Tag Archives: Outsourcing

Is finding an outsourcing partner like an arranged marriage?

December 24, 2013 by 123outsource
Categories: Management | Tagged , , , , | Leave a comment

Finding the perfect outsourcing partner is like finding a mate: you need to find someone who absolutely gels with you in so many ways. Americans dream of finding the perfect mate, and I’ll bet some actually expect to find the perfect outsourcing partner right away, too. Good luck!

A good relationship (although maybe not the perfect one) can be developed if you take the time to get to know each other. Just because the company has a few good references does not mean they will be good for you. Unless you have taken the time to get to know your outsourcing partner and really have common standards and goals, the relationship will be little more than an arranged marriage. Whoever your point of contact is–your project manager?–will be The One.

Here are 5 tips to evaluate and develop your relationship:

1) Since you are thousands of miles away, you need to have communication by phone, skype, and email. Talk about a variety of topics to determine how that person thinks and whether he or she really wants to do business with you at all. Be sure to talk for at least 15-20 minutes because it will take at least that long to find out what that person really thinks. Then, ask that person three to five ‘test questions’ and have the person answer these on the phone or skype— on the spot. These could be situational questions that you feel strongly about—how you handle a difference of opinion, how do you tell if you can trust someone…even how you choose a girlfriend or a mate. Be sure the person can give examples. You should not feel hesitant to ask questions. These questions will help you see if you have values in common or if that person has a point of view you feel comfortable with. Listen to the person’s answers and see if they appeal to you. If you have any doubts at the beginning…proceed with caution!

2) Based on what you have heard so far, do you have similar cultural and personal values? Cultural values can be discussed or referred to in initial conversations (above), but personal values are probably more important. For example, do you believe that you have to lie sometimes in business? What lies are acceptable? If you have to complete an important job and you become ill, how do you handle it? If you are late on a deadline and have a phone conference with the client, how do you deal with this/ what will you say? Are results more important than how the job gets done–and does that gel with your own way of working? Answers to questions like this may actually tell you something revealing about the other person and his or her policies. Listen carefully. Your future depends on it.

3) What is quality? What constitutes a quality product in your industry? Have the person tell you. If it is a call center—how will you know the callers do a great job? What specific things do they do that demonstrate “quality”? If your contact has a vague idea of quality or cannot speak well, this will tell you something about how profitable it will be to work with this company. Does the person just refer you to a link on the company website? The more details and examples the person can give you, the better chance he or she really has a good team and will be a great outsourcing partner. If the person is obviously reading from a script or says “I will need to think about this and call you back,” that is not a good sign.

4) No contract will test out your relationship as well as an actual test assignment. It will answer questions like “Do you follow directions?” and “How much do you get done in a certain amount of time?” If you are in sync with your partner, you will both get through the test assignment and will learn enough about each other to move on to the next stage–or to back off. A small, well-designed, paid test assignment—before you even sign a contract—before the “marriage”—will tell you how this company functions in a relationship. This will also test what they said in the answers to the other questions (above). You will find out whether the person / company knows how to do what they say and how cooperative they are. If they make a mistake, will they offer to correct it for free? If they did not understand the directions and did not ask—will they take responsibility or will they say “The directions weren’t that clear…” Shouldn’t they have asked?

5) Finally, to find a good outsourcing partner (outsourcing company), you may be better off finding a ‘matchmaker’, a friend or family member who can introduce you to qualified candidates and help you screen them—rather than trying to find that perfect match on your own. Talk to people you know who have outsourced or who know you well, and rely on their advice. When marriages are arranged, they are arranged by family or even a professional matchmaker. Ask your matchmaker friend a lot of questions and he or she will help you define what you are looking for. Do not just grab an outsourcing company from the internet—or you may end up in a relationship you do not want, and this may make you hesitant to seek the right outsourcing partner in the future.

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How does culture determine what is public or private information?
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India — a culture of begging
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Bringing Jobs Back to America: How ‘Bout the South Ya’ll?

December 16, 2013 by 123outsource
Categories: Outsourcing Articles, Semi-Popular | Tagged , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Why do people outsource anyway? Approximately 46% of companies that outsource say they do it in order to save money. For example, in the Philippines, you can get a call center to do a 3-minute outbound call for about $12 an hour; in India, it will cost you about the same once you add in set up charges and find a place where you will have competent and intelligent English-speaking callers; in the Caribbean, it will cost you $15; in South Africa, it will cost between $11 and $16 per hour. But will outsourcing solve your problem if you depend on quality and callers you can trust?

