Pick you Poison

In an article in yesterdays Wall Street Journal there is a discussion about a study of the impact to Customer Satisfaction when services are outsourced offshore. Interestingly enough the study states that the impact to Customer Service when outsourced is the same whether it is onshore or offshore.

There are typical drawbacks to offshore service - notably language and cultural barriers - but the costs are dramatically lower and tough to resist.

I am not surprised that simply outsourcing customer service impacts overall ratings. The companies that provide these services do not simply have the access the all of the systems that an internal service unit would. They are also not a part of that organization's culture and can not reflect the values of that organization through the service they provide. Often representatives can be a part of a dedicated team servicing clients from a single organization, but at the end of the day they work for the outsourcer (or themselves) and not the organization in question.

Companies who choose outsourcing are faced with a difficult decision. Working with onshore resources maintains language consistency, but still results in an overall drop in satisfaction and has limited savings. Working with offshore resources presents some communication barriers but is provided at a fraction of the cost.

What companies should do is ensure that whatever decision they make is most aligned to the overall values and strategy of the entire organization. Offshoring has other benefits besides cost and is becoming the leading practice. Onshoring maintains a local (by continent) connection with customers if they are on the same continent.

Companies should also ensure that dedicated staff from outsourcers are immersed in their own training, materials and information as much as possible. This will help maintain a consistent experience for customers and result in improved ratings.