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Outsourcing – NEVER, I will never outsource anything related to my company ever in my life.

If this is what you think when you hear the word outsourcing, please go ahead and read the rest of the article. This article should change your thoughts about Business Process Outsourcing. And would definitely guide you how to set up a successful and beneficial outsourcing model. Many corporates have already discovered the path of success called outsourcing. Now you must be wondering I have always heard my customers complain about outsourcing. Even when I call some companies, the support I get, makes me highly dissatisfied, then how can I outsource my services yet make my customers happy. Well, I would say it is possible, if done correctly.

It is not that your customers hate outsourcing; they hate outsourcing when they suffer because of it.

What does that mean? The customer would love outsourcing, if it is a pleasant experience for them. Now, you must be thinking, how to outsource, yet make your customers love it. By the end of this article, you will get to know how to outsource your business needs, without upsetting your customer. Let us get familiar with the basics of Outsourcing.

Business process outsourcing (BPO) contains the transmission of processes along with the associated operational activities and responsibilities, to a third party with at least a guaranteed equal service level and where the client contains a firm grip over the (activities of the) vendor for mutual long term success. This generally involves an organizations non-core processes. Outsourcing: Contracting some or all call center services to an outside company. OnShore: Onshore outsourcing is outsourcing within nearby region or the same country. Offshore: Offshore outsourcing is outsourcing beyond your country. Call Center: A term that generally refers to inbound centers, outbound centers, help desks, information lines or customer service centers, regardless of how they are organized or what types of transactions they handle. Help Desk: An inbound call center primarily utilized for support on product installation and troubleshooting. The same can be offered through Voice support, chat or email support.

Now that you understand few terms related to outsourcing, let us try to understand why it is important for your business.

Why is outsourcing necessary?

I am sure; you must have read about the term Opportunity Cost. An Opportunity Cost is the value of a product that is forgone when pursuing another product. For example, if a CEO of a company chooses to spend two hours a day on building more sales channels, something that could be easily outsourced, the opportunity cost is the value of the time he denied himself and his primary work. That time could have been used to take important strategic decisions about your company, or it could have been time well spent playing baseball with your kids. Either way, the time represents an opportunity cost, or you may call it an opportunity lost. Now let us try to understand how to make outsourcing a beneficial experience for both you and your customer. Cutting cost is the first thing most of the companies think about while outsourcing their business needs. Now this is the problem. As a company planning to outsource your services you should focus on these 3 things:

Quality of work desired. Customer satisfaction. Reduction in cost.

Most of the times, people forget about the first 2 and focus only on the 3rd point. Such a strategy leads to drop in the quality of service leading to dissatisfaction of customers. A detailed business plan would definitely lead to beneficial outsourcing. Let us take an example. If your company sells a DVD player and you plan to outsource your technical support, this is what i would suggest to keep in mind while making your Outsourcing Business plan.

A document detailing the required infrastructure for the call center. Qualification requirements of the staff. VNA (Voice & Accent) round of the TSRs (technical support reps). Quality guidelines for the call centers and the employees. Thorough product training. (This is where most of the small companies lack) A Complete Knowledge base, with detailed answers on each and every product. Customer satisfaction surveys. Blended outsourcing. Blended outsourcing means, having an offshore as well as onshore support center. If you require 100 technical support representatives, outsource 90 to offshore and keep 10 onshore. You can hire Level 2 support onshore. Timely updates to offshore call center. It is very important to inform your offshore call centers well in advance about any important updates or launch of new products. Please don’t forget to ship new player your company launches to the offshore call center well in advance, so that the representatives can be trained properly before the launch. Start slowly and gradually. Do not outsource your complete services at 1 time. If your business model allows, operate more than 1 call centers and that too at different locations. This would also give you benefits in terms of Disaster management. The most crucial thing: It is preferable to hire a professionally managed Business Process Outsourcing company to take care of your offshore outsourcing.

The basic need for outsourcing is to focus on your core business. That does not mean outsourcing your services and to forget about them. I would suggest hiring a Business process outsourcing company, expert in the field of outsourcing to manage your outsourcing needs. If you make a proper outsourcing plan and then outsource your business, it would definitely lead to a beneficial experience for both you and your customers. Always remember, Successful entrepreneurs are those who can see the big picture. They know when to delegate and how to accurately delegate tasks.

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