Strategic Outsourcing Professionals

Recently, we have undergone an evaluation of Emerging Markets to explore alternative outsourcing destinations. One of those markets, Guatemala, is extremely appealing when you look at the labor resources available, the price points of services provided, and how the government is setting up the infrastructure to win U.S. based business. Below is a quick snapshot of our findings with regards to Guatemalan vendors offering BPO and customer care services.

Guatemala is trying to establish itself as the premiere Central American country offering Nearshore business process outsourcing and call center services. The country provides the largest population in Central America with 14 million people.  Guatemala also provides 40% of the total GDP for the entire region – the economy is strong and growing. For BPO and call center services specifically, the industry is virtually untapped; approximately 1-2% of the entire Guatemalan labor force works in the BPO industry. 

When looking at the Guatemalan infrastructure to support U.S. business, there are several initiatives underway that promote the growth of the BPO industry. The largest and most compelling initiative is the establishment of the ‘Cluster’ or Guatemalan Call Center Commission. This commission was established by the government to prepare, standardize and regulate companies seeking U.S. clients. The Guatemalan government is trying to ensure that the industry remains healthy and that companies in the commission represent the country well. Call centers must undergo a standardization process, similar to ISO, before they can be granted membership into the commission. The commission also seeks to protect the labor force by enforcing laws around age requirements, employee benefits, fair working conditions and promoting competitive compensation packages.

The main benefits for seeking BPO services in Guatemala are as follows:

• Low Attrition Rates – The Call Center commission tracks employees in a centralized database as a check and balance against employee poaching. Once an individual works for a call center, the individual is not eligible to work for another call center for 6 months. This combats high turnover rates that are present in highly saturated markets like India, Costa Rica and the Philippines.
• Low Pricing – The rates in Guatemala are highly competitive in comparison to other markets. There are American companies who sub-contract through Guatemala, but pricing for American based vendors seem to be 20-30% higher. By going directly to the Guatemalan providers, costs will be lower because there is not a ‘pass through’ provider trying to make their margin.
• Strong English – While Spanish is the primary language, Guatemala has a large English speaking population; this is especially true throughout the Universities. The English capability is far better then India, Panama, Costa Rica and the Philippines.
• High Quality – While we have not yet employed a Guatemalan vendor, our dealings with them have been terrific. They really understand the business and know what clients want in a relationship. Each vendor seems to have the capability to provide a fully-loaded solution that includes data/voice recording for quality management, Work Force Management, ICM integration, favorable personnel ratios and seem very willing to take on aggressive SLAs.
• Strong Connectivity – Telecom response times have been noted at .065 milliseconds. The redundancy in fiber is 99.99% with some major carriers. T1 rates are also some of the lowest in the region.

The benefits for moving operations into Guatemala are compelling. My only advice when researching Guatemala as a future outsourcing destination - ignore the crime rates.

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