Blog - call centres are outsourcing to South Africa

Why UK call centres are outsourcing to South Africa

Businesses throughout the UK are making the decision to outsource their call centres to South Africa. In this blog, we look at the reasons why and examine the feasibility of your call centre doing the same. 
There are several reasons why companies are making the decision to outsource their call centre. 

Reduce Costs

The main reason for UK businesses outsourcing call centres to South Africa is to reduce costs. In most scenarios, the cost of running a call centre in the UK is much higher than outsourcing it to another country such as South Africa. This free’s up funds and time for further investment in other areas of the company.
The average call centre agent cost in South Africa is 104,257R (£5607.98) per annum. In the UK the average call centre agent cost is £17,374. That is a saving of £11,766.02‬ per agent making it a huge cost-saving opportunity for call centres.
 

Taken from the South Africa: BPO Value Proposition report by Everest.

Data Protection Inline with UK and EU

Many of South Africa’s data protection laws are based on what’s been set in the UK. This is great news for call centres who need to pay a great deal of attention to data protection and how data is obtained and managed.
Sometimes when call centres outsource to countries who have different Data Protection rules, there is often confusion with agents and this leads to rules being broken.

Modern Telecommunications Infrastructure

South Africa has invested heavily in building a telecoms infrastructure to make sure it can cope with the demands of call centre traffic.
“South Africa’s telecommunications infrastructure is considered to be the best in the continent with a network that is 99.9% digital and includes the latest in fixed-line, wireless, and satellite communication.” In a report from the Everest Group into South Africa’s BPO Value Proposition.

Cultural Fit

English is the main language used in government and business according to SouthAfrica.com. Although it’s not the most popular language in South Africa, English is widely spoken throughout the country.
This makes it ideal for call centres looking to outsource as many people are fluent in English as they can deal with more complex calls better leading to better satisfaction or conversions over non-English speaking countries. This is down to South African’s showing high levels of empathy with callers (which is often the missing ingredient from other countries).
With South Africa only 1 hour ahead of the UK. It makes it easier to communicate with managers to make sure campaigns are running smoothly. So if any issues occur they can be dealt with quickly.

Conclusion

If your call centre is looking to reduce costs and focus more time and money on other areas of your business. Outsourcing your call centre to South Africa is an idea worth exploring. As the culture is pretty similar to the UK, the regulations are inline and with most of the population being fluent in English it could be a fantastic decision to move your call centre.
Larger companies in other sectors such as Amazon, Shell, Barclays, Vodafone and Talk Talk have already tapped into the value of South Africa.
According to research on the BPO value proposition in South Africa from the Everest Group, 73% of services provided to other countries are for call centres.  78% of all services are provided to the UK. So we can already see there is a heavy demand for call centres to be outsourced.
 
Primo Dialler is coming to South Africa between 31st – 11th November. If you would like to book a meeting with us visit the links below or call us on +27 318 650 049 and speak to Abdul.
Durban Meeting
Cape Town
Johannesburg