How a Large International Hotel Chain Transformed Its Contact Center Through Strategic Outsourcing 

What Is Contact Center Outsourcing, and Why Does It Matter? 

Contact center outsourcing means engaging a third-party vendor to manage some or all customer-facing phone, chat, and service operations on behalf of a brand. For hospitality companies, that decision carries real stakes: the contact center is often a guest's first human interaction with the brand, and the quality of that interaction directly shapes loyalty, booking conversion, and Net Promoter Score. Selecting the wrong vendor can mean misaligned service culture, high agent turnover, and inconsistent guest experiences at scale.

Outsourcing isn't simply a cost-reduction exercise. Done well, it provides scalable staffing flexibility, specialized operational expertise, and the ability to surge capacity during peak seasons without compromising service quality. The challenge is designing a selection process rigorous enough to evaluate vendors on more than price and capacity, weighing the softer dimensions that drive long-term success: cultural alignment, forecasting accuracy, associate retention, and accountability to performance standards.

Client Opportunity

A large international hotel chain, with a multi-brand portfolio operating property across North America and internationally, ran a guest service contact center handling approximately 4 million inbound calls annually, with staffing that fluctuated between 50 and 350 associates depending on season and demand. At the time of engagement, the chain was managing two external outsourcing vendors whose performance and cultural alignment had deteriorated below acceptable thresholds.

Previous internal attempts to run a replacement RFP had stalled, lacking the CX-specific expertise to evaluate vendors on dimensions beyond cost, and leadership recognized that the go-live deadline was non-negotiable. Andrew Reise was engaged to provide end-to-end RFP management, from documentation and vendor evaluation through contract execution and post-selection implementation oversight.

The Challenge

The hotel chain needed to replace two underperforming contact center outsourcing vendors on a compressed 22-week timeline, while ensuring the replacement partner could meet the demanding service, cultural, and performance standards unique to a hospitality environment.

Vendor Performance and Cultural Misalignment

Two existing vendors were no longer meeting the company's standards for associate behavior, brand representation, or service delivery consistency. The misalignment wasn't purely operational. It reflected a deeper mismatch between the vendors' workforce culture and the hospitality-first values the brand required in every guest interaction.

Stalled Internal RFP Process

Previous attempts to run a replacement RFP hadn't progressed, lacking the CX methodology and vendor evaluation expertise necessary to assess outsourcers on the dimensions that matter most in hospitality: forecasting accuracy, associate retention, balanced sales-and-service delivery, and cultural fit. Standard procurement-driven RFPs weren't built for this scope.

Scale and Complexity of the Operation

Managing approximately 4 million calls annually with a workforce ranging from 50 to 350 agents required a vendor with proven dynamic staffing capabilities, one that could demonstrate a model for scaling up and down without degrading service levels or guest experience.

Hard Go-Live Deadline

The replacement had a fixed, non-negotiable activation date. Any delay would create a gap in service coverage, which put pressure on every workstream to stay on schedule at once: vendor selection, contract execution, IT and telecom integration, hiring, and training.