When it comes to business process outsourcing (BPO), what can you outsource and how will it benefit your business?

Thanks to digital advancements, many of your non-core activities can just as easily be taken care of half way across the world as they can from within your own business premises. So as a small to medium business operator, you’re likely to consider the prospect of outsourcing at some time.

What are the potential benefits of outsourcing?

Outsourcing isn’t about what you take away from your business, it’s the value you can add:

Cost savings. Most savings come from cheaper labour and operation costs available in emerging economies. In the Philippines, for example, the average wage is less than 1/5th of the average Australian wage.

Value. Workers from emerging economies tend to have a strong work ethic and friendly, enthusiastic attitude. In the Philippines, there’s 95% English literacy, 200,000 students graduating from university each year and 1 million full-time equivalents (FTEs) in BPO.

Flexibility. Otherwise known as ‘follow the sun’, businesses are operating somewhere in the world at every hour of the day. Customer queries must be addressed. Payments have to be processed. Outsourcing some of these activities to offshore teams means your business has the ability to run effectively 24/7.

Freedom. Outsourcing non-core activities means you can focus on your core business concerns and goals.

Is outsourcing a viable option for your business?

When making the decision to outsource (and which activities to outsource), you want to consider your business vision, goals, infrastructure and industry. At Global Outsourcing, we look at several things to decide how outsourcing can save a business time and money. And because we offer local support as part of our service, many of the hurdles associated with managing and dealing with a remote location can be overcome. But there are other aspects that need to be considered:

Maturity of your business

Your current processes, performance measures and reporting requirements

The technology, expertise and skills you require

Any legal, regulatory or management constraints (such as objections by stakeholders)

The process of outsourcing involves detailed analysis of your current practices. Our goal is to identify which opportunities will offer the greatest return for your business at the lowest level of risk. To do this, we explore several questions:

What level of savings is likely?

How would the freed-up resources be redeployed?

Can we increase the flexibility of your business?

Can offshore service providers match or improve your current internal quality levels?

What level of capital spending can be avoided?

We also consider ease of execution:

How easy will it be to migrate to a new environment?

How many employees will be affected?

Do you have stakeholders and how likely are they to agree to the proposed changes

What business processes can be outsourced?

As the industry has evolved and become more streamlined, outsourcing to offshore teams is no longer limited to lower end activities. In countries like the Philippines, we have access to highly educated business specialists such as:

In today’s competitive business environment, the demand for increased productivity and reduced costs is higher than ever. Thanks to advancement in digital technology, there are now very few business processes that can’t be outsourced.

The importance of the customer experience

Whether the bulk of your interaction is face-to-face, via telephone, mail or the internet, your relationship with your customers is vital to the success of your business. On this level, outsourcing customer interaction to a third-party introduces a few challenges. At Global Outsourcing, we look at two dimensions of customer interaction:

1. Level of judgment. How long do your interactions last? How much information is exchanged? The more complex the interaction, the greater the level of judgment and the higher the level of risk.

2. Value of interaction. How much value do your customers place on their interaction with you? Do they initiate the interaction? How essential is your interaction in retaining customers?

This doesn’t mean that the more sensitive customer interactions can’t be considered for outsourcing, but it might suggest beginning with lower level risk interactions and migrating to higher risk interactions at a later stage.

Getting the right advice

Global Outsourcing work with businesses needing teams from as little as 2 staff up to 50. We can discuss your outsourcing needs, whether it’s viable for your business and how it could improve your performance and reduce your costs.