For many companies, maintaining an in-house customer service team can be costly and time-consuming. With the need for constant labour – even outside of office hours – and a swathe of support and management teams to ensure everything runs smoothly, many brands turn instead to customer service outsourcers. Outsourced customer service providers like CC33 offer experienced, expertly trained teams to answer calls and make outbound calls 24/7. But, with so much to consider when picking a provider, one question almost always pops up: should I choose UK outsourced or offshored customer service?
Here’s the reality: it doesn’t have to be one or the other. A blend of both is usually the best option for most brands. Let’s take a look at why.
Customers expect brands to answer their questions quickly and effectively. In fact, 90% of consumers want an immediate response (less than 10 minutes) when contacting a business. However, many brands are only open 9am-5pm, risking losing their customers and even potentially jeopardising their outbound sales teams. After all, most leads are unlikely to answer a call during the middle of their workday.
But what’s the solution? Extending opening hours is effective but expensive and managing a 24/7 team can quickly become unwieldy. That’s why the ability to operate across different time countries is a huge advantage. By working with a partner in a slightly different time zone (such as South Africa), businesses can offer near-24/7 customer service coverage without overburdening any single team. Outsourcing to a provider that has experience managing both onshore and offshore labour means you’ll be in safe hands for the transition.
Using a blend of teams also opens up your talent pool, allowing you and your provider to be more discerning when employing new agents. UK-based customer service agents are familiar with household name brands and domestic customer expectations, regulations, and nuances. Meanwhile, offshored agents offer fresh perspectives and multilingual capabilities that are often essential in the UK’s diverse market. Many South Africans are fluent in multiple languages, including English, Afrikaans, and other European languages such as French and Portuguese. By strategically allocating multilingual support roles to South African teams, businesses can improve their ability to serve non-English-speaking customers while maintaining cost efficiency.
Being able to tap into employment pools across two countries means you’ll always be able to find experienced and skilled agents, ensuring high quality, seamless customer care and more flexibility. Whether you need to increase labour over a busy period, want to extend your opening hours, or even need immediate cover in an emergency, having access to more agents will allow you to adapt and scale far easier.
One of the main reasons businesses consider offshoring in the first place is cost. The hard truth is that labour is cheaper in many countries than in the UK. And, with customer care requiring so many employees to function at its best, labour costs are a significant consideration for any brand.
The cost savings also vary widely, depending on which country you source your labour from. But, you also don’t want to risk damaging your brand’s reputation by looking too far afield. Whilst countries like India boast very low labour costs, the public perception is also one of negative customer service interactions, language barriers, and poor working conditions.
CC33 works with partners in South Africa to reduce costs for our clients without impacting quality or brand reputation. The average salary for a South African customer care advisor can be as much as 80% less than one in the UK, without even accounting for National Insurance and pension!
However, whilst cost savings are important, businesses must balance it with quality. A purely offshore solution may put your customer care at risk. Miscommunications, complicated management structures, and inconsistent quality checks can all have a negative impact on your overall customer experience. That’s why many back-office operations should remain in the UK.
Data security and quality assurance are non-negotiable aspects of customer service, especially when dealing with sensitive customer information. UK businesses must comply with strict regulations, such as the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), which places significant responsibilities on companies handling customer data.
When it comes to quality assurance and compliance, it’s all about keeping standards consistently high. UK-based managers and quality assurance teams can set up robust monitoring systems to guarantee that every customer interaction meets the highest standards. While offshored agents can handle a large portion of interactions, UK-based quality assurance teams can monitor calls, emails, and chats to ensure high quality, professionalism, and compliance across all sites. On top of this, regular training, performance reviews, and feedback at all locations can help maintain a high standard of service across both teams.
Customer service team location is not a question of either/or; it’s about creating a balanced, strategic approach that utilises the strengths of both. By partnering with expert outsourced providers like CC33, companies can ensure near-24/7 coverage, delivering high-quality, efficient support whilst still reducing costs overall.
The use of offshored teams, particularly from regions like South Africa, opens up a diverse talent pool with multilingual capabilities whilst UK agents bring a wealth of knowledge and expertise about the brands they’re working for. Maintaining key back-office operations in the UK helps safeguard data security and regulatory compliance, ensuring that customer interactions remain professional, secure, and consistent across all locations.
Ultimately, the blend of onshore and offshore customer service enables businesses to balance cost, quality, and innovation effectively. That’s why CC33 invests heavily in our trusted partners in South Africa so we can offer the best approach, bespoke to every client. If you’d like to find out more about CC33, reach out to us to discuss how we can help your business.
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