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So, even if you run a small to medium business operation, you can ride theoutsourcing wave and enhance ROI, without getting into the hassles of long-term,small print legal contracts. You may want to get content written for your website,enhance an existing website with SEO, design a new website, launch an Adwordscampaign, get some business or marketing plan consultation, get branding and graphicdesigns, keep relationships with your customers alive with E-mail marketing orwhatever you now have good outsourcing options.
That is the upside.
The downside? Choosing the right partner. There are number of disaster stories wherea relationship that began on a positive note, soon soured. So, what are the keythings that you should look for before getting into any agreement?
Here are a few tips.
1. Management: It always helps to find out the background of the people running asmall operation. What kinds of companies have the head honchos worked for, theireducational background, expertise etc. Are they a small mom and pop shop churningout projects by the hour? What kind of skills does the team have?
2. Comfort Level with English: Some outsourcing vendors will have the technicalexpertise to design a website for you for example, but what they may lack are goodlanguage and communication skills spoken and written. If you can t understandthem, neither will your staff or customers. Do a thorough check on their portfolioand websites.
3. Working with them: Will you or your staff be comfortable dealing with them on aday-to-day basis? Have a chat with them to understand their thought process andwhether you feel comfortable working with them. Do they have what it takes to workon projects targeting American or global customers?
4. Technology and communication: What are their work hours? Which time zone do theyfall under? How will they attend to urgent changes in your projects? Are they wellconnected check if they use VOIP, have US or your country s local phone numbers,speed of E-mail replies, use of IM s etc.
5. Marketing prowess: Do they understand the role of marketing in your overallbusiness plan? How well can they contribute with ideas? How will they integrate thecampaigns or projects into your overall plan? Ask them for some ideas. Check on whatindustry segments they have worked for figure out competencies, innovativeness andcreativity.
6. Cost advantage: By all means look at how much you can save by outsourcing, but donot have cost as a sole criterion to choose a vendor. What you should look for isVALUE. Some vendors may be a little expensive than others but it may be worth yourwhile to try them for the quality of work they will deliver.
7. Operations: How will you work with them? Will they need to estimate for eachproject separately? Would you like a $ per hour kind of contract or a fixed fee? Howwill you pay them? Do they have an account in a global bank so you can wire transferfees? What about taxes?
8. References: Check their references and write to them. Do not hesitate to askspecific questions based on your unique requirements.
Once you have worked out all these modalities, you are good to go with your newoutsourced marketing services partner and begin reaping the benefits.
For more information or for comments, please write to feedback@247marcom.com. Visitus at, http://247marcom.com/.
247Marcom is a marketing and communications services consultancy with expertise in| Web design | Web site optimization | SEO services | PPC or Adwords management |outsourced Web site management | website content development | Internet MarketingServices | Content Development | Online Marketing Services
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