Outsourcing Customer Service to the Philippines

The Philippines is a major destination for outsourcing because of the educated and skilled workforce. It also ranks as one of the top countries to which businesses can outsource customer service. 

Below, we discuss why and how to outsource customer service to the Philippines. We also talk about how you can have your own team of customer service representatives without setting up a legal entity in the Philippines.

Benefits of Outsourcing Customer Service to the Philippines

There are many benefits to outsourcing customer service to the Philippines.

1. Lower overhead costs. One of the biggest draws of outsourcing is lowering the overhead costs of the business.
2. Highly qualified workforce. The Philippines produces half a million post-secondary graduates per year. In addition to that, the Philippines also has a high proficiency rating in the 2019 EF English Proficiency Index.
3. Familiarity with other cultures. There is high exposure to foreign media in the Philippines, particularly Western media. Employees from the Philippines are comfortable communicating with people from other countries.
4. Access to a strong and growing market. The Philippines itself is a large market and customer service representatives can also serve local customers/

The Philippines is a great place to outsource non-core business tasks. Aside from customer service, you can also set up a back office in the Philippines.

Offshoring vs Outsourcing Customer Service Representatives

Most companies outsource customer service to business process (BPO) outsourcing companies. Working with a BPO has its merits but there are many advantages to hiring your own customer service team.

Customer service representatives of a BPO are not your employees. You will not be able to fully integrate them into the company so they won’t share your company’s culture and values. BPOs also rotate teams frequently so there’s no telling how long representatives will stay with your account. Having a stable and more permanent customer service team means having more detailed insights about the needs and issues of your customers.

Another thing to note is that representatives in BPOs only have limited knowledge of the company or product assigned to them. On the other hand, if you have customer service representatives in your company, you can provide resources and knowledge so they have a better understanding of the company and its products. This will allow them to provide more substantial answers to customers.

On a related note, having more knowledge about the company or product allows the representatives to handle sales inquiries well. They will also be able to upsell products and services when assisting customers.

Hiring Customer Service Representative in the Philippines

Posting on a free portal will likely attract unqualified job seekers. In addition to that, most major portals require a legal entity in the Philippines. One way to find offshore customer service representatives in the Philippines is through a local recruiter who source and screen candidates for you.

A good way to establish an offshore team of customer service representatives is through an employer of record like Emerhub. 

Employers of record offer an all-in-one solution that includes recruitment, payroll, and local HR support. Emerhub will source and recruit top customer service representatives for your company. We will also compute and distribute your employees’ salaries. 

Build Your Customer Service Team Using an Employer of Record

An employer of record is a company that hires employees for another company. This allows foreign businesses to hire employees without setting up operations locally. Employers of record make offshoring customer service simple.

Emerhub can be your employer of record in the Philippines. We will source high-quality candidates to be customer service representatives based on your specific requirements. We will handle screening and preliminary interviews so you only need to meet the top candidates.

Because employers of record are legally responsible for the employees, there is no need for you to have in-depth knowledge of local employment laws. We will also take care of the employment contract for your customer service representatives and ensure compliance with local laws.

Beyond that, we will act as the local HR for your employees. We will register your employees with the relevant government agencies such as the Social Security System and PhilHealth. We will also assist in providing your employees with the necessary equipment and tools for their job.

Payroll is quite complicated in the Philippines because of holiday rates, night differential rates, and mandatory contributions. But you don’t need to worry about that when you have an employer of record. Employers of record will compute wages, benefits, and taxes for your employees. We will handle the distribution of additional allowances or benefits you want to give to your employees.

A summary of the scope of services provided by Emerhub as your Employer of Record:

• Sourcing candidates
• Screening and interviewing candidates
• Employment contracts
• Registration of your employees with relevant government agencies, such as the Social Security System
• Payroll management including computing wages, taxes, benefits.
• Providing your employees with the necessary equipment or tools for the job

Using an employer of record is a highly suitable option for establishing an offshore customer service team for your company. You get all the benefits of having full-time customer service representatives without the hassle of setting up a legal entity in the Philippines.

Start building your customer service team in the Philippines with Emerhub. Fill out the form below or contact us through email at [email protected].