What Actually Drives Cost-Per-Contact in Outsourced Support

When evaluating BPO partners, most buyers anchor on the headline hourly rate. But hourly rate is a poor predictor of actual cost-per-contact.

The bigger levers are first-contact resolution rate, agent ramp-up time, and attrition. A vendor with a slightly higher hourly rate but strong knowledge tooling and low attrition will almost always beat a cheaper vendor on blended cost-per-contact within two quarters.

When evaluating proposals, ask vendors for their historical first-contact resolution rate and agent tenure data — not just their rate card.