The pitfalls of offshoring include miscommunication, political instability, and security risks. Offshoring location costs have grown by the double digits on an annualized basis, while the cost of foreign labor is also on the rise, according to the International Labour Organization. In addition, customers’ dissatisfaction with the language barrier has been repeatedly vocalized, and more CEOs are realizing that the cost of losing a customer or providing a sub-optimal experience is expensive and impacts the brand.
Conversely, onshoring offers more control and a higher standard of service from agents who are part of the domestic fabric, share an affinity for a company’s products, and can humanize interactions, where customers say, “I like dealing with XYZ company because they understand me.”
In addition, onshoring has become more affordable and attractive. Deloitte finds that IT is leading the way back to onshore, with the airline, software and retail industries closely following. General Motors, for example, is onshoring all of its IT today, while Collaborative Consulting reports that Forrester has measured a 100%, year-over-year growth in domestic sourcing for IT.
In addition to IT, customer service is also returning fast. With the labor gap narrowing, companies can afford to give customers the quality service they are demanding. As businesses try to distinguish their brands in a challenging U.S. economy, they are seeking the best customer experience possible, and that means bringing customer service back home.
The reality of the current marketplace is that the customer experience is the brand. The Internet has commoditized products and services to the point where the only way to compete is via customer service. Similar to the pre-Internet days, call center agents are the front line again, and emotional ties are created or severed through them.
Meanwhile, today’s customer service model is also taking advantage of all that digital technology has to offer. For instance, it’s easy to imagine matching the caller to the account rep based on profile or skill set. It is already happening with geographic location, e.g. calls from California area codes are routed to customer service reps in California. As the growth of cloud-based call center systems fosters an increase in agent telecommuting, targeting and matching will become a more common, and less expensive, strategy.
Today, offshore remains viable for tasks without client interaction, but when a person-to-person interface is key, companies like Zappos, Amazon and Overstock.com invest in the front lines, which means weighing the benefits of onshore.
The bottom line is that offshore is not the most cost-effective alternative or brand-focused decision when considering the entire value proposition. As a result, a growing number of companies are bringing service and support back home and are maintaining tighter control of their brand reputations, rather than risk losing them.
John A. Meyer is CEO of Arise Virtual Solutions Inc. a work-at-home crowdsourcing and business process outsourcing company.
0
1:00 - 5:00 pm
Over 70% of Executives Surveyed Agree: Many Strategic Planning Efforts Lack Systematic Approach Tips for Enhancing Your Strategic Planning Process
Executives expressed frustration with their current strategic planning process. Issues include:
Steve Rutan and Denise Harrison have put together an afternoon workshop that will provide the tools you need to address these concerns. They have worked with hundreds of executives to develop a systematic approach that will enable your team to make better decisions during strategic planning. Steve and Denise will walk you through exercises for prioritizing your lists and steps that will reset and reinvigorate your process. This will be a hands-on workshop that will enable you to think about your business as you use the tools that are being presented. If you are ready for a Strategic Planning tune-up, select this workshop in your registration form. The additional fee of $695 will be added to your total.
2:00 - 5:00 pm
Female leaders face the same issues all leaders do, but they often face additional challenges too. In this peer session, we will facilitate a discussion of best practices and how to overcome common barriers to help women leaders be more effective within and outside their organizations.
Limited space available.
10:30 - 5:00 pm
General’s Retreat at Hermitage Golf Course
Sponsored by UBS
General’s Retreat, built in 1986 with architect Gary Roger Baird, has been voted the “Best Golf Course in Nashville” and is a “must play” when visiting the Nashville, Tennessee area. With the beautiful setting along the Cumberland River, golfers of all capabilities will thoroughly enjoy the golf, scenery and hospitality.
The golf outing fee includes transportation to and from the hotel, greens/cart fees, use of practice facilities, and boxed lunch. The bus will leave the hotel at 10:30 am for a noon shotgun start and return to the hotel after the cocktail reception following the completion of the round.
