Outsourcing Contracts

Contracts are the written agreement that forms the basis of the relationship. The Service Level Agreement (SLA) is the critical component of a contract. The agreement contains key performance metrics, providing a means by which the delegation of service supply by a service provider can be managed.

Established agreed upon service/performance metrics clearly establish a pre-determined level of service to be supplied. Theses metrics are critical for the purpose of continuous work review (usually on a monthly basis), project performance bonuses, any price re-negotiation, breaches of contract etc. The SLA should also include a section providing detailed definitions to key terms such as force majeure etc.

There are 3 basic types of outsourcing agreements;
a) The Standard Vendor Agreement - for one off or pilot campaigns.
b) The Partnership - for short-term projects.
c) The Alliance - for long-term projects.

There are several contractual elements that should be written into an outsourcing agreement

Clearly stated/well-defined project objectives/targets and billing procedures.
A detailed description of the project infrastructure, costs, performance measurements and service levels to be provided.
The construction of an objective ' score-card'.
Performance incentives to encourage continuous project improvements, and penalties.
Internal and external benchmarking.
the flexibility to change the scope of the project, and regularly review the relationship to reflect new business conditions and objectives.

Some of the recent international outsourcing agreements we brokered include:

Outsourcer
English Publication Co.

Finnish I.T. Co.
Emirates Bank
Californian Web Developer

Michigan Call Centre

Activity outsourced
- Magazine subscription
campaigns.
- Global Help Desk.
- Asian Information Desk.
- National Overflow Inbound
Telesales campaign.
- Inbound Customer Service 24/7
program.

(A minority owned) American Call Centre who forged a strategic alliance with a similar profiled Asian Call Centre.

German Industrial Conglomerate

- International Market Research
campaigns.

A Note: The Future is electronic customer service?!
a e-mail based e-service provides a fast personalized response and greater customer loyalty.

e-mail offers lower support costs and reduced turn-around time.
telephone support means time is costly and therefore at a premium.
e-mail is the most widely used net activity.
customer service is moving from phone to e-mail.
e-mail permits genuine customer record tracking, case analysis, easy monitoring and auditing.
with e-mail support contrary to telephone support, an agent can simply reuse packaged solutions/advice to customers.
the current preferred delivery service vehicle by customers is a mix of both telephone and e-mail.

Bottom Line

-	a web based Call Centre can be located anywhere subject only to infrastructure and personnel availability/suitability.
-	North American, U.K. and some European Businesses can SAVE significant monies by having their telemarketing or/and call centre activities supplied from Australasia where running costs are significantly lower and the education and work experience standard of service personnel frequently higher.