Howard Sarna, CEO, Oceans Connect; howard.sarna@oceansconnect.com
We still offer the just right mix for UK companies
MUCH has been said about recent threats to the Indian call centre industry — that other countries are catching up, becoming more competitive, keeping costs in check and developing their infrastructures. But India alone continues to offer just the right mix of high skills, cost-effectiveness, cultural affinity, infrastructure investment and political stability to make it an ideal outsourcing destination for UK firms.
Even a decade into India’s dominance as an offshore destination, managers have the luxury of choosing from a vast pool of highly qualified candidates who compete vigorously for positions they see as aspirational. This fierce competition means clients can be sure their business is looked after by well educated, motivated, top-quality staff – while still being able to keep a lid on costs.
And it’s not just that Indian agents are smart. Because of India’s cultural affinity and familiarity with the UK, they may often better relate to their UK customers than agents from other offshore locations. Likewise, British people come into contact with Indian culture every day — whether through Indian friends and neighbours, a love of curry, films like Slumdog Millionaire, or shared sports like cricket.
India is also familiar politically, as a stable democracy (the world’s largest) with strong institutions, and its proven record of political and commercial reliability stands in contrast to some of its competitors.
Finally, India boasts an extensive and cost-effective telecoms infrastructure, which is expected to improve even further as the government prepares to launch a major spending programme.
These strengths have all played a part in the global success story of India’s contact centres. For UK companies, India continues to offer a killer combination of high quality, low costs, familiarity, and reliability. India’s decade of contact centre expertise, investment and expansion should leave clients confident that the industry there continues to go from strength to strength.