The basics of outsourcing according to Forbes

Offshore staffing is a powerful business strategy that allows companies to gain skills without increasing expenses. Offshore agents are integrated into the operations of internal employees, with the exception of legal, back-office and infrastructural aspects, which are handled by the client company. Outsourcing as we know and practice it today began in the 1960s.

What is outsourcing?

The purpose of outsourcing is to help companies adapt their operations by providing them with a workforce that is often located remotely (offshore). This allows companies to remain operational and adapt their resources by adding or removing the number of people involved, usually trained people, delivering high quality work. In addition, processes are streamlined, workflows become smaller, more accurate.

Outsourcing is a tool, a concrete strategy, far from the idea that we may have of this form of offshoring. It is therefore essential to understand the ins and outs of outsourcing, even if your company does not intend to turn to this solution.

Outsourcing is a concrete solution

Outsourcing is not a miracle cure that can be implemented overnight. Companies that embark on this adventure without adequate preparation usually end up giving up after a few months, due to several factors.

When should you outsource?

Here are four scenarios in which outsourcing will help your company evolve.

You want to save on operating costs

It’s now a common belief that outsourcing can save you money. Faced with the high cost of recruitment, companies can save from 30% to 70% on their salary costs, thanks to significantly lower salary standards in the context of offshore outsourcing.

When you want more flexibility in running your business

In addition to the economic aspect of outsourcing, it also allows the company to save time and efficiency on several levels:

• The legal aspect of the hiring process;
• The recruitment process;
• Compliance of jobs with existing laws;
• Workforce health;
• Training;
• Workspace;
• Equipment.

These points are taken care of by the outsourcing provider, thus relieving the company in need.

If your local market is short on skills

There is a clear lack of skills and quality candidates in the labour market. With outsourcing, you finally have a pool of talent ready to work remotely. This pool is made up of trained, often multilingual, supervised and motivated talent.

At ProContact, we train our agents on an ongoing basis to ensure that they feel comfortable in their role, that they have confidence in themselves, and that they know that ProContact cares about their professional development. The adage “Happy employees make happy customers” is part of our values and our daily objectives.

• Our agents are self-motivated, self-reliant, and aware that their supervisors are always there when needed.
• Our agents have strong communication skills and are familiar with all the tools used in the service.
•  Finally, they are results-oriented and focused on the success of the projects they are entrusted with.

If you are looking to expand your workforce

Is it possible to expand your workforce at a lower cost? Yes, thanks to outsourcing! If you want to split your teams into two parts, one entirely dedicated to development, sales, research, etc., and the other to low value-added tasks, outsourcing gives you an expansion opportunity that is difficult to obtain internally.

ProContact agents are trained to handle a long list of tasks:

• Inbound calls
• Remote secretary services
• Polls, surveys, satisfaction studies
• Remote marketing and remote prospecting (appointment setting, prospecting…)
• File classifications
• Management and enrichment of databases
• Customer loyalty
• Technical assistance (hotline, webhelp, technical support)
• After-sales service, customer service
• B2B / B2C prospecting;
• Remote secretary services;
• Customer relations;
• CRM tool and software;
• Satisfaction surveys;
• Human resources
• Digital.

To conclude

With proper planning, outsourcing is no longer a challenge, but an intelligent tool. It evolves according to the company’s needs and is perfected according to the projects, objectives and budget of each client. Moreover, at ProContact, we consider outsourcing to be a durable and solid partnership in which we grow together over time.

While outsourcing may take some time to master, it allows each party to learn and commit.

While it takes time to find the right outsourcing partner and build a full team, the benefits are far too great to pass up.

Outsourcing is for all types of businesses and all industries, but implementing it requires a thorough review of your business life. Where do you want to go? What are your plans for the coming years? Do your employees understand the approach and do they accept to team up with people who are not part of the internal team?

Contact us for more information!

Want to know more? Outsourcing is our business! At ProContact, we work closely with you to include this solution in your business strategy. We can offer you an unprecedented adaptation of your way of working thanks to the arrival of resources located elsewhere, without losing time, money or quality.

ProContact is more than a contact center. Thanks to trained, qualified, hand-picked and multilingual agents, we enable the companies that choose us to gain credibility and above all to satisfy their customers, whatever the situation is and in complete transparency.

Outsourcing has become a tangible and concrete business strategy for the development of the company. To find out more about our services, for a quality partnership, click on our contact form, send us an e-mail or call us at (+33) 1 77 75 04 50.