It’s only happened to me two or three times that I know of. I called a toll-free number, usually for some sort of customer service, and found myself speaking with someone who clearly was on another continent.
It’s usually a pleasant experience. These offshore reps are unfailingly polite (almost to a fault), and they sound engaged in what they’re doing, which is more than you can always say about our homegrown support personnel.
Call one of the big telecom companies for service, for example, and you’ll often end up talking with a surly wage slave who hates his job. And the overseas agent has just as much information at his fingertips as the American rep, thanks to the continuous information loop.
So why is the practice of outsourcing so controversial?
One reason is that many Americans prefer the vanilla accents found in cities like Omaha. You can chalk this up to chauvinism (to give it its most polite name), or you might say it’s human nature. But it has led some overseas call centers to train their reps to use Americanisms and engage in chitchat about U.S. weather and sports. (When this backfires, the result is worthy of a “Saturday Night Live” skit.)
Of course, there’s one other reason for the resentment — that it moves U.S. jobs overseas.
And that’s a more valid concern. Many of the 120,000 Indians who work in telemarketing (to cite numbers issued by Research and Markets) are holding positions that could be located in the United States. And many people dislike this, especially those who are most inclined to buy American.
A study released last year by Purdue University’s Center for Customer Driven Quality revealed that outsourcing can hurt customer retention. Most U.S. consumers believe their calls are being handled by domestic reps, and 65% said they would change their buying behavior if they found out a company was outsourcing, the survey reported. And this feeling exists regardless of the reason for the call, or the level of satisfaction — it’s the principle of the thing. And it’s in inverse proportion to the consumer’s educational level.
What’s a company to do?
The outsourcing decision depends on many factors, including cost, the nature of the service and the customer base. In business-to-business settings, culture shock is not as much of an issue as it is on the consumer side.
Many firms have reps both at home and abroad, assigning calls based on purpose or customer value. Others adamantly refuse to outsource.
Just know this: It’s not a quick fix, and you’d better be aware of the nuances.
It’s your call.
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