Offshore staffing is usually used to outsource repetitive tasks. While this might work in the beginning, fixed deals rarely make a bigger impact in the long term. Australian SMEs can get more value from their offshore staff by delegating strategic tasks that can contribute to internal efforts.
Offshore Staffing - Manage Outcomes not Staff
Traditional offshore staffing focuses on the input of every remote employee. This is understandable when it comes to routine tasks. These processes are not likely to change over time. However, SMEs can benefit more from their offshore outsourcing deals through a strategic approach. They should shift from input to outcome based schemes later on when the deal proves to be successful.
But what value driven tasks can you assign to a routine job? Think of tasks that will enable the offshore staff to contribute more other than their routine work.
Some ideas:
Customer Service
Focus on call reduction when outsourcing customer service instead of the number of calls received. As a result, the offshore customer service representatives will focus on resolving the customer's problem efficiently so that they don't keep calling back for the same issue.
It's not just about call resolution but also customer education. This way your offshore staff is not burdened with the huge influx of customer complaints. You don't have to force yourself to hire more so that you can deal with them.
Accounting and Bookkeeping
Collaborate with your offshore bookkeeper and accountant to find out how you can better manage your business' finances. This will help you make better decisions when investing, spending and cost-cutting. SMEs have limited funding, so its very important that decisions are made for the long term, not just for short term cost reduction.
Virtual Assistants
Virtual Assistants can perform a variety of strategic tasks other than scheduling your meetings and organising your calendar. They can research relevant updates, assist you in building client relationships, and keep tabs on your overdue bills.
Mobile App Development
The success of a mobile app lies on the start and end of development. Have your offshore mobile app developer use the app and provide feedback as a user.
It's very important to fix everything before launching the mobile app. Otherwise, you'll have a slew of unsatisfied customers. You can't really please anyone, so the right problems that need to be solved get drowned out by the noise. You'll end up trying to please customers rather than focusing on what's really needed to be done.
The offshore team can serve as an extension of your in-house team. Outsourcing clients demand innovation from their service providers, but they can only do as much as they are allowed to. View your offshore team as a remote staff that can provide support, and you'll find opportunities for them to do so.
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