11 Questions To Ask Before You Start Outsourcing
Outsourcing is a pretty big deal for any company. If you’re going to pay another business or freelancer to take care of different tasks for you, then you need to make sure they are going to be carried out in a way that aligns with your brand, and will positively affect your bottom line.
For instance, you probably shouldn’t outsource something that comes into direct contact with the customer, as it could negatively affect your brand and reputation if it is not carried out correctly. This is why it’s usually much smarter to outsource things like admin, that will free up your time and allow you to take care of the most important things yourself.
11 Things You Need To Know Before You Start Outsourcing
Below, you’ll learn an example of 11 questions you should ask someone before you begin outsourcing with them. Some of these things you will need to ask your potential partnerships, others you’ll need to ask yourself. Take a look and see what you can ask before you make this decision:
1. Do You Have Client Testimonials?
Client testimonials are the fastest way to see if a company or freelancer is worth outsourcing your work to. They can give you a good idea of the quality of service provided, as well as the number of people that would likely recommend the service.
Seeing samples of work that someone has already done can give you confidence that they will create similar quality work in the future. This can also be a quick way to vet someone to know if they are a fit or not for your business.
If someone doesn’t have documented proof of having quality work or satisfied customers you’ll want to ask yourself is it worth spending the money on them.
2. How Long Have You Been Providing This Service?
It isn’t always the case of the longer the person has been providing the service the better, but if they have a decent amount of experience in the industry it’s a good sign that they know what they are doing.
You shouldn’t really be looking to save money and cut corners when you’re outsourcing a service, as you ultimately want to be freeing up time and saving more money, making your investment worth it. Going with somebody who has little to no experience just to save some cash could be a mistake that you live to regret.
Someone may be “cheaper” on paper, but if it takes them twice the time or the work has to be redone because they are inexperienced it can end up costing you more in the long run. This doesn’t mean you can’t ever take a chance on someone, but you do want to make sure you are combining cost effectiveness with experience whenever possible.
3. How Will You Meet The Needs Of My Organization?
Ideally, you’ll want a service that can be tailored to your needs. Make sure you inquire about how the person you are outsourcing to will do this for you. They should want to learn as much about your business as possible and aim to develop a service that suits you.
Not every business is the same and they should be willing to make changes if needed. If you treat everyone the same you are treating most people wrong, so you ideally want to outsource to someone who has the same mindset.
For example, if you decided to outsource your marketing for your business, do you have someone who just understands marketing in general, or that can cater your marketing to your specific niche. A cookie cutter approach may not work well for your business.
4. How Often Will I Receive Communication From You?
Good communication is key in any business relationship, and you’re going to want to know that this service you’re spending your money on is working. Will they email you weekly to update you? Send you monthly reports?
When outsourcing services like SEO you will often find that the best companies provide you with reports so you can see what has been done for your account. This isn’t something you should really just ‘set and forget’.
Ideally, you won’t want to have to outsource to someone that you have to constantly micromanage, but at the same time, you want to have an idea of what exactly they are doing for your business.
At the same time, this is a two-way street, if you are outsourcing to someone on a long term basis, you want to touch base with them from time to time as well. I’ve been on the receiving end of this and spent hours working on a project with no word from the person I was working with, only to find out months later it wasn’t exactly what they were looking for and had to redo a majority of the project.
This problem could have been avoided with a quick check-in every couple of weeks to see if our visions matched each other. Set up a reasonable flow of communication while outsourcing aspects of your business.
5. Will I Be Required To Sign A Contract?
Signing a contract may be required by some outsourcing services, but not by all. If you are required to sign a contract, you should read through the contract carefully, including the small print, or get a legal professional to do so for you.
Make sure you find out the minimum term of the contract and what will happen if you no longer want to outsource the service. The last thing you want is to be locked into a shotty service, poor communication, and no sense of urgency in completing tasks.
Look for ways to test someone out on a project by project basis and negotiate a contract for a long term basis when you are satisfied with the first few projects with them.
6. Will I Be Reimbursed If You Are Responsible For An Error?
We are all only human, and mistakes can be made. That being said, a mistake could cost your business serious money depending on what it is. Make sure you find out the policy for reimbursement if the outsourcer is responsible for a mistake.
I was working with one client that had some of their blog post content being outsourced and the person they were working with was just using random images from Google on their site. What they didn’t know is that some of them were not royalty free images and then they got slapped with a copyright suit.
That ended up costing the company a few thousand dollars. This happened about 3 years after the posts were written as well. Not a fun experience with a project that likely had completely left your mind years prior.
For a rare occurrence like this, it’s beneficial to have things in writing to know where you stand in case anything ever did happen.
7. When Will I Be Notified If An Error Is Made?
Ideally, you should be notified straight away if an error is made. As we mentioned before, communication is key, and you want the service to be as transparent with you as possible.
Again you don’t want to find out about a mistake a few years after it has happened after it is too late to remedy the situation. If you are notified quickly, you may at least have a chance to fix it if at all possible.
8. What Security Measures Do You Have In Place To Ensure Clients Are Protected?
Security measures should always be in place to ensure that clients are well protected. How will they protect your data and other elements of your account? How secure is their service? Make sure you find out before you agree to work with them.
9. What Do Our Investors Think About Us Outsourcing?
If you have investors who have funded your business, you will want to have a discussion with them about outsourcing the service you are considering. They may be fine with it, but it’s common courtesy to talk it through with them and see how they feel.
Oftentimes, they may have more experience and knowledge than you do in the industry and could have some advice that will help you to find the right person or company.
10. What Would Our Obligations As a Client Be?
Find out your obligations as a client. What are you expected to do/provide? How will you make sure that this is a harmonious working relationship for the long term? Finding out what the outsourcer needs from you will be a big help.
11. What Will We Do If Our Needs Change?
If your needs change, will you be able to easily change things up? Maybe you’ll want to start outsourcing a different service or change the service that you are currently outsourcing. Maybe you’ll want to stop outsourcing altogether. Businesses change very quickly these days, as processes and technology are ever evolving. Knowing what you will do if your needs change is imperative to thinking ahead and having a plan.
Outsourcing can be a smart decision that can help you to save time and money. It can help you to focus more on what’s important and avoid those menial tasks that just slow you down. However, you should never go into this lightly, and asking the right questions to find the right person to outsource to is a must. Use the questions here, as well as some of your own to figure out what exactly you need.
If you’d like to learn more about outsourcing effectively I’d recommend checking out this book Clockwork. You can pick up a copy on Amazon here.
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