Choosing the Right BPO Partner

In the age of outsourcing, it is critical to engage in business relationships that assure successful partnerships. The practice of outsourcing business processes is maturing and we are now able to better assess those factors that have led to successful or failed outsource relationships. High on the list of factors that result in successful BPO relationships is choosing the right partner to support an organization’s business needs.

Generally speaking, companies know their business needs and challenges. However, successful BPO relationships defined by the vendor’s positive impact on their customer’s ability to meet their goals, is somewhat allusive in today’s evolving BPO service industry. Given that a failed relationship can result in millions of lost revenue, market share, and eroded customer base, it is critical to have clear criteria on which to base the decisions.

In terms of meeting clients’ needs in such an arranged relationship, it is incumbent on vendors to understand those core corporate characteristics that businesses must consider when selecting a BPO partner, as well.

Towards this end, a BPO relationship should be viewed as a highly strategic business partnership requiring a deep union between businesses. As such, in deciding upon the appropriate partner, the corporate “personality” becomes a very real and tangible aspect of the relationship to consider. In essence, the right match is likely to result in a long term relationship characterized by contract renewals, increased revenue for all and positive corporate images within their respective industries. A poor match will likely end up with large sums of lost revenue, damaged corporate images and possibly litigation.

The purpose of this article is to describe those corporate personality traits that characterize the “Right Partner” for corporate clients. Again, these traits may sound like the list a marriage counselor would provide a newly wed couple, but, the fact is that corporations are organizations of people who need to be able to maintain a high-level of communication, teamwork and, be capable and willing to negotiated differences.

Let’s take a look at the list….

Integrity

A company should espouse Integrity as one of their core values. This is an indication to prospective clients that this vendor will do what they can to meet a company’s business needs in the most ethical and legal manner. When our times are characterized by corporate accounting and management scandals, vendor companies must set themselves above the others by clearly defining how they will maintain their integrity in providing services to clients.

Mission statements are a nice place to start, but, the crux of corporate relationships must be established between key corporate leaders. In establishing a partnership of trust, commitments must be made by those executives who can assure the delivery on promises. Having face to face communication and regular executive involvement helps to establish the tone of the relationship that is to be formed.

Open discussion of the issues and challenges on both sides of the relationship is required. Clients don’t want to be sold to, they want somebody who understands their situation and has a solution. Honest assessments of what is required to meet a client’s needs will drive customer confidence and establish a vendor as having integrity.

Commitment

The best vendors offering BPO service understand that outsourcing is not a market that can be entered into without full commitment to the BPO relationship. In cases where solution providers are uncommitted, performance slumps, revenue drops, frustration develops and the relationship suffers.

The vendors who are able to exemplify the core values of the company they support and deliver the services for which they have committed are able to generate customer satisfaction, increased productivity and revenue. Furthermore, this level of commitment enables BPO partners to build a degree of trust that serves as support when times are rough.

Willingness to Listen

When engaging clients in BPO activity, it is critical t to understand the business circumstances and drivers that has them seeking this relationship. To do this, vendors must allow clients to describe their perception of their issues and challenges in detail. It is tempting to jump in early with solutions that may meet a client’s needs. However, often, requirements change with the introduction of additional stakeholders input, changes in budgets, market fluctuations, organizational restructures, IT architecture redesigns, etc.

A good vendor partner will take the time to gather the inclusive data that will accurately represent the corporation’s business needs and requirements. Furthermore, much consideration should be given to issues not raised. The best of breed vendors use their industry experience to bring forward additional considerations that should be made by their customers. Successful BPO vendors provide reliable services by designing their solutions around client requirements and industry best practices while setting clear expectations.

Responsiveness

Corporations need vendor companies to be agile. The ability to respond to client requests and needs in expeditiously. Additionally, Vendor companies must demonstrate the ability to predict potential issues will prevent a lot of relationship conflicts, however, when issues do arise, good BPO vendors know the importance understanding the impact of an issue for their client and taking swift action by communicating this fact to their client. Again, having processes and contingency plans in place to resolve issues demonstrates a vendor’s ability to react to unforeseen problems in a controlled manner. This provides customers confidence in a vendor’s ability to maintain a reliable service.

