In our last blog, we discussed the many benefits to outsourcing, a business practice that’s fast becoming more popular than ever. Those benefits include: cutting costs, bringing in more expertise, increasing your company’s efficiency, and freeing up valuable time that can be better spent on the tasks that increase your company’s bottom line.
When companies outsource, they often experience a boost in workplace productivity while simultaneously improving the quality of its services. Both of these things unsurprisingly very often lead to happiest customers and clients who come back again and again.
Today, we’ll take a look at some of the tasks your company may want to consider outsourcing to give you an idea of what’s possible.
Hiring & Training Staff
Consider the number of hours that are lost every time you need to sift through hundreds of applications for an open position—hours that could be recouped by outsourcing the task to a placement agency that specializes in matching qualified talent with the right job. These firms will handle every aspect for you, from advertising positions and screening suitable applicants to interviewing candidates and checking references.
What about the amount of time you have to spend training staff? Whether you need to keep staff up to date with industry news or need to provide regulated training in areas such as discrimination, harassment, or equal opportunities, it may be the case that there isn’t a staff member qualified enough (or certified enough) to provide such trainings. In these cases, outsourcing training to a firm that specializes in these fields can be wildly beneficial.
Website & Social Media
We’re in the digital age now, which means that every business and brand should have a presence online. Your company should be visible not just on its own personal website, however, but also on the social media channels where your target audience is spending the majority of their time.
Broadband Search recently published an extensive article about all the ways people use the internet, and according to their research, the number of social media users across the globe is expected to grow to 3 billion by 2021! Now imagine being able to attract even a fraction of that amount to your business.
Managing a website, along with social media profiles, can be a very time-consuming task, which is why countless businesses have turned to hiring remote web designers/developers and/or digital marketing experts to take the reins when it comes to this task. Remember, your website and/or social media profiles are very often the very first impression your audience will have of your company. It pays to bring in experienced professionals who know how to market to a digital audiences in a way that will lead to more traffic for your business as well as better leads and conversions.
Finance & Accounting
“Your company may not need a full-time CFO,” says Forbes writer Michael Evans. “Consider outsourcing all of your accounting and finance function, which could include using a ‘fractional’ CFO who would spend a few hours a week as your company’s finance executive.
“There are many highly qualified finance and ‘back office’ accounting organizations in the market. The cost savings can be significant, and time savings for management to focus on growth issues can be invaluable.”
Customer Service & Support
One of the most common tasks outsourced by businesses is customer service and support. The cost of hiring staff and then providing an office space (which will require utilities, phone lines, and more) can run up quite the bill, but an outsourced call center can continually carry out the task at a very affordable cost.
Furthermore, you can leave customer service to professionals who are trained to deal with customer dissatisfaction with finesse. Remember, one bad experience with a customer support representative can forever turn someone off to your company. For that reason, it’s best to bring in professionals who know how to handle complaints and support issues with the utmost professionalism and diplomacy.
Of course, the list goes on and on when it comes to all the different ways businesses can outsource. You may choose to outsource to professionals in IT, payroll, human resources, administration, branding, content marketing, legal consultation, public relations, and more.
Outsourcing is the way of the future in the digital age when remote work and flexible schedules are more popular than ever. If you want to increase your company’s productivity and efficiency while simultaneously freeing up time for your team to focus on its core mission, you may just want to give outsourcing some serious consideration. What tasks can you begin outsourcing off-site this month?