Learn about customer support outsourcing in detail and explore how companies are harnessing AI to transform nearshore outsourcing.
We’ll also discuss how you can utilize nearshore customer support to scale your customer service team, and share tips for finding a globally acclaimed nearshore partner, such as Zahoree.
What Is Nearshore Customer Service?
Nearshore customer support is the business practice of outsourcing your customer service functions to a neighboring country, preferably one within one to three hours of your time zone. Nearshore support is a business process outsourcing (BPO) method that offers unique cultural, proximity, and cost advantages, especially for U.S.-based companies outsourcing to Latin American destinations.
Nearshore customer service is the practice of offloading some of your customer service operations to a nearshore company based in a neighboring country. Other available outsourcing models include onshore and offshore.
The primary difference between onshore, offshore, and nearshore is their geographical location. Onshore companies are based in the same country as their clients, whereas offshore companies are based in distant countries on other continents, such as Asia.
Standard customer service functions that nearshore companies handle include:
- Customer complaint resolution
- Customer retention roles, such as conducting surveys and making follow-up calls
- Sales support functions such as cross-selling and upselling
- Order processing and billing support
- Customer data collection and processing
- Customer experience optimization
- Multilingual customer support
- Technical support and product troubleshooting
Reliable nearshore companies can offer a wide range of critical customer service support by recruiting experienced professionals in each niche. They can assemble customer service reps, team leaders, quality assurance analysts, workforce managers, and data analytics experts into one team. This allows them to offer multiple companies a buffet of customer support services.
The geographical proximity of nearshore companies allows them to promote cultural alignment and responsiveness for global smart-tech brands. For instance, a nearshore company based in Mexico will enjoy a rich supply of talent fluent in English, Spanish, French, and even Portuguese, giving them a broader market reach across Latin and North America.
Similarly, though not as commonly referred as such, nearshoring applies to western European countries, which may “nearshore” to more cost competitive locations in Eastern Europe and even places like Spain or Ireland.
Customer Service With AI: A Nearshore Solution
Artificial intelligence (AI) is transforming modern businesses, and nearshore contact centers are no exception. Nearshore contact centers are embracing AI solutions, such as AI assistant and copilots, agentic AI and robotic process automation (RPA), speech analytics, language translation, and chatbots, to optimize and streamline their processes.
The use of AI in contact centers enables the automation of repetitive and time-intensive customer service processes. For instance, modern contact centers are using speech analytics technology to analyze client communications in real-time and identify repetitive patterns and potential areas for improvement.
Nearshore customer support with AI enhancement empowers customer support agents to be more productive and efficient, as they can process vast amounts of data rapidly.
Using solutions such as hybrid AI-human support, nearshore agents can automate mundane tasks, channeling more time and human resources to completing strategic tasks, such as resolving customer disputes or prospecting.
Benefits of Nearshore Support: Your Shortcut to Faster, Smarter Scaling
Scaling up customer service teams can be costly and time-intensive, especially for smaller companies without huge expansion budgets. From new equipment and talent acquisition to compliance and training costs, scaling expenses can balloon quickly. You’ll also need to address numerous operational issues before assembling a well-functioning customer service team and center.
Fortunately, you don’t have to deal with such concerns when working with a nearshore customer support company. The tangible advantages include:
– Quick access to top-quality infrastructure saves you the steep setup costs associated with purchasing the requisite tools and equipment, setting up office space, or having the necessary business licenses, insurance coverage, or industry certifications (e.g., ISO 27000, SOC2, HIPAA).
– AI-assisted training ensures new and existing nearshore agents are quickly and thoroughly trained to meet the professional demands of your scaling company.
– Instant team ramp-up provides you with quick access to a large pool of skilled talent your company needs to transition to the next level.
– Time-zone alignment facilitates real-time collaboration with nearshore agents.
– Language and cultural alignment foster strong customer relationships, eliminating the need for a language barrier.
Nearshoring Customer Support in the Age of AI
Companies are integrating AI to transform nearshore customer support, increasing their productivity and profitability. Techniques such as hybrid AI-human support enhance the empathy, accuracy, and efficiency of human agents.
AI-augmented nearshoring empowers human agents to enhance their work, rather than replace them entirely. A great real-life example of an AI-powered nearshore CX tool is Zahoree’s proprietary AI ZWingman. Our AI tool automates CX agent training and assists agents in searching and providing the right product and policy information.
AI ZWingman also helps nearshoring agents to quickly find the proper troubleshooting steps and recommend the most appropriate solutions and replies, optimizing interactions and handling time. This ultimately raises the overall customer satisfaction score (CSAT).
Cost and ROI — The AI Impact
According to industry analysis, the quantifiable impact of using AI in nearshore contact centers includes:
- 40% reduction in average handling time (AHT)
- 90% reduction in agent workload
- 60% reduction in operational costs
Further, optimizing the AI-human hybrid technique yields better ROI than traditional outsourcing that’s entirely manual. AI empowers human agents to be more effective while also supporting continuous learning through AI coaching.
Tips for Choosing a Nearshore Company Partner
Prioritize the following factors to choose the right nearshore support company:
- Industry expertise: Look for proven expertise in the niches you want to outsource.
- AI readiness: Your ideal nearshore customer support partner should have integrated AI into their system.
- Proximity: The partner should be physically accessible within a few hours.
- Certifications: Prioritize a nearshore development partner with all relevant certifications in your industry.
- Security and scalability: Make sure they offer support center scalability and top-level data security that aligns with industry standards.
Why Scaling Customer Support Is Harder Than It Looks — And How Nearshoring Fixes It
Scaling customer service teams involves a lot of logistics and planning. You must procure space for expansion, purchase the requisite equipment, obtain the necessary certifications, optimize cyber and data security, and complete numerous other miscellaneous processes. The complexities involved in these processes can trigger errors of omission or commission, which can result in substantial costs down the line.
Fortunately, a reliable AI-driven solution like Zahoree helps you navigate these complexities thanks to our trained nearshore CX experts and our innovative AI ZWingman tool. Features that promote rapid scaling include:
– AI-enabled onboarding.
– Data-driven performance and nearshore support with AI coaching.
– Full access to ready-made virtual teams in time-zone-aligned locations such as Spain and Mexico.
Your Next Step in Scaling Customer Support
Scaling customer support with Zahoree’s AI-augmented nearshore outsourcing solution is the strategic next step you need to take your company to the next level. The top benefits you enjoy from our solution include a blend of managed service, AI augmentation, and quick access to industry-ready talent.
Contact Zahoree today and experience our tailored CX-as-a-Service pilot firsthand.
FAQ Section
Can AI replace nearshore agents?
AI empowers nearshore human agents to be more efficient, accurate, and fast. Rather than replacing humans, the future of AI in customer support is about advances such as hybrid AI-human support, in which the technology collaborates with human agents to improve their effectiveness and efficiency.
How secure is AI in nearshore environments?
The security of AI systems depends on the data security standards that a nearshore company implements. AI can be secure if your nearshore customer support partner complies with pertinent data regulations and security standards such as GDPR.
