Innovation
Outsourcing is a great way to help your business as it progresses through its various growth stages. In fact, some of the largest companies in the world outsource some of the work they do. In order to maintain steady growth and productivity, you should find a happy balance of in-house employees and outsourced resources. In this post, we’ll discuss how outsourcing can benefit your business.
In order to understand why outsourcing could be the right decision for your business, you need to understand why other companies choose to do it. What advantages does it bring and what value does it add? Let’s look at some of the top reasons companies of all sizes look outside their company for their staffing needs.
Grow more rapidly.
During growth, companies will often find that they would benefit from having more staff on hand, but can’t afford the expenses that go into hiring and supporting more full-time employees. This limits the potential for growth and slows any momentum that your company has built. Some companies may take a gamble and hire new staff, only to find that gambling doesn’t always pay off. Rather than growing slowly, they’ve reversed their growth.
Because it's more affordable to outsource the work than it is to build your own in-house team, and because you can cancel an outsourcing contract without having to put people out of work, it's a great way to ensure that your company maintains a steady growth while keeping the core of your team focused on internal tasks.
Retain flexibility.
The truth is your business may not need the same level of staffing year-round. At the very least, outsourcing provides you with flexibility. Your business can staff up before a busy season without the financial commitment of hiring in-house employees, the cost of which can take years to break even on. After you’ve made it through a busy season, you can easily switch back to an entirely in-house team. An experienced outsourcing agency can allow you to scale your outsourcing needs.
Benefit from top talent.
The world's largest companies can offer pay and benefits far beyond what you can likely offer, so the top talent goes to the largest firms. This can limit your company's ability to achieve the best results. It could even put you at risk of having your best employees poached by larger companies offering better incentives. Outsourcing agencies are capable of attracting top talent to ensure customer satisfaction and competitive results.
Maintain company focus.
Another benefit of outsourcing is the ability to stay focused on the important internal tasks of your business. For example, customer service is an important part of any business. That being said, it can be time-consuming and distracting for key members of your team. Outsourcing for customer service has two benefits. First, you provide your customers with consistent customer service. Second, you allow your internal team members to focus on their own tasks, helping your business run more efficiently and ultimately increasing your ROI.
Outsourcing firms are a tool that should be utilized. A secondary benefit of outsourcing is the image it gives your company. Gone are the days where outsourcing firms were unreliable and lacking quality control. You can expect modern outsourcing firms to represent your business with the highest of standards. Small businesses often lack the ability to provide mass customer service. Outsourcing this aspect of your business will give your company a more professional image.
Increase brand loyalty.
A highly trained customer support staff, backed by management with years of experience, will give your customers the type of service that keeps them coming back. Going from no support staff to an industry-leading support staff is nearly impossible to do internally. The financial strain and experience required to put together such a team are simply too overwhelming for most businesses. The professional services that an outsourcing company provides will leave your customers feeling cared for and appreciated.
Fulfill compliance requirements.
Even large companies can feel the financial impacts of new regulations. Several industries have strict privacy and security requirements that can add costs to maintaining a staff.
More importantly, they add severe consequences. Having a poorly trained staff that doesn’t properly follow regulations could cost your company big. Without the resources of a large corporation, it’s hard to put together such an experienced staff.
Look to hire an outsourcing firm that is PCI level 4 and HIPAA compliant. This prevents your team and company from facing the risk of potential lawsuits and other hardships that come with noncompliance.
As you can see, outsourcing has a lot of potential benefits — from flexibility to professional representation — and businesses small and large are wise to consider scaling their outsourcing needs throughout the year.
Acknowledgement:
Article by Sam Darwish Forbes Technical Council Member
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