Outsourcing Customer Service

Customer service is one of the oft-outsourced tasks that companies overseas choose to outsource.  Surely, it falls under the criteria of tasks and processes that can  be readily outsourced.  However, there are two schools of thought on this.

There are those who think that it shouldn’t be done at all, that customer service must be done in the country or area where the company’s services or products are employed or sold.  Many people find it unethical to have to outsource customer service overseas.  Part of it, they state, stem from frustration of not being to communicate as well as expected to the customer service representatives because of certain factors, including a) the CSR’s first language is not English and b) even with training, the differences in culture can’t really be erased.  Some people argue that even if the company is saving money by outsourcing their customer service facilities, they are actually losing customers and therefore losing revenue.

People from that other school of thought, that customer service outsourcing is a good thing, would argue that their outsourced customer service representatives have done a fine job of attending to customers’ needs, and that their clients have been very satisfied with the services rendered by the aforementioned customer service team.

While it may be true that the first outsourced CSRs were not as ready to receive customers’ queries and complaints, it can be safe to say that training and accent-coaching methods have vastly improved as outsourcing continues to grow on a global scale.  A more specific training system is employed for employees of outsourcing companies who are involved in customer service.  Aside from accent training, these people are also instructed on the geography and the culture of the country of the service they are outsourcing from and are taught to immerse and familiarize themselves with it.  Most of these employees are English speakers in the first place, so these things are enhancements so that they will be able to serve the customers better.

These customer service professionals are also trained on the ins and outs of the products or services they are tasked to give customer service to.  They attest that customer service has gone a long way from its early inception, and that you cannot please everybody, therefore there are still who champion that outsourcing customer service is bad business practice.

Those on the side that maintain that outsourcing customer service is unethical say that these companies only concern themselves with the money they save rather than providing the best service for their customers.  Given that the satisfaction of the customer should be placed of any service-oriented company, this seems to be a big issue.  Business owners have maintained that improvements and have been done and they are continuing to make improvements on the quality of the service they give, while still remaining true to their business goals.  With the constant improvement in outsourcing and the new technologies and methods being developed, perhaps one day there shall be a compromise on this matter.