important parts of the conversation were misinterpreted or misunderstood completely.

Customers around the world are getting more and more frustrated with having to deal with foreign call centres. They have to wait a long time to be connected to an agent, and when they finally get through neither can fully understand the other. More time is then spent on the phone as the customer has to painfully explain every little detail to the agent, who still doesn't fully understand what is being asked of them.

There is now another big trend emerging with regards to outsourcing of a companies business. The companies are realising that customers are not happy with the level of service from the outsourced agents. Promises are not being kept. Standards are slipping to the point that the customer will seek out companies with home grown agents and operators dealing with their needs.
Some companies are already bringing their businesses home and are advertising the fact that they have call centres based solely in the country that the business operates. People are seeing this advertising as very appealing, and switching over to the company who does not outsource its operations abroad.

My findings and views on this matter should not be misconstrued as racist or discriminatory. I am simply pointing out what hundreds of thousands of customers are saying and thinking when they have spent the last hour trying to explain their requests to someone who does not speak the same language as themselves on the phone. I wish I could speak to someone in this country' they say. Someone who can actually understand what I want, without having to explain a basic request'.

If you are a company considering outsourcing, think very carefully. The first year or two may be going well, you have saved money and the shareholders are happy. But the rot has set in, people are not happy with the level of basic customer service being provided. The customer will leave you for a company that offers all its staff are based on home soil. Then you will be left with the greatest cost saver of them all; no customers, no staff, and no business!

Learn more about this author, Neil Dixon.
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