Information Technology (IT)
A recent Deloitte survey found that 53% of companies outsource at least some of their IT functions; another 26% plan to do so in the near future. In addition to cost savings (which can be as high as 40%, using outside vendors or cloud solutions to manage your IT functions can help a company be more agile and provide flexibility as the business grows.
