Outsourcing : Ensure your Success

by Jim Rembach

Outsourcing can be a major benefit for a lot of organizations. Cost-control, access to expertise, quick to market, high technology, smaller capital investment are some of the more quoted reasons why some have chosen to do it. 

However, for some there's a lot of apprehension in making the decision to outsource. In the majority of situations companies perceive that they will loose control over the quality of service that their customer's expect. This is exactly what will happen if you plan to just transfer all of the responsibility to the Service Bureau. You need to maintain an active role in managing the project and assign an internal person to it. They should be reviewing the performance statistics and be educated in the entire process. If you do not have the internal expertise to handle this function you should have a firm manage this for you. (Small Pitch: Call Center Depot offers these services, contact us) 

You want to select a Service Bureau that offers an open-door to you and your organization. Some items may be off limits due to privacy issues however, you need to have the freedom to remote monitor and obtain call accounting information at regular intervals and upon request. (Make sure you have the expertise to interpret the information).

Selection suggestions:

1. Use the RFP process and have your expectations and understandings in writing.
   
2. Always have somebody manage the project that is skilled in interpreting call information and is well versed in the expectations and understandings.
   
3. Make sure that you know which facilities are going to handle your account. There may be varying levels of quality from one location to the next and you don't want to see the flagship when the dingy is doing all the work.

Factors to consider when selecting your vendor:

Company Organization

Training

Interview the provider before you sign the contract. Create a cross-functional team to evaluate the decision. Hire or dedicate someone who has the experience to select a Service Bureau. 

Take the bid and figure out what your costs would be in creating your own center. As a general rule if your project lasts more than three years you may want to build an internal center to take advantage of the depreciation and cost benefits, unless it is not part of your core function. This timeline is longer if you are in a very high-tech and rapidly changing industry or want to locate in an area that has high real estate costs and low unemployment.  

Audit your service provider on a regular basis. Utilize a third party expert to examine the reports you receive as well as the physical location. You may find an outside expert to be very beneficial to ensure you are getting what you pay for. Never leave the project management to the service provider or an inexperienced employee person. 

Outsourcing can be very beneficial to a vast number of companies if you manage it correctly. Have an experienced person as part of the ongoing management team so they can pay attention to reports, bills, quality, and the expectations and understandings. Do these things and you ensure a successful project that will be efficient and effective.

Jim is the founder of Call Center Depot. He is a Certified Call Center Auditor with Purdue University and has over a decade of experience in project and operations management in call centers. He strives to assist call center professionals in making the best decisions for their business with his contributions.