Nearshoring: How Bogotá Could Be A Game Changer For Your CX

Transcom will soon be opening our new Bogotá delivery center in Colombia, strengthening our nearshore capability for US and Canadian clients. We know that many of our clients in North America are delighted with the service provided by our delivery team in the Philippines, but some companies would prefer their service delivery to be slightly closer - nearshore rather than offshore. For this reason, we can now begin to offer Bogotá as an option - and look for our Mexico delivery center opening soon.

There are many reasons why we chose Bogotá, but one of the most important is that North American executives are very comfortable with Colombia as a location for contact centers and customer service processes. In the Ryan Strategic Advisory 2020 Front-Office BPO Omnibus Survey, analyst Peter Ryan states that Colombia is the one of the most popular global nearshore delivery destination by American enterprise contact center decision-makers.

Colombia’s general culture and pro-business approach has made it a haven for companies seeking reliable resources. Physical infrastructure, such as the electricity grid and broadband, are world-class and there is a high-quality local talent pool with language skills and all at a reasonable cost. A benefit noted is that it mirrors the North American time zones.

Colombia is very safe for visitors and Bogotá has a well-connected international airport, making it very easy for American executives to visit their nearshore center. The country also has a strong reputation amongst the US business community as a place where they really like to get down to business - both in terms of government support, but also the more general business culture.

With a population of over 10 million, Bogotá has over 50 higher education facilities and around 400,000 new graduates entering the employment market each year. Our center has 2,135 available seats and is positioned close to public transport links and just 26 minutes from the airport. Clearly the favorable location should help us to fill those seats, but we also have great experience offering work at home solutions. Whether you want to explore a nearshore option with fantastic facilities or a work at home agent model to help increase the resilience of your business - or a blend - we can help.

Colombia has gained a lot of strength in recent years as a destination for contact centers, as Peter Ryan’s research suggests, but Peter’s research suggests more than just Colombia as a nearshoring option. He said: “Costa Rica and Colombia promise to benefit from the opening of the nearshore to incorporate service delivery to other Latin America nations. Though currently marginal by comparison to the demand generation for US and Canadian consumers, the growing middle-class across Latin America will eventually serve as additional sources of demand.”

That’s a great point. There is room to scale up in Colombia, and at present we expect to be working with American clients, but these same clients could use a service center in Colombia for many other Latin American operations. Colombia is well-positioned to serve the entire region.

The Information Services Group recently recognized Transcom as a Global Rising Star. Namratha Dharshan, Director of Research & Principal Analyst at ISG said: “In North America, Transcom is recognized as a Market Challenger, delivering operational excellence through cost-competitive agile deployment models, workforce management capabilities and continuous efforts in expanding its service portfolio. The company is committed towards strengthening its position and is on the right path to deliver consistent outcomes for clients. We look forward to following Transcom’s continued journey.”

I couldn’t put it better myself. 2020 has been quite a journey. Many executives will be looking once again at their customer service strategy in the light of the Covid-19 pandemic and thinking about how to boost business resilience. A robust nearshoring strategy could be an important step along that path and Bogotá offers more than almost anywhere else in the region.