Since 2010, the Philippines has been both the leading and largest voice-based contact center destination in the world. There are good reasons for the country’s success in this industry: a highly skilled and educated workforce that is highly proficient in American English tops the list, along with extensive government support, world-class technology, and infrastructure being important factors. Of course, partnering with a call center in the Philippines is also attractive because of the cost savings that can be achieved.
“Many first-time or inexperienced service buyers often think that cost is the most important factor in selecting a call center partner, but this belief is antithesis to implementing a successful program. For organizations exploring an offshore call center solution, it’s important to understand the relationship between price and quality,” says Ralf Ellspermann, CEO of PITON- Global, an award-winning call center in the Philippines.
A premium call center in the Philippines provides significant levels of quality across every measurable metric over what’s available at the lower end of the market. This is more than just an opinion or suggestion, it’s a fact that has been proven by real-world results. And while some organizations successfully use low-cost vendors to drive down overall program costs, they often pay for this in other ways, such as poor agent performance and client dissatisfaction.
A low-cost vendor’s primary selling point is access to large, undifferentiated pools of less skilled, but inexpensive labor. However, the quality of services they offer is typically quite substandard — which leads to poorer customer satisfaction rates and lower agent productivity. A low-cost provider’s agents tend to be less educated; this is not a criticism, it’s a simple fact, making them less able to communicate as effectively (or fluently) as those at a premium call center outsourcing provider in the Philippines. They also typically have fewer technical skills, insufficient training, and support, and work with outdated or inferior technology. These factors make it more likely that their customers will experience poor quality service — and in a world where word-of-mouth references can either make or break a company, this is a significant risk.
“The top call centers in the Philippines account for approximately 70% of contact-center employment opportunities in the country. These premium vendors provide the most appealing compensation packages and career advancement opportunities, making them very attractive to top talent,” says Ellspermann. As one of the biggest industries in the Philippines, along with many esteemed multinational companies operating in the country, employment in call centers is highly sought after. This means the premium providers, get their pick of the most skilled talent. Low-cost operators are left with those that agents that simply couldn’t make the cut.
Another critical factor to consider is the technology and infrastructure that it takes to operate a call center in the Philippines. While low-cost providers may offer cost savings as their primary offering, they’re certainly not as technologically sophisticated as premium vendors. Low-cost call centers operate on older, less efficient systems which limit their ability to provide high levels of quality service for even simple transactions.
Premium call centers, on the other hand, invest in the latest technologies and infrastructure. This results in superior quality for more complicated transactions, while simultaneously reducing costs through greater operational efficiencies that are derived from high-quality technology solutions. These investments in technology and infrastructure also help them achieve higher performance results. This is not only true of the systems they use to operate, but also of their technology platforms to manage client contact centers. In contrast, low-cost vendors’ outdated systems negatively impact the quality of service delivered by agents — increasing customer dissatisfaction and reducing productivity.
Taking the step to migrate a call center program to any offshore location will inevitably come with some level of risk. “There are two choices: work with a premium call center in the Philippines and still realize a 40-50% cost savings over standard onshore rates or take a flyer on a low-cost vendor in hopes of squeezing out another 20% savings, and keep your fingers crossed,” explains Ellspermann. Executives must carefully consider the true cost of handing their call center processes over to an organization that is incapable of investing in quality agents or technologies. Call center outsourcing to the Philippines works, but the approach has to be right.