It is easy to interview outsourcing companies. However, there are many things that a client might overlook while hiring a company.
Also See: Outsourcing work for $2 per hour?
(1) You interviewed the salesperson, not the workers
If you hire a company because they did well at the interview, you are missing the point. You are probably interviewing the salesperson who is trained to talk well. He is not the one doing the work and couldn’t care less if the work gets done. If you interview the technical manager, you are beginning to be on the right track. But, the technical manager is also educated and will present himself well, although not quite as colorfully as the animated salesperson. Interview the lowest level workers and see if they seem like functional people. In my experience, 95% of the time, they cannot function in a simple conversation and also cannot do their work even marginally correctly.
(2) You were fooled because the interview went well
Let’s say that you were smart and asked a variety of personality, logical, and technical questions to your new prospective hires and they did well. You still don’t know if they are reliable at getting work done. You don’t know how tightly the company schedules their work and you don’t know who will quit and when. You need to test them out on some smaller projects before giving them a big project to see if they manage their work well. Workers will come and go, but if a technical manager has a handle on his work, you will get consistent results.
Also See:
Good Sign Bad Sign: What to look for in newly hired workers
(3) You were lured in by a low price
If an outsourcing company doesn’t charge enough, you can be absolutely guaranteed that they cannot afford to hire decent workers. If a company hires substandard workers, your work will not be done well, and you can bank on the fact that nobody will care either. Don’t get the lowest price or you will be sorry.
(4) You assumed that because someone charges more that their service is better
Companies that charge more usually, but don’t always deliver more. But, the “what” that they deliver is not necessarily better work. It is more often than not better customer service. Good customer service might make your life more pleasant, but if paired with really horrible outsourced work, you will not be satisfied with the results. Quality work comes first and good customer service is the icing on the cake!
(5) Failure to give two test jobs
If you are an experienced outsourcer, you know that it is imperative that you test out companies before giving them any serious work. But, testing them once is not enough. They are trying on the first test job. You need to see how they function when they are just being themselves. The first test job should be short and test ability, but the second one should be long enough to test their scheduling skills and to see if they meet deadlines on a job that is 10-40 man hours.
(6) You stopped watching & they started slacking
Nobody wants to micromanage others or babysit outsourced workers. But, you need to keep a close eye on them. The problem is that after they gain your trust, you will be tempted to stop watching them. Don’t! The level of scrutiny and intensity in which you watch outsourced workers needs to be high in the beginning, and then go to medium after a while. It is very common for workers to really slack off in their fourth or fifth month. It is also common for workers to slack off right before they quit. That means if you had the same trusted person for two years without issue, they might start slacking off when you least expect it. So keep an eye on them!
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