Offshore Call Center Usage Decreases

The percentage of consumers routed to offshore call centers declined for the second straight year, according to CFI Group’s Call Center Satisfaction Index report.  The study finds that call center satisfaction is 79 out of 100 when the call is handled by U.S.-based agents, but only 58 for offshore agents; in comparison IRS satisfaction is 55.

For many large corporations, the call center agent serves as their customers’ only personal touch point to the company.  “If a customer hangs up mad, it isn’t the agent they are going to blame, it’s the company that put them in that position in order to save a buck by sending their call overseas,” warns Sheri Teodoru, CFI Group’s CEO.

The biggest frustration is the inability to understand the foreign agent on the other end of the call.  This may help account for the fact that U.S. agents are 34% more likely to resolve the problem on the first call than those handled offshore.  In terms of “soft side” skills such as courtesy and showing a genuine interest to resolve the problem, foreign agents perform relatively closely to their U.S. counterparts.

The report is available for download at www.cfigroup.com.

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