NEW YORK CITY (TMC Net) May 5, 2006 — Charter
Communications Inc., the nation's fourth-largest cable company, has recently
announced that it’s outsourcing some call center jobs to Canada and Mexico
as part of a strategy “to coordinate traffic among centers to better handle
both projected and unexpected calling demand,” according to a recent article
in the St. Louis Post-Dispatch.
Charter is setting up "centers of excellence," according to the
Post-Dispatch, which will “specialize in handling different types of
calls based on the service a customer is calling about – television service,
Internet access or telephone service.”
Neil Smit, Charter's chief executive, told the newspaper that the new
structure "enhances our ability to share the information and the best
practices" across its centers nationwide.
They’re not the only ones either. Mexico has been growing as a destination
for outsourced American call centers.
Numbers tell part of the story. The growing
number of Hispanics in the United States are retaining their language more
than most immigrants do. The Census Bureau reports that as of July 2002
there were 38.8 million Hispanics in the US, compared with 35.3 million in
2000 – Hispanics account for one-half or 3.5 million of the 6.9 million
total population growth from April 2000 to July 2002. The trend continues
today.
And over half of American Hispanics are
Mexican in origin. There are significant cultural differences between
Mexicans and other Hispanics, too, so it makes sense to locate call centers
in Mexico to try to reach the millions upon millions of American Mexicans.
Cubans, Dominicans and other Hispanics prefer different sales and service
approaches and techniques to Mexicans as well – imagine Americans trying to
sell to more reserved Brits for an approximate analogy.
Labor costs are another factor in Mexico’s
favor, as they are about in the middle of Latin America – generally a bit
higher than Argentina, but lower than Chile or Costa Rica. One industry
executive estimated that locating a call center in Mexico saves 20 percent
to 25 percent of the costs of an American-based one.
But a call center located in Mexico has
another huge advantage call centers located elsewhere in Latin America might
not have. Many Mexicans, especially those in northern cities such as
Monterey, have experience of American culture and American Hispanic culture,
they understand nuances and subtleties call center workers in Argentina or
the Dominican Republic might not be as quick to grasp.
Mexicans tend to be bilingual as well, so
provide a “two for one” value, so to speak.
