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Over the last decade, many businesses have chosen to outsource their tech support to offshore providers. Labour rates can be far lower and with so many large corporations going down this path it seems like a smart move.
But how much more is there to the story? There are other factors at play that can mean offshoring can end up actually costing your company more than using local tech staff. So to try and understand the big picture, let’s take a close look at the true cost of offshore tech support.
Businesses choose to outsource their tech support to offshore call centers to save money and free up staff to focus on other tasks. Offshore tech support services offer trained support staff who generally handle all calls based on a script or a set of guidelines your company will put together. In some cases these staff can also handle other services such as complaints, order management, or outbound marketing.
The set of potential advantages includes:
Despite many clear advantages, there are other factors that need to be considered before choosing to go down the offshoring path. Businesses have to make sure that any offshore tech support provider won’t compromise the customer experience. Or the company brand.
In order to make sure these factors aren’t overlooked, price shouldn’t be the focus of the decision without fully considering the level of service provided, reliability, and fit with the company culture.
As a general rule you should be looking at the overall cost benefit balance of the decision rather than just the price point. Therefore when considering offshoring you should also be considering:
Ultimately, when thinking about the best business decision around providing tech support, your highest priority should be your customers, not your budget.
With online reviews playing a greater role, and word of mouth just as important as ever, providing a substandard customer experience in an attempt to reduce costs is not going to pay off in the long run. While you may initially reduce costs, the true cost of offshoring to your customer experience, churn rate, and brand can very quickly outweigh any savings.
Make sure you’ve considered all factors before embarking on the offshoring journey. If you are convinced it is the right move for your company, look closely at the client portfolio of the tech support providers you have shortlisted to get a better idea of the quality of service they provide.
There is no right or wrong answer to the question of whether offshoring your tech support is the right decision for you so make sure you’ve considered all the potential drawbacks as well as the advantages. You may well find that sticking with local talent is actually the smarter move long term.
If you’re looking for tech talent or more information on how you can improve the experience of your customers, talk to the tech experts at FinXL.