Many firms actually outsource because, in some industries, American companies are too busy to take on new clients or give enough time to clients…and the combination of high prices, inflated American egos, slipshod workmanship, and bad attitudes is too much to palate. Has outsourcing solved these problems? Are workers in other countries more humble, more careful, more diligent, or more polished? Finally, some CEOs may outsource because they have an affinity for the culture (it might be their country of origin, they might have lived there for a time, or they might belong to a religious group that has a presence there) and may choose to give work to that country. For whatever reason, according to one source, outsourcing grew by more than 40% between 2001 and 2009. More than 2 million jobs were outsourced by the U.S. in 2011 alone (a conservative number); however, the numbers are deceptive, and do not include jobs in companies that actually built factories, offices, and call centers in other countries. In that same year, 2011, 53% of U.S. manufacturing companies, 43% of U.S. IT companies, and at least 15% of call centers had “a large portion” (75%?) of their work done outside the U.S. Add to that reports that show, for instance, that Russia’s income from taking on IT outsourcing doubles every year, and we now have an idea of the volume of jobs being outsourced by the U.S.

The reality of outsourcing, however, is that communication is never as good as it might be. Americans have higher standards for communication than other cultures, and it is like driving 40 miles an hour into a brick wall when you discover how low or non-existent the communication standards are compared to yours…or you find out that your “senior programmer” has only six months’ experience…or when, every time you call to find out “what’s going on,” you are put on hold and then the phone disconnects while you are on hold…or when you generally discover how incompetent, inexperienced and slow are the “excellent” staff who have been randomly assigned to your project.
Many U.S. companies that have tried outsourcing in the past few years are now looking for alternatives: in the end, they found that they did not save money but lost money because of jobs not completed or not done according to high work standards. Even though this may have been simply a result of not getting to know the company well enough or not finding the right fit, many companies in the U.S. are now wondering where to find competent, affordable help. Look no further, ya’ll: just mosey on down south of the Mason-Dixon line. In the U.S., the good ole South may be the place to do business.

In our experience, Southerners have an easy manner and a politeness that goes a long way. They try to make you feel comfortable, and will try to come up with solutions that work for everyone. Second, in the IT industry, for example, they have a great work ethic, and take pride in doing a great job. In the South, because the cost of utilities is less and wages are lower than in other parts of the country, “insourcing” is worth looking into. Office space in some parts of the South is as low as $1 a square foot, so companies can afford to work in an office and have a professional staff on board… whereas on the West Coast, for instance, where office space can be $5 a square foot for a modest office, many IT companies have virtual offices or a loosely monitored team of “experts” who claim to have known each other for over a decade but never meet in the office to collaborate and don’t really work for the company. IT developers, for example, are often independent contractors who are not interested in “your dumb project” and are not held to any standards. In this type of company, the business manager is at the mercy of the programmer and really has little control over which clients are accepted and whether or not work gets done or even started at all.

But it’s not like that in the South, ya’ll. It is not hard to find real offices with real employees, a manager who tries to get things done fast…but is likely to be good-natured and may want to go at a slightly more relaxed pace just to get to know you and find out what you really want. Statistically, not only is the price of office space less per square foot in the South, but the cost of labor is less. Although it is still more expensive than outsourcing to India, the superior communication and effort are well worth the difference. Doing business with the most expensive companies in India costs only a bit less than doing business with the South–but the communication and productivity will be a lot better in the U.S.–not to mention the time-zone factor. If you compare the least expensive parts of India to the least expensive part of the U.S. (the South), the U.S. comes out on top. If you look at the relative costs of doing business with India and California, the cost of doing business in the South may be the perfect solution.

For example, South Carolina is among 10 states with the lowest cost of labor in the U.S.–yet is ranked among the top 10 states in terms of business environment. Compare these rates, for example: India, $30 an hour (IT) for a senior developer…but the work often seems to take double the time; $75 an hour (IT) for a senior developer in the South…while in CA, you may pay $150 an hour for roughly the same quality developers. If you are talking about call centers, in Charleston, SC, for example, it is possible to find a call center that will do outbound calls for $25 an hour and will create extremely flexible terms. This is not only less than NY or CA prices ($35-45 an hour for the same number of calls and information), but is better quality–and a better deal, call for call–than call centers overseas that will cost you approximately $15 an hour.

Why? Because it’s not just about the rate they quote you. One of the first things you will find out is that some companies will not guarantee that they will “penetrate” the entire list for this money, and it seems that the level of commitment and feedback on the part of the callers is not as great at that of their U.S. counterparts in the South. In addition, many Americans have been turned off by calls from overseas call centers, particularly when Americans need the caller to inform or explain or reassure. In fact, although there is as of yet no official law requiring foreign call centers to forward calls to a representative in the U.S. if asked, many U.S. citizens have made this request and many companies have a policy of transferring calls to U.S. operators when asked to. And these requests have become more and more frequent in the past few years. Americans are also uncomfortable with the loss of call center jobs to foreign countries. Looking at these issues, many companies have chosen to insource calls to places like the U.S. South.

