3 Emerging Call Center Markets to Consider in 2021

Despite the recent BPO market challenges due to the COVID-19 epidemic, the future is still generally bright. 

The global outsourcing market is expected to exceed $400B by 2027, with annual growth as high as 10% annually. 

A strong intercontinental georedundancy strategy, coupled with leveraging at-home agents, is more important than ever. And as regions that were once considered pillars of the industry face uncertainty, setting your sights on emerging markets is going to be a key to success in the coming years.

Selecting markets on the rise allows call center leaders to maximize the ROI of their outsourced call centers. Choosing the right call center partner and location helps lower costs, increase capacity, and focus on core objectives, like customer service. 

Here are some common themes that indicate an emerging market to consider, as well as three locations to keep your eye on in the future. 

What to Look for In Emerging Outsource Markets

Based on your specific needs and the demands of your call center, your priorities may vary — but, as a guiding principle, here are a few common threads decision makers should consider before selecting an emerging outsource location:  

Geography: We live in an ultra-connected world today — but air travel and expedient access to high-demand locales should be taken into account. In addition, areas of high volatility, whether politically or geographically, can present future challenges to consider.

Talent Pool: The effectiveness of your outsource call center will be largely impacted by the performance of your agents. Call centers perform better when agents are educated, speak the desired language natively – or at least fluently, are versed in technology, and are highly skilled.

Infrastructure: Increased competition for call center business has many offshore/nearshore locations investing in infrastructure improvements. Consider areas that are actively improving sectors across education, utilities, IT, and public transportation. 

Economy: Call center leaders should consider locations that are situated to offer lower operational costs and lower overall cost of entry. However, call centers also desire healthy economies that can provide highly-skilled workers with quality of life standards to promote retention. Overall, economic considerations must be finely tuned to your specific call center goals. 

Use these four standards as a guidepost when choosing an emerging market for outsourcing, but do not hesitate to include every factor necessary to drive success for your business. 

Three Emerging Call Center Markets to Watch

Guyana

This South American country on the Atlantic coast has emerged for its growing infrastructure and strong cultural affinity with the United States. It is the only South American country where English is the official language.

The BPO industry has grown immensely within Guyana over the last five years, serving as the country’s main source of job creation. In response, the Guyanese government has made great strides to increase call center business development through business incentives and infrastructure improvements, including telecommunications, education, and transportation.

Other notable benefits:

• Young and skilled workforce
• High literacy rate (91.8%)
• Strong economic growth (4.8% YoY)
• Short flights to U.S. (Miami – 4 hrs; NYC – 5.5 hrs)

Tell Me More About Call Centers in Guyana

Cairo

The Egyptian capital, home to iconic cultural landmarks and a burgeoning business sector, offers a very cost-effective call center locale that is well-situated to serve numerous markets from the heart of EMEA.

And with a population boasting high proficiency in a number of languages including English, French, Italian and Arabic, Cairo is an attractive location that can serve various time zones and create a multilingual hub to serve all of your customers. The Egyptian workforce speaks an extremely diverse collection of languages, and a single BPO partner can support dozens of languages under one roof – typically at a considerable cost savings compared to call centers in the languages’ home countries.

Egypt’s BPO industry revenue has reached $2B annually, with double-digit growth projections for the future. According to IDC Research, Egypt ranks second in overall financial attractiveness for expanding markets.

Other notable benefits:

• #1 ranked call center market for Africa and Middle East
• Unmatched diversity of available languages to support customers throughout the world, including the Americas, Europe and Asia
• 500,000 annual graduates; 10% work in BPO
• Booming infrastructure, including eight technology parks
• 4G and fiber-optic networks deployed

South Africa

The southernmost African country is world-renowned for its picturesque national parks and diverse African wildlife. But beyond its natural beauty, South Africa is quickly ascending as a call center destination on the world stage. 

As a recent host of the World Cup, South Africa has invested greater attention into its long-term infrastructure. What’s more, South Africa offers a low-cost, English-language option for call center locales – typically at a 50-60% cost savings over onshore services.

Plus, with a young, trainable talent pool and a high standard of living, South Africa boasts low attrition rates across its workforce.

Other notable benefits:

• Accelerated economic growth (3X faster than India and the Philippines)
• Top talent to recruit
• Direct flights to the United States
• Government incentives for training and hiring

Tell Me More About Call Centers in South Africa

Find The Perfect Call Center Market For You

Identifying call center markets on the rise allows leaders to find top-performing and cost-effective solutions to deliver high-value business services and customer experiences.

But the time to discover these emerging markets is now — by focusing on factors like geography, local talent pool, infrastructure, and economy.

Let Outsource Consultants help! Our advisory team of outsourcing experts is 100% focused on finding you the perfect fit call center partner to help elevate your business, lower your risk, and make confident decisions.

Curious about call center facilities in Guyana, Cairo, South Africa, or elsewhere? Contact our expert advisors for a no-charge consultation on your location of interest.

This article originally appeared on the Outsource Consultants Blog.

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