Nearshoring, offshoring, onshoring—when it comes to outsourcing, does location really matter?

Picking the right outsourcing partner should be a careful decision. Yet, too many companies simply choose the cheapest or the easiest option they come across.

However, with the rise in outsourcing—and especially the rise in nearshoring in particular—it’s important to understand the pros and cons of each option before you lock yourself into a contract.

Working with a nearby partner can have heaps of benefits—but is nearshoring the right choice for you? In this article, we’ll outline the advantages of nearshore outsourcing, as well as how to consider quality control and risk management, so you can choose a partner that can deliver the results you’re looking for.

Understanding Nearshore Call Center Outsourcing

First, what is nearshoring, and how does it compare to onshoring and offshoring?

Nearshoring is a BPO outsourcing solution that allows organizations to outsource non-essential business processes to less expensive talent regions without geographically distributing your business too broadly. In short: nearshoring involves working with an outsourced team in a geographically nearby country, as opposed to hiring domestically or outsourcing to a different region.

Offshoring, by contrast, involves outsourcing to a geographically distant region. For US-based businesses, this is most often India or the Philippines. Onshoring, then, refers to work that is outsourced domestically.

While each of these outsourcing solutions offers distinct benefits and drawbacks, nearshoring offers a myriad of unique benefits that offer a great balance between the benefits of onshoring while reducing the drawbacks of offshoring. In this way, it often acts as a “best-of-both-worlds” solution for businesses who want to reduce costs and improve flexibility, while still prioritizing alignment, communication and quality performance from their outsourcing team.

In the next section, we’ll highlight some of the biggest advantages to using a nearshore call center.

5 Advantages of Using a Nearshore Call Center

Outsourcing offers many benefits for growing companies. Not only do you benefit from additional expertise and added resources, but those resources typically come at a lower cost than hiring in-house. And, as more and more companies and teams become increasingly distributed and remote, managing outsourced teams feels easier than ever.

With that said, does it really matter where your outsourcing partner is located?

Location does matter—and in some cases, it can make or break your outsourcing partnership. To start, here’s five benefits of working with an outsourcing partner that’s nearby.

Similar Time Zones

One of the main advantages nearshoring has in comparison to offshoring—and even some onshoring options!—is the benefit of similar time zones. While offshoring companies usually have an 8-12 hour time difference, nearshoring companies are typically located in Mexico or Central America, where the time zone is likely only an hour or two different—if at all—from your company.

In some cases, it may be even easier to work with a nearshoring partner than an onshoring partner. For example, a Los Angeles firm working with a partner in New York would have a larger time zone gap than an LA-based firm working with a nearshoring partner in Hermosillo, Mexico, which is in the same time zone as LA.

And of course, similar business hours offers many benefits:

• better communication and collaboration
• easier overlap for meetings and calls (no 2am phone calls to the Philippines!)
• easy expansion into extended hours service for your customers
• more clarity on working hours expectations

Proximity

Similarly, working with a nearshoring partner offers you the benefit of proximity. Not only is this helpful for time zones (see above), but it’s also helpful for in-person collaboration, quality control and your involvement as a partner.

When you want to travel to your outsourcing provider to provide training or oversee quality of day-to-day operations, would you rather take a quick flight to Mexico, or a 15-hour flight to the Philippines? The bottom line is: the easier it is to meet face-to-face, the more you’ll do so. And the more you meet face-to-face, the more you can be involved, collaborate with your outsourcing provider, ensure alignment on quality standards and get the results you’re looking for.

Cost-Savings

Nearshoring is one of the most cost-effective outsourcing solutions. Of course, that doesn’t mean it’s the cheapest. However, the old adage rings true in outsourcing as it does in other areas: you typically get what you pay for.

With nearshoring, you reap the benefits of cost-savings by hiring employees who live in areas with lower costs of living. While it’s much cheaper than hiring domestically, you still get high-quality employees who are familiar with US language and culture.

In addition, with nearshoring, your outsourcing partner handles business needs and expenses such as recruitment, training, benefits, equipment, office leases, software and other related contact center costs. Since these overhead costs are much lower when nearshoring compared to working in-house or domestically, you benefit from cost (and time!) savings in tangential expenses as well.