A big differentiator between BPO vendors is those who identify potential opportunities and risks for client companies. As the business environment changes, so must rules, processes and models. Vendor companies must proactively help clients take advantage of changes in the business environment with an eye on long-term gains. Vendors who respond to contractual relationships by simply reacting to client needs, do to their clients a large disservice. Vendors who provide clients with regular industry insights, updates on changing technology, market insight, and business strategy drive client BPO relationships to more successful positions.

Innovation

Once of the main reasons that companies join into BPO relationships is that they understand the business function they are relinquishing is not a core competency for their organization. As such, it should be the vendor’s core competency and as a result should be able to produce increased efficiency through increased innovation and process improvement. Vendors who simply replace resources and maintain existing processes are not adding enough value to the customer’s organization to justify the increased complexity of BPO.

Innovative vendors must evaluate and challenge existing modes of work to establish the best possible work processes for the organization they service. Given the protective nature clients may have of these processes, it is important to clearly understand these processes and present service improvement recommendation in a manner sensitive to the corporate culture in which the vendor finds themselves.

Corporations expect and desire technology innovations from BPO vendors however; these innovations should be approached in a responsible manner. Vendors who recommend unproven technical solutions must recognize the risks that they bring to their client’s business. Therefore, it is absolutely critical that vendors invite clients to open evaluation when recommend technology solutions that address business needs, are financially responsible and have a well established performance/support records. It is not uncommon for clients to request solutions that do not meet a vendor’s standards, and in these cases, the best vendors will communicate this to their clients to help them understand the issues involved and appropriately set expectations for the solution implementation. In this way, good vendors illustrate their willingness to innovate in a manner that best supports their clients’ business goals.

Financial Responsibility

Good vendor partners are able to establish that they will be able to maintain the relationship being entered. Most long term BPO relationships are assumed to be maintained with the same vendor. Vendor facing financial instability bring an increase risk to the client in the case of being acquired, business downsizing, or worst case, going out of business. Vendors who are financially unstable are less likely to invest in innovation, resource training and client relationship building activities.

Financial responsibility also extends to business activities that vendors take on their clients’ behalf. Good vendor partners strive to keep costs of business low and demonstrate appropriate accounting procedures for the business they support. Financial responsibility shows respect for the client company and further illustrates the vendors desire to support clients’ business goals.

Proficiency

World class BPO vendors maintain resource pools who can address their customer business requirements on a daily basis. This requires vendors to continually acquire talent and train staff to meet the challenges of their clients’ businesses. Having workers who are certified or degreed in specific areas of expertise will provide a standard of knowledge that will benefit the client.

Good vendor partners will work with their clients to identify and train those skills that make workers competent for the roles they are to perform. Demonstrating interest in the client’s business further strengthens the client-vendor relationship.

As corporate organizations become more complex, providing more products and services, in diverse vertical markets, vendors are forced to provide resources in many areas of expertise. Good vendor partners may establish relationships with other quality BPO organizations to enable them to provide the services their clients require. In so doing, good vendor partners establish and maintain relationships that assure the highest level of quality for their customers. The same principles of integrity, commitment, responsiveness, good listening, innovation and financially responsibility discussed above apply and may be contractually agreed.

Proficiency drives performance and competitiveness in the marketplace. The result of proficiency is that corporations are more successful in their marketplace and more profitable. Typical among the highest performing companies is that they have enterprise learning strategies designed to support their corporate goals. Similarly, the best of breed vendors recognize this and have proven strategies for helping clients build alignment and measure the impact on client’s goals.

In Summary, vendors need to be able to demonstrate that they are the “Right Partner” by demonstrating certain corporate traits consistent with your own. BPO relationships are strategic partnerships, it is critical to understand corporate cultures and establish relationships that are founded on principles that support business goals. With a foundation built on these traits, BPO relationships have a greater chance in establishing long term business relationships provide measurable value in terms of increase competitiveness, efficiency, and profit, in today’s challenging and diverse marketplace.

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About MindCrossings
MindCrossings is a learning innovator offering custom learning solutions, outsourcing, and consulting services. MindCrossings is dedicated to helping companies meet the challenges associated with leveraging eLearning and eLearning technologies to drive performance and bottom-line improvements. For information, visit www.MindCrossings.com.