#4 Call Center Power Player Panel: Outsourcing and Offshoring--What's the ROI?

The on-shoring vs. off-shoring conversation is an old one for most of us—but what you don’t know about recent trends in off-shoring and outsourcing will hurt you.

In a series of Customer Management IQ power player panels we evaluate the pros and cons of keeping the call center in-house or allowing the call center to leave your corporate driveway. Does outsourcing create an "out of sight out of mind" corporate mind-set? Have some of us swept the call center off our plate?

Jo'Ann Alderson, President of Progressive Communications, Glenn Pasch, President of Improved Performance Solutions and Emily Yellin, speaker, consumer advocate, Author of "Your Call Is (Not That) Important to Us" give you no-nonsense information about offshoring and outsourcing.

This call center panel gives specific examples of companies that have improved its customer experience through outsourcing in addition to those who have been hurt by outsourced operations managed badly. The panel addresses trends in onshoring and why some companies are bringing their call centers back to the U.S.

The farther the call center is distanced from the decision makers, a hub of intelligence for the company. If the people outsourcing the calls are more concerned with the voice of the business rather than the voice of the customer, our panel wants to warn you. It’s up to the leadership of the company to manage vendor relationships if the decision is made to outsource.

Outsourcing, foreign and domestic, can still provide customer insight if the call center is kept close to the heart of the company.

The panel discusses perceived customer satisfaction versus actual customer satisfaction. The customer connection is important whether on-shore, off-shore, outsourced or not. Our panel discusses this connection in a faceless world.

[inlinead]