A complete guide to outsourcing: what it is, advantages and how to exploit it

Outsourcing is a set of practices adopted by private companies, but also by public institutions, where such organizations make use of other firms for the performance of certain services in the production process or during support activities.

Since this is an increasingly widespread strategy, we analyze what outsourcing is in detail, what its peculiar traits are, how to make the most of it, for whom it is advisable and the various services available.

What does outsourcing mean?

In practice, a company that does not have the means, the tools or the time to perform a certain service can turn to an external company that has the know-how and specific skills to perform such a task optimally.

Outsourcing began being spoken of back in 1982 and it became very popular in the 90s among managers. Since the 2000s, the market has become increasingly globalized and international, so companies are not always able to cope with a series of internal tasks that require increasingly specific skills. Outsourcing, being particularly flexible and adaptable to different needs, has particularly spread among small and medium-sized enterprises, which can thereby reduce costs and remain competitive in an increasingly demanding market.

What is it for? 

Outsourcing basically has the goal of relieving a company's employees from rather burdensome tasks that are not part of their core duties. Staff members, being relieved of such commitments, work under less pressurized conditions and are also more productive for the benefit of the company, which cuts unnecessary costs and optimizes internal resources. Productivity becomes smoother and faster and therefore business profit benefits.

Let's take an automobile dealership as an example: the core business is clearly the sale of cars. Managing accounting is a necessary operation, which, however, does not fall within the company's core business. In these cases, the magic word is to outsource. The same goes for an e-commerce business: the company's mission is to sell, but customer support certainly cannot be ignored. Even in these cases, it is enough to outsource the service, so as to manage the e-commerce aspect itself in relative peace and without further headaches.

Pros and cons of outsourcing

Outsourcing is well suited to any type of business, but you have to evaluate the pros and cons to understand if it is the right choice for you.

Here are the main advantages:

• collaboration with the best professionals in every part of the world: with outsourcing, you have no geographical restrictions and, thanks to the internet, you can draw on an array of talent, including that outside of Italy;
• cost reduction: relying on an external company costs far less than employing internal resources, which must be paid even without possessing the skills for a specific job;
• optimization of secondary activities: with outsourcing, you can be sure of contacting competent people who have the right tools to carry out certain activities;
• 24h customer assistance: one of the great advantages of outsourcing is 24 hour availability, thus providing continuous assistance to the customer;
• possibility to concentrate on your core business: by freeing yourself from necessary but secondary activities, you can concentrate your efforts on the main activity of the company.

Among the disadvantages, we can mention:

• internal security risks: by relying on an external company, there is the possibility of a leak of company information; in this case, you simply need to sign a non-disclosure agreement;
• loss of control over some company activities: you will not constantly be able to monitor all the activities of your company; however, you must take this into account when you request an outsourcing service - indeed, it is a natural consequence;
• language barrier: when relying on an external company, especially if it operates on another continent, you could run into problems relating to a different language or culture.

Outsourcing services: from customer care to automation 

More specifically, below we analyze the primary outsourcing services offered by We Are Fiber, which are perfectly suited to every need.

Customer care outsourcing 

Customer care outsourcing is one of the most requested services, considering the central role played by the client in the purchase decision-making stage.

We Are Fiber embodies and understands your corporate values, providing a valid assistance service to your customers following the style and tone of voice of your company. We use all channels to provide a 360° quality service, from technical support to instant messaging, from ticketing to a toll-free number, etc.

The service of customer care includes:

• Help Desk: constant customer support before and after the sale, with the assistance of first and second levels;
• Customer Service: management, support and assistance of customers by telephone;
• Ticketing Management: system for solving problems reported by customers to keep track of requests for assistance in a constant manner;
• Social Instant Messaging: real-time assistance via social or app;
• Booking Office: effective and precise management of numerous requests, even in different languages.

Data Entry 

The data entry service allows quick access to non-digitized information, such as customer databases or data lists. For example, you can speed up the digitization and transcription processes of data, saving precious time. We transform your documents, making them accessible, so cutting waiting times and speeding up processes. Our data entry services include:

• Back Office: We Are Fiber resources deal with the internal processes of your business, improving the quality of products and services to be allocated to your end customers;
• CRM: by acquiring customer data, you can more easily identify and intercept their needs and requirements, providing a proactive and personalized service;
• Document Archiving: digitization of documents that reduces costs and time, freeing up space within companies and offices.

Payroll and accounting

The payroll service allows you to optimize staff accounting, without additional internal resource costs. We create tailor-made solutions for you, recovering and processing staff data with precision and with the utmost respect for privacy. We have a specific and specialized section for payroll management.

Accounting services are also fundamental, through which we support the management of your activities with regard to general accounting, supplier accounting, customer and treasury accounting. Our resources guarantee you maximum flexibility according to the season. We also follow a precise code of ethics for data protection and comply with European procedures regarding the respect of privacy.

Automation

The automation process involves the use of a team of experts who map the business processes and analyze every single activity. Once the existing processes have been identified, we indicate the areas of greatest efficiency that can be automated and guarantee you constant monitoring of the processes.

Among the advantages of automation, there is, of course, the saving of precious time. Repetitive tasks, which until recently were carried out by human personnel, are now entrusted to robots. Your staff hence has increased time to devote to more stimulating activities, allowing skills and abilities to be put to good use. Furthermore, an element not to be underestimated is that the risk of errors is considerably reduced, ultimately becoming completely eliminated.

RPA (robotic process automation) is also particularly versatile, so being adaptable to different industrial and commercial sectors. In addition to automating routine processes, RPA can create reports, facilitate rapid data migration, and find important information that can be reused to adopt timely and targeted business strategies.

Our method

We like to build a relationship with our customers step by step, so that we can offer a personalized service. Our goal is to transform your investment into added value for your company, allowing your internal resources to devote themselves more to the core business of the company.

Our approach involves the following steps:

• preparation of activities: based on your needs and an as-is analysis, we design a personalized service to ensure the correct management and tracking of calls and other types of contacts to your company; these activities include: information collection, identification of personnel and roles, recruiting start-up, control needs, operational roadmap, etc;
• definition of strategic priorities: we define a to-be operating model aimed at identifying strategic priorities, taking into account the activities undertaken, with a focus on customer service;
• quality check: we monitor your activity through a dashboard integrated with your systems and centralized with data relating to the outsourced service and incoming calls, for continuous analysis and fine tuning according to quantitative and qualitative KPIs; this service allows us to check the correctness of the operations and information given to customers;
• report sharing: we provide a review with weekly reports on performance and campaign trends; this allows continuous monitoring and improvement of the KPIs and the identification of new activities and objectives; you can request intraday, daily, weekly and monthly reports to gain a continuous overview of your team's activities and to gather further insights on your customers.

Do you want to test our services before buying them? No problem! You have the option to use them for a period of two months with the Try and Buy formula. You can evaluate the efficiency of our service and, in the meantime, our team will study your workflows in order to identify the services and the team to be formed together. At the end of the two month period, you will be able to evaluate our work and decide whether to continue the path together.

Why rely on nearshore?

We Are Fiber operates in the nearshore, a method of outsourcing that involves the transfer of certain activities to a partner located in a country other than that of the client company. A European company that outsources activities within the European territory is known to be engaging in nearshoring.

Our company operates in Albania, a choice that has proved successful, as evidenced by the continuous affiliations of partners who rely on our services and who have improved performance in terms of customer service , customer satisfaction and sales.

Albania is a country geographically close and culturally somewhat similar to Italy. Moreover, the management costs are quite low, without diminishing the quality of the service. We Are Fiber can be the launch pad for your company.

Contact us now!