According to the most recent figures from the Bureau of Labor Statistics, the average American call center worker earns $33,110 per annum. In comparison, call center operators in the Philippines typically earn just $4,932 a year. This substantial wage gap makes it easy to see why countless American corporations have exported hundreds of thousands of customer service jobs to the Philippines and other developing nations since the ‘90s. Money is a big motivator for any business, but it shouldn’t be a company’s only consideration. For these reasons, your customers deserve a local solution.
Local Operators Relate to Consumers
The majority of people working at overseas call centers are non-native English speakers who rely on scripts to do their job. This is an efficient system, but one that lacks the human touch customers warm to. Local call centers can respond naturally to humor, for example, and more naturally answer any questions customers pose that veer from the script. This creates a closer bond between the customer and the operator and, by extension, the customer and the company.
Customers Struggle to Understand Foreign Call Center Operators
Americans often complain that they can’t understand foreign customer service agents, and academic studies support these claims. University of Chicago psychologists found non-native accents make speech more difficult for native speakers to parse. This reduces cognitive fluency, making it harder for the brain to comprehend what it’s heard. This confusion is a real barrier to a satisfactory customer service experience.
The study also found that when cognitive fluency is reduced, people begin to doubt what they hear. So, when consumers speak to operators overseas, whether they have English as a second language or simply thick accents, there’s an inherent distrust that’s difficult to overcome.
In contrast, when Americans speak to other Americans at a local facility, the barrier is removed. It’s much easier for a consumer to understand the person they’re speaking to and get the customer service they require.
Local Centers are More Secure
In light of recent highly publicized retail security breaches, two-thirds of consumers say they’re concerned that their personal information may be stolen. No doubt, they’d be more worried if they realized how lax international laws are. In many cases, a customer’s personal data is not protected once it leaves American shores. While India recently updated its data privacy laws, outsourcing companies were exempt from the new regulations. In the Philippines, another popular call center hub, there are few laws governing data protection or the notification of privacy breaches.
Local call centers give customers extra peace of mind because they know they must comply with America’s stringent legislation protecting the personal information of all consumers. American customer service agents are also subject to comprehensive background checks that are not always required for foreign workers.
Give Your Customers What They Want
No matter what reason, it seems the overwhelming majority of consumers hate dealing with overseas call centers. This may be the most compelling reason of all for local businesses to employ American operators.
A study conducted by the Communications Workers of America found 78 percent of respondents have a negative opinion of overseas call centers. Most hold this position strongly, with 59 percent reporting their impression of offshore call centers is “very unfavorable.” Foreign center wages may be cheap, but can any company really afford to utilize customer service systems that leave such a bad taste in the mouths of so many consumers?
Those low offshore wages may be enticing, but more companies are realizing that if they value their customers, they should keep their customer service centers on home soil.
