Outsourcing Customer Service: Good or Bad?

"Hello, yes I need your assistance please; I received a letter in the mail today stating that my bill is overdue. I know this to be impossible, because I just paid it off in full. No, no that is not what I said. Hello, I can not understand you. Please put your manager on the phone." This may be a familiar conversation to some and is becoming more common than ever. Corporations outsourcing customer service has become rampant in today's society, especially with our current economic state. But has the U.S. let outsourcing get out of control in our current economic state?

A lot of businesses and corporations have had to cut spending due to the U.S. economic crisis and in turn outsourced such things as customer service to other countries like India and the Philippines. A lot of business executives will argue that outsourcing is beneficial to their businesses and to other countries' national infrastructures. However, the employees working for these companies may argue that outsourcing has left them anxious about possible layoffs.

Before the President took office he proclaimed that he would create more jobs for the American people, in turn boosting the economy. Once he was in office he further avowed that one of his main priorities was to create more jobs for the American people and lessening the amount of strain during the economic crisis. Yes, employment rates have gone up a little, but corporate outsourcing is also becoming more and more popular; creating more strain on the unemployed and those potentially affected that are currently employed.

Why is outsourcing so popular and what are the benefits? To truly understand why outsourcing is becoming so popular it is important to understand what the benefits are for the businesses involved or looking to be involved in outsourcing campaigns. First, outsourcing creates an avenue for businesses to cut costs almost in half by using cheaper labor in a foreign country, lowering operating costs due to less employees and equipment needs, and lowering labor training costs. Second, outsourcing allows small businesses to purchase the latest technology, especially if the business is an outsourcing firm. Third, outsourcing allows 24-hour businesses to make more prolific schedules for the remaining employees, which in turn increases employee productivity. Lastly, outsourcing allows a business to focus on their core competencies.

However, with the positives come the negative aspects of outsourcing. Yes, business outsourcing can be very beneficial if done properly, but for customers and employees it can have devastating affects. Most importantly a company must have a good reputation to keep bringing in the profits. If the business' customers are trying to reach the company and end up speaking to someone that has no clue about the business, is reading out of a scripted book, and barely speaks English then that reputation may dwindle creating a loss of profit. In addition, the employees of the outsourcing company may feel threatened by the potential of their job being in jeopardy. This causes tension throughout the entire business causing lower morale and less productivity. Indeed the customers and employees are being affected by outsourcing, but what about the business?

When a company outsources customer services, or anything, that company loses control of that piece of business. For example, years ago when a customer had an issue with a product or service they would contact the company and a company representative would handle the situation accordingly to keep that customer, as all customers are valued in a business. However, once that company outsourced its customer service that same customer is now farmed out to a telecommunications center somewhere in the Philippines where someone presses control F (search option) on their keyboard and gives scripted answers to the customer's questions. Outside of those scripted answers the person on the other end providing customer service has no clue about the rest of the business and cannot elaborate any further, even if the customer needed more information. Let's not forget how long customers have to wait sometimes to even make contact. This can easily cause a loss of customers, which means loss of profit. In addition, to losing customers due to poor customer service a business also has to deal with potential security issues regarding customer personal information. Lastly, companies take a risk of lower quality work. You know the old saying, "you get what you pay for."

Does outsourcing work? Yes it does when a company does it right. However, a company must always weigh all the pro's and con's before outsourcing or they take the risk of losing control of parts of their business and in turn losing unsatisfied customers. The problem, however, in our current economic state pertains to the lack of a job market in the U.S. The government should put stricter restrictions on outsourcing to control what could be devastating for the U.S. in the long term. So I ask you, is outsourcing customer service good or bad?