Belize Nearshore Outsourcing: Hurricanes Shouldn’t Matter – Quality Should
November 30 marked the end of the 2018 Atlantic basin hurricane season. Eight storms were recorded with two — Florence and Michael — considered major.
How did Belize fare? The country was spared once again, as in recent years, which is typical for Belize (and good news for any company considering outsourcing their contact center nearshore).
Belize Hurricane History
Since 1930, only 16 hurricanes have made landfall in Belize or passed close enough to cause damage or loss of life. Of that number, just three have impacted the country this century in any significant way, and none since 2010.
- Hurricane Keith (2000) – stayed off the coast but affected Ambergris Caye and other outlying islands;
- Hurricane Iris (2001) – hit southern Belize causing property damage but no loss of life;
- Hurricane Richard (2010) – hit Belize causing substantial damage in the central and southern regions but no loss of life.
Belize Hurricane Statistics
Of the 15 named storms to hit the U.S. this season, eight became hurricanes, with Michael and Florence going down as two of the most devastating in the nation’s history.
By comparison, the average between direct hits — hurricane force winds for a few hours — in Belize is about one every seven years. The average between major hurricanes is 21 years.
Why Belize Gets So Few Hurricanes
Two reasons explain why Belize escapes the brunt of the Atlantic basin hurricane season: its size and position.
Belize is a small country (about the size of Massachusetts) nestled just under Mexico’s Yucatan Peninsula and has less than 200 miles of coastline. With less surface area for storms to strike, fewer do. Its proximity to the equator may also be a factor.
What This Means for You
Why am I sharing this information and what does it mean for you? Only that if you’re considering outsourcing your contact center nearshore, hurricanes should not be your primary concern.
Instead, your focus should be on finding an outsourcer who has your best interests at heart and who offers the highest quality at the most competitive rates possible.
I believe Transparent BPO fits all those criteria. Here’s why:
Five-nines Uptime. We have redundancy between our data centers in Miami and Belize through ARCOS, the undersea fiber ring which connects the Americas and the Caribbean. If one data center goes down, we can quickly reroute to the other and keep the network running. Battery and generator backup further ensures reliability.
Quality as a Core Value. Everything we do is of the highest quality. It’s not just about service delivery, either: The business practices we employ, people we hire, the facility we operate, and technology we use is innovative and best-in-class.
English-speaking Agents. Our agents grew up speaking English and did not have to learn it as a second language — a factor that is of no small consequence when dealing with U.S.-based customers.
U.S. Cultural Affinity. Before coming to TBPO, many of our agents worked in the tourism industry, which benefits from over a million American visitors each year. Also, Belizeans watch nothing but American television and are very accustomed to U.S. culture.
Continual Process Methodology. TBPO’s management team uses a continual process methodology to identify, monitor, and improve behaviors that positively impact the KPIs important to our clients and their customers.
Those are just a few of the reasons you should include Belize and Transparent BPO on your list of nearshore outsourcing providers. (You can see more here and here.)
Conclusion
Even though Belize is not the recipient of most Atlantic Basin hurricanes, we can’t guarantee that one won’t hit next season. However, we have the infrastructure in place to keep operations running even if it does. Of greater importance, we offer the quality you would expect from a domestic provider but with the lower price point of a nearshore operation.