The Keys to Successful Outsourcing

Whether you’ve been outsourcing for years or are just beginning to look into your options, carrying on a successful outsourcing relationship takes a shift in strategy and strong partnership with a dedicated outsourcing provider. The decision represents a sizable investment of time and effort, and you'll want to ensure that it bears fruit by way of money saved and efficiency increased. Here are some ways to make outsourcing easier from the start. Below, we’ve outlined some of the most vital components and the keys to a successful outsourcing arrangement.

Re-evaluate Your Core Competencies

Do a Thorough Accounting of Your Goals - Keys to Outsourcing

Do Your Research to Forge a Real Partnership

From the start, you should view your outsourcing provider as an extension of your team. Look for providers that share your values and identify the ones that have a culture that aligns well with yours. Work with them to outline your goals, expectations and a process for communication. 

When you're building a program overseas, finding a provider that not only allows but encourages you to become a part of the process will lay the foundation of a successful outcome that continues to meet and exceed your expectations. You should ask to meet your new remote employees and seek involvement when it comes to training new teammates. 

Once the program has begun, communicate frequently with your account manager according to the process you specified and continue to keep your finger on the pulse of the solution you've implemented. One reason for codifying your expectations at the outset of the relationship is so that if some aspect of the partnership isn't meeting those expectations, you'll both know precisely what steps to take to identify and rectify it.

Learn how Personiv approaches  partnerships with our clients: The Ultimate Guide to B2B Relationships

Ultimately, if you plan to outsource, it’s important to make sure that saving money isn’t your only consideration. Yes, the top reason to outsource in many situations is to boost profitability, however, you need to make sure that quality won’t take a hit. The number one rule to protect quality while outsourcing is to choose a partner who keeps you involved and informed. Experience doesn’t hurt either. Look for a company that has expertise in your needs, a track record of successful long-term partnerships, and can facilitate your ability to reach out to their other clients for references and testimonials.

Do the Math and Make Sure it all Adds Up

Just as the pursuit of cost-savings should never mean a sacrifice in quality, a well-built outsourcing solution should not mean a zero-sum outcome. After all, reigning in the costs of value-neutral work usually takes the top spot in a company's list of goals when it comes to outsourcing. It's a reasonable and achievable goal, and your partnership should help you meet it. Before you sign a contract – and after you've already entered into an agreement – you need to continue to take the temperature of the program you've implemented and if it is, in fact, providing the cost-savings you need. 

Read more: Getting Back To Work: How To Allocate Resources In The Wake Of COVID-19

In short, you need to do the math. How much money will you save outsourcing versus building the infrastructure and providing the service in-house? If you've already begun, are the goals and parameters you set around cost being met? Will they continue to be? What about infrastructure and technology costs? Have you or will you be expected to sign on to minimum commitments? For instance, is your provider asking you to adopt technology you don't use at significant cost to your organization, or will they agree to work within the technology you already use? Are you able to hire only the full-time employees you need, or do you find yourself scrambling to create work for extraneous offshore team members in order to meet minimum hiring requirements?

Experienced and reputable outsourcing partners can break down the costs to help you evaluate if you’re getting the best value, and a successful partnership is one where quality and savings can be prioritized simultaneously and neither will be sacrificed to meet the goals you've set around the other.

Mind the Scope - The Keys to a Successful Outsourcing Partnership

Somewhere down the line, you may be looking to scale operations further with your current outsourcing provider. To ensure a smooth transition, plan ahead for expansion and make sure your provider can keep up. They’ll need to be flexible and nimble enough to scale up depending on your needs and offer the types of services you might be looking to fill in the future.

The keys to outsourcing a pretty simple, but if there’s one word that sums it up, it’s “partnership”. Building a long-term relationship with your outsourcing vendor will ensure that everything from quality and cost to scope and customer satisfaction will fall in place for long-term success. Find out more about Personiv’s outsourcing solutions, and then schedule a one-on-one with one of our experts and tell us how we can help you.