Research Project: The Outsourcing Market

[mikael]

I'm doing some research for a client into options for outsourcing customer service, customer support, surveying and possibly telemarketing. They are trying to decide whether or not to outsource these functions, in all or in part, or to keep them inside.

The client is being very rigorous on their comparison data. I'm doing the operational cost analysis for the existing resources, what I need is the equivalent on the outsourcer side.

Are there published studies that will tell me such things as:

? Who are the top 5 outsourcing companies active in the North American market?
? Where are their centers located, and how many agents are located in each?
? How are their services typically priced? By seat? By hour? By call? By minute?
? What is the pricing differential between domestic and offshore seats? (For those companies that offer both to their clients.)
? What are the base costs by level of agent? 1st/2nd/3rd?

The end-result of all of this will include an RFP template, which I'll be glad to share with the community for free. I'm also planning on a detailed case-study write-up, which I'll also make available for free.

If you've been through an outsourcing decision-making process and would be willing to share your experience, on the record or off, as you prefer, I'd love to talk with you about it. Let's start with an e-mail.

I'd rather not be deluged with calls from outsourcing companies, please, and I know that the forum manager wouldn't want posted quotes or other advertising here. If you want to send me an e-mail that responds to the above and lists your capabilities, I'll be glad to add you to my general candidate list for the future. At this point, as noted above, the discussion is only about cost factors.

Thanks,