Why DIY Global Outsourcing Doesn’t Work
Many CEOs find themselves in need of a larger workforce. They know they need to scale in order to meet demand, but they don’t have the time, money, or resources to train and house new employees.
They can’t always afford the in-house hires that they need to execute certain functions effectively. This often means that the company goes without, and it’s up to already overworked founders/CEOs or inexperienced team members to fill in the gaps.
But what will this decision cost your company in the long run? The overextended budget or the fatigued high-level executives? In short, far too much.
Instead of emptying the coffers on an in-house hire or overworking a team that is spread too thin, it is far simpler to outsource.
Global outsourcing is a functional, cost-effective solution. It has become increasingly popular over the past 20 years. Where global outsourcing was previously limited to specialized functions, you can now outsource a remote team to do almost anything.
The Fatal Mistake
We have seen a multitude of professionals across various industries tap into the universal need for the effective handling of functions.
Outsourcing services such as customer care, bookkeeping, and technical assistance are popular. However, as the market becomes saturated with specialists for hire, it’s becoming harder to select the correct team to partner up with.
When CEOs look at global outsourcing partners, they often think “why do I even need to go through a partner? I can just cut out the middleman and outsource it myself”.
This is a fatal mistake.
If you do not have the right information or know what pitfalls to look out for, your global outsourcing dream solution can quickly turn into an outsourcing nightmare.
It’s important to have a clear idea of what it will take to outsource successfully. Global outsourcing may be the solution that promises affordable, effective functionality, but if not handled correctly, you may end up worse off than when you began.
What Can Go Wrong?
You might be thinking to yourself, what could possibly go wrong? If you need a function performed, get ahold of the experts and commission them to perform it. Simple, right?
Unfortunately, this is not the case. In fact, there is plenty that could go wrong. It is imperative that the person you select to be your outsourcing vendor has been properly vetted and has received the correct training for the job. Any shortcomings in their performance will reflect badly on your business, and ultimately, the end consumer.
Let’s take a closer look at what could potentially go wrong with DIY global outsourcing.
Misaligned Values
Global outsourcing will impact the values of your business. And if your global outsourcing vendor’s values do not align with your own, you could be at loggerheads from the get-go.
Perhaps your company grows to a point where you are no longer able to effectively manage a customer care department. To make matters easier, you outsource your customer care to an outsourced team.
Your company might focus on providing a personalized touch to your end consumer. Your global outsourcing vendor might value technical innovation, though. This will lead to a misalignment of values.
You might prefer customer care agents to be available to consumers over the phone, offering a personal touch. Your global outsourcing vendor might favor the use of bots and automatic responses to filter queries. The end consumer, being used to your personalized methods, might become frustrated by these bots.
If they are unable to connect to an actual human to speak to about their issue, it will reflect badly on your company. You will be providing a service that does not live up to one of your core organizational values.
At times, you might reprimand your global outsourcing vendor for this outcome. You state that you expect the call center agents to be fielding more calls.
However, the global outsourcing vendor might be proud of the fact that his agents aren’t needing to answer as many calls. They feel it indicates that their bots are working effectively.
Lack of Management
If you need to outsource a function to a team, like your marketing, you have to make sure that that team is sufficiently managed. This will ensure that results are delivered in a timely manner. If your marketing strategy calls for 10 blogs and 20 social media posts per month, you need to be able to hold someone accountable for these tasks.
Similarly, if the content marketing material is not up to standard, you need to have someone in place that will edit the content to satisfaction. If this is not the case, an in-house team member will inevitably take over the workload. This will render the outsourcing arrangement pointless.
The point is not whether your global outsourcing vendor is managed by an in-house member of your team or by an individual from the outsourced team. It is rather that everyone’s expectations are managed effectively and that the deliverables are produced timeously.
If this is not the case, you will be paying your global outsourcing vendor to do the work that you will inevitably have to do or redo yourself at a later stage.
Insufficient Vetting and Training
While you may hold yourself and your company to the highest standard, not everyone will follow suit. At the end of the day, money talks, and there are plenty of chance-takers around looking to make a quick buck.
When you choose a global outsourcing vendor, you need to do your homework. They need to be sufficiently vetted so that you can guarantee they will be able to provide you with the service you will be paying for.
If you had to commission a company to design a payroll platform and manage the payment of your staff, you need to ensure that they are equipped to do so.
If the payment platform is technically flawed, you will be jeopardizing the livelihood of your in-house staff. You may well end up paying for a new platform to be developed by another company.
Similarly, if your global outsourcing vendor is confronted with a technical issue, they need to be able to fix it. If they are unable to troubleshoot effectively, your company will have to pay someone else to address the issue.
Simply put, when you fail to properly vet your global outsourcing vendors, you will not know whether they’ll be up for the job. It is a total gamble. You need to spend your dollars where it counts. You need to get what you pay for.
Does Global Outsourcing Even Work?
While this blog certainly demonstrates a multitude of expensive mistakes one can make when it comes to global outsourcing, you should not take it to mean that outsourcing does not work.
On the contrary, when you team up with a global outsourcing partner that knows what they’re doing, you can halve your workload for a fraction of what it would cost to execute yourself.
Don’t believe us? Read our case studies to see how we’ve helped businesses cut costs, save time and streamline their operations with our professional BPO services.
Working with Noon Dalton
When you work with Noon Dalton, we don’t just become your global outsourcing partner, we become an extension of your team. Our goal, as your global outsourcing partner, is to deliver remote teams that work to your internal standards, with measurable reporting to meet your expectations.
Basically, we help CEOs evaluate where remote teams will be best placed. We actually assist with the strategy and implementation of working with your remote team. We help you to:
- evaluate the outsourcing opportunity,
- establish the processes,
- hire the staff, and
- simplify the scaling and management of your company and its global outsourcing teams.
When you work with Noon Dalton, you have access to fully-trained, highly skilled remote staff. We make it our business to understand your needs. We take on the process of hiring and training your new team and provide much-needed stress relief to your in-house staff.
What sets us apart from other global outsourcing partners, is that we give our clients more control over their remote teams by establishing daily, weekly, and monthly reporting. We have streamlined the onboarding and maintenance processes, seamlessly integrating your teams.
We prioritize complete transparency, so you’ll know how your remote teams are performing every step of the way. By developing trust and building a solid relationship, you will have peace of mind. You will be able to leave your remote team to do their work and focus on your core business.
We have over 20 years of outsourcing experience and have scaled and managed remote teams for over 200 clients in the last 10 years. We focus on team members who have the right skills, knowledge, and experience. And, we leverage these qualities to fetch the best results possible.
When you work with us, you can rely on our experienced recruitment knowledge and industry expertise. This frees you to focus on growing your business.
Don’t fall victim to bad DIY global outsourcing practices, trust us to take the lead.
If you think we can help you improve the way you’re doing business, don’t hesitate. Get in touch, and start saving your time and money today.