Flexibility

Of course, flexibility and scalability are two major benefits of any outsourcing partnership. But nearshoring partners provide an optimal balance in terms of flexibility and scalability. How? Nearshoring offers you:

• the ability to hire more easily, outside of the ebbs and flows of the US labor market
• a wider talent market with more employees available
• flexibility to scale agent numbers up or down easily, as they’re employed by your outsourcing provider and not in-house
• pay-for-what-you-use payment plan options, allowing you to optimize costs
• more flexible service terms than offshoring (generally)
• ability to offer 24/7 or extended hours coverage

The increased flexibility that comes with outsourcing to a nearshore partner is a major benefit for companies who want to be nimble and agile as they grow.

Communication and Collaboration

One of the biggest perceived downsides of outsourcing is language or communication barriers between agents and customers. While this is a common problem with offshoring clients, it’s less so for nearshore employees. After all, many employees at nearshore outsourcing providers have spent time studying or working in the US and are familiar with linguistic nuances, customs and preferences.

In addition, not only are nearshore employees more well-versed in English, but they also typically are fluent in other languages that are important for a US consumer base as well. For example, many Latin American employees will speak Spanish or French, two languages that are commonly spoken in the US as well.

Working with nearshore providers means you can expand your customer service to offer more bilingual options, which can make customers feel seen and understood—literally!—thus improving customer satisfaction and loyalty.

Quality Control and Performance Monitoring

When it comes to an outsourcing partnership, finding ways to manage quality and monitor performance is a must.

What does that look like with a nearshoring partner?

For one, the proximity of a nearshore partner naturally offers more control. You can be more involved since it’s easier to collaborate across similar time zones, or even go visit and be a part of developing systems, overseeing workflows and managing processes. In addition, nearshoring partners’ familiarity with culture and communication makes quality and performance easier to maintain as well.

However, even if you’re not flying down to your nearshoring provider’s center every week, current call center technology makes it easy to oversee things remotely. For example, many cloud-based contact center platforms allow you to access dashboards, review calls and operational data, and perform other quality checks from anywhere with internet access.

Nearshore Call Center Outsourcing: Cost and Risk Considerations

Of course, any type of outsourcing or business partnership is not without risk. However, understanding how to manage and mitigate that risk is a key component of finding the right outsourcing partnership for your organization.

For example, while nearshoring provides cost savings compared to offshoring, it also often provides a less risky option. When your outsourcing partner is located near your place of operation, they’re likely to be more familiar with US-based businesses, laws, and regulatory considerations.

When looking for an outsourcing partner, ensure that they have the proper certifications and regulatory or compliance verifications to mitigate risk for your business. For example, all contact centers should, at the most basic, be PCI-compliant and SOC-2 compliant. There may be other certifications or compliance regulations relevant to your industry as well, such as HIPAA.

In addition, asking for testimonials and looking at case studies and reviews from previous or current clients will give you insight into your potential outsourcing partner and their level of risk management. While nearshoring will naturally lower some risk, it’s essential to still vet providers carefully.

Nearshoring offers a host of benefits for companies looking to outsource—but is it right for your company? If the benefits discussed above sound advantageous to your organization, consider reading our full guide on nearshoring and how to decide if it’s the right choice for your brand.

When you’re ready to get started with a nearshoring partner—or if you just want to talk to someone about how nearshoring can help your brand and business goals specifically—connect with an expert from ROI CX Solutions today. We can help you choose the best outsourcing provider for exceptional customer experiences that get your team results.

Nearshore call centers are becoming increasingly popular among businesses looking to outsource or scale their customer support operations. Whether you need a call center for outbound sales and marketing, inbound customer service, or technical customer support, an outsourced call center can provide these services—and the ability to easily scale the number of agents you have up or down as demand shifts throughout the year. 

As opposed to offshoring or onshoring, nearshoring refers to call centers that are located in a foreign country that’s still nearby to the company’s headquarters. For example, a US-based company might use a nearshore call center in Mexico or Puerto Rico. There’s a wide range of benefits from outsourcing to a nearshore company, from the talent prospects to the time-savings of outsourcing to a knowledgeable team to the cost-savings of offshoring talent. 

To give you a better understanding of which outsourcing option is best for your company, we’ll outline the pros and cons of nearshore call centers and contrast them with other popular outsourcing options as well as hiring in-house. Keep reading to see which makes the most sense for your goals and needs. 

