Overview    CIE    Service Offerings    Methodology    Results    Tools

Do you outsource? Is it working? Should you consider outsourcing? How will you ensure that it works?

Ten years ago most companies would have scoffed at the idea of entrusting a third party with anything but basic cold-call telemarketing or basic inquiry overflow. Today, major pieces of a company's infrastructure are being placed in the hands of a third party: IT, HR, and yes, even customer contact. A growing number of companies are placing major components of their direct customer contact - their customer, their lifeblood - in the hands of professional contact interaction service providers.

The market for commissioned contact center services is transforming. Rather than simply providing a nameless group of voices that read basic scripts to phone-list prospects, outsourcers are increasingly a top choice for inbound customer acquisition, general customer service, help desk and other support services.

When evaluating the relative merits of outsourcing and the do-it-yourself contact center, it is crucial to look beyond simple cost estimates.

There is no shortage of outsourcing vendors. In fact, today, outsourcers are accepting and undertaking longer, more involved contracts in which they become true partners with companies. Therefore it is crucial that before a company can determine how to outsource, they need to determine why.

The Solution
At The Customer Group, LLC. we have developed a proven approach to help businesses successfully support their outsourced customer operations decision-making and then to identify and facilitate a partnership with the right customer interaction outsource provider. Outsourcing Effectiveness (OE) is the proven approach to needs assessment, selection, migration and partner management.

OE is a proven approach for assessing the "make versus buy" decision, compiling key requirements, managing the initial selection and eventually integrating a third party customer interaction outsourcer into a new or existing business operation. Through our experience in designing and creating cost effective working partnerships that satisfy both the needs of the business and the customer, we are able to evaluate outsourcing options. We help companies migrate work to outsource providers, migrate work from an outsourcer to in-house operations and advise internally on behalf of outsource providers. Our mission is to help companies build better outsourcing partnerships.

OE Approach
The OE approach begins with the study of a company's customer interaction strategy and vision. With this insight we then turn our full attention to understanding the organization, process and technology, current capabilities, forecasts, requirements and costs. Every facet of the current interaction center model will be reviewed and analyzed relative to process efficiency and cost-savings.

The Bottom Line
The early wave of outsourcing stressed a focus on "core competencies". Many businesses did not consider customer-facing operations to be a core competency and were quick to shed this entity, but they lacked the expertise to do so effectively and efficiently. Alternatively, many businesses have held onto customer operations for fear of making the wrong outsource decisions. The Customer Group specializes in addressing both situations, leveraging our experience working both with and for leading outsource providers. OE helps companies navigate the outsourcing waters to meet their business objectives.