Few Cautions to save your outsourcing plan
 
 
 
 
The tough part here is quantifying the human aspect of things in an agreement. It's practically impossible. But you can prevent that with a few simple cautions to ensure that your outsourcing plan isn't destroyed by a vendor who can't bridge the culture/communication gap. And they are practical ones.
 
 
The domestic mechanism of the company
 
 
 Ask about how the company is structured and how they work. How are the employees treated? Do they have a vision, a mission statement, a consciously-defined work culture? When a company is up front with its own workers, it is unlikely to hide much from its customers. 
 
 
Offices outside India
 
 
 However, if a company does have offices abroad, it is an indication of its success and the fact that it has exposure to foreign work cultures. To an extent, this contributes to bridging the culture gap. Many smaller players don't have offices outside India but that doesn't mean they're not good. 
 
 
Have discussion
 
 
 Even if the vendor can't meet you personally, they should be willing to hold conference calls where individuals/teams from both parties can hold open discussions. Beware of vendors who don't want to talk to you and prefer to do everything via email at the negotiation stage. Verbal interaction will allow you to judge a host of things from basic language and communication skills to attitude and work culture. Spend a little time to get to know these people and what makes them tick. Then you'll know whether or not you want to do business with them. This is effective one.
 
 
The initial pace
 
 
 If a company refuses to let you interact with any operations people, you'll know something is not right. Most negotiations start off with letters of enquiry. How long did it take the vendor to answer to your email? How comprehensive was the reply? Was it personalized or did it seem like a one-size-fits-all kind of response? If you're satisfied, ask to interact with not just the business development team but with some operations people as well. Check their responses along the same parameters. 
 
 
Communication skill
 
 English is a kind of second language in India but the spoken English skills of younger professionals leave much to be desired. Yet forget the 'brand' of English they speak and focus on whether a vendor's team can make themselves clearly understood without trouble. 
 
 
Following are some facts to consider in communication skill:
 
 
1. Pay attention to such vendors. For one, they're trying to understand your entire business, your work culture and what your company is all about. But more importantly, they're interested in partnerships, not simply in doing a job and stopping at that. These are the vendors who want to grow with you, understand that change is inevitable and will happily adapt. You can expect co-operation from such partners who will add value to your business and in the end it can be a win-win relationship.
 
 
2. Listening comprehension. When listening skills are poor, many people often take copious amounts of notes during a teleconference. Understanding comes only when they pore over their notes so they write back for clarifications. A waste of everyone's time and very frustrating. There are plenty of courses available on teleconferencing skills: this company needs to invest in training right away and you need to find another vendor to evaluate.
 
 
3. Beware of those who say "But you said this earlier and that are what we're working on." While a vendor has the right to ask for time to think about a suggestion for change, you can judge a lot about its flexibility by the immediate response to it. You don't want a BPO provider who keeps waving the contract in your face.
 
 
4. Shortlist this vendor - this one's honest enough to admit his limitations. This also reflects transparent communication. If you can find a candid vendor, the chances of losing control of your operation are limited.
 
 
5. A lot of people honestly believe that they can deliver even if they don't know how it's going to be done. However, ignorance of the international work culture is no excuse and you'd do best to steer clear of such firms.
 
 
 6. More than what a BPO provider is expected to do, they must understand the implications of the job at hand. These guys don't wear blinkers and will keep in mind your big picture. 
 
 
7. Patient listening without frequent interruption is not easily available in India. So when you get a response along the lines of, "So what you're saying is..." you know you're on the right track. If you're not sure, get them to repeat what you said to check if they've understood. Remember that the communication skills of a business development team are usually better than that of the operations division. If they're not up to scratch, scratch that vendor from your list.
 
 

Enjoy!