Caselet 2: IMC Considers Offshoring Its Call Center
International Manufacturing Corporation (IMC) produces high-quality electronic components for original equipment manufacturers (OEMs). Currently, it costs IMC about $4 million a year to operate a customer service center for its dealers and distributors located worldwide. IMC sales manager Sharon Jones has been reading about her competitors opening call centers in India, the Philippines, and in remote parts of Canada. Jones is reluctant to offshore IMC’s call center, but her department is being pressured to lower its total costs. To learn about her options, Jones contacts NCS International, which provides global site selection services specifically for the call center industry. She discovers that utilizing offshore call centers will lower her department’s cost per call by 75 percent—a huge savings for IMC. But Jones wonders about the negatives she has read about in the newspaper. For example, other firms appear to have experienced the euphoria of saving money initially, only to learn that caller satisfaction and repeat purchases dropped significantly later on. As Jones drives home for the weekend, she ponders how she can make an offshore call center work for IMC.
Questions
1. Even though IMC’s cost per call would decrease, what other costs should Jones consider when making her decision?
2. Do you think some of the countries Jones was thinking about offshoring to would result in potentially less caller dissatisfaction than others?
3. What criteria would you recommend that Jones consider when selecting a potential offshore location?
4. What other factors should Jones weigh as she ponders this major shift in customer service responsibilities?