5 Compelling Reasons to Work With Nearshore Call Centers And Why Colombia Should Be Your Chosen BPO Destination

Customer service continues to be a key competitive differentiator for businesses in 2023. According to Forbes’ Customer Service and CX Predictions for the year, companies should start viewing their customer support team as their “revenue generation department.”

As your sales and marketing team brings in new customers, your CS department ensures that existing buyers will want to do business with you again.

In the past, US companies preferred keeping their customer service in-house, working with onshore call centers, or investing in offshore options. 

Now, there is a rapidly growing market for nearshore call center outsourcing. This solution blends the cost-saving measure provided by offshore call centers with the advantages of having a CS team closer to home.

This article will discuss the benefits of partnering with nearshore call centers and the specific job functions your company can outsource.

Inclusive marketing is shaping up to be the future of marketing. It’s not enough for global businesses to provide customer support in English; their call center agents must also be willing to communicate with buyers in their native language.

Nearshore call centers, especially in South America, like Colombia and Mexico, have a massive population of bilingual workers ready to give your customers the empathetic service they deserve.

One problem that many businesses encounter today is fluctuating consumer demand. During some seasons, your brand may experience a spike in sales, leading to a larger volume of customer calls and feedback.

Meanwhile, depending on your particular industry and business format, some seasons will have fewer sales. By working with an outsourced call center, you can address shifts in demand without disrupting or slowing down your operations.

Regarding customer service, it’s critical for a business and its call center outsourcing team to be on the same page. Your agents act as brand ambassadors, representing your vision, mission, and values with every interaction.

To address these preferences, communicate with your CS team regularly, ensuring they understand your company culture, keeping them updated on the news, and ensuring consistency in brand messaging.

Unlike an offshore call center that may operate in a vastly different time zone, a nearshore outsourcing provider often works in the same time zone. As such, US companies won’t have difficulty scheduling meetings and calls with nearshore call centers, allowing for more accessible communication and collaboration.

In addition, you can more easily travel to and from a nearshore BPO location because of geographic proximity. For example, if you’re from New York, you can easily hop on a 4-and-a-half-hour flight to Medellin, Colombia, while a 6-hour flight can get you to Bogota.

Compared to working with an offshore outsourcing partner, one of the main advantages of working with an outsourced call center in a neighboring country is that you will usually speak the same language and have greater cultural familiarity.

For example, a US business may partner with a nearshore call center in Colombia. Because the two countries have close historical and economic ties, Colombian workers are already familiar with American culture. They will have no problem adapting to the needs and preferences of US consumers.

Colombian people are also renowned worldwide for being hospitable, friendly, and hard-working, with many agents being naturally suited for customer-facing roles.

For many businesses, being able to save money is the main reason for working with BPOs in nearshore countries over investing in onshore call centers.

Despite the reduction in labor costs, businesses can still expect quality service from a nearshore CS team. According to the 2022 Offshore BPO Confidence Index, business leaders reported confidence in the country’s capacity to provide professional customer experience (CX) managers, executives, and front-line agents.

Read More: Why Nearshoring to Colombia Is an Excellent Strategic Option for US Businesses

Now that you understand the benefits of outsourcing call center services to a nearshore provider, you may wonder which nearby country can best serve your needs. Colombia is quickly becoming the go-to nearshore BPO location for many US companies.

Here’s why you should consider working with a call center in Colombia:

As a multicultural nation, Colombia has a massive bilingual population. Although Spanish remains the country’s official language, Colombians are taught to speak English as early as elementary school, eliminating any language barriers between an American enterprise and its Colombian BPO partner.

In addition, more US companies realize the benefits of multilingual support. According to Forbes, 13% of Americans speak Spanish at home. Experts also predict that 1 in 3 people in the United States will know how to speak Spanish by 2050.

Companies can hire a nearshore call center in Colombia to cater to the growing Spanish-speaking market in the United States to provide bilingual customer service

Colombia can be an excellent strategic option for US businesses looking to establish call center operations in a nearby country. Even as the country recovered from the effects of the pandemic, its economy remained stable and grew 5.5% in 2022. Industry analysts predict Colombia’s economy will grow by 3.1% this year.

Additionally, the Colombian government is investing in the BPO sector by offering investors favorable regulations and tax incentives. This way, global enterprises can take advantage of the country’s plentiful labor supply and cost-effective services while more Colombian workers attain gainful employment with comprehensive benefits.

Read More: How Nearshoring in Colombia Helps Businesses Address IT and Software Development Shortages

Unlike offshore call centers, nearshore outsourcing providers tend to be already more familiar with American customs, lifestyles, and cultural nuances. Colombian BPOs, in particular, are often the go-to nearshore call center services for many US enterprises.

Since Colombia and the United States share the same or similar time zones, you can rest easy knowing that there will always be agents ready to answer calls during hours most convenient for American consumers. Ideally, call centers would also have agents who work overnight shifts to ensure 24/7 coverage.

There’s a reason why Colombia is known as the Silicon Valley of Latin America. The country features robust technological infrastructure and a rapidly growing tech workforce. Colombia’s information technology sector accounts for over 10% of the country’s economy.

Colombia has the third-largest and fastest-growing tech workforce in the Latin American region. You can tap into this massive pool of IT support workers by partnering with a nearshore call center in Colombia.

In addition to providing typical call center jobs like customer service or IT support roles, Colombia also has a wealth of virtual assistants.

VAs can take on many responsibilities, including scheduling meetings, processing documents and files, communicating with clients through phone or email, and other administrative or support tasks.

Colombian people are known for their incredible work ethic, penchant for thoughtfulness and courtesy, and punctuality. When you hire a Colombian VA, you can be sure they’ll handle your clerical tasks professionally and promptly while showing your customers the respectful and empathetic service they deserve.

As of 2023, Colombia has a population of 52,269,109, making it the third-largest population in its region. The country also has a 59.80% labor participation rate, with about 500,000 members belonging to the BPO industry.

If you need assistance finding and hiring qualified talents for your large-scale operations, hiring Colombian recruiters can help you get the job done. They can tap into their nation’s massive talent pool and widen your job search to access skilled talents beyond your borders.

Aside from customer service, IT, and recruitment roles, many nearshore call centers also provide project management services. Project managers are instrumental in helping businesses plan and organize various projects, making sure these are completed on time and within budget.

Industry analysts estimate that US employers will need about 87.7 million project managers by 2027. Since project management requires close collaboration between team members, working with a nearshore call center may be the ideal solution for businesses hoping to lower costs while still requiring real-time remote interaction.

For many companies, cultural similarities and geographical proximity can be essential to elevating their customer service. As you begin reinventing your customer care strategy this 2023, it’s crucial first to find an experienced BPO partner that can offer the outsourcing solution that works best for you.

Partner with a reliable nearshore call center in Colombia as much as possible. Ideally, your provider will help you increase efficiency and reduce costs while providing customizable and scalable call center services that fit your business needs.