Are you trying to compute your call center outsourcing costs? In recent years, call center services have become more cost-effective. Outsourcing customer service has helped businesses cut down on customer service costs. Doing so gives them time for their core operations.
Outsourced call centers, offshore or onshore, offer several advantages to businesses. If you’re thinking of outsourcing these services, you’ll need to understand offshore call center pricing. Doing so will help plan your costs and allocate your resources.
This guide covers the average offshore call center pricing across countries worldwide. We’ll also discuss the various types of outsourced call centers and why they’re more cost effective.
1. Types Of Call Centers
Before calculating your call center outsourcing budget, know that there’s different types of call centers. Call center services require varying tools, technology, and level of expertise. All of these could have an impact on your offshore outsourcing costs.
Call center operations can be classified into inbound call centers and outbound call centers. Let’s take a closer look.
Inbound Call Centers
Inbound call center agents handle incoming calls. But they may occasionally handle outgoing costs as well.
Below are some of the most common types of inbound call center services:
- Customer support
- IT and technical support
- Order-taking services
- Email support
- Live chat support
- Social media customer support
Inbound call center agents undergo extensive training. They need to provide customer support and attend to and resolve queries. Customers will approach them and make sure their complaints are handled.
Outbound Call Centers
Compared to inbound agents, outbound call center agents take charge of the conversation. They initiate calls to potential or existing customers rather than take calls from them. Outbound call centers mainly do this for sales purposes. In an outbound call, a call center agent promotes a product or service. In some cases, they provide more information about a company’s policies.
- Lead generation
- Telemarketing
- Back office support
- Upselling
- Surveys and feedback
- Customer retention
- Email follow-ups
- Appointment setting
2. Options For Outsourced Call Centers
You’ll have a wide range of options when outsourcing call center services. You may have decided on offshore service. But, it’s still best to know other call center costs to choose a pricing model that best fits your company.
We delve deeper into each model’s to help you develop a baseline figure for your call center budget.
Onshore Vs Offshore Outsourcing
Onshore Outsourcing
Onshore outsourcing is also referred to as domestic outsourcing. Call center services are derived from a third-party company in the same country.
There are no language barriers or time differences in this model. The outsourcing service provider is located nearby or in the same location. This gives you better control of the quality of service provided. Call center agents are also better equipped to handle queries. They can solve problems for and talk to customers who speak the same language.
However, onshore outsourcing can be expensive. The costs are typically higher compared to offshore call centers. Onshore companies also don’t have a broader market to work with. This reduces their reach and limits the number of their potential clients.
Offshore Outsourcing
Meanwhile if you decide to offshore your call center service, you’ll partner with a provider abroad. You may outsource to a neighboring country or to a country located much further geographically.
Generally, you’ll have far cheaper call center pricing models with offshore services. Most countries that provide this service also have lower living and labor costs. They also have more affordable currency exchanges.
The time zone is another advantage of offshore outsourcing. Call center agents abroad can provide 24/7 services to accommodate customers and clients.
However, offshoring also has its fair share of disadvantages. Call center agents deal with more irate customers due to cultural and language barriers. Additionally, businesses will experience a significantly lower degree of control regarding the interactions and the quality of service.
Hourly Vs Pay Per Call
Hourly
The hourly pricing model is the most common payment structure for outsourcing providers. As the name suggests, the pricing is done by computing the hourly rates. These rates vary depending on the wages of the country/region you’re outsourcing to.
Most organizations find the hourly model favorable because it offers more stable and predictable pricing. They won’t have to consider overhead costs, as they’re paying only for the productive time the agents spend on meeting business needs.
In the hourly model, call center agents are disadvantaged because they aren’t paid any incentives. This could hamper their performance and may result in unintended outcomes for your company.
Additionally, there is no way to track employees’ time on unproductive/idle hours. You may not get the best value for your money with this type of model.
Pay-Per-Call
Call centers don’t usually implement the pay-per-call scheme due to its potential downside. As the amount of online calls from leads may vary & the outcome of calls can vary depending on the agent’s capabilities, so they may not receive a stable income. Call centers understand this, which is why they ensure to reward high-performing agents accordingly.
The pay-per-call model is also far costlier on the business end compared to the previous models. Businesses must invest a chunk of their resources into training and onboarding the agents into their policies. And also allowing them for them to be integrated with how the company works to be an efficient operator and provide great customer experience.
To achieve a balance between the hourly and pay-per-call model, call centers will implement a mix of the two through a hybrid model.
In a hybrid model, employees receive a stable income and are also incentivized for their call performance. But, businesses must still allocate a significant investment to this dual payment system.
