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Outsourcing has become a major part of the corporate world.

Being able to bring external people on board to handle specific jobs has helped transform how businesses operate. Recent research also shows that outsourcing offers many benefits beyond saving costs. It also helps businesses tap into expertise, scale up, and boost efficiency and productivity. If you’re considering outsourcing or looking to maximise value from your existing processes, below are four ways to do so.

1. Avoid outsourcing problems without conducting thorough research

When an aspect of your business isn’t quite hitting the mark, outsourcing might seem like a quick fix. However, to get the most out of this, you must understand what the issue is and why you want to outsource it. This step helps you to get the best solution for the challenge you’re facing. Be straight with the outsourcing provider about the situation and ensure they have a plan to sort it out. If you skip this bit, you might end up paying someone else to play out the same mistakes. After getting a clearer understanding of your problem and your needs, you can then get the right assistance. For instance, if you’re in the finance industry, you might want to get paraplanning services if you need help with tasks like plan preparation and reporting.

2. Take complete responsibility

More often than not, your customers won’t know who you have working behind the scenes and are usually not concerned about that. If you get things right, the difference between what you do in-house and what you’ve outsourced should be invisible to them. Therefore, after outsourcing whichever business function you need to, avoid leaving the entire process to the service providers, as you also need to stay involved. Your regulators expect you to stay on top of things, especially if you’re playing by the rules in a regulated industry. Whoever’s doing the legwork for you, it’s worth noting that you’re still responsible for that process and must take complete responsibility.

3. Prioritise value-based pricing over low cost

One crucial aspect of outsourcing is the finances. Especially when you’re teaming up with a partner across cities or regions, those pricing conversations become crucial. Although low-cost pricing is the old-school way, which involves setting a price based on what it costs to provide the service, value-based pricing has proven to be the better alternative. It is all about setting the price according to the value it brings to the customer. Unsurprisingly, industries like software, chemicals, and medicine have adopted this value-based pricing approach.

4. Focus on the metrics that matter

It is easy to focus more on money when it comes to outsourcing. However, metrics and stats also play an essential role. When you’re assessing your business, it’s best to also consider these factors. For instance, service quality is a big deal, covering various aspects like customer satisfaction, reliability, accuracy, availability, and security. And don’t forget about maintaining your relationships while outsourcing.

Regarding financials, look beyond cash and dive into total cost of ownership (TCO), change in operating expenses, decreasing infrastructure costs, boosting revenue, and scoring the best Return on Investment (ROI). Lastly, there are the operational efficiency and growth metrics detailing training and improvement programs to ensure smooth business operation. Combining all these metrics will help you get the most out of any outsourcing services you partner with.

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