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There are many benefits to outsourcing in business, however it’s important that you don’t just outsource anyone. Below are a few signs that you could be outsourcing the wrong people.
They’ve got no experience in your industry
Some B2B services may have more experience with certain industries than others. Ideally, you want to outsource a company or an individual that has experience in your industry so that you can be sure that they know what they’re doing. For example, when outsourcing dental practice accounting, you ideally want an accountant who has experience working with dental practices. If you’re the first dental practice that your accountant has worked with, you could be taking on a risk by outsourcing them as you’re likely to be a bit of an experiment for them. Make sure to always ask about what experience a company or individual has before working with them.
You can never get hold of them when you need them
A good outsourced service should be easy to communicate with. If they don’t answer your calls and ignore your emails and messages for days, this could be a bad sign. While you can’t always expect an individual or company to be available, it shouldn’t be too much of a struggle to contact them when you need them. Ideally, you want to outsource a service that not only responds quickly but actively reaches out to you to keep you in the loop.
They’re unable to keep to schedules and deadlines
If the service you outsource is unable to keep to schedules or deadlines, this could be another warning sign that you’ve outsourced the wrong company/individual. For example, if you run a restaurant and have to regularly order in supplies, it’s important that these supplies arrive on the date and time that is scheduled and that they’re not always late. An inability to keep to schedules and deadlines could have a knock-on effect on your ability to meet deadlines, affecting your overall reputation. For this reason, you need a service that keeps to its promises.
The cost doesn’t match the quality
It’s fair that you should pay more for a higher quality service. However, if you’re paying more and the quality is not any better, this is a sign that you need to find someone else to outsource. It’s always worth reading reviews and shopping around for quotes to work out what is a good deal and what is not. If you’ve previously outsourced other companies that are cheaper, you may also be able to use these as a reference.
There’s a conflict in values
Is environmentalism important to your business? Is diversity and inclusion an important aspect of your brand? It’s important that any services that you outsource also share your values. For example, if you’re an online retailer that sells sustainable and eco-friendly clothing, it could be important to hire a courier service that also cares about environmentalism. A conflict of values could make customers think twice about using your company – especially if it’s a big part of your brand identity. For this reason, you may want to stop working with a company that does not share your values.
