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Dell's Outsourcing Decision-A Turning Point or a Bump in the Road for Offshore Call Centers? Outsourcing the Right Way

Articles Outsourcing the Right Way If you are the person charged with deciding whether to outsource your company's customer care calls, you should know that the decision you make can affect your career. Outsourcing customer care calls as a concept is acceptable and legitimate, but outsourcing does not equate to off-loading management responsibility. Companies outsource for good reason: cost control, access to expertise, state-of-the-art technology, and minimization of capital investment. Service bureaus that provide customer care services on behalf of their clients often have the potential to out-perform their clients' own internal resources. They have access to the latest technology and they can often do it for less because they can allocate physical facilities across greater call volume while spending less on wages, salaries and benefits. You do not always get what you pay for, though. If you find the lowest cost bidder, their low cost could result from under-investment in technology with wages that are too low to attract competent personnel. If you do pay a higher price for better quality, you may still not receive it unless you also invest in managing your vendor. When you outsource customer care, you give up a certain amount of control. The more control you can retain, the less risk to the quality of care that your callers will experience. Although all service bureaus say that they want to 'partner' with you, your vendor is not your financial partner. Plan in your budget for at least one full time manager on site at the service bureau. Your new 'partner' will question your decision and may tell you they can save you this unnecessary expense since they already include project management in their fees. Beware the service provider who does not welcome on-site management. Allowing someone from your company into their facility at all times is very difficult for the service bureau and requires a large degree of tolerance on their part. However, a refusal to comply with your request means that you will lose a large degree of quality control. The best vendors will allow you full access to the facility (within reason) including office space for your vendor manager. Keeping the control issue in mind, here are some suggestions to follow when selecting a vendor: Always use the RFP process, and always document your agreements and understandings with a written contract. The best service partner depends on the application you contemplate outsourcing, and the people who will manage it. Make sure that when the service bureau responds to your RFP, they show you the actual site that will perform the work. Their response document should apply only to the site you visit. Here's an example. RFP: "We require that you have a diesel generator for back-up power supply." Service bureau response: "We have two power feeds to the facility, a uniform power supply for the computer and telecommunications system, supported by a diesel generator on 24 hour standby." You select this vendor. They staff your project in Kansas City. By the way, the diesel generator supports the Omaha facility (the one you visited). They plan to get one for Kansas City soon. General factors to consider when selecting your vendor: Overall Location - access to major airport Size in the industry Dedicated or shared teams Client list Management personnel Previous experience Sales Process Professionally organized tour Knowledgeable, empowered sales person Who will be your client advocate? Workforce Work ethic Wage rate Morale Culture Training Professional, experienced training department Multiple training rooms Number of positions per room Telecommunications technology Major equipment supplier Major LD carrier Redundancy Systems technology ACD capabilities Reporting capabilities Web access System development capabilities Facilities Class A office space Access to workforce Public transit Company Organization Organization chart Escalation contacts Disaster Recovery Power supply Telecom backup Data recovery Physical plant Interview your management team before you sign the contract. Do so as if you were hiring them yourself -- because you are. Develop a team to evaluate the selection decision. Borrow or hire someone in your company who has previous experience with selecting and managing telephone service bureaus. Add a representative from your customer care department to your team. Once you know which vendor you might select, use their bid to make your final decision about outsourcing. Look one more time at doing the work internally and compare your internal cost with the vendor's total estimate for the project. If you then choose to outsource, your most important responsibility will be managing your vendor. Pay careful attention to your reports, your bills, your quality controls, your contract and your relationship. Your reward will be superb customer care delivered in a responsive, flexible and professional environment at an economical cost.

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