Identifying The Right Outsourcing Partner

Balancing today’s priorities while planning for tomorrow is a constant struggle.

Where are your conscious efforts being directed towards is a thought that any and every business owner must give from time-to-time. Are your efforts being focused on what is really important for the growth of the business? Or are you putting in too much time in activities that are necessary but could be done/executed without your personal intervention and at a much lesser cost.

You must first determine WHAT is important to you and then what is important to “managing your business”.

For any business, deciding whether to outsource or not is a subjective process.

Now-a-days, the question ‘How to Outsource’ does not exist anymore. The question is – ‘Who to choose as your outsourcing partner?’ Also, deciding to outsource a portion or all of your recruitment functions is one of the most important decisions your company will make.

The concept of contract workforce is increasing over the past few years except for 2017. One estimate of the worldwide BPO market in 2017, the market size of business process outsourcing amounted to 24.6 billion U.S. dollars. The global traditional outsourcing industry generated 88.9 billion U.S. dollars in revenue whereas the information technology outsourcing (ITO) market amounted to 64.3 billion U.S. dollars.

(Ref: www.statista.com)

Before out-sourcing your processes, there are some points that you should consider:

1. Will Outsourcing Improve My Company’s Performance?

If your business needs more skills and resources but does not have the capital to invest, outsourcing could be the answer. It helps businesses focus on acute tasks and improve employee productivity. It also allows management to direct staff energies strategically. Your work efficiency will increase without increasing your headcount

2. Would It Be Cost-Effective?

All business is basically about customers and marketing and making money. Do you know what your actual cost is to perform your key tasks? It is important to understand the total cost both, direct as well as indirect to hire the employee. Knowing and understanding these figures will help you to compare the costs while outsourcing. Along with the total cost reduction by 50 to 75%, it also saves the head count of the employees and who doesn’t always want that!

3. Working Along With The Off-shore Team With The Existing Internal Team

Isn’t it the thought that comes to our mind first? Whether the new team will match with the existing team in terms of work, culture, team-spirit, etc.? Let me tell you that considering both the teams different is wrong. The Off-shore team is an extended part of your current team. It should not be treated as an external team. We all have read and heard about culture and how important is to understand it when you work with people from other countries. While this is extremely important, it’s not the only consideration. Most important is the organizational culture of your outsourcing provider.

Depending of your overall business priorities, a blend of out-sourced team and internal team will possibly enable you to concentrate more on the core business activities rather than additional requirements.

Outsourcing will be the perfect vehicle for starting to explore and experiment.

4. Alignment With Your Company’s Future Requirements

It is important to decide as to who will manage the out-sourced partner. The right alignment of people, process and technology will help your business plan succeed.

It is important to maintain an overview of the out-sourcing activities, and understand the contract terms and end-result of the project that is out-sourced.

As businesses grow, new challenges appears and they often needs to be managed. The scalable outsourcing makes it practically fit for adding the special skilled workforce when you need them

5. Parameters To Choose The Right Location To Out-Source

Most of the companies have their presence around the globe. You will have to evaluate many factors before you officially start “looking” for a partner.

While most Offshore or Near shore companies have remarkably lower rates than that what you would find Onshore, you may want to look a little deeper into issues such as government infrastructure, economic strength, exchange rate, environmental issues and culture, etc. as this could affect the quality of service in the long run.

6. Matching The Language & Accent

How would you feel when you call a contact center and in response, you do not understand the language of the person who is interacting with you? This is one of the primary concerns that we are seeing with companies who have out-sourced their work. Feedback from the customers on the agent’s language or accent “barrier” should be kept in mind before finalizing the location for out-sourcing. Along with this, the quality of the agents (mediators) who will be the face of your brand and company be up to your standards, as the agent on the phone or reaching out to a potential client is essentially an extension of your brand, it is imperative that – that agent sound and behave in a way that would make your company and customers proud.

7. Flexibility

Wouldn’t you want your customers to be answered any time any day? Would you wish to lose the business just because your customer was trying to connect with you and there was no one to answer?

Out-sourcing the business is the solution to this. They will not let any of your clients go un-answered. When you choose your partner, they should have the flexibility to meet and grow with the changes. As your business continues to evolve, you should expect the same from your Out-sourced partner. Finding a partner who is willing and dedicated to making your process as seamless as possible should be the ultimate goal.

8. Communication With The Management

As this Contact Center and their management team will be handling your customers directly, you need to make sure that if there is ever an issue or if you want to ask a question about the operations, you aren’t going to be going through ten different people before you get your answer. A partner with a clearly defined, effective, communication flow reveals that they are organized and experienced in handling issues in the way they need to be handled.

9. Reliability Of Your Out-Sourced Partner

In conclusion, the choice of outsourcing a part of your business is a huge decision. These nine factors are just rubbing off the surface. I would encourage you to dig deeper into the company history to make a wise decision and push your company forward. The right contact center can be a valuable asset to your business.

If you’re looking for ways to streamline and improve your business, outsourcing could be the perfect start. As an outsourcing service provider company, we always like to keep our fingers on the pulse when it comes to understanding our clients. Contact us and ask how we can be your perfect outsourcing partner!