Wednesday, September 24, 2008

Are there Jobs You Hate Doing? Outsource it?

By Darron Skinner-Martin


All businesses need people to run them. Finding the help to do the 'boring' jobs know one wants to do can be difficult. Or maybe you just do not have the time. These tasks are mundane but are essential to the running of your business. Either way by using business process outsourcing (BPO) you can outsource staff relatively inexpensively. Using offshore BPO staff will enable you to get all those little jobs you have been meaning to do for the last week or month. Technology has made communicating and finding outsourced BPO staff very easy and risk free if done correctly.

This article talks about outsourcing jobs mostly off-site, but you can also "outsource" jobs to freelance or temporary agencies whereby the temporary employee shows up on your site; the outsourcing saves you money, though, because you generally pay little to no benefits and a lower rate of pay than you would an employee you hire through your business. BPO staff offshore saves money by the wage rate as well as a lack of overhead costs such as office space and electricity. The choice is yours, but let's have a look at some of the things you can do with offshore outsourcing.

Entering Data: For the majority of businesses the manual entering of data is a time consuming and expensive task. Storing data such as emailing lists and stock control is a full time job particularly if you have a business turning over large amounts of goods and/or services. It is great if you have the time and patience to enter data but if you do not BPO staff could be considered.

Telemarketing: Sales by telephone, or call centers If your business relies on telemarketing or sales by telephone, outsourcing BPO staff can be a good way to manage your telephones without having to break your bank. Call centers, too, can be managed out of house by outsourcing BPO providers.

Customer Relations: If your in business then you need people or other businesses to purchase products or services from you. Customer service is paramount to ensuring you get return clients. In addition the word of mouth marketing strategy is the most effective. With BPO staff you can afford to offer greater customer service in the areas of 'help desks' for your products, people to confirm appointments and more. The cost effectiveness will enable you to offer great customer service normally not possible without the use of offshore BPO staff.

Virtual Assistant: Is your business growing faster then the cash flow? If your business requires a virtual assistant to answer emails/phone then using BPO staff is a possibility. Perhaps your in house receptionist can do all the meet and greet and your virtual assistant does emails, data entry and/or calls clients. If even half the work your current receptionist is doing is on the computer/phone then a virtual assistant could be the answer to your problems. Your current in house receptionist could even do other tasks to increase your productivity.

Accounting and Bookkeeping: If your business has significant financial records to keep and you don't have time to do it yourself, you can hire BPO staff for accounting or bookkeeping services. Outsourcing will be significantly cheaper than hiring a full-time accountant or bookkeeper locally. You will be able to have access to a full time bookkeeper to do your day to day financial concerns at a fraction of the cost of most bookkeepers.

Outsourcing BPO staff can create unbelievable time leverage for you and your business. By using offshore BPO staff you can have someone do all those time consuming tasks you hate without costing you an absolute fortune.

About the Author:

No comments: