Ten Ways to Evaluate Potential Outsourcers
Potential vendors should have a proven track record in the
outsourcing/telemarketing industry, your industry and your program
application. Other criteria to evaluate include:
- Credentials-Does the outsourcer specialize or have special expertise in
certain areas? Have they handled similar projects? Ask for references.
- Capacity-Does the outsourcer have the capacity to meet your current
needs? Verify how many ports/lines/workstations can be allocated to your
program. Also determine if they will be able to handle potential expansion
two or three years ahead.
- Technology-What call center technology do they use? Is it current? Is it
compatible with your company's systems and processes? What reports are
available?
- Staff-How large is the staff? What is the average number of calls handled
per agent? Are any multilingual? How much training do they receive? You
might even want to place several test calls to determine CSR skills,
attitude and personality.
- Training-Are CSRs trained on call handling, customer care, telephone and
computer skills?
- Service Quality-What quality control procedures does the outsourcer have
in place? Will the outsourcer be invisible to the customer? Is there a
silent monitoring feature available to you to remotely monitor CSR service
quality?
- Environment-Visit the contact center to check the appearance. Are their
motivational posters? Do the workstations appear to be efficient and
ergonomically correct?
- Location-Although technology can assist with frequent communications and
monitoring, relative convenience is desirable.
- Crisis Management-What kind of plan is in place to handle a crisis? Can
the outsourcer's call tracking software quickly identify emerging problems?
- Disaster Recovery-Does the vendor have a disaster recovery plan? Can the
facility withstand damage by fire, bomb, wind and water? Is there an
uninterruptible power supply?
-- From "Outsourcing: Analyzing Your Options," which is available through
the SOCAP Resource Center Bookstore.
