An outsourcing partner is a service provider; it may specialize in a specific sector or in several areas. Generally, when we talk about outsourcing partner, it could be a freelancer or a virtual assistant agency in the Philippines. These are the best-known companies in the outsourcing sector. They offer customer relationship services.
They are generally located in a country where the necessary conditions for outsourcing are met. Among these conditions, the most important remains the cost of skills in these countries, which is relatively low compared to Europe or the United States. This allows the company to offer services at unbeatable prices.
In short, an outsourcing partner can handle all customer relationship tasks for your business in the short or long term. For today’s article, VASTaff will talk about how to find outsourcing partner.
Why Work with an Outsourcing Partner?
If these are tasks within our company, then why hire an offshore company to perform them? It is true that it is possible to do customer relationship tasks internally, but this involves some major difficulties.
- We need to find competent agents in customer relations;
- Their training needs to be constantly taken care of;
- Offices and equipment need to be set up to provide customer service.
- The cost is higher and the quality is not necessarily better.
By hiring an outsourcing partner, all these details will be handled by that company. Furthermore, you’ll be dealing with companies that are experts in customer relations. Customer satisfaction and loyalty are therefore guaranteed, even if you’re not personally involved in this area.
Each outsourcing centre has its own beliefs, values, and working methods. Consequently, some companies are more efficient than others. Let’s now look at the criteria for choosing the right provider.
How to Find Outsourcing Partner Effectively
To outsource, you need to share certain company information with your service provider. That’s why finding a trustworthy virtual assistant company is crucial. You need a company capable of meeting all your needs and those of your clients. You need a competent, stable, flexible, and, above all, internationally recognized offshore company.
Let’s take a closer look at each of these criteria, but in reality, what you’ll need is a guide to outsourced customer relationship management.
1. Choose an outsourcing company with experience in its sector
A proven track record in customer relations is the first essential element you should consider when making your choice. Before signing a contract, ensure that the company you are going to work with has expertise in outsourcing. You should research your prospective service provider and analyse feedback from their past and current clients.
At a minimum, the company must demonstrate positive feedback from its clients. You should also consider how the company resolves problems based on its experience. The offshore company must be able to explain its procedures for ensuring good customer relations.
2. Opt for providers capable of delivering long-term services
When considering outsourcing, it’s important to think about a long-term collaboration. It’s like looking for a lifelong partner. Constantly changing outsourcing providers is not recommended, as you’ll be sharing your personal data each time. Therefore, it’s essential to find a provider capable of delivering services for at least a few years.
In other words, you need to investigate the nature of the company and its ambitions. It should be available for at least the next five years to support you in completing your tasks. Also consider the financial stability of your service provider. If they are financially stable, then they are more likely to be able to overcome any potential problems.
3. Favor versatile and competent teams
The effectiveness of an outsourcing company stems from its teams. These are the agents behind the offshore company who will do the work for you. Each outsourcing center offers different teams, but in principle, they always choose teams capable of successfully delivering the service. By signing a client relationship contract, these agents will become your external team.
It’s important to keep this engagement secret, as your clients shouldn’t know it’s an external team . The reason for this is simple: it’s difficult for your client to accept that this team will solve their problem. The team you hire must be competent and must not arouse any suspicion in your client’s eyes.
They must act as if they were part of your internal teams. That’s why the team you hire must also be versatile. They need to be able to adapt to all the changes within your company. It’s essential that the agents keep pace with your company’s work; they must be up-to-date on all the details of your business. For example, if you improve something in your product or launch promotional offers, then this external team must be aware of it. They must be able to adapt to any customer relationship context.
4. Having the ability to choose your external collaborators as internal ones
Indeed, if you want your experience with an outsourcing center to be a success, it’s crucial to build a genuine relationship with your external collaborators. Humanize that relationship. You must carefully select your external collaborators and establish communication channels, such as Slack, to greet them daily and discuss process issues, bugs, and so on.
5. Choose centers that value their employees
Outsourcing centres often experience high turnover rates. Several factors contribute to this, but the most significant is the way their employees, or more precisely, their agents, are treated. The problem is that these companies’ high turnover rates can also impact your business . Agents are constantly changing, and there’s a risk that new hires may not be as competent as their predecessors.
Furthermore, you will have to synchronize these new agents, and in the worst-case scenario, you will have to train them. That’s why you need to find an outsourcing company that treats its employees well. Choose an offshore company where human values are respected.
Choose companies that prioritise the professional development of their employees. This will undoubtedly reduce staff turnover. At the same time, you’ll be guaranteed to have experienced staff to perform your tasks.
6. Choose a cutting-edge outsourcing company
Technology plays a major role in customer relations. On the one hand, communication technology is the cornerstone of the relationship between you and your external team. On the other hand, the same is true for this team and for your clients; communication relies on the tools used.
Your team’s synchronisation also depends on these tools. Without them, communication between you will break down, and details may be lost to external teams. Needless to say, this won’t make your clients happy.
The same applies to customer communication. Traditional channels, such as phone calls and text messages, are no longer sufficient to maintain strong customer relationships. It’s now essential to consider all modern communication channels. Only cutting-edge outsourcing centers can handle these details, as some modern tools are resource-intensive.
For customer relationship outsourcing, ensure your provider is proficient in ticketing management. It’s essential they use powerful tools like Zendesk or Intercom for customer relationship management.
7. Choose a flexible outsourcing company
Flexibility is a key factor in outsourcing. In one way or another, you’ll be requiring a team to adapt to your business operations. In customer service, availability and responsiveness are crucial. Therefore, your external team must be present despite challenges such as time zone differences.
Before committing to an outsourcing company, the offshore firm must offer you a shift work schedule to ensure 24/7 availability . At the very least, the issue of a different time zone must be addressed.
8. Choose a certified virtual assistant agency partner
If you have any doubts, you can verify the effectiveness of an outsourcing company. This certification is obtained after an internal quality audit. Essentially, it’s an investigation conducted at the outsourcing center. Auditors analyze all of the offshore company’s activities.
They investigate working methods, internal organization, and employee treatment. If the company adheres to the standards imposed for outsourcing centers. This is therefore a precise indicator of an outsourcing company’s effectiveness. If you wish to outsource your customer relations, choose only offshore companies that have obtained this certification.
9. Transparency and clarity in management and documentation.
This point is very important because it directly affects the entire process of negotiating labor services. Try to understand how the company manages its outsourced employees, whether it takes care of the documentation, and whether it clearly informs the client of everything they need to know before hiring the employee.
Keep in mind the necessary documents for negotiating the contract and ensure that the outsourcing company complies with all necessary labor regulations. Do not ignore this part, as any problems with the documentation can have very serious consequences for your company later, and resolving them is usually costly. Look for transparent and reputable companies to partner with; it makes all the difference.
If you follow these tips, your outsourcing experience is very likely to go wonderfully well, and you’ll achieve your goals.