Finding the right outsourcing partner depends on how focused you are on your goals and how meticulous you are in pinpointing prospects. Rather than focusing on getting as many options as you can, it is at this stage where you refine your elimination process so that you’re left with only the best business options – the cream of the creative crop.
After all, you don’t want to keep switching partners once your projects start running. It’s always better to invest more time and effort into screening potential companies instead of losing more in terms of money and performance later on. If you want to increase your chances of succeeding in business instead of crippling it in the long run, you need to be targeting only a select number of providers to work with.
How do you know when a company is the right one?
1. They offer the services you need.
You can find out if these prospects are able to handle the jobs you need to outsource if they’ve worked on similar kinds of projects before. Consider the difference between companies who provide the services you need as add-ons to a much larger offering and smaller or boutique-sized companies who specialize in the projects you need done.
While the former may take a more experienced or well-rounded approach with their services, the latter may have the competency and focus to respond to new data better, especially if a template-driven approach isn’t working for you.
2. On top of being cost-efficient, they deliver quality services.
Getting what you pay for with cost-effective outsourced solutions doesn’t always mean receiving shoddy work and undesirable results.
For example, having work outsourced to locations like India or the Philippines makes sense for some businesses because their currencies have more buying power in these countries. This does not mean that they pay for lower-quality services - outsourcing merely gives them access to a wider range of professionals and specialists amenable to working with their budget.
Remember that it’s results that give businesses who outsource a larger competitive advantage in their respective industries. Focusing just on minimising expenses or trying to get a deal that’s too good to be true may not satisfy your business objectives in the long run.
3. They coordinate well with their clients.
Having work outsourced to a third-party service provider means working with processes that may seem unfamiliar, so it’s important to gauge whether or not a prospect will be able to coordinate well with your business. Project management strategies that work well between you and your outsourcing partner should be a huge factor in deciding whom to seal the deal with.
Be mindful of any data-sharing risks if you plan on coordinating online, and whether response times will be affected by partnering with companies from a different time zone.
4. Their references check out.
The best companies to outsource to are the ones whom other businesses have recommended or worked with in the past. If you own multiple businesses and a particular outsourcing company has done a great job for you in the past, you can even consider getting them to do the same tasks for these brands.
Most outsourcing companies display client portfolios featuring larger business partners, so be sure to check them out for brands you recognize. It may also be necessary to check whether your prospects have worked with your industry competitors and whether they have measures set up to avoid conflicts of interest.
5. Their company’s work culture matches yours.
At the end of the day, working with a company whose goals and culture blend well with yours is the best foundation for building a strong business partnership. Having work outsourced requires a lot of coordination between businesses in partnership, so being surrounded with the right attitudes and priorities helps streamline execution and increase collaboration in each task you require.
Let’s do it!
Between weighing your options and nitpicking over which companies to align with, you’ll eventually find yourself saying, “Yes! This is a company I’m excited to work with.”
The best way to ensure you’ve decided on the right company is to reach out to them and team up on a pilot project. This serves as a ‘live experiment’ you can review and use as a basis for future endeavors.
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