In 2013, many U.S. companies are already discovering the virtues of “insourcing” and are bringing call center work back to the U.S. Wages of call center employees in many other countries go up as much as 15 or 20% a year; this plus communication issues, security/ privacy issues, poor workforce training, and time-zone issues have made many companies reconsider outsourcing to India or other overseas destinations. According to one report, in 2013, given all the hidden costs of obtaining competent callers, it is about 15% cheaper to use a call center in the South than one overseas. At one point in the last few years, 30% of call center jobs in the U.S. were sent overseas, but now, in 2013, only about 10-12% of calls are made by call centers outside the U.S., according to one source.
These and other factors make the South worth exploring if you want to “insource” to a U.S. company that can take over a portion of your IT or call center workload.

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Outsourcing to Russia, hour padding seems to be cultural
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5 reasons why you should have your company under one roof
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What type of salesperson to avoid in outsourcing

December 14, 2013 by 123outsource
Categories: Outsourcing Articles, Semi-Popular | Tagged , , , | Leave a comment

I have learned that there is only one reason to talk to a salesperson when hiring an outsourcing company. That is to ask them 10 questions, so you can compare their answers to the technical manager to check for consistency. Most companies are dishonest, while others are just uncoordinated. I check for both when hiring. I just got off the phone with a salesperson who refused to answer most of my questions. He referred me immediately to the technical manager — he didn’t get any point deductions for integrity or accuracy reasons! Smart!

So, talk to salespeople as little as possible as a rule. But…

There is a rule of thumb when talking to salespeople. In my experience, the salespeople who were too slick, and too good at sales had teams who did NOT deliver the best results. On the other hand, those who had clunky sales people who had trouble giving answers to easy questions, also didn’t deliver well. Those who gave nonsense sounding answers turned out to be a nightmare. I also didn’t have good luck with very solid sounding corporate types who worked for a very reputable company. I talked to one guy who sounded smart, but who spoke in a sloppy way who delivered poorly as well. So, now we know who to avoid — so who do we NOT avoid?

Look for a point of contact who is a salesman who is not “salesman-ny” or “salesman-ish”. Basically, they should not come across as being too much of a salesperson. They should be more of a technical person who gives intelligent answers to your questions without using any psychological techniques to woo you into a contract. Find someone who is straight who is not too slick. A salesperson who is 70% technically oriented and 30% sales oriented is your guy (or gal).

Once you get more experience talking to people who do outsourcing, and seeing what type of results they deliver, this will become natural. Unfortunately, less than 10% of outsourcing companies out there are worth dealing with. You really need to find ways to learn how they deliver. If their website isn’t that nice, they probably don’t do nice work. A website is proof of a company’s finished work. If they don’t do good work for themselves, they will not do good work for you. If a company can not afford a good salesperson, they probably can not afford good service providers either. Learn to be shrewd. Your success in business depends on it!

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Small software companies lose clients as fast as they get them!
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6 strategies to grow your outsourcing business fast
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Outsourcing: Build it and they will return

December 4, 2013 by 123outsource
Categories: Of Interest | Tagged , , , | Leave a comment

One of the reason so many American companies outsource their work overseas is that America simply doesn’t have reliable companies doing the work on American soil at any price! If you need custom programming done, there is not a single large company who does .net programming on American soil. There are many in Belarus and India, but not here! What if someone created a huge company on American soil that could get custom programming done for smaller clients? What if they had a location with lower office costs and lower labor costs because they were in Arkansas or Oklahoma. Such a company might actually do well if they were well managed.

Build it and they will come!
OR — Build it and they will return!

All of the companies who are offshoring your tasks to India, Philippines and Russia will be whistling a different tune if they can hire a friendly company on American soil! That different tune is likely to be Dixie if my dream comes true! California and the Northeast are expensive places to do business — they cannot compete for costs with overseas companies. But, land in Texas is cheaper than land in any metro in India. Transportation, cyber infrastructure, and phone lines are also more dependable. Locations in the American Midwest and South have a real chance to compete in outsourcing in the long run. Imagine if someone builds a huge outsourcing mega-center in Arkansas, companies that are outsourcing overseas will turn right around and hire the local company if they are any good!

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Philippines is #2 in non-voice outsourcing
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The outsourcing equivalent of fast food?

December 3, 2013 by 123outsource
Categories: Of Interest, Semi-Popular | Tagged , , , | Leave a comment

Have you ever hired a BPO outsourcing company to do anything for you? You are always kept waiting and waiting. You never get any feedback unless you pester them to just let you know — “What is going on?” This is not friendly behavior, and certainly doesn’t help their business grow. Larger companies are rarely interested in providing outsourcing services to smaller companies, and larger companies are the only ones who have a chance to figure out how to be efficient.

