8 Reasons to Use Call Centers in the Philippines

Is the Philippines the right location for your outsourced call center?

As “the call center capital of the world,” the Philippines handles 15% of the global outsourcing market, offering a skilled, cost-effective workforce. With over 1.4 million professionals, the Philippines is a top choice for businesses seeking reliable customer support.

In this article, we’ll explore eight reasons why the Philippines might be the perfect fit for your call center needs. Recognize your needs in this list? Skip to the end of this article, and we’ll show you how to get started.

16 Minute Read

• Skilled agents at a lower cost: The Philippines offers cost-effective, skilled, and English-proficient call center agents, improving customer service and business efficiency.
• Customer satisfaction: Outsourcing contact centers to the Philippines provides flexibility, scalability, and cultural alignment with Western markets, enhancing customer satisfaction.
• Established call center industry: Strong government support and infrastructure ensure security, compliance, and a robust talent pool for businesses.

Call centers are vital in maintaining smooth customer communication, resolving inquiries, and building relationships. They help manage transactions, offer technical support, and elevate customer service, improving your overall business efficiency.

Handling customer questions

Agents in the Philippines excel at answering inquiries with speed and accuracy, improving customer satisfaction and loyalty through clear communication and problem resolution.

Providing customer service

Filipino call center agents are known for their empathetic, professional approach, creating positive experiences that enhance customer retention and satisfaction.

Orders and transactions

From processing payments to managing shipping details, call centers in the Philippines handle transactions smoothly and securely, ensuring customer peace of mind.

Omnichannel communication

With expertise in omnichannel communication, call center outsourcing in the Philippines ensures seamless support across phone, email, chat, and social media, enhancing customer experience.

Enhance customer experience

By resolving issues quickly and offering personalized support, contact centers in the Philippines boost customer satisfaction, improve brand reputation, and increase loyalty.

Many companies assume that since the Philippines is an offshore location, the English proficiency levels are lower than in other locations — however, this isn’t true!

In fact, Filipino call center agents have high English proficiency levels. In part, this is because of the growing outsourcing market. As demand grows, governmental and educational resources continue to grow and deepen to support the blossoming labor market. In addition, the cultural compatibility of the Philippines with Western markets means that few Filipino agents speak with a discernible accent.

Cultural and linguistic compatibility reduces language and communication barriers, improving customer communications and experiences.

As mentioned above, the Philippines is home to millions of workers, specifically within the outsourcing industry. Whether you’re looking to outsource BPO, IT, customer service, marketing, or something else, the Philippines has a vast labor market available to staff the services you need.

In addition, the high number of BPO outsourcing and call centers in the Philippines means that the Philippines places a strong emphasis on continuous training and development programs. There are so many opportunities for young workers in the Philippines to get training and education for careers in customer service or CX — which means that you get the advantage of highly skilled, educated workers for your call center team!

This large workforce also means you have more opportunities to access employees with diverse skill sets, including technical and domain expertise, legal or medical expertise, IT and application management skills, and more.

A large workforce is great for scaling your customer service or BPO operations. But a highly skilled, diverse, and educated workforce is even better. When you take part in call center outsourcing to the Philippines, you get both.

Cost savings have always been a key driver behind decisions to outsource to call centers in the Philippines — as many as 59% of businesses say outsourcing is a cost-saving measure for them.

If cost-savings are also essential for your business, the Philippines is a great outsourcing location. Due to favorable exchange rates between the Philippines and the US and the lower costs of living, labor, and salaries — among other costs — are much more affordable in the Philippines. As such, businesses that outsource contact centers to the Philippines can take advantage of competitive labor costs, allowing you much more flexibility and scalability compared to building a domestic or nearshore call center.

In addition, the Philippines offers additional cost savings without compromising the quality of service, as is common with other offshoring destinations. If you’re used to having to choose between quality and affordability, then call center outsourcing in the Philippines is a great middle ground.

Since labor is much more affordable, the Philippines offers more flexibility within the team, allowing you to scale your team quickly and affordably. If you want to build a remote or hybrid call center team to reduce costs further or improve flexibility, call centers in the Philippines — like our ROI CX Solutions Philippines call center — can help you build that. If you want to scale up your team quickly to manage a growing backlog or a sudden influx of customer communication, you can do that, too. Need to scale back after the busy season is over to keep costs in check? A call center in the Philippines has both the staff and flexibility to accommodate your changing needs.

One of the reasons why call center outsourcing to the Philippines is such a popular option is because of the strong Western influence, which means many Filipino call center agents have shared cultural values and workforce norms.

While this isn’t necessarily a must for outsourcing, shared workplace values make working together easier by improving communication and collaboration, strengthening connections between teams, and ultimately making it easier to get things done. Additionally, shared cultural values can help agents connect with your customers, increasing customer satisfaction.

Customer service is better in the Philippines because Filipino call center agents focus on their customers. Providing excellent customer service has many benefits, such as making customers happier and more loyal, and increasing profits.

Since the BPO and outsourcing industry is such a large part of the Philippines’ labor market, there’s strong government backing, policies, and infrastructure to support their market — and, by extension, your BPO or Filipino call center.

Cebu and Manila are both global business hubs for local, regional, and international business operations. Many call centers in the Philippines — including our ROI CX Solutions center — are based here, at the hub of international business and technology. Being based here allows us to not only deliver a superior customer experience, but also a superior client experience with a business-friendly environment, a global outlook, and a well-developed IT and telecommunication infrastructure to support any of your outsourcing needs.

