7 Things Businesses Should Know Before Outsourcing to the EU

Here's what all businesses should know before opening a call center in the European Union.

Define Your Expectations

Clear communication increases productivity. Governance should be your main concern when it comes to the request for a proposal to the service agreement. You need to define expectations with a specific purpose and get all of the information you need to implement your ideas. It starts with setting specifications that your external partners can understand.

You need a qualified and available staff that's ready to receive and deliver your expectations. Knowing what you need to do and when to allows your team to hit its target goals and increases productivity. Remove ambiguity by establishing a mural understanding with your vendor relationship.

Share Your Business Goals

Your business goals can help you clarify your expectations. This will give your team insight on how to improve their processes and achieve the best outcome for your organization. Your goals will be beneficial to your software developers since it helps them understand the user experience and how it works with your vision.

When your team sees your overall mission, you'll experience increased productivity, improved innovation, and a smoother vendor management relationship. Sharing your business goals will generate a high level of trust, which is important to establishing a meaningful partnership.

Become a Proactive Partner

The biggest issue with outsourcing to the European Union is that most vendors are reactive rather than proactive. The best providers will become responsible for your business. You should seek out and establish a true partnership with your vendors.

These relationships just don't happen overnight. They are built and nurtured over a length of time. There are many factors that can negatively or positively impact partnership engagement. A proactive partner can be identifiable by their flexibility and independence.

What are your financial goals? This answer can help you increase the value of your relationship. Established vendors don't need as much as guidance and support. However, you shouldn't discount startups. They may have a great talent pool with feedback and support.

Review Your Innovation

Innovation is one of the biggest benefits of outsourcing to the European Union. Sixty-five percent of organizations surveyed by Deloitte weren't sure how to define, motivate, or track their innovation. Even though most organizations seek innovation from outsourcing agreements, they're not sure exactly how to go about it.

You should focus more on your innovation efforts. Find out more about the vendor's industry experience, success, and tech stack. Compare this information to other companies that have a similar size. What innovations do they use to lower their cost of delivery? What innovations increase their level of quality?

You can analyze this data with call center knowledge management software. This lets you determine what their customers are calling about. You can use this information to train your employees on the most common subjects. This ensures that the most popular questions will get quick responses.

If you think your team is lacking some key tools, you could use this information to achieve your organization's goals. Your work environment can have a big impact on innovation. Innovation is generated by a flexible and proactive company culture. An innovative partner can help you stand out among your competition since vendor selection is so vital to outsourcing.

Assess Your Talent Pool

A talented group of employees are a core component to effective outsourcing. Talk to your service provider about recruiting, training, and retaining employees. The right partner can provide a strong recruitment and training strategy that reduces turnover. Keep in mind that turnover in Eastern Europe is higher than in Western Europe, according to this graph from Mercer.

The loss of an employee is a big blow to your productivity. A great vendor should have an effective backup plan for replacing employees and aligning with your goals. Make use of all of your resources when it comes to acquiring and retaining the best talent. Provide incentives such as health insurance, online education, or an onsite game room. These incentives will increase the attraction for prospective employees while improving company morale.

Train When Necessary

You should train your employees with all the skills required for the position. Training should be an important component of your quality service provider. Set clear standards and establish your training practices in your service agreement.

Most of the companies surveyed by Deloitte continue to establish their relationships with the vendors following the initial contract. These solid relationships revealed that these companies found the right vendors that were receptive to training. Training can be provided online or at the onshore location. Find out from your service provider which training programs are the most effective.

Check Management Compliance

You should never take your service provider's operational integrity for granted. Twenty-five percent of vendors don't monitor leading practices and 23% lack the resources. To minimize the risk of management and task completion issues, make sure that your vendors meet global standards as well as the European Union's regulations for quality management documentation.

Check out the service provider's management skills to see if they meet your expectations. Find out if they have more than one client that offers similar products or services. While first-hand knowledge is useful, it's better to see their portfolio and read reviews about their services.

Outsourcing your call center to the European Union is an affordable way to succeed during the digital era. Strong vendor relationships are established through due diligence, open communication, and strategic alignment. If you want an easy-to-use call center, the Magento Enterprise edition offers call center software that delivers high functionality and performance.