What to look for in an outsourcing partner

What to look for in an outsourcing partner

June 28, 2019

Through the years, outsourcing has been proven to be a great strategy for those who are looking to make their business processes more efficient. However, entrusting a part of your operations to another company is always a risk. It can make or break your business after all.

To ensure that your company won’t take a big hit for choosing the wrong outsourcing partner, here are the qualities that you should look for.

Technical expertise

Technical know-how is very important when it comes to choosing an outsourcing partner. Of course, they should have the knowledge and skills to perform well in their specific field. Otherwise, investing in this strategy is all for nothing.

Because outsourcing is meant to help you expand your operations or lighten your workload, your service provider should be able to deliver by giving you great results. Their performance should always be at par with your company’s standards.

Make sure that your chosen outsourcing firm is accredited in their field of expertise before entering into a partnership. Your business’s reputation is at stake here, so take time to evaluate their proficiencies and capabilities.

Industry experience

Your outsourcing partner’s experience in the industry is one of the most crucial things that you should look into. See to it that they have established a good track record on the area you plan to outsource and are knowledgeable about the latest strategies concerning your market.

Checking on their experience will allow you to measure up their level of expertise as well. As mentioned above, technical expertise should always be taken into consideration – and a way to assess this is by looking into their past projects and see how well they’ve performed.

To determine how experienced an outsourcing service provider is, ask how many projects they have completed and inquire about the scope of the projects they have covered. It won’t hurt to ask for a portfolio, too.

Competence

When choosing a partner, it’s not enough that the outsourcing firm has a high level of expertise and a wide industry experience. They also need to be efficient in carrying out their tasks. They might deliver high-quality services, but not accomplish them on time. This is something that you never want to happen if you’re looking to invest in outsourcing.

To gauge their competence, look into their management practices and processes. Knowing their ways can give you a background of how they handle things and will allow you to determine the possible setbacks that come with hiring their services.

Consistency

When outsourcing, you don’t have full control of your outsourced tasks – and that might prove to be a problem if your partner is underperforming in certain areas.

To make the most out of your investment, ensure that they are not only experts on one specific area. Rather, they should be able to perform well on all the tasks under the scope you’ve agreed upon.

A problem that you might face with regards to consistency is when your outsourcing partner gives you excellent services in the first few months, and then eventually give you subpar results as your partnership progresses. This is a major red flag!

When this happens, you should consider looking for a new service provider before it further affects your operations.

Before signing with an outsourcing firm, make your expectations clear so they will be more aware of the quality of their work throughout your partnership.

Good communication practices

A common cause of conflict in partnerships is bad communication. If this issue ensues, then working with them may not be fruitful and may only give you unnecessary stress.

Choosing an outsourcing firm that’s difficult to deal with simply won’t work. You need to work together towards your goals, so you have to create a relationship that’s built on professionalism, transparency and camaraderie.

Good communication on both ends is important if you would want to end up with excellent results and establish a good working relationship. After all, you will be needing to get in touch with them constantly to check on the quality of their work and inquire about the progress on their assigned tasks.

When choosing an outsourcing partner, see to it that their approach is highly professional and that they would always take your opinions into consideration. Try to speak with some of their employees to get a glimpse of their corporate culture.

You should also be aware of their approval terms and processes so as not to create any misunderstanding in the future. Check available communication channels such as phone lines, email and instant messaging as well to know all the ways to reach them when you need to contact them.

Compliance with government regulations

Government regulations are set for a reason. This is to ensure that all businesses are fair in all their dealings. But there are always some companies who choose not to comply just to maximise their profit.

If your outsourcing partner gets into legal trouble, it will greatly affect your operations. Just imagine suddenly losing an essential part of your business! You will need to quickly put up a plan to cover for every area that’s affected.

To avoid going through this daunting situation, make sure your outsourcing partner complies with every government regulation. Check if their business is registered and ask about their policies before signing with them.

Choosing the right outsourcing partner isn’t easy. After all, you have to give them your full confidence, knowing that they will help grow your business.

If you’re looking for a highly competent outsourcing partner, choose White Label Media. We have years of experience in digital marketing, website development, graphic design and IT services, so you can rest assured that we will give you outstanding results.

To learn how we can help you, give us a call on 02 9161 1644 today.