With call center outsourcing in the Philippines, you can more easily — and affordably — provide support that aligns with any time zone you choose or even 24/7 support for superior customer service. Since the time zones in the Philippines are far from those in the US, it’s easier — and cheaper — to offer overnight support, either in addition to an in-house team or with a fully outsourced team.

With 24/7 support and increased scheduling flexibility in general, you’ll be able to reduce communication gaps and improve responsiveness. Improved responsiveness not only improves customer service and satisfaction but also enhances and strengthens backend processes — for example, reducing backlogs and speeding up time to answer and FCR.

With a growing international BPO sector, there’s a strong emphasis in the Philippines on committing to strong ethical and data privacy standards that meet international guidelines and regulations.

As such, the Filipino government has dedicated governmental departments, such as the Department of Information and Communication Technology, to provide policy and infrastructure support to the BPO industry and call centers in the Philippines. They also ensure local call centers comply with international data privacy and security standards, creating a strong regulatory framework to support your operations.

As a result, Filipino call centers have robust security measures to safeguard customer and business data. In our ROI CX Solutions call center in Cebu, our expansive call center headquarters feature ID-access doors, ensuring safety and security for our building, as well as the latest in security, PCI compliance, and other data security certifications. We also provide secure and independent transportation for our employees, employee training, and other workforce benefits that increase security and stability for our employees (and, therefore, our clients) and support strong ethical business development.

With an established reputation as a leading global outsourcing destination, call center outsourcing in the Philippines has a proven track record of successful call centers and other outsourcing services. As such, when you outsource to the Philippines, you get to take advantage of a strong track record, not just from your individual call center but from the country as a whole.

And when you work with an established partner like ROI CX Solutions, you get the benefit of established in-house expertise as well. Our team has decades of experience with call center services, customer service, marketing, QA processes, lead generation, and more.

In addition, contact center outsourcing to the Philippines gives you access to industry-specific expertise and knowledge You’ll have access to agents who are familiar with your industry (i.e., automotive or legal clients) and who have high-level expertise within customer service and customer experience. With access to more experienced agents and teams comes better customer experiences, stronger strategy, more efficient processes, and more profitability for your business.

When considering call center outsourcing to the Philippines, there are additional benefits that may further support your decision.

• 24/7 Support: Time zone differences allow round-the-clock customer service, improving satisfaction.
• Advanced Technology: Filipino call centers utilize cutting-edge tech for real-time performance monitoring and optimized workflows.
• Scalability: These centers can adjust staffing quickly to meet changing business demands.

While there are numerous advantages to contact center outsourcing in the Philippines, it’s important to also consider potential challenges.

• Time zone differences: Collaboration can be difficult if real-time interaction with outsourced staff is required.
• Cultural nuances: Subtle communication and business practice differences may require additional training for full brand alignment.
• Infrastructure challenges: In rural areas, occasional power or internet issues may arise, though less common in major hubs.
• Dependency on outsourcing: Over-reliance on outsourcing may lead to losing internal expertise, so monitoring systems are essential.

Despite these potential challenges, the benefits of call center outsourcing to the Philippines often outweigh the cons, especially with the right call center partner.

Outsourcing to Filipino call centers comes with strong regulatory frameworks ensuring compliance and quality.

• Data privacy and security: The Data Privacy Act of 2012 aligns with international standards like GDPR, ensuring secure data management.
• Labor laws and employee rights: Fair wages, proper working conditions, and strict labor laws guarantee a stable and ethical workforce.
• Intellectual property protection: Strong IP laws protect businesses’ proprietary information, maintaining security.
• Government incentives: The government provides tax breaks and other incentives, reducing operational costs for international clients.

By choosing to outsource to the Philippines, you’re accessing a skilled and affordable workforce and benefiting from a robust regulatory environment designed to protect your business interests.

So, is the Philippines the right location for your call center?

You should outsource to a call center in the Philippines if you:

• Need large-scale operations with lots of agents or specialized expertise
• Need to scale significantly and quickly
• Want the flexibility to scale up or back as seasonality or demand dictates
• Need extended hours and services, such as 24/7 coverage
• Need a low-cost way to scale or grow your services
• Want to outsource to an area with proven infrastructure and communications

In these cases — or if the benefits above appeal to your current goals or needs — call centers in the Philippines can be a great solution for your team. Whether you want to support an internal team with additional expertise or after-hours coverage or outsource your entire call center operations, the ROI CX Solutions Philippines team is here to support your goals and deliver exceptional customer service for your audience.

Setting up call center outsourcing in the Philippines is simpler than it seems, especially with an experienced partner like ROI CX Solutions. Follow these steps:

1. Determine your needs: Identify the specific services you require, such as customer support or technical assistance.
2. Choose the right partner: Select a provider like ROI CX Solutions that aligns with your goals and offers tailored solutions.
3. Set up infrastructure: With ROI CX Solutions, you’ll gain access to advanced technology, secure data systems, and skilled agents.
4. Train your team: Ensure agents understand your brand’s products and values. ROI CX Solutions provides ongoing training to keep them aligned.
5. Monitor and optimize: Regularly track performance and work with your partner to refine processes. ROI CX Solutions offers detailed analytics to help you improve.

By partnering with ROI CX Solutions, you can create an efficient, cost-effective call center in the Philippines that enhances customer service.

The future of call centers in the Philippines is bright, driven by government support, a skilled workforce, and advancing technology. The country’s focus on quality, affordability, and customer service makes it an ideal hub for businesses looking to scale their operations. Ready to enhance your call center and boost customer satisfaction? Connect with an expert from ROI CX Solutions today to see how we can help you grow efficiently and affordably.