Outsourcing contact center services to the Philippines has been a key tool in the business armory for several decades. The lure of reducing costs by offshoring front- and back-office functions has been hard to resist for many companies. When done well, it can produce savings while still increasing customer satisfaction.

“Businesses these days are under unprecedented financial pressures. With the after-effects of the 2008 financial crash still being felt by many, the arrival of the COVID-19 pandemic has added to the challenges faced by business leaders. Customers are more demanding than ever, expecting high-quality customer support round the clock. Demands on contact centers have increased because face-to-face options are either unavailable or avoided by those concerned about coronavirus,” says Ralf Ellspermann, CEO of PITON-Global, a leading contact center in the Philippines.  

“Customers are also demanding rock-bottom low prices. Often faced with their own pandemic challenges, there is no appetite for price increases to pay for service improvements. But, almost in opposition, shareholders concerned about their investments want to ensure that profits are maintained despite the challenges.”

And while all this is happening, competitors are hovering. For many businesses, especially new challengers that were established as digital-first, the pandemic has provided an excellent opportunity to recruit new customers who are looking for different ways of service delivery.

These were all existing trends, and businesses would have had plans in place to meet the challenges they posed. The pandemic, however, has intensified and accelerated those trends, meaning that businesses must double down on their responses if they want to survive.

In looking for solutions to the problems posed by the pandemic environment, outsourcing might seem like an old answer, but the benefits it provides remain current. The most obvious reason is cost. Setting up and running an in-house call center is expensive. It takes time to establish the physical infrastructure and then to find and train staff. It also carries an ongoing cost, with real estate, HR, management, technologies, utilities, telco, and equipment quickly becoming costly overheads.

Onshore outsourcing can offer some savings. By availing itself of outsourced call center services, a business benefits from the company’s domain expertise and indirectly sharing those overheads with others. However, the biggest savings are offered not just by outsourcing but also by offshoring. Using the contact center outsourcing industry in the Philippines, for example, will typically offer the same service level at around 40-60% of the cost because of the country’s lower labor costs.

BPO to the Philippines can seem like a risk, but it actually offers significant benefits. The country is a leading destination for outsourcing and, by providing non-core contact center solutions, it can help businesses focus on their core products and services. It can do this because of the significant advantages the Philippine BPO industry offers.

Contact centers in the Philippines are world leaders. More businesses now choose the Philippines than India, which long dominated the outsourcing sector. There are over 800 companies providing contact center and back-office services in the Philippines, and the competitive market means they must invest constantly in their staff and technology to succeed.

The Philippines has a highly educated population and a high level of English fluency. The country has long and close links with the US, and the cultural connection means many speak English not just fluently but with no discernible accent, so they can easily build rapport with customers.

This all means that call center outsourcing to the Philippines offers significant savings, and it can do this while maintaining and even improving service levels for customers. Yes, it is possible to meet a company’s outsourcing requirements in a way that leaves shareholders satisfied and customers delighted, allowing the business to focus on its core mission.

“It is a challenging time to be in business. But that means it’s more important than ever to make the right decisions for the future. The benefits that contact center outsourcing to the Philippines offered businesses before the pandemic remain as valid now as ever—if not more so—making it the ideal time to take advantage of them,” says Ellspermann.