One trend that is making a big difference in customer service is home sourcing – used home based remote call center agents. An exert in that movement is Michele Rowan, President of Customer Contact Strategies, a consultancy specializing in aiding companies to capitalize on home-based call center agents in the United States. Brands are realizing that providing a great customer experience is a good bottom line decision. Home-based call center agents tend to be more highly educated and experienced, have less stress and are focused on meeting callers’ needs.

Measuring the impact of low customer satisfaction has prompted this shift to the homesourcing model. As customer relationships rise in importance along with wages in other countries, off-shoring becomes a less desirable option for US companies.

According to a recent report by the CFI Group, customer satisfaction with calls perceived to be handled in the U.S. was more than one-fifth higher than with calls perceived to be handled outside the country. A NPR story reported that first call resolution with US based call centers was 34% higher than call centers outside the US.

Bringing more call centers back to the US is creating more jobs domestically. The biggest trend is virtual or home-based call centers. Michele Rowan helped Hilton Hotels Corporation expand their at-home agents from 200 to 1000 agents and now gives workshops to executives from companies like Marriott International, Terminix, Blue Cross Blue Shield and others. Rowan’s website is even cleverly named http://www.gohome.us.com.

Home-based call centers open up opportunities for stay at home moms, disabled employees and others who cannot work a typical full time job. These employees tend to be motivated long-term professionals that appreciate the opportunities provided by brands employing the homesourcing strategy. Experts see the trend increasing as more companies reap the benefits of moving their call centers back to the US and using home based agents.