8 tips for choosing the right outsourcing provider

If you have made the decision to outsource some of your business’s low value-added services, it is essential to rely on the “right” provider. The latter will need to be able to meet all your needs to quickly become a trusted partner which you can count on at any time.

The many advantages of outsourcing

By choosing the right provider, your outsourcing will become a particularly effective tool for:

• Developing your business,
• Allowing your teams to focus on their core business,
• Allowing a significant and lasting increase in your turnover,
• Gaining in skill,
• Reducing operating costs,
• Gaining in quality,
• Gaining productivity quickly on jobs lacking skills, time and investment, and
• Gaining adaptability according to your needs.

In short, your outsourcing provider will allow you to make savings without losing on quality. On the contrary, it will also bring its own knowledge and expertise, which will be added to those of your teams. The sum of these benefits: higher productivity over a shorter period of time. Outsourcing also allows the client company to focus on its specialty, such as marketing and to eliminate investment issues related to infrastructure. Finally, it makes it gives you the opportunity redirect, more efficiently, the funds formerly dedicated to hiring and training new internal resources.

The choice of your provider, a crucial step for the development of your company!

To achieve the results outlined above, the essential step is to choose your outsourcing provider. It is about finding the one that will effectively meet your needs to achieve optimal results. ProContact agents are equipped with continuous training to carry out specialised tasks related to human resources, satisfaction surveys to assess the quality of your services, remote secretary services, teleprospecting and telemarketing. Here is a list of 8 criteria to consider.

Its experience in the sector

Choose a provider who clearly displays their in-depth knowledge and experience in your industry. It must be able to, very quickly, take control of the tasks and processes that you want to outsource. To evaluate this experience, ask the company how many projects it has successfully completed and learn more about their intensity.

It is important that the management team, project managers and others who will work with your company are qualified and have the experience required for the smooth implementation of your outsourcing project.

Evaluate the technical expertise of your outsourcing provider

Your future outsourcing provider should be able to explain the methodology they use to manage their projects, track results and solve problems. It needs to make sure that you have an accurate idea about how your own project is going to be taken over.

It will also need to be able to propose a business continuity plan that will ensure its presence in the event of a health emergency, for example.

The opinion of other customers

To better understand the quality of your future outsourcing provider’s services, it is essential to know their background. Solicit former clients and those who still rely on their services and focus on the extent and quality of the services they have received as well as the challenges they have encountered during the partnership.

The importance of customer communication and management systems

For smooth communication with your provider, be clear about your expectations so that all members of the outsourcing team are available by email, phone or other messaging applications/software at the times indicated.

If you operate in a different time zone, your provider must ensure that they can minimize communication gaps.

You must also agree on a single point of contact where you can express your questions, comments or concerns. Communication, being one of the pillars of such a collaboration, this aspect is essential.

The importance of the infrastructure and the technologies made available

A provider specialised in, for example, digital, must be ready to respond to the needs and requests of the companies that contact him for possible collaboration. Thus, its infrastructure must include all the necessary and up-to-date hardware and software, a reliable network of telephone lines and the Internet. It must also be able to integrate with your company’s technologies.

It must also be able to invest to acquire the technologies necessary for the service that you ask it to implement.

Calculation of costs

A project whose costs remain fixed means considerable savings for the company. Is your future outsourcing provider able to meet your needs with fixed costs? To avoid any unpleasant surprises, take care to look for and peel off any hidden costs that may arise in:

• The implementation of your project,
• The training your provider’s agents, and
• Other additional expenses that may occur during the delivery.

Evaluate the agents of your outsourcing provider

The quality of an outsourcing provider is based on many factors, including its own agents. To get a sufficiently clear view of your provider, take the time to learn about their hiring policy and process. This will also allow you to have a good idea of the knowledge and skills that it can put at your disposal.

You must also take the time to inform your provider about the culture of your own company, its values, its vision, its mission and its methods of communication.

Financial stability of your outsourcing provider

A good outsourcing provider is stable and solvent in the long term. By learning more about this information, you will be assured of long-term availability. This is about being able to count on a company capable of becoming a partner. Moreover, trust is an essential asset.