It is one thing to decide that outsourcing is good for your business, and another is getting the right partner to deliver excellently well on the job. After you must have made the decision to outsource some of your business processes, the next move is to secure the right outsourcing partner, who will look after your interests and thus guarantee your business success in the future. Choosing the wrong partner, (who are not experienced, quite simply do not know how to go about this, or have their own agenda set as a higher priority than serving you) then the results could be devastating for your business.
Highlighted below are some of the yardsticks needed for a great outsourcing partner:
- Define your goals: This is like a client-vendor relationship. It’s important to let your outsourcing partner understand what you intend to get out of the business relationship. Defining the spectrum of jobs to be outsourced and their expected rewards are very crucial, and companies that do not understand the difference between the two – and concentrate only on scope & cost – are more likely to end up having unfortunate outsourcing experiences.
- What is the Expertise level of your proposed partner: While getting jobs done by your outsourced partner, it is essential to know the experience and expertise they come with. This can be taken as an interview, a review for the company you intend to outsource to. Understanding how long they have been around in the Trade, analyzing while holding preliminary talks whether they speak the language you want to hear and learning a bit about them will aid your decision making, a great deal.
- Request for task samples done in the past: It is not out of place to request for testimonials or work samples of tasks done by your proposed outsourcing partner beforehand. This gives you the assurance that you are dealing with the right firm. In doing so, while talking with them, if they are able to make you understand how they got the result they present in their work sample, you have made the right choice of a partner.
- Evaluate the Cost of services to be provided: While a decision is taken to outsource a particular task, this is probably the most important element in the minds of Management. Note, companies that quote a lower price are not the best ones to test with. Likewise, firms who paraded higher price and quality, are not necessarily the best ones either. Define the price internally at which you desire to get the work done. You also need to consider the price acceptable to the company you are dealing with. Negotiating too much on the price may lead to the company not picking up the project. Are they not an entity, by themselves? Depending on various factors such as Longevity of the company in the domain, expertise you feel they have an advantage on, how comfortable are you dealing with the proposed partnership, are all factors that you need to consider before setting a price.
- Effectual Relations and the ability for Deadlines: Outsourced companies should be best at this. Communication is the key factor and that is easily identifiable in the way they respond to you. Such partners are conscious of the fact that projects are time bound. Each task must be completed within a specific time belt. Even if it is a sales process, or lead creation process, an accounting or a managed healthcare program, they often get the job done within the designated deadlines.
