Outsourcing

Outsourcing is an emotive subject. In many industries it has come to represent reductions in staff, loss of personal power and loss of control. It has been used by many companies simply to lower headcount, so the very word can cause alarm and anxiety. However, outsourcing the call centre has a number of benefits. There are a variety of services available, from outsourcing the entire operation over to a third party, to using an outsource bureau simply as a back up, intraflowing seasonal peak volume or advertising response volume on an ad hoc basis.

COST CONSIDERATIONS IN OUTSOURCING

Costs

However, there is another major consideration. Capital intensive technology which is constantly moving forwarded, requires major financial resources if your organization wishes to stay at the leading edge. Outsourcing removes this burden, enabling companies to enjoy future proofing technology with no capital outlay.

Pricing

It is important to understand what is included in any proposal and be vigilant for hidden overheads. It is essential, when outsourcing a currently in house performed activity, to fully understand your present cost structure. The same process is required for a greenfield site and projected costs calculated so comparisons can be made.

You will need to work out:

• The fixed costs, including floor space, personnel etc.
• The variable costs such as training
• Asset utilization and depreciation
• The internal costs that will continue after contracting out
• Closure and transfer costs if applicable
• Projected annual costs
• Implementation costs

NEXT: RFP/TENDERING to select an outsourcing partner.

You will want to put your business out to tender, and therefore need to document the full specification and the performance levels you demand. Shortlist to three or four companies to complete a full tender document by visiting their site and asking some strategic questions.

What is their experience in running campaigns, telephone selling or telemarketing, and how can they help your business flourish?

Ask about their flexibility. If there are market changes which require swift action, can they adapt to your needs/ What about their management style and culture? How do they coach and motivate the agents? Can they provide you with detailed reports showing agent productivity and call handling data?

What skills can they offer you? Do they employ multi-linguists, and in what languages. Are their agents mainly graduates and if not, what caliber? How big is the resource pool available to them? What is the attrition rate?

• Stability
• Quality
• Recruitment & Training
• Partnerships
• Disaster Recovery
• Call information- Advise your anticipated call volume (details of peaks/troughs with seasonality and trends), average call handling time, the nature of calls (their complexity), what training needs are expected
• Service provision: hours of operation, the service level you demand
• Technology- advice if there are nay specific requirements such as CTI links, multi-media, internet integration, IVR etc. and ask what they can provide for you, such as Post Code look up, scripting, fax back, etc.
• Fee- Specify how you would prefer to pay- by number of calls, per agent or flat fee for the operation
• Contingencies- Find out the happens to you calls when all agents are busy. What overflows are provided and where to. Are guarantees given that other clients will not adversely impact your service levels? What are the procedures with
  (a) fire drills,
  (b) major powerfails and
  (c) disaster to the building?
• Reports
• Penalties

For more information, please contact Seema Wadhwa, Manager - Project Management.