Nearshore Call Centers – Pros and Cons

Nearshore call centers are a great benefit for many companies looking to expand their customer service, scale up or down accordingly in different seasons or provide an improved customer experience. While nearshore call centers are more expensive than offshoring, they also provide a host of benefits you won’t find through other outsourcing options—namely, proximity, affordable pricing, talent, a great labor market, and stronger infrastructure. 

Pro: Proximity

Nearshore call centers’ proximity to the US is a huge benefit. In today’s connected and ever-more-globalized world, it may seem like location doesn’t matter, but consider: 

• If you need to travel to your outsourcing partner’s location for training or management, would you rather fly to Mexico or India? 
• Very distant call centers can have you taking meetings and conference calls in the middle of the night (normal business hours for them). 
• Staggeringly different time zones can significantly slow down communication and implementation processes, causing delays in your work and results 
• Call centers who are closer to the US typically have agents who are more familiar with US culture and languages, and may have even lived or worked in the US before. 

As you can imagine, having a call center that is closer in proximity to your business headquarters makes communication, collaboration and management much easier. Not to mention, it often delivers a better experience for customers, since agents will be more familiar with US customs and cultural nuances. 

Pro: Affordable Pricing

Nearshoring is often initially appealing for its affordable pricing. Nearshore outsourcing can be 30% – 50% cheaper than hiring in-house or domestically, and, as a result, has grown in popularity in recent years among businesses looking to scale affordably in a tight market. 

Even better: while nearshoring is more affordable than working domestically, it also provides a great value for the cost. For many companies, paying a premium for onshore employees doesn’t yield better results, additional services or better technology or communication. The proximity of nearshore companies to the US means that new technology is often adopted quickly, and additional services and features are often even easier for nearshore companies to offer. 

Pro: Talent & a Great Labor Market

Taking advantage of a nearshore call center also means you get to take advantage of nearshore labor markets. With the current US labor market making hiring and retaining in-house teams difficult (and expensive!), nearshore markets provide top-notch talent at a more affordable rate. You won’t have to worry about the fluctuations in the US—in fact, you won’t have to worry about sourcing or hiring at all, because your call center can take care of hiring and maintaining the entire team on your behalf. 

Not to mention that many nearshore call centers have access to highly skilled, well-qualified employees. One great benefit of nearshoring is that many employees will be multilingual—and often in languages that are very relevant for a US audience. For example, nearshoring in Mexico, Puerto Rico or Canada means you can have access to agents who speak Spanish or French as well as English—perfect for growing multinational companies. 

Pro: Stronger Infrastructure

Nearshoring also provides companies with a partner that has availability to a stronger infrastructure than offshoring. Nearshoring companies are often located in modern cities and areas with strong internet and infrastructure to provide your company with consistent support. 

Offshoring companies may be located in areas with weaker infrastructure, or they may be less adapted to implement the newest technologies. Less developed countries are also often more susceptible to political or socioeconomic risks that nearshoring companies will have developed infrastructure around. 

Of course, one major benefit of outsourcing offshore rather than domestically is taking advantage of more competitively priced infrastructure and resources—however, it’s important that you don’t shortchange yourself by simply settling for the cheapest option. As with many variables, nearshoring strikes a balance between reliable and cost-effective infrastructure so you can support your domestic operations.

Con: More expensive than offshoring

While nearshoring is an affordable option and, in many cases, much more cost-effective than onshoring, it’s not the cheapest option available. In most cases, offshoring is cheaper than nearshoring, particularly when it comes to per-agent costs. In addition, overhead and other fees are typically cheaper when offshoring as well. 

However, keep in mind that you get what you pay for, especially when it comes to outsourcing. And when you’re outsourcing an essential part of your business—that is, the customer experience—do you really want to scrape the bottom of the barrel for the cheapest option available? 

Companies who are looking to improve and optimize their customer service definitely shouldn’t—which is why nearshoring is becoming increasingly popular. It enables you to budget effectively while still providing excellent customer service and support. 

Nearshore Call Centers vs Offshore Call Centers

While nearshore call centers are located in a country near the one of business operations, offshore call centers are typically located in a country far from the business headquarters, and often somewhere that shares little in common, culturally or linguistically, with the business’ audience. For example, many offshore call centers are located in India, the Philippines, or elsewhere in Southeast Asia. 

