Outsourcing has been revolutionizing how business gets done for years. And, industry analysts tell us that the trend of turning to outside providers for help will continue to grow in the future. A recent study by Deloitte indicates that 31% of IT services were outsourced in 2017 and that number will only continue to increase. (Source: Deloitte). Hiring outside teams to perform key IT and back- office account management services has proven to deliver significant benefits including cost savings and increased bandwidth, which allows internal teams to refocus on sales and other strategic organizational objectives. New technology developments in cloud computing, centralized management, Internet of Things (IoT), AI-powered chatbots and others will also likely shape services offered by providers in the future. In an era where customers expect a unified customer experience at every touch point, business will come to depend on outside specialists even more. From online to phone, social media or in-store, companies will be prepared to attract and retain their best customers. For those considering farming out strategic back-office services, let’s look at the top 6 must-dos to build a strong outsourcing strategy.
- Communicate goals- Sometimes a barrier to success is a lack of buy-in initially by internal employees. If employees don’t understand the overall objectives, they may be skeptical about transferring responsibilities to outside staff. It’s important to communicate the strategy to generate support and delineate responsibilities effectively. That way teams will be working in sync to serve customers best. Also, remind internal players that by sharing specific responsibilities with specialists they’ll be free to move on to the next account or sale.
- Prioritize requirements- In today’s competitive environment, it’s important for companies to know where to focus their time, energy and investment dollars for maximum impact. When deciding what activities to contract out, identify areas that may require specialized knowledge or expertise or those activities that are draining employees. That may include hiring an outside team to focus on managing telecom services and costs. Those spending too much time negotiating contracts or troubleshooting issues with suppliers may be missing out on revenue-generating conversations and interactions with customers. Or for companies with lean IT staffs, that might include hiring a service provider that specializes in data privacy, regulatory compliance or cybersecurity. The most important thing is to understand your objective and needs and look for a service provider that can deliver those results.
- Look for providers with a breadth of experience- While specialty service providers are used in certain areas of the business, it’s also helpful to have a partner with a breadth of knowledge. This allows companies to add-on services during periods of growth or to capitalize on new opportunities quickly. Not only that, by limiting the number of service providers contracted, businesses can reduce the time spent on managing that relationship.
- Find providers with flexible contract options- Look for partners that have flexible pricing models and services that can be customized to fit individual business needs. This may include specific service level agreements (SLAs) for network uptime or in the case of a remote contact center, options to pay a fixed cost by the user. In the case of cloud services, it may be important to maximize the functionality and utility of the public cloud, but also ensuring guarantees regarding where customer data resides, and how that data is backed up, for instance.
- Look for smart tools to manage teams– Companies relying on back-office support services need the ability to stay on top of projects quickly. Managers should be able to promptly get snapshot views of activities to ensure clients are receiving the absolute best care possible. Consider if the provider is in the same time zone and if they have access to preferred communication tools, such as Slack, Google, Salesforce, Office 365, etc. Also, make sure there is a single point of contact for account concerns and remote management options to confirm benchmarks are being met.
- Contact customer references- It’s important to speak directly with current customers about their experiences. This will help determine how the professional service team responded to a problem or how they helped scale up a customer acquisition process when a new service was added, for example.
Providers that offer the right mix of domain expertise, quality standards, along with the latest technologies can help companies achieve cost-efficiency and deliver excellent customer support. To get there, look for an outsourcing partner that best complements the business, and that is committed to achieving long-term success.