But, what if there were a company that could deliver convenient outsourced services like web design, custom programming, call center, and other tasks — without all of the headache. I would pay a lot more for the convenience, wouldn’t you? Imagine a company that has no service contract. You just tell them what you want — and they do it. What if you wanted a website, you talked to the rep, you went over specifications, they sent you an email, you okayed it, and 20 minutes later, you got a layout. In the real world this is not possible, but in the world of “drive-through” outsourcing, it is! Let’s keep an open mind. Let’s be creative. If someone wants an idea to happen, it happens. The only reason it doesn’t happen is because people don’t care enough about it.

Let’s say you need an assistant to help you when you need it. Let’s say you send specifications over for 20 hours of call center work. You send the script, and instructions. Imagine that the next day it was done. Imagine that you get a confirmation email explaining who the project manager is, who the callers are, and when they will be doing the call. Three ladies were assigned the work and got it done in less than one day. Unbelievable. If a company wants to have streamlined outsourcing services, it is possible. It is all about having the dream!

Having a very well organized outsourcing company structure and a very flexible labor force would make it possible to attain this type of fast results. You might have to charge a bit more too, since there would be down time when there weren’t any last minute projects. Or perhaps there could be some non-time-sensitive projects mixed in with the last minute work being billed at different rates! Create your own billing structure — be creative.

I like living a dream. My lifestyle is something I created. I work from home (and work too much). I travel on a whim. I provide fast service to my clients (usually), and work with cool writers and psychics. Pretty cool, huh? This lifestyle is possible because I:
(1) Thought it was possible
(2) Worked to attain my goal
(3) Was creative and innovative, plus flexible
(4) Work far too much.

Time to go to sleep!

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How many of your workers speak clear English?

November 28, 2013 by 123outsource
Categories: India | Tagged , , | 1 Comment

Are you outsourcing to the UK, Australia, America, Canada, and other English speaking countries? How many staff members does your company have who speak good English? The boss? I thought so. Anyone else? No? You are in trouble. What do you do when you have an inquiry and the boss is not around.

Company 1’s performance (F)

Austalian client: Ring ring….

Employee: Hullo (in a dull and muffled tone)

Australian: Good day mate… How are things going?

Employee: Hmmm? Going? No, I am at work. Manager not here. Call back later.

Australian: Gee, that was very unprofessional and unhelpful how this employee dealt with me. Why am I outsourcing to this company? Probably because the others ones are just as bad!

But, what if your outsourcing company was the one company that had a few workers who could answer the phone and do translations when your clients want to talk to a staff member, or have a question answered? You might gain market share. Imagine the following conversation.

Company 2’s performance (A)

Australian client: ring ring.

Employee: Krishna’s outsourcing service, this is Surya here, may I help you?

Australian: Good day mate… How are things going?

Employee: Things are great mate. How are things down under?

Australian: Wow, you know our slang… Nobody else in India knows this. I’m impressed. I had a question about my SQL server mate. Were you able to assess the server speed?

Employee: Could you tell me which person was responsible for that project?
Australian: Yes, I believe it was Rikesh

Employee: One moment… he is sitting to the right of me… I’ll ask….

(30 seconds later)

Employee: He said that the speed today averaged 10 megabites per nanosecond.

Australian: Wow, that was the quickest answer I have ever gotten. Normally I have to send ten emails, and make five phone calls, be put on hold, disconnected, repeat the process, and then three weeks later after pulling teeth get an answer. With you, all I had to do is make one phone call, ask and in 45 seconds get an answer. Amazing! I’m hiring YOUR company for all of my SQL needs for the rest of my life!

See the difference?

Is your company more like outsourcing company 1 or company 2 — be honest — I can tell if you are stretching the truth!

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A Special Economic Zone idea for “Insourcing” in Oklahoma

September 4, 2013 by 123outsource
Categories: Of Interest | Tagged , , , | Leave a comment

Americans are so afraid of losing their jobs, and for good reason. Jobs are either being automated or outsourced to countries like China, The Philippines and India. This trend will not end until wages in outsourcing destinations rise to roughly 70% of what costs are in America. Will all the new automation being developed these days, will they even need humans at all? But, the obstacles to American employment are much more severe than overseas competition. Payroll laws, minimum wage laws, and immigration limitations make it hard for employers to fill positions here! To hire someone you need to pay their health insurance, pay unemployment insurance, hire an accountant to do payroll, and more! Office rents are not cheap either. No wonder people outsource to the Philippines — no rules apply — they can do whatever they like over there!

China has had economic zones for years!
China has built many special economic zones for manufacturing and even for IT work. These zones got a lot of government support and have flourished. How come the Chinese are the only ones having good ideas these days? Why can’t we develop good ideas too? Why don’t we build our own outsourcing zone right here? Call it an “in-sourcing zone.”

