This case study shows how recruitment process engineering can improve service quality, vendor accountability, and customer experience without sacrificing offshore cost savings.
Challenge: Low First-Call Resolution and Declining Customer Satisfaction
Our Client, a growing telecommunications company, saved more than 300% in labor costs by outsourcing over 2,000 call center seats to offshore vendors. While financially beneficial, this shift led to a significant decline in customer service quality.
Across several offshore locations, first-call resolution rates fell below 40%. Customer surveys revealed ongoing frustrations with communication challenges involving offshore agents, and repeated attempts to retrain vendors or embed onshore agents yielded slight improvement.
The Company faced a critical challenge: how to maintain the cost savings of offshoring while dramatically improving first-call resolution and overall customer satisfaction.
Solution: Applying Onshore Screening Standards to Improve Offshore Agent Quality
People Science implemented a screening process modeled after the Company’s highly effective onshore recruitment process engineering methodology. This standardized evaluation approach was used to assess and validate the quality of offshore vendors’ employees, ensuring more substantial alignment with the Company’s expectations.
Action Plan: Engineering a High-Quality Screening Process
- Customized a candidate profile tailored explicitly for offshore call center agents.
- Adapted the proven onshore screening process to evaluate offshore candidates.
- Built relationships with offshore vendor leadership teams to ensure compliance and collaboration.
- Introduced and trained vendor teams on the new screening protocols.
- Conducted live telephone interviews of offshore agents using onshore benchmarks for qualifiers and disqualifiers.
- Delivered detailed reports and recommendations to guide vendor improvement.
- Proposed incentive programs to encourage vendors to supply higher-caliber agents.
- Developed and activated future screening processes for ongoing vendor evaluation.
Results: Higher-Caliber Offshore Agents, Vendor Accountability, and Improved Customer Experience
- When evaluated with the onshore screening process, offshore new hires achieved only a 26% pass rate, revealing significant quality gaps.
- Multiple vendors were found to be out of compliance with agreed-upon screening protocols and were subsequently discontinued.
- Remaining offshore vendors are expected to provide fewer but higher-quality agents, increasing their supply only as they develop a deeper understanding of the required skill set.
- The Company successfully elevated the standard of agent experience assigned to its accounts, improving customer satisfaction while preserving offshore cost savings.
Impact: Enhancing Service Quality While Preserving Offshore Cost Savings
By aligning offshore hiring practices with its proven onshore screening model, the Company shifted its focus from volume to quality—improving service levels without compromising cost efficiency. This structured approach increased vendor accountability and raised performance expectations across offshore teams.
As a result, the Company is now positioned to deliver a more consistent, reliable, and satisfying customer experience, all while maintaining the financial advantages of its offshore operations.