Study Shows Offshore Call Centers a Concern to U.S. Consumers
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(ARA) - A consumer’s experience with a company’s customer call center has a significant impact on their future purchasing behavior toward the company, and perceptions concerning offshore call centers play a role.
A recent call center study led by Dr. Jon Anton, of Purdue University’s Center for Customer-Driven Quality, in conjunction with researchers at BenchmarkPortal, Inc. and sponsored by global staffing provider Kelly Services, found that 65 percent of American consumers would alter their buying behavior toward a company if they knew or had the impression the business was using an offshore call center, regardless of the level of satisfaction the customer received from the call center experience.
“The decision to implement offshore outsourcing of call centers is about companies being allowed to make choices in the best interest of their business,” says Teresa Setting, vice president, Kelly Services. “Regardless of which option companies decide to implement, an important element to consider which is often overlooked is patriotism.” Although offshore outsourcing has been in effect for decades, this business practice continues to spark debate as the interrelation of jobs, productivity, global competition, and free trade continues to grow.
A key challenge with outsourcing call centers in general, but especially when considering international locations, is maintaining consistent service quality. The Call Center Study reveals that more than half of the respondents who were dissatisfied with their recent customer service call cited agent-related issues, both general and communication.
General agent-related issues included representatives lacking professionalism, and/or customer service skills, and long wait to resolve problems, as well as service agents reading from and/or not deviating from scripts, and those who were ill informed. Reasons related to communication skills included language difficulties (poor English, difficulty understanding) -- although this individually ranked among the lowest factors, having little effect on a customer’s call center experience -- agents who mumbled and/or spoke too quietly or too quickly, agents who were constantly asked to repeat themselves, and poor communication skills overall.
Offshore outsourcing is an option that many U.S. companies are exercising, but one they cannot take lightly. “The results of this study confirm that the call center experience has a significant impact on how American consumers perceive a company, and how likely they are to repurchase from U.S. companies that outsource their customer service calls to offshore locations,” says Setting. “With this in mind, companies would be prudent to view their customer support call centers as crucial elements of their customer strategy, akin to marketing and loyalty programs.”
For more information on the Call Center Study, visit www.kellyconnect.com.
Courtesy of ARA Content
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