Here are the basic tenants of the in-sourcing zone
(1) No minimum wage. Too many rules make it risky and constrictive to hire new employees. They can be paid whatever the market will bear.
(2) Free immigration. Anyone can come from anywhere to work in this zone with NO visa. All that would be required would be a complimentary ID card from the special economic zone! By having free immigration, businesses would have complete flexibility as to who they could hire which would make it easier for them to grow, not to mention control costs!
(3) No payroll accounting required. No unemployment tax either. Taxes would be paid monthly by all residents. The amount of tax would be based on which part of town you want to live in and not on your income. Live in a slum, save money. Live with the billionaires, pay through the nose!
(4) No income tax. By having a residency tax instead of an income tax, the zone would be very attractive to people from around the world. There are many tax havens such as Dubai and islands in the Caribbean that have been using the same principle for years!
(5) Residency tax would once again be based on which class of neighborhood you choose. In this zone, you are not born into a class, you choose your class with your wallet.

There would be (8) distinct classes:
(1) Homeless (for those making zero to US$10,000 per year)
(2) Barely Making It (recommended for those making US$10,000-$20,000)
(3) Lower Middle Class (recommended for those making US$20,000-$50,000)
(4) Middle Class (recommended for those making US$50,000-80,000)
(5) Upper Middle (recommended for those making US$80,000-$120,000)
(6) Affluent (recommended for those making $120,000-$200,000)
(7) Wealthy (recommended for those making $200,000- 1 million)
(8) Opulent. (recommended for those making more than 1 million per year)

Residency Fees
There would be hardly any homeless people in this zone because admittance to this special economic zone would come with an initial residency fee. The only way you could be in the zone and homeless is if you had a job in the zone, and then lost it, or suddenly became mentally ill. The homeless would have their own part of town, and their housing (cramped) and food would be taken care of by the government of the zone (assuming they used to be a paying resident of one of the other seven classes). For those who want to save money, the barely making it section would have very economical accommodations at very low prices. In such an area it would be very easy to save money. For wealthy people, the choice of the Opulent part of town would be appealing. They might have to pay residency fees of $20,000 per month, but for a billionaire that is pennies.

The neighborhoods for the (8) classes
Your residency fee would cover your medical care and transportation costs to and from your part of town. Employers wouldn’t have to bother with insuring their workers as the government would take care of this. The quality of medical care would range from stripped down clinics in the less expensive areas to choosing from one of many of the finest doctors around if you were paying the most expensive residency tax. But, is this fair, you might ask? You get what you pay for. The homeless would be getting a free ride, and the poor would be getting a partially subsidized ride. How much more fair do you want? Transportation for the poor might include basic buses, while the wealthy people’s residency tax would pay for mag-lev short-distance bullet trains, Mercedes taxis, highways, and more!

Transportation in the Special Economic Zone
Each part of the SEZ would have a variety of different transportation modes. There could be:

(1) Walking paths
(2) Moving walkways
(3) Bicycle highways
(4) Segway paths
(5) Roads
(6) Highways
(7) Shared Taxis as “feeders” for trains
(8) Mini-Buses & Regular Buses ( that would travel on their own dedicated roads)
(9) Regular Trains & Magnetic levitation trains that could go 200+ miles per hour.
(10) The Snake Train
(11) Boats (if there are areas near water)

You would not need a car in this zone. You would have many choices for transportation. Certain parts of town might have a greater concentration of bicycle paths and less roads, while other parts of town might have more shared taxis feeding into train stations. The only people who would really need to depend on car travel would be those living in the outskirts of the zone as most people would live close enough to very clean and comfortable public transportation to use it daily — especially with the added convenience of “feeder shared taxis” that would be free of charge for those who paid residency tax in the area being used.

Biking
Please also keep in mind that in American cities, people who like riding their bike don’t dare because they might get run over by a bus. In my special zone, the bikes would be on roads or elevated paths for use ONLY by bicycles. Some of the paths could even be covered in case it rains. Special stores for bike repair, refreshments, and whatever else bikers might need could be integrated right into the bike routes. Safe locked bike storage compartment areas would be available where bikers might need to park. This way bikers do not have to worry about their bikes being stolen or parts being stolen. What a great lifestyle! Safety, health, and convenience wrapped into one!

The snake train is a novel concept.
It would be a very slow moving train that could be very wide, and as long as you like! It would have coffee houses, book stores, drug stores, and every conceivable way to keep you busy for a slow and pleasant ride. Multi-task on your way to work on the snake train. The snake train would weave in and out of different neighborhoods, but it wouldn’t stop. You just run and jump on when it is going slow. Or perhaps get on the snake by riding a “feeder” train that picks you up, accelerates, and drops you on the train. Read more about the snake train in our other blog article!

Parks and gardens
It has always been my dream to build a city that had huge sections devoted to beautiful gardens of all descriptions. Imagine being able to conduct all of your business with walking through gardens as your primary means of transportation? You would walk through a rose garden, a zen garden, a Korean garden, an English flower garden, an Italian garden with arbors and arches, a water garden, and the list would go on infinitely. Why have cars, pollution, and misery, when you could have an engineered lifestyle that includes beautiful and simple ways of life? Cafes could be in the garden, office buildings could be right next to gardens, and Segway paths could go through gardens as well.

