From being a startup to a scale-up, businesses today have the advantage of cutting-edge technology and a diverse talent pool to realize their vision. But when growth is happening at a faster pace and wider scale than expected, there’s a danger for some companies to fall behind.
This period of growth can cause small businesses to fail if they have limited resources to keep up with the velocity of change. For those ready to take the next step, however, their growth plans often include business process outsourcing (BPO) as a strategy.
Outsourcing enables businesses to team up with a third party that already has the resources, expertise and capacity to support growth.
How can a scale-up business select the right outsourcing partner for their business? Here are eight factors to consider when choosing an outsourcing partner:
Scope of Projects
The most crucial question to ask when a small firm is scaling up is the variety and scope of its projects. In the e-commerce industry, for example, retailers have to establish and maintain their presence across multiple sales and marketing channels to cover the entire customer journey efficiently. Over time, the scope of work can be overwhelming for a small team left to manage different projects all at once.
This is the reason a number of businesses choose to outsource transactional processes, such as HR and payroll management, accounting and even customer and technical support services. Outsourcing to a reliable partner enables businesses to allocate more of their time, energy and financial resources to revenue-generating strategies instead.
Size of the Team
In the digital economy, a business can grow quickly overnight. But given the size of their current teams, not all companies can keep pace with the demands of expansion just as swiftly as operational changes take place. So, most employers consider staff leasing as a solution to these gaps in human resources.
A remote team trained extensively by an outsourcing firm can step in and provide support services to clients almost immediately. What’s more, the client won’t have to incur additional training costs to bring workers up to speed. And should the client encounter logistical problems, as seen with the COVID-19 lockdowns, a remote team will still be available to ensure that the client’s operations run smoothly.
Expertise and Quality Assurance
Building your business through outsourcing isn’t just a numbers game. Increasing your available workforce is only part of the benefit of finding a reliable outsourcing company.
The most trusted names in the BPO industry also invest in the upskilling of workers and their mastery of digital tools to guarantee that clients receive the level of proficiency and service quality they require.
Because of the effort of outsourcing firms to future-proof workers’ skills, they are able to set the standards of service of in-house and outsourced teams on par with one another. At other times even, subject matter experts from a third party may have a better grasp of a discipline than a self-styled resident expert would.
Apart from training, senior staff members at outsourcing firms also monitor team productivity and perform quality assurance checks regularly. This is done to give clients peace of mind when it comes to the firm representing their brand to customers.
Cost Efficiency
By comparing the cost of outsourcing with its benefits, a number of businesses have seen the efficiency of hiring a third-party firm as opposed to managing routine and time-consuming tasks in house.
When choosing an outsourcing partner, it’s best for the client to be clear about specific processes that they need – right down to the everyday tasks of workers and how the quality of service will be measured and reported back to the firm.
This way, the firm can immediately audit the services they are required to provide and calculate the expenses associated with them. The client can then compare the rates based on which services promise to do more for less.
Infrastructure
Another crucial factor to consider when outsourcing services is the business climate of the BPO firm’s country of operation. They can work to upgrade their technical expertise and infrastructure, but all these components will prove useless if their base of operations isn’t friendly to overseas businesses.
This is why clients choose the best country in outsourcing before deciding on a suitable partner. Businesses should determine whether the country of operation has the latest telecommunication networks to handle data-intensive work. It’s also crucial that the outsourcing destination has a power grid large enough to support entire industries without the risk of prolonged electrical failures, which delay services significantly.
Compliance
Aside from having infrastructure support, an outsourcing partner should also show a track record of complying with regulations – among them, data privacy and intellectual property laws in their country of operations. The client should ask the firm to guarantee adherence to laws protecting both the business and the outsourcing partnership. Without this protection, a client could end up at risk. Compliance should be one of the first questions outsourcing partners discuss.
Communication
The outsourcing firm should appoint contact persons ready to respond to the questions and concerns of the client 24/7. This practice builds a culture of trust and transparency between the firm and its stakeholders. Account managers should work closely with workforce managers who will then cascade the client’s requirements to the teams on the ground helping to support the business.
Culture
The final test when choosing a potential outsourcing partner is the company’s overall workplace atmosphere. It’s critical for the client to see whether their own values are reflected in the way the firm does business and cares for their team – and whether the people who work for them are also enjoying a well-balanced life and career free of toxicity in the workplace. In the end, having the right leadership and management culture will set the top firms apart from all the others.
When businesses experience rapid growth, they may find that outsourcing to a trusted third party has benefits that go beyond addressing gaps in skills and project management. However, clients will have to weigh their options closely to ensure their outsourcing partner is representing the business the best way they know how.