While many businesses may opt for offshoring due to the affordability, nearshoring is a great alternative that offers more benefits while still being cost-effective. Not sure which is right for your company? Take a look at some of the comparisons between nearshoring and offshoring:

While offshoring is usually the cheapest option, it’s important to keep in mind that you do get what you pay for in most instances. Since offshoring companies are usually located quite far from your business headquarters, you typically need a higher level of trust to work well long-term with them since the lack of proximity means you’ll have less control. Unfortunately, for many businesses, lack of transparency and difficult communication across multiple time zones means that it’s difficult to build a trusting relationship. 

As a result, when working with offshore call center partners, it’s essential to define your values and goals very clearly before signing a contract. Ensure that the call center is a good culture fit, and has the experience and capability to meet your needs. 

On the other hand, nearshoring often eliminates many of these problems. The closer proximity of nearshore call centers means there’s fewer communication barriers—between your businesses and between them and your customers. In addition, the proximity means you can have more transparency into the call center, more easily travel there for training or management, and often makes it easier to work together seamlessly. 

While you should still carefully define value, culture and goals prior to signing a contract with any outsourcing or business partner, a nearshoring partner is more likely to align with your business goals and culture and create an effective working partnership. 

Nearshore agents typically have more familiarity with the US—for many, they’ve lived, worked or studied in the US—and are more culturally and linguistically fluent. This means that your customers will have an easier customer experience, which leads to greater customer satisfaction and retention. 

Nearshore Call Centers vs Onshore Call Centers

Nearshoring is also a popular alternative to onshore call centers. Where nearshoring centers are located nearby but in a different country, onshoring call centers are located in the same country as the business looking to outsource. The biggest difference between many nearshore and onshore call centers comes down to cost. 

Companies for whom budget is no concern may choose onshoring simply because it’s the easiest option. However, for companies who want to improve or prioritize customer experience in a more cost-effective way, nearshoring can be an appealing—and still just as effective—option. For example, take a look at some of the differences:

One of the main benefits of onshoring is that it provides a level of (at least perceived) security for high-risk companies or companies who have to adhere to many levels of compliance. For example, healthcare organizations, financial and banking institutions and so on all have many layers of legal compliance, privacy concerns and data security to manage. Outsourcing can open up concerns about adherence to US laws, customs and compliance, as well as raise data privacy or cybersecurity issues. For some companies, keeping all operations within the US helps provide some level of security. 

However, it’s important to keep in mind that onshoring doesn’t completely eliminate risk of compliance or privacy issues—after all, cybersecurity attacks can and do happen anywhere. And while onshoring can have less risk, nearshoring companies are often extremely aware and familiar of US customs and laws and have special processes in place to ensure they’re adhering to them at all times. 

All that to say—onshoring ensures that your outsourcing stays within the United States, that may not be as important as you may think. In addition, depending on your location, nearshore call centers may be a closer geographical option. For example, a Texas company working with a Mexican call center could share a closer proximity (and the same time zone!) rather than working with a call center in New York or Seattle. 

With onshoring, you pay a premium for a higher level of cultural familiarity. The question you have to ask yourself is, is this worth it? For many companies, nearshoring offers an excellent balance between affordability and quality. 

Nearshore Call Centers vs In-House Call Centers

Nearshoring is also a good alternative to having an in-house call center. Of the four options (offshoring, nearshoring, onshoring and in-house), managing an in-house call center is typically the most expensive and time-consuming option. 

After all, with an in-house team, you have to manage all the sourcing and recruiting, hiring, training, management, and so on yourself, all while providing workspaces, technology licenses, overhead and more. But is outsourcing worth it? Take a look at the benefits comparison chart:

For companies who don’t have the time, resources or expertise to manage an entire call center or customer service operations in-house, nearshoring is the option with the best balance of affordability and quality. However, for some companies, in-house teams can offer some benefit, particularly around control of quality and compliance. 

If you need to have complete control of the management of your call center team, there’s no better way to do than hosting your team in-house. However, even with an outsourced team, there’s still plenty of ways to be involved with day-to-day management, overall quality and the strategy and direction of your team. The key is not necessarily whether your team is in-house or outsourced, but rather in being thorough in vetting outsourcing partners and ensuring you find a team that can merge well with your internal teams and systems.