Where would such a zone be?
America has some of the least expensive land in the world. Imagine pairing that with the least expensive labor in the world? The need to outsource services offshore would be eliminated. On the other hand, our Special Economic Zone would resemble an offshore destination due to the fact that the majority of the people living there would be from foreign countries! I choose Oklahoma as my first choice for a location since there is plenty of available land and low building costs.

What types of businesses would flourish in the SEZ?
Any type of business could go there, but it would be more oriented towards tasks typically outsourced overseas. IT work, call center work (which is already very strong particularly in Oklahoma due to low land and labor costs), Medical Transcription, Data Entry, and more. But, in Oklahoma, you could also include farming. The Mexican farm laborers who currently live illegally could come to the zone to enjoy legal status and a comfortable life! The government of this zone could help businesses get established. There would be no income tax for businesses, but there would be lots of benefits. Businesses could get very flexible month-to-month leases for offices of any size. You would pay by the square foot! The government could also have marketing programs to help local companies succeed in difficult markets. The point of this zone would be to create an area where the government helps you instead of burdening you with endless taxes and restrictions. The result would be prosperity for all involved, and a top-notch alternative to offshoring!

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http://bpo.123outsource.net/2010/12/20/here-is-what-americans-really-should-fear/

A free economic zone in America?
http://bpo.123outsource.net/2013/08/03/a-free-economic-zone-in-america/

Soup from a stone

September 1, 2013 by 123outsource
Categories: Outsourcing Articles | Tagged , | Leave a comment

When starting to write an outsourcing blog, it’s useful to remember the classic folk tale about making soup from a stone. In case you have never heard it, here goes:

Someone who is hungry (a soldier, a peasant…or maybe a BPO manager) comes along and claims he can make soup from a stone. He starts a fire, asks to borrow a big pot from one of the townspeople, and these people are all amazed that this BPO manager can make soup from a stone. The manager puts a big stone into the pot, adds water, and waits. All of the townspeople come and taste the “soup,” and say things like “Needs salt” and they bring salt, or “Needs carrots,” and they add carrots…until, of course, many ingredients have been added and it really is SOUP! The punchline is that someone says, “Imagine that! Soup from a stone!”

Of course, the soup is never really made from just a stone. Maybe the stone is earth, all the hidden stories of the earth and her people. The soup needs all our individual ingredients–carrots, beans, potatoes, salt–and, if you are not a vegetarian, a meaty soup-bone, too. But it can be delicious and nourishing! It takes a community to feed the poor and the hungry, or to inspire each other to keep hope alive. And an outsourcing blog needs the BPO manager or CEO to communicate with us about the company’s strengths and accomplishments…so we can write about your strengths and list you so other companies will hire you. Personal communication is an important ingredient that having a website cannot replace.

It would be great to have a conversation with you to in order to write an outsourcing blog that will bring you business. Showing me your website is not enough. People did not come up to the soup-maker and offer to show him a website or to order carrots online; people spoke and brought what was needed. Everyone helped. Getting work for your company is a joint effort, and without your input, it will not happen. I need you to tell us about your business, and why anyone should hire you. Can you make soup from a stone? I have visited your country many times, but what I really want is to get to know you.

Food from India is particularly delicious. It has just the right combination of sweets and sours, spicy and bland. I have been to India many times, but people must experience the food for themselves. In the same way, English-speaking companies will want to speak with someone at your company so they feel they have a clear idea of what you do well. What is unusual about your company? What are its strengths? How is it different than other companies that do the same kind of work? Can you have a conversation with us?

Sign on a restaurant window: “Come in and eat, or we’ll both starve.” Without the ingredients you bring—all the interviews and information some of you are providing– there will be no story. But if you tell me a story about how your company started, what the CEO’s background is, and maybe the BPO manager’s background…and how you have helped another company grow– we will have some of the extra ingredients we need to help your company find more work.

Then, we just keep adding the special qualities and skills you bring, and writing and answering requests for information… and then… Soup! For everyone!

Is Offshore Outsourcing Right For You?

August 31, 2013 by 123outsource
Categories: Outsourcing Articles | Tagged , , , | Leave a comment

We have all heard horror stories about outsourcing
All of us have heard the stories about people in America who had a nightmare of an experience outsourcing to India, Pakistan, or China. The work didn’t get done on time, or the company went out of business. There have been many horror stories with offshoring. However, there are also many disadvantages to outsourcing your work to companies in the United States or in-housing your work as well. American companies often lie and cheat, overcharge, and are often far behind schedule with deadlines.

Why outsource overseas?
It is really about finding the right company for you — overall. If you find someone in America who gets the job done correctly for a fair price, and treats you well, then great. India and the Philippines have hundreds of outsourcing companies that are hungry for work. They can get work done in fewer weeks than their local counterparts, and for a much lower price as well.

