As a business owner, growth and longevity are what you strive for. To accomplish this, you fully understand that you cannot reach these goals alone. Your choices are to either hire employees or outsource some of your day-to-day duties. Many business owners opt for hiring employees because they can see what they are doing, and train them accordingly. However, how do you grade your outsourced service providers? How can you be sure they are meeting your standards? Afterall, your brand’s reputation is on the line. Regularly evaluating your service providers will ensure that they are proactively creating solutions for your business.
Consider the reasons why you outsourced a dedicated service provider in the first place. The cost savings and efficiency in addressing your specific concerns. Choosing the right provider can be the difference between excellence and mediocrity in business. But just like anything else, your service providers should be constantly scrutinized to ensure that they have the skills, resources, and infrastructure to carry your business forward.
Your IT Service Provider
Outsourcing your IT to a Managed Service Provider is often cheaper and more efficient than trying to build your own infrastructure. But you should still ensure that your providers are earning their money. Do they audit your services and infrastructure regularly? Are they equipped to deal with the changing needs of your business? Have they implemented cloud-based strategies to ensure that you’re able to manage remote teams? Do they have a proactive approach to maintenance, spotting issues that may result in downtime and preventing them from becoming an issue? More importantly, are they reachable when you need them?
Your Digital Marketing Agency
Most entrepreneurs have enough digital knowledge to manage small elements of their own digital marketing. However, many choose to hire an external agency to ensure that they’re better able to focus on managing the business. Be sure to ask yourself, does your marketing agency adapt to the changing needs of your business? Are they accurately scaling paid advertising up and down depending on the organic reach achieved? Is the content they provide valuable and engaging to your audience. These are the services you pay for. Do not be afraid to ask questions and ensure you are receiving the services you are entitled to.
Human Resources
HR is a highly specialized area that requires trained professionals with up to date legislative knowledge. In order to ensure that they are truly effective, an outsourced HR provider should:
- Work collaboratively with you to create detailed job descriptions and personnel specifications so that you can recruit top-tier candidates
- Scale their services to your needs and budget or have a one size fits all approach, thereby preventing you from paying for services you don’t need.
Hold your service providers accountable. If necessary, replace them if they are not meeting the grade.
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