3. Average Offshore Call Center Prices Per Country In 2022
Now that you know the different types of call center outsourcing, the next step is understanding the average call center rates per month for each country/region (in USD).
- Philippines – $1,280 – $2,240
- India – $800 – $1,440
- Latin America – $1,280 – $2,880
- Canada/US – $3,520 – $5,600
- Western Europe – $6,400 – $8,000
- Eastern Europe – $1,920 – $4,000
- Africa/Middle East – $2,400 – $3,200
- Australia – $5,600 – $8,800
You can save on huge costs by knowing the average price of outsourced services. You can also use this table as a reference when picking an outsourcing destination.
Take note that while these are the average prices, they are variable, and the rates you’ll pay will still depend on several factors, namely:
- Operating hours
- Language capabilities
- Types of technology
- Level of experience & knowledge
- Available contact center services
- Call volume
- And many more
4. Why Is Offshore Outsourcing Cheaper?
Outsourcing has become an affordable alternative for businesses. Instead of training and building an in-house team to handle repetitive and administrative tasks, they delegate these tasks to offshore outsourcing companies. Below, we’ll briefly discuss several reasons that make offshore outsourcing affordable.
Minimal-To-No Training Costs
Companies will have to train in-house call center teams from the ground up to do their tasks efficiently. Thus, businesses must invest more in finding, recruiting, and training talents.
Aside from training costs, businesses will also spend time setting up and running the call center department. These tasks may eat up productive time that their employees would’ve otherwise spent on core business functions.
None of these issues is present when offshoring call center services. Offshoring providers are responsible for training their employees and onboarding them into their clients’ specific business practices. Agents are also trained to be efficient and can be deployed for work in a few days.
Lower Costs Of Living
The top outsourcing destinations in the world are in Asia and generally have lower living costs than North America or Europe. Consequently, the wages are much lower, meaning you’ll work with a favorable currency exchange.
Lower costs don’t necessarily entail substandard services. Offshore call center companies ensure that their services are up to par. Agents also undergo continual training and skills development to meet their clients’ demands.
Minimal Overhead Costs
Many companies will eventually realize that in-house call centers are more expensive than offshoring. They’ll need to allocate funding for:
- Supplies
- Taxes
- Phone bills
- Utilities
- Rent
- Other expenditures.
In contrast, these overhead costs are minimized in outsourcing. With outsourcing, you’ll pay only for the agreed outsourcing package between you and your provider. You will not have to spend on real estate, office rent, electricity, hardware, equipment, and other primary resources.
Conclusion
Before partnering with an offshore service provider, it is advisable to know the costs involved in offshoring. To help you better decide, we listed critical things in this guide, such as the types of outsourcing models and average monthly rates per country. Weigh your options and see which offshore call center scheme works best for your company.
Pure Moderation provides business process outsourcing services to companies worldwide. We offer affordable solutions to help you scale your organization and meet ever-changing customer demands. Inquire now or learn more about our customer care services. From email and live chat to technical and multilingual phone support, our custom-tailored solutions can help your outsourcing needs.
Frequently Asked Questions About Offshore Call Center Pricing
How Much Do BPO Companies Charge?
BPO (Business Process Outsourcing) companies charge varying rates, depending on their client’s services. The cost for subscription-based services can range from as low as USD 6.50 to USD 60 per month based on the countries that BPO companies operate within.
Why Do Companies Outsource Work?
Companies outsource work to grow their operations and cut back on resources. Outsourcing has become a cost-effective business model for scaling organizations.
Why Do Companies Offshore Customer Service?
One main reason for offshoring customer services is to lower costs and divert more time on core operations.
How Many Calls Do Call Centers Take Per Day?
On average, call center agents take up to 3 minutes per call on average and a total of 15 calls per hour. Not all inquiries they receive are solved immediately, as some calls require follow-ups.
What Is The Difference Between Offshore And Nearshore Outsourcing?
Nearshore involves outsourcing to countries located nearby and with similar time zones. For example, a nearshore location for Singapore is Vietnam.
Meanwhile, offshore is outsourcing to far-flung countries with huge time-zone differences. A US-based company may offshore to Vietnam, for example.
This is a very practical and useful article on offshore call center pricing. You provided some clear and transparent information on how to compare different pricing models, what factors affect the cost, and what are the hidden fees to watch out for. You also gave some tips on how to negotiate the best deal and get the most value for your money. I think this is a must-read for anyone who wants to outsource their call center operations.
I appreciated learning how one benefit of outsourcing call center teams is that agents are already trained and efficient and can be deployed for work in days. I’m sure those phone answering agents can handle customer concerns more professionally than we can. That would benefit in customer retention on top of minimal expenses in training.