Customer service outsourcing

I read an article titled "The Ethics of Outsourcing Customer Service" by one Dr. Bruce Weinstein in the Businessweek issue of September 27, 2007. I am rather surprised that a magazine of the stature of Businessweek allows such articles to be published in its pages. I am giving my views on the issue below:
BPO is done by giant western companies to save on costs. In a highly competitive environment, high cost economies have no choice. If they do not outsource some functions they may not survive. Hence, it is purely a business, commercial and an economic decision and there is nothing unethical about it. There will be loss of local jobs in such cases and it has to be accepted in a globalized economy. No point in cribbing about it. The problem is people like Weinstein want to have the cake and eat it too. Globalization is a double edged sword. It cuts both ways. How is it Japanese do not outsource much and still maintain their competitive edge ? How is it high technology companies like Microsoft, Google, Yahoo and Adobe do well outsourcing their work to low cost economies ? Where is the value addition taking place ? Mattell has recalled millions of toys made in China claiming too much of lead in the paints. What was its QA department doing ? Similarly, Chinese made cough syrup was supposed to contain some poison which led to deaths of 115 people in Panama. How did the local FDA permit such a drug to be marketed ? I have no axe to grind for China and it is a well known fact that Chinese goods are of poor quality. If you want good quality you must monitor the production and reject poor quality goods before it leaves the shores. This is locking the stable after the horse has bolted. This is management at its worst.
It is the responsibility of the company that is outsourcing to keep the quality of its product or service high. That needs follow-up, monitoring and good management. Delegation is not abdication. Unfortunately, in practice it is abdication of responsibility and why blame the BPO service provider ? If I write about a bad experience I had with the credit card division of a giant British bank, a top global 100 brand, it would be horror story of the third degree. I was dealing with its BPO, who had no answers to my queries and I had no direct access to the bank. I was abroad and corresponding by e-mail. I had to repeat the same thing again and again because every e-mail was attended to by a different person. The BPO was acting as a filter and I incurred losses because of that. I gave up, but the minute I get a chance I will switch.
The author claims that there is nothing racial about his comments. But unfortunately, the unmistakable racial overtone in the article exists. Why is it some authors always make such things a racial issue ? While it is not possible to remove all inbuilt prejudices, mind is like a parachute. It will work only when open.
Why can't companies tell their customers clearly that their service is outsourced and met by people in low cost countries ? Why do companies ask their BPO personnel to adopt an American or a British accent ? Why pretend to be what you are not ? Customers will appreciate the company's honesty.
You cannot expect a foreigner to have an American or a British accent. It is foolish to do so. Moreover accent has nothing to do with good customer service. You can find people poor at oral communications in every country and even in your own backyard.
Does Weinstein know that many Americans cannot communicate properly. Most foreigners cannot understand their nasal twang or southern drawl. A lot of CSRs are poor at written communications and use local slang which may not be acceptable to foreigners. As against this most BPOs from developing countries are fairly good at written communications. The problem is in technical areas where they may not have been trained.
Good customer service requires right attitudes, involvement and commitment. A BPO employee in customer service will never be as committed and involved as your own employee. They receive thousands of calls at odd and ungodly hours. Most of them are very young and inexperienced. They are given standard templates to reply like parrots. They have no discretionary powers. They are straitjacketed and have clear do's and don'ts. Do you expect a human being to behave like a robot ?
A BPO employee will never have in-depth knowledge of your business. It would be unwise to expect that.
The BPO personnel are generally poorly trained. They have limited product knowledge. We did a customer satisfaction survey of top 100 global brands. All top brands which had outsourced customer service came out poorly. But it must be understood that most customers do not have high expectations. They get overawed by the size of the brands and companies they are dealing with. As a result, big brands and companies get away with blue murder, except for a few.
The comments about Dell Computers in the Businessweek' s web site shows that. But why single out Dell ? It was the best computer maker a decade ago. All computer companies are in the same boat and this problem will touch all companies operating in a highly competitive environment. It is only a question of time and when.
The author is barking up the wrong tree and seems to be highly confused and mixed up, though he is right about the problem. He has taken his eyes of the ball, lost focus and seems to suffer from a blurred and myopic vision.
What is the problem ? The problem is poor customer service. Weinstein must understand that the BPO employees try their best to satisfy their callers, but you cannot expect them to do something which they do not know or are not trained. My comments on the above article posted at the Businessweek' s web site is given below:
Sep 29, 2007 1:05 PM GMT
The author has used a wrong word. Ethics has nothing to do with good customer service. Accent or color has got nothing to do with good customer service. The racial overtone in the article is unmistakable when he uses the term "colored people." However, I am a firm believer that customer service should not be outsourced because the company is no longer close to the customer. Please see my article 'In Search of Excellence - Revisited' at www.evancarmichael.com
I repeat what I have said earlier a number of times in our pages. BPO is suitable for clerical and such jobs which need no interaction with customers. It is a back office function. However, outsourcing customer service will bring disaster in the long run because a company is no longer close to the customer. Customer service is a front office function and a very important one at that. Customer service should be manned by your best people, not by the most available.

© Copyright, Oct-07 . www.madgopes.com . Without prejudice. All rights reserved

Customer service outsourcing - To learn more about this author, visit Madhavan T Gopalachary's Website.

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