As a business owner, you will want to take measures to ensure that operations will constantly be running smoothly. While there are no fool-proof methods that are guaranteed to work for every company, one extremely effective solution that is often misunderstood is that of outsourcing.
Outsourcing offers a wide range of services to help you achieve your business goals. You may already know this, but you have also probably heard some of the horrors of outsourcing. Time and again, companies have outsourced only to find that they have been scammed or that their product or service has been significantly compromised.
To help you avoid such pitfalls, this blog post will share a rundown of the most common outsourcing horror stories and how to avoid them. Having an idea of the worst that can possibly happen will help you prepare yourself for worst-case scenarios.
1st Horror Story: Low-cost Service to Poor Quality Output
Some outsourcing horror stories start off with you being buoyed with enthusiasm for outsourcing to save on cost. You are picturing the savings you are going to have, even as you are looking forward to getting more work done with less money.
Then you receive the first batch of products or services. Sure, the numbers on the invoice confirm you have saved some money, but the quality is not what you expected. You don’t have any say over the products or services being delivered to you. What do you do now?
How to Avoid This Horror Story
There are several ways to avoid this. First, know that outsourcing costs can vary greatly depending on the location of the provider. The provider you choose needs to be reliable and trustworthy, and they need to be able to deliver on your requirements.
The success you will find in outsourcing depends on the provider you find. You can’t just go with any company that is willing to provide you with what you need. Before you get started, do some research on the companies you find. A few minutes on Google will get you started.
The best way to get value for your outsourcing budget is to get an estimate from several companies. Then get a few samples of their work. If you get samples of their work, you can judge the quality of the product or service they will be delivering.
2nd Horror Story: Poor Quality Control on Your Product
This horror story comes into play when an outsourcing provider is given some of your products or services to perform some minor modifications on the product or service.
Suppose you are working with an outsourcing company to update the design of your website. A few days after you send over the updated design, the outsourcer sends you the updated website. You are thrilled to see it.
When you go to the homepage of your website, you are startled to find that the company you outsourced to has done almost everything you requested except for one thing. They have changed the background of the website to the color you requested, but they have also changed the text of the website to some other color you did not request.
How to Avoid This Horror Story
Once again, outsourcing success depends on the provider you choose. When you are outsourcing to a company, make sure that the company is trustworthy. It is vital that you work with a company that can guarantee that your product or services are improved in the way you requested.
When you are outsourcing, it is your job to give your provider all of the specifications. This way, the provider doesn’t have to change any of your specifications to perform the work.
Once you have given your provider all specifications, communicate with the company you are outsourcing to. Ask for progress reports. This way, if your provider makes an error, you can catch it right fairly quickly.
3rd Horror Story: Poor Quality Due to Incompetence
You are in the process of outsourcing an important project. The outsourcing company you are working with has managed to meet your requirements for this project just fine. You get the product or service that you need, and you pay the company for it.
Then the time comes to get your project reviewed. You want to get your project reviewed because you want to get someone else’s opinion on the job the outsourcer did. You don’t want to take any chances with this project.
Then the reviews start to roll in. You and everyone who reviews your product or service notice something similar. While the project was done well, all of the reviews repeat one thing: The outsourcer was unable to communicate effectively.
How to Avoid This Horror Story
Many companies think that there is nothing that can be done about this horror story other than to avoid it. The truth is that this horror story is actually preventable. If you outsource to a company that has a good reputation and high customer ratings, the first thing you might notice about their reviews is that all of their reviews mention how communicative and helpful their customer service representatives were.
Communication is very important for outsourcing to be successful. If your provider cannot communicate effectively with you, then there is a big chance that they won’t be able to meet your expectations.
Since communication is so important, you should choose a provider that can communicate effectively at multiple levels. Not only should your outsourcing provider be able to communicate effectively with you, but they should also be able to communicate with your staff.
You should also choose a company that has good customer reviews. If you are working with a company that has received bad reviews, look for a different company.
4th Horror Story: Communication Error Caused by Technology
This horror story is quite common. You have set up your communication process with your provider. However, there is a big disconnect between your communication process and the communication process of your provider.
You end up speaking to a communication team that does not have proper communication skills. In turn, your communication team does not speak well, and their communication skills are lacking. This results in communication errors that ruin your communication experience.
How to Avoid This Horror Story
One of the best ways to avoid this horror story is to choose a provider that has a team of communication experts. Your provider should have a communication team that is skilled and well-trained.
This communication team should be able to communicate with you at your level. The communication team should understand what you are saying, and they should be able to speak in a way that is clear and concise.
Conclusion
These horror stories are why it is so important that you find a high-quality outsourcing partner that you can trust. If you go with a provider that is not trustworthy, these horror stories can come to pass. By selecting the right outsourcing company, you may be able to avoid these four horror stories, and you can make sure you avoid the stress and anxiety that comes along with them.
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