How To Outsource – 12 Dos and Don’ts

Whether you like it or not, outsourcing is here to stay. If you are avoiding this as a corporate process, you are only hindering your long term business progress. It’s a cost effective form of delegation!

Whether you are looking to outsource affiliate marketing campaigns, payroll, web design, email list building, writing or recruitment, here is why it makes sense:

• You get the core skill set you need, without having to employ multiple members of staff.
• Reduce costs and financial commitments.
• Ability to increase capacity on demand.
• Pay-as-you-go!

Read our Dos & Don’ts guide, which will give you a few things to look out for.

Remember, there are hundreds of services that can be outsourced.  As an example, SEO outsourcing is huge at the moment. If you are looking to outsource marketing online, then SEO outsourcing could be the first place to look. However, if you are looking for outsourcing companies related to web design, writing or even recruitment, the same principles apply.

Do	Don’t
1. Monitor costs associated with outsourcing.	Assume that employing this as a business process leads to automatic efficiency.
2. Understand your business requirements from this process before paying for any services; make a list.	Be tempted to pay for services based on an impressive offer without analysing whether these services are really required.
3. Experiment with different service providers.	Stick with the first service provider you find, simply due to price.
4. Downsize certain departments.	Keep a physical operation (premises, staff and so on) at the same size if not necessary.
5. Compile a large list of potential outsourcing service providers and cross reference the offers.	Limit yourself to the first 2-3 providers you find on Google.
6. Negotiate on price and service features.	Assume that the package offered is the only package available.
7. Outsource tasks that your business employees are not completing in an efficient manner.	Outsource tasks if you or another employee has the required skill set to complete it.
8. Go through the necessary due diligence procedures to locate a reputable, experience and reasonably priced service provider.	Be under the illusion that all service providers have your best intentions at heart; they are simply trying to sell a service.
9. Test out the customer support team via online chat, email and phone; this is a sign of things to come.	Be impressed by an “award” they have won for customer service that might not even exist.
10. Find a service provider that will offer a cost effective solution.Remember, not every outsourcing process needs to be offshore.	Assume that cost effective means the cheapest. Often the cheapest things in life are cheap for a reason. In this case: lack of experience, customer service issues and communication barriers.
11. Always look for alternatives. These companies may get a larger and higher paying project in, at which point, you might be left behind.	Think that you will be their first priority as a loyal customer; business is business and not every company adopts the same principles.
12. Be too eager to scale up an operation if you are acting as a middle-man.	Take things slow and build up a relationship with your outsourcing company.

 

A quality service provider will be able to offer help and advice, making your business even more efficient than it ever is. If you are looking to outsource marketing processes, are they able to produce a better ROI than you currently are? If you are looking for an SEO outsourcing company, can they improve your rankings faster?

Whether you operate on a freelance or have office locations across the globe, this is a process that can help your business.