General Management defines an organization’s stages in four ways. The seed stage, the startup stage, growth, and expansion. Opposed to popular belief, outsourcing non-core activities of your business can be considered, in all stages, as a great asset. This is not limited to the expansion stage.
When it comes to finding the right outsourcing partner, your decision should not depend on the stage your organization is in but rather what activities you plan to outsource.
The right question to ask yourself is whether your revenue-generating activities e.g. sales, marketing or product development are effectively using their time to think strategically and execute. If you find out they are dedicating a significant amount of time on back-office activities and administrative operations; then you know what activities you should outsource.
Besides the internal value your company gains when outsourcing non-core activities of your business, you can also reduce the costs associated with running a contact center.
Now that you’ve asked yourself the right question – selecting the right vendors is not an easy task. A new vendor has the power to streamline efficiencies across your company or lead it to failure.
These are some aspects we consider relevant to include in your planning (based on our experience with clients) when considering Call Center and BPO providers for any outsourcing activity.
Define Goals for Outsourcing
We start off the list very intentionally by encouraging our clients to define the areas of their business they need outsourced – customer service, IT services, back-end, etc. – and then asking them to define what success would look like if they opt for outsourcing. Using the SMART methodology to define success metrics is a great way to start. This is a useful recap we found in case you need to dust off some of these concepts.
Once you’ve defined this goal with this or any other methodology, make sure you get company buy-in; this means, a consensus from employees all across the organization to acknowledge how outsourcing will benefit their work, and consequently the company as a whole.
Research!
Call Center and BPO Providers are VAST. Just for starters, you can take a quick look at our Call Center and BPO Providers Network.
In this universe of providers, it is paramount that you dust off and bring back your research skills to find best providers but also be aware of the industry specifications and the drivers of innovation.
Pro Tip: make sure you tap into the experts for knowledge-based recommendations. Although vast, the industry remains consistently medium-sized and therefore leaders of the industry are always a first touch point when asking for references of vendors.
Throwing out an RFI doesn’t hurt to narrow down the search
Enable an internal structure
Forbes recommends organizations to have a Chief Customer Officer in the structure and org chart. At CCOG, we not only agree but also build on that idea by encouraging our partners to build structures that enable governance, quality management and most importantly, strategy over your outsourcing partner.
The idea of creating a structure of governance is based on the idea that it will make your company more flexible to embrace technologies in the customer-centric industry we are in and also serve as a hub for innovation within the business.
Let us help you improve Customer Experience Strategy through Data.
Call Center Power is at the forefront of these trends and many others in the call center industry. We have years of experience identifying, designing and implementing call center technologies that drive improved results and ROI for companies all over the world. Take advantage of our vast operations experience and technology network to optimize your contact center solution.
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