An infinite labor pool
Part of the reason offshore companies can get so much work done so fast is that the labor pool in those countries has more “availability” than here. In America, in programming, there is no available labor unless you want very inexperienced people. In India, programmers grow on trees and the pool of programmers is growing daily.

The downside of outsourcing to India
Companies in India tend to be very unpolished with communication. Even if the boss communicates well, his workers are not likely to be verbally adept. Sloppy work is another problem you have to look out for. But, you can get similar problems right here in the United States — you can get people who don’t check their work and REFUSE to communicate. Sure, refusal to communicate is different from people who garble their communication attempts, but the bottom line is the same.

So, how do you proceed?
Regardless what country you hire your outsourced company in, screen them. Don’t just hire a company because you like them. Email them a few questions from time to time to see how they respond and if they respond. Talk to various staff members on the phone at various times. Spread your screening out. Give a 3-hour test project to see how fast and how well they get work done. Many won’t even start. If they get through the first test project, give them a small “real” project, perhaps 7-15 hours. If they get through the 2nd project too, then you can continue giving them larger and larger assignments until you decide it is safe to have them work for you regularly.

Start calling companies today
Use 123outsource.net and find outsourcing companies in any category from call center, to software to data entry. Have fun!

You might also like:

Hire staff with a flexible schedule
http://bpo.123outsource.net/2013/08/28/hire-staff-with-a-flexible-schedule/

Paying more gets you better service, right? WRONG!
http://bpo.123outsource.net/2013/08/19/paying-more-gets-you-better-service-right-wrong/

What is the correct order of steps to screen an outsourced company?
http://bpo.123outsource.net/2013/08/16/what-is-the-correct-order-of-steps-to-screen-an-outsourced-company/

Companies who talk well at interviews don’t always deliver
http://bpo.123outsource.net/2013/08/10/companies-who-talk-well-at-interviews-dont-always-deliver/

Integrity is more important than skills or even prices

August 23, 2013 by 123outsource
Categories: Hiring & Firing, Semi-Popular | Tagged , , | Leave a comment

How do you assess a person’s character? Should you? Should you jump to conclusions? Should you trust your gut? Or should we be good Christians and “Judge Not” like the Bible says? In business, the minute you stop judging, you get eaten alive. You have no choice but to determine where danger lurks and avoid it like a disease!

Imagine a world where you have a million dollars, but the people around you lack integrity. They lie, cheat, deceive, and steal. They are late on deadlines and they couldn’t care less about their clients. How long would your million last without integrity? I feel that the majority of outsourcers lack integrity, and you can get taken for a ride very easily. Without a society with integrity, you will lose your money easily. My personal story is that I was very lucky to find many outsourcers who had excellent integrity, and it has only been recently in the last two years when I have been confronted with so many crooked people involved in outsourcing. Maybe God wants me to learn how to deal with them.

On the other hand, in a world where you start out with little or no money, but are surrounded by honest and decent folks, you will make money, and not get cheated out of it if you do worthwhile work for a living. You would be given a fair handshake every step of the way! You might only make moderate income, or you might make millions. With integrity, the money comes!

When working with outsourcers, you might not see their flaws right away. Part of your skill as someone who hires companies is to quickly recognize the character of the owner, manager, and workers in an outsourcing company. You can see certain traits right away if you are looking. You can ask questions that reveal a person’s character or thinking style too. Avoid questions where they tell you what they think you want to hear and ask probing questions which bring out their personality.

If a company gets by your initial scrutinization, you might see character flaws later on, i.e. Recklessness, carelessness, disrespect to others, substance abuse, keeping bad company, etc. You need multiple backup plans when hiring companies just in case your first pick doesn’t work out well. If your hired company exhibits character flaws, you can expect trouble to manifest itself later on, and you will suffer as a result. Keep a keen eye and watch out.

An outsourcing company that is not reputable can start out nice, but later on cheat you in so many ways you never thought of. There are so many ways to cheat in outsourcing services and it is so hard to protect yourself. The only real protection is good karma and choosing people with integrity. Integrity means you don’t cheat, you don’t lie, you deliver when you said you would, and you are generally decent. Don’t compromise on these.

Pick people with good character even if they are not the smartest! In the long run you will be better off!

Tweets:
(1) How do you assess a person’s character? Should you? In business you get eaten the minute you stop judging!
(2) The Bible says, “Judge Not,” but if you don’t judge in business, you can lose everything overnight!
(3) If you lived in a world where people were honest, you might do okay w/very little money.
(4) An outsourcing co that is not reputable can start out nice & then cheat you!