At the end of the day, it’s a trade-off: you have to know which is more important for your company—saving valuable time and expense by outsourcing some of your business needs, or maintaining the control of having everything in house at a greater cost?

With in-house teams, there’s also the question of hiring and expertise: do you have experts in customer experience and customer service that you can hire for in-house positions? If not, it may be more beneficial to outsource these essential processes to experts who can work as an extension of your team. Additionally, the cost and difficulty of hiring and maintaining a team in the current US labor market is enough to deter some companies from managing their customer service in house. 

So, which is right for you?

While offshoring, onshoring and in-house teams each provide their own benefits, many companies would do well to consider nearshoring as a viable option that provides a myriad of benefits. From proximity and expertise to high-quality technology and infrastructure, all while being cost-effective and cheaper than hiring domestically, nearshoring is a great option for teams looking to improve their call center operations. 

To learn more about nearshoring, reach out to our team of experts to see how ROI CX Solutions can provide flexibility and support for your growing business.

Ready to outsource your call center, customer service or another business process, but not sure where to find the right partner for your business? 

Choosing the right nearshoring company for your business doesn’t have to be a mystery. In fact, there’s just a few important variables you need to look for—and some equally important ones to avoid. Rather than trying to weigh every single option, we’re here to help you make sense of which ones matter most for the long run. 

What to look for when choosing a nearshoring company

When choosing a nearshoring company, many companies focus primarily on finding a company who can provide them the services they need at the lowest cost possible. However, competing solely on cost is a losing game. Although cost is certainly an important element of any business partnership, there’s a number of other important variables to look out for when considering which nearshoring company to partner with. 

Experience within your industry

This is an often overlooked quality when choosing a nearshoring company. It’s important to find a nearshoring company that has experience within your industry, whether that’s banking, retail, IT or something else altogether. 

In addition to general experience with your industry and your demographic of customers, it’s also a good idea to make sure that your potential nearshoring partner has proven experience driving results for companies like yours, or those within your industry. After all, experience doesn’t mean much if it can’t drive results. 

To determine the experience and quality of your nearshoring company, look for: 

• case studies on their website that demonstrate results they’ve driven or systems they’ve implemented. 
• testimonials from current or past clients. 
• look at their website or other content to get a sense of their knowledge, processes and solutions. Does their expertise seem evident? 

Talented teams

If a nearshoring company has excellent experience, results and testimonials, it’s almost certain that they have a talented team as well. However, ensuring that team members are well-trained and good at what they do is a great cross-check for overall experience. 

After all, it’s their team members who will be interacting with your customers day in and day out. When evaluating a nearshoring company as a potential partner, it’s important to understand how they recruit, hire and train employees. 

For example, at ROI Solutions, we have specialized HR teams, including recruiters, at local nearshore organizations that focus solely on initial candidate interviews, candidate background checks and English proficiency evaluations. All final employee candidates are also reviewed by both local and US-based leadership. Our process ensures that we create and employ a high-quality team that can care for your customers and supplement your business operations with excellence. 

Effective management and communication

Finally, when choosing a nearshoring company, look for a company that has effective management and communication. 

Communication can easily be assessed during the search process. For example: 

• How easy is it to connect with them when you have questions? How thorough are their answers to your questions? 
• How easy or difficult is it to schedule a call or an in-person meeting? 
• When you meet together, do you feel understood? Are your questions answered clearly? Is any follow-up information or paperwork sent promptly after the meeting, or do you have to follow-up multiple times to get what you need? 

These things are often overlooked in the search process in favor of prioritizing cost or features, but if communication is difficult during the search process, it almost certainly won’t get easier once you sign a contract. And difficult communication or poor management will not only slow down your workflow, but will hamper results for your team.

Language capabilities

One of the biggest benefits of hiring a nearshore call center is to take advantage of bilingual or multilingual language capabilities. For companies who want to outsource processes like customer service or customer support, nearshoring can be a great balance of bilingual support and proficient English. 

For example, agents in nearshoring companies in places like Mexico, Puerto Rico and Canada are typically fluent in English and very familiar with American culture. Many of them will have lived, worked or studied for some time in the US as well. However, they’re also often fluent in Spanish, French or Portuguese—languages that are becoming increasingly common for US customers as well as global companies. 

