8 Benefits of Outsourcing Call Center Services to Brazil

There are two situations in which a foreign company seeks to outsource call center services to Brazil: to reduce costs or to have a dedicated team inside the country. For both reasons, we will list the 10 benefits of outsourcing customer service to Brazilian companies.

1. Cost Reduction

   It is very common for some companies to approach BrazilDesk looking for an alternative to cut costs with call center services in Brazil. American companies, for example, can save up to 40%, especially those based in major capitals.
   
   When you outsource customer service to Brazil, you are likely dealing with a cheaper workforce compared to your country (usually).
   The current monthly salary in Brazil in 2024 is R$ 1,412, which converts to USD 250 as of July 2024. Of course, many workers earn more than $250 per month, but that is still a quarter of the current American minimum wage.
   Therefore, when you outsource a team with many customer service agents, you are likely to get even more discounts.

   This is why outsourcing in Brazil tends to be more economical. However, it is always important to review all the requirements you need in this outsourcing, as there may be conditions that will increase the cost of this service.

2. Qualified Workforce

   As the customer service area is one of the largest employers in the country, according to Infojobs, with commercial and sales leading the ranking and telemarketing accounting for 10%, it is much easier to find talents with experience in customer services looking for jobs.

   Also, the number of university students in the country continues to grow. According to ABRES, from 2002 to 2021, the number of students in higher education increased from 3.5 million to 8.9 million. Last year, the total number of graduates rose by 3.79%, from 1,278,622 to 1,327,188.
   
   Investments in technology surpassed USD 50 billion in 2023, making the country surpass South Korea and Italy to rank among the top 10 global technology powers, according to a study released by the Brazilian Association of Software Companies (ABES).
   This means that young Brazilians have more opportunities to seek knowledge in technology, generating a more qualified workforce in these areas.

3. Time Zone Compatibility

   There is high time zone compatibility between Brazil and companies in North America, such as the United States. For example, the official time in Brasília and Buenos Aires is the same, differing by just one hour from New York time.
   This is very useful for aligning teams that will be working at similar times, facilitating communication, and the entire customer service process.

4. Cultural Affinity

   So far, it is very common for companies in North America to hire services from large call centers in the Philippines, which, compared to the USA, has a time difference of 12 hours depending on the location.
   However, the most common complaint from these American companies, at least that’s what we heard – very opinionative here –  is cultural affinity and the accent when the service is done via calls. And that’s because it can affect the comprehension of information during a call.

   If an American company seeks to outsource a call center in Brazil to cut costs but still provide customer service in English, it will also have to deal with agents with accents (well, everyone has an accent, right?).

   However, there is still a preference for agents with a soft accent.

   But the accent is not the most concerning point for these hiring companies; after all, this can be resolved with good candidate screening. The issue is cultural affinity.

   We had a curious case with a partner company, where they had some communication problems between their Filipino agents and American clients. Many Filipino agents did not understand American humor very well or sounded rude when conveying information, but not intentionally; it just happens.

   In Brazil, even when we learn English, we are generally advised to be careful with translations, as we may sound rude. For example, “o quê?” in Portuguese means “what?”, but it is also used in situations where we ask someone to repeat something kindly, as in “sorry?” However, if we translate it directly to “what?” depending on the context, it may sound very aggressive.

   The interesting thing about Brazil is that it is easy to find fluent English-speaking Brazilians who have lived in the United States or other countries like England or have done exchange programs. This is great when seeking this cultural affinity and soft accent.

   It is an important point to consider when looking for a call center in another country/continent.

5. Advanced Technology and Infrastructure

   As mentioned in the previous article, the outsourcing of call center services is expected to grow by almost 4% annually between 2022 and 2026, and a growth of USD 25.9 billion is expected from 2024 to 2028. There is also a more present investment in technology in this segment:

   “The Contact Center as a Service (CCaaS) market is booming in Brazil, driven by competition between national companies and the entry of multinationals. This scenario is leading companies to evolve their solutions and highlight the benefits of CCaaS in the customer journey.
   According to Allied Market Research, the global CCaaS industry is expected to reach USD 19.8 billion by 2031. The Frost Radar report – Latin American Cloud Contact Centers 2023 revealed that CCaaS revenue in Latin America was USD 271.6 million in 2022, with a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 26.4% projected until 2029. Brazil stands out as one of the main markets in the region.”

   And about the IT market, ABES reports that “Brazil ranked twelfth in this technology investment ranking, with USD 45.2 billion invested and leading in Latin America, whose total investments reached USD 124 billion (compared to USD 115 billion in 2021).” You can download the report (in Portuguese) here: abes.com.br/download/65923/

   This shows that there is a significant investment in technology in Brazil, which is expected to create almost 420,000 jobs in the IT sector – information technology – by 2025 and this impacts the outsourced call center sector in the country.
   This means that Brazil has more and more students in various fields from which the call center sector can benefit. After all, call centers hire technical support, bilingual and trilingual customer service, and telemarketing, and are increasingly diversified.
   Many international companies can also benefit from outsourcing technology to Brazil.

6. Regulatory Environment

   Although Brazilian laws related to the labor market and outsourcing are stringent, it is becoming less bureaucratic for companies from outside the country to establish themselves in Brazil. After all, we have numerous international companies operating in Brazil, either headquartered here or with outsourced companies as partners.

7. Scalability

   It is very common to see startups looking for call center services in Brazil. This is because the core business of these new companies is technological development and, as a second or third priority, user support.
   By scaling this demand to an outsourced company in Brazil, these startups can adapt a support team, whether basic customer service or technical support, according to their growth.
   They can start with a couple of agents and grow over time. They can also work with call centers in other countries where they see potential for growth and need more customized and dedicated customer service.

8. Focus on Core Business Activities

   Many clients seeking BrazilDesk are companies that did not plan to expand in Brazil but saw their service or digital product gain many users, just as in all of Latin America, such as tech startups and fintechs.
   Until then, these companies needed to open a branch in the country, usually going to São Paulo and facing various bureaucratic processes, such as rental costs, taxes within the country, hiring within the country, and its taxes, among many other administrative costs.

   Today, being able to do everything remotely, besides saving resources, also saves time and processes. This allows a company with needs in Brazil to establish itself in the country much faster. This is one of the biggest advantages of outsourcing BPO services in Brazil.

Conclusion

When you consider the advantages of outsourcing call center services, as well as technology and BPO to Brazil, it is easy to see that it is worth it. It is well worth being present in a giant country like Brazil, having a talented workforce, low costs, and high growth potential.
If you need help with customer service in Brazil, contact us. BrazilDesk is the right company for international businesses emerging in Brazil.