You might also like:

What type of salesperson to avoid in outsourcing
http://bpo.123outsource.net/2013/12/14/what-type-of-salesperson-to-avoid-in-outsourcing/

You are a helpless victim if you hire the wrong company
http://bpo.123outsource.net/2013/07/04/you-are-a-helpless-victem-if-you-hire-the-wrong-company/

Mistrust and Phone Interaction
http://bpo.123outsource.net/2012/05/26/mistrust-and-phone-interaction/

What is the correct order of steps to screen an outsourced company?

August 16, 2013 by 123outsource
Categories: Hiring & Firing, Semi-Popular | Tagged , , | Leave a comment

Many of us hire BPO companies to do outsourcing work for us. Some of us who are less experienced just talk to them over the phone, say, “They sound good”, and hire them. Once we have had bad luck a few times, we start scrutinizing a lot more. But, what is the best order of steps to scrutinize a company?

If you spend hours interviewing people, and then find out that they don’t cooperate when given a real task, you just wasted a lot of time. Sure, it is fun to interview people, but that is a huge chunk out of your day, and can go down the drain easily.

Part of scrutinizing companies has to do with finding out how cooperative they are. People these days tend not to be so cooperative no matter what you pay them. An email is a fast way to contact many companies quickly. You can keep a log of how fast people responded to your email. You can ask them all types of questions and see how thorough or realistic their answers are.

Requesting a bid for a project is a wonderful way to get to know companies. You can see right away if they have slow or inefficient workers. I would do basic email Q&A, and a bid request before you spend too much time talking — if you want to save time. Once you get a bid on a sample project, maybe give them a mini-project to see how they do. You would be surprised at how companies handle mini-projects. A few will leave you high and dry, others will deliver horrible work, while a few will do a great job. This is your opportunity to weed out the troublemakers and identify amazing service providers. There are “A” quality people out there, you just have to find them.

After a company has done a good job on a test project, then talk to everyone at that company who is pertinent. However, I recommend spending as little time talking to salespeople as possible. They are not going to be working with you after the fact, so don’t cloud your mind with the impression of how much or little you like them!

Tweets:
(1) Do you talk to the company over the phone and say, “They sound good” or do you test them?
(2) You can spend hours interviewing people & learn that they don’t cooperate w/real tasks!
(3) Requesting a bid for a project is a wonderful way to get to know companies.
(4) Interviewing new companies? Get to know the technical manager, not the salesperson!

You might also like:

The 2% rule; only 2% of companies are worth hiring
http://bpo.123outsource.net/2013/10/21/the-2-rule-only-2-of-companies-are-worth-hiring/

The 2nd interview: why is it so important?
http://bpo.123outsource.net/2013/09/02/the-2nd-interview-why-is-it-so-important/

Being LIKED is a huge factor in being an outsourcing manager

July 5, 2013 by 123outsource
Categories: Management | Tagged , , , , | Leave a comment

I was reading the Harvard Business Review blog the other day. They divided managers into four quadrants according to how well they were liked and then discussed how their associated teams did. The findings were devastating to managers who were not liked. Managers in the lowest quadrant for likeability had almost no teams who were in the most successful quadrant. However, those teams with the most likeable managers on average performed on a much higher level. The finding was, that the more likeable the manager was, the more successful the team will be on average.

So, how does this apply to managers of business process outsourcing companies? India is where the majority of outsourcing is done these days with the Philippines and China catching up fast. Due to the culture in India: having a management position gives you status in society. It is hard to get a decent marriage without a management position as a matter of fact! The problem is that Indians think too much of their status in society and how to make a show of superiority to their workers. Some outsourcing managers in India are very nice, but many are overburdened and very rough with their workers. According to the likeability study, this is a serious problem.

If a manager of an outsourcing company has 20+ workers under them (often the case in India), and they are unavailable most of the time, and threatening the other part of the time, how will the workers perform? The answer is that there will be many issues due to the lack of guidance and lack of nurturing. My personal experience is that workers need interaction with their managers to keep on track with their work. They need encouragement and praise on a regular basis in the form of feedback. They also need to know what they need to work on and some validation that you think they can really do it (especially when learning a new skill). If you are just unavailable, then you can not give any guidance, feedback, or double checking of work. If you are mean, then workers will have a bad taste in their mouth about work.

In my experience, the minute an outsourcing worker gets a bad taste in their mouth about whomever they work with — they turn off. I am not speaking of every human being in this world, but many people are like this. I have had numerous experiences where I started out with an average relationship with an outsourcing worker (often outsourced from a different company). Work went fine. The minute we had some disagreements, their work became really bad, and stayed bad for the rest of the relationship. They either quit or got fired after a few months.

Since you are almost forced to be likeable as a manager, what do you do when you can’t accept a worker’s work? Some people are just plain sloppy, or give horrible answers to questions. How can you praise such people? You need to give at least five compliments for each criticism to have a good long term relationship in work or friendship. It seems that you need to fire people who you can not be likeable around, otherwise the negative environment can poison your relationship with others!