If your company is global or multinational, ensure that your nearshoring partner has agents with both proficient English skills as well as proficiency in other languages that are important for your markets. Being able to scale your customer service with the same nearshoring partner will be a huge benefit. 

Technical and support needs

Of course, you also need a company that can effectively meet your needs and provide results for your current goals. Each nearshoring company will likely offer slightly different services and specialities, so it’s important to get clear on what your goals and needs are before going into the process, so you can look for a nearshoring company with these things in mind. 

In addition to services and support offerings, technological support and expertise is also an essential factor in a good partner. Ensure that any potential partners use and are trained in best-in-class technology and are able to integrate into your current technology stack, as relevant. 

As you look for nearshoring partners that can drive results for your goals, be sure to: 

• Look at the FAQ or services pages on their website to ensure they have experience with and processes for the types of nearshoring support you’ll need. For example, if they’re an award-winning call center, but you’re looking for omnichannel support, it might not be a match.
• See if they focus mostly on their domestic market or US-based, global or multinational businesses. Smaller, more locally-focused nearshoring companies may lack larger technological solutions or be more unfamiliar with US-based laws, policies and procedures. 
• Ask about their technology stack and how it will integrate with your current tools and products. The onboarding process will be much smoother and faster if your nearshoring partner has the technological solutions to integrate seamlessly into your current processes. 

What to avoid when choosing a nearshoring company

Just as important in knowing what to look for is knowing what to avoid. All too often, it’s easy to get caught up in bells and whistles while missing key red flags that will cause trouble down the line in a partnership. 

As such, here’s what to be aware of and take care to avoid when choosing a nearshoring company.   

Not doing your research and planning in advance

Too often, companies are busy and choose an outsourcing vendor based on a limited number of criteria that ends up with them stuck in unproductive partnerships. As a result, they end up wasting more time and money than had they carefully chosen a beneficial partner in the first place. 

However, given that you’re reading this article, you already are well on your way to completing this first step. Ensure that you’re doing the proper research and planning before choosing a nearshoring company by: 

• Comparing companies and vendors in multiple nearshoring locations to understand the options, services and prices available to you 
• Weighting the importance of various selection criteria as it relates to your company, to ensure you give appropriate weight to the most important variables 
• Discuss onboarding, implementation and performance expectations before you sign a contract, to avoid any unpleasant surprises or key missing pieces too late. 

The more work you can do upfront to ensure you’re aligned in terms of performance, results, goals, solutions, and so on, the better. 

Lack of experience or testimonials

A lack of experience or testimonials doesn’t just signal that the company might be new to the industry, but can signal all kinds of other problems: 

• a lack of long-term partnerships 
• difficulty securing or keeping clients 
• high turnover among agents, causing lagging experience 
• ineffective processes or systems 

In addition, overlooking the fact that a specific outsourcing vendor lacks experience in your industry can mean that your results take longer to materialize. After all, each industry has its own best practices and what works for one industry may not work for another. 

Finally, don’t overlook certifications—or lack thereof—from an outsourcing partner. For example, any call center or customer service outsourcing should have, at minimum, certified PCI compliance. Of course, in some industries, such as healthcare or banking, there are other certifications that are a must as well (such as HIPAA compliance). Other certifications are a sign that this vendor really has experience you can trust.   

Not aligning on culture or values

While tangible variables such as cost and services are often emphasized during the selection process, don’t forget about important intangible benefits as well! For call center and customer service outsourcing, this is particularly important, as soft skills such as empathy and patience can make or break a customer service experience. 

As a result, it’s essential to ensure that your outsourcing partner is aligned with you in terms of culture and values. For a long-term partnership, cultural fit is a must so your outsourcing partners can accurately reflect and represent your brand. 

To ensure you align on culture and values, try: 

• Having a representative from the outsourcing partner visit your company to meet and talk with various stakeholders about your values, processes and systems 
• Visiting the outsourcing center yourself to observe their working environment. Talk to several of the agents yourself about their processes and culture. 
• Share any culture or vision documents with your outsourcing partner for alignment, and talk through any potential areas of difficulty or conflict.  

Choosing based on cost only

Choosing an outsourcing partner purely based on cost is a losing game. While nearshoring is often a significantly more cost-effective option than onshoring or managing a team in-house, outsourcing should be considered a long-term investment in key areas of your business. 

You want to ensure that you are choosing the best partner that can deliver your results, and not just the cheapest option. After all, the old adage holds true in this case as well: you get what you pay for. When negotiating your contract, make sure to compare multiple nearshoring vendors against one another to ensure you’re getting a fair price, but don’t be tempted to simply choose the cheapest option. You should also make sure you: 

• understand what your contract includes and costs, including any extra or hidden fees
• consider the cost of living in the different nearshoring locations available to you 
• take into account the expected ROI and long-term business growth as a result of investing in outsourcing—and the possible losses resulting from an incompetent partner.

Overlooking location as an important variable

In today’s globalized world and economy, it can be easy to overlook location as insignificant when choosing an outsourcing partner, but that is a mistake. Location plays a large role in a successful outsourcing partnership, and understanding which locations will and won’t work for your needs is essential. 

For example: 

• Will differing time zones make communication inefficient? 
• How far away can a partner be without sacrificing ease of travel and the ability to quickly visit the office as needed? 
• How does their location impact their understanding of your audience’s culture and language? If your audience is largely English-speaking US residents, how familiar are they with US language nuances and culture? 
• How does this location influence their understanding of US law and policy? Are they familiar with, and certified in, US-based laws and compliance? 

Nearshoring is a great way to partner with a slightly cheaper outsourcing partner while also ensuring their location is geographically and culturally close to your headquarters. However, even with nearshoring, not all locations are created equal, so do your research before choosing your partner! 

Nearshoring vs Offshoring vs Onshoring

Choosing between nearshoring, offshoring and onshoring can be difficult. Which is best? The answer depends on which is best for your company’s needs and goals—but to determine that, it can be helpful to understand the differences between them, and the pros and cons of each. 

Offshoring Pros & Cons

Offshoring refers to call center outsourcing or other BPO to a country that is located far from your company’s country of business. For example, a US-based company might have an offshore call center in the Philippines. While there are pros and cons for each type of outsourcing, offshoring is usually a very inexpensive option and is often chosen as a way to provide customer service without much budget. 

Pros: 

• much less expensive than hiring in-house or domestically
• high number of workers available allows for large-scale operations 
• many offshore workers are multilingual 
• often offer a wide range of affordable services 

Cons: 

• cultural and linguistic barriers often cause frustration for customers 
• there may be a lower level of expertise or less advanced technological solutions 
• data privacy may be a concern 

Onshoring Pros & Cons

Onshoring refers to call center or other BPO outsourcing that is located within the same country as the business outsourcing. So, for example, a New York-based business may outsource their customer service to an onshore call center in Arizona. 

Pros: 

• little to no concern about language barriers
• easier travel if needed 
• agents will be more familiar with your audience’s culture and communication styles
• less concern about data privacy or other compliance concerns as another US-based company

Cons: 

The main drawback of onshoring is the cost. From people to overhead costs, equipment and technology, onshore call centers cost more on almost every front. However, for some companies, the expense is justifiable given the benefits. 

Nearshoring Pros & Cons

Nearshoring refers to outsourcing that takes place in a country different from that of the original business, but one that is nearby. For the US, this could mean Canada, Mexico, Puerto Rico, or other Latin or South American countries. Nearshoring is becoming an increasingly popular outsourcing option due to its balance between quality and cost-effectiveness. 

Pros: 

• more cost-effective that onshoring
• many agents will be bilingual in languages that are important to your customers 
• offers more linguistic and cultural connections to US audiences 
• closer time zones than offshoring, often similar to onshoring 
• easier to travel to if necessary 

Cons: 

• not as affordable at scale as offshore call centers
• limited to specific geographic areas, may be fewer options for human resources

Ultimately, you have to weigh the variables and qualities that are most important for your business and choose an outsourcing partner accordingly. And while many companies now prefer nearshoring for their business outsourcing, it’s still essential to choose your nearshoring company carefully. Your nearshoring partner needs to have a balance of expertise, affordability, top talent and proven results.  

If you’re interested in a nearshoring partner that can provide world-class solutions and trustworthy results at a price you can afford, contact ROI Solutions today to speak to one of our call center experts.