If you’re an international company looking to expand or grow in Brazil, outsourcing call center services in this vast South American country can offer numerous benefits. This article will give you a clearer picture of the market and provide relevant data and insights into both domestic and outsourced call center services in Brazil.
Why You Might Want to Outsource a Call Center in Brazil
Companies Breaking into the Brazilian Market: This applies when a company wants to attract customers in Brazil or already has a customer base and realizes the need for specialized service in the land of samba.
Companies Looking to Cut Costs: Sometimes, companies don’t need a dedicated call center in Brazil but require skilled labor at a lower cost, like Brazilian customer service agents who are fluent in English. This is particularly common among U.S. companies.
Each scenario has its own set of advantages and challenges.
Key Sectors Utilizing Brazilian Call Centers
According to Comunix, the main domestic sectors outsourcing call center services in Brazil are:
Customer Service (SAC): This is the most necessary and in-demand sector. Brazilian law mandates a telephone service channel for all industries.
Ombudsman Sector: After a customer goes through several service departments without getting a satisfactory response or finding the right department, the ombudsman sector steps in to handle complaints, suggestions, and grievances. This is very common in public agencies in Brazil.
Collections: Widely used by financial companies like banks, as well as telecommunication and subscription service companies that rely on frequent payments.
Telemarketing: Companies with large rooms filled with service agents making calls for prospecting, conducting opinion polls, and advertising.
Telesales: After telemarketing has prepped the customer, telesales is where the actual sale happens. This sector sees high employee turnover and is increasingly regulated by Brazilian call center laws.
Top Brazilian Market Segments Hiring Call Centers
E-consulting Corp, part of the ECC Group specializing in the telecom and contact center sector ABRAREC – Brazilian Association of Company-Client Relations, conducted a survey between 2017 and 2018 to identify the largest Brazilian sectors hiring call center services. The findings were as follows:
Service and Commerce: These sectors have the highest use of contact centers in Brazil, with the main service lines being:
- Customer Service (SAC): 67%
- Telesales: 21%
- Credit Recovery: 12%
Convergence Sector: Covering technology, telecom, appliances, media, internet, and content, as well as the financial sector, including banks, insurers, and credit cards, which dominate the market at 79.60%.
Industrial Sector: Uses contact center services in Brazil to add value to its products. Customer Service accounts for 84%, telesales 9%, and credit recovery 7%.
Agribusiness Sector: This sector almost exclusively demands customer service (95%), with only 5% used for telesales. This is due to the low value-added products (commodities or raw materials) requiring little technological development.
The distribution of call centers in Brazil is segmented by industry as follows:
- 35% for services and commerce;
- 26% for industry; and
- 18% for agribusiness.
Major Global Industries Relying on Brazilian Call Center Outsourcing
According to a forecast by Technavio, the outsourcing of call center services is expected to grow by almost 4% annually between 2022 and 2026, and is expected a growth of $ 25.9 bn in 2024-2028.
This growth is also driven by the increasing interest in using employers of record (EOR), who hire people abroad on behalf of a client, acting as their official employer and managing hiring, onboarding, salaries, administration, and terminations. This allows companies to have employees in other countries without needing to create a local entity or navigate the country’s laws.
As a result, Brazil is becoming an increasingly popular destination for outsourcing digital services by foreign companies, including customer support services. The main segments are:
Information Technology: International companies seek qualified labor in Brazil for software development and other tech demands.
SaaS: Companies with software as a service increasingly need dedicated support in different territories and languages. Many companies look for services in customer success, customer experience, client relations, online community management, and multichannel support.
Customer Service: Call center and customer support services are sought after when these companies expand into the Brazilian market, voluntarily and involuntarily, as happens with digital platforms that quickly gain millions of users worldwide.
Financial Sector: We’re living in the era of increasingly segmented fintechs for different audiences, and the service area for this sector is in demand for outsourcing in Brazil.
Telecommunications Sector: Mobile and fixed phone operators from various countries also seek customer support services in Brazil.
Retail: We are witnessing significant growth in e-commerce, where international companies seek support and reverse logistics, among other services related to online retail in the country.
Travel and Tourism: Online travel agencies continue to grow, like Airbnb and Booking, which need customer support services for bookings and complaint management in the most populous cities across Brazil.
Clearly, the call center sector in Brazil continues to grow, even with the rise of artificial intelligence taking a leading role in customer service. Foreign companies entering the country are reaping the benefits of outsourcing call center services in Brazil.
If you need a partner to help you with customer support in Brazil, talk to us! BrazilDesk specializes in assisting international companies with customer service needs in Brazil, with dedicated teams and other services. Contact us, and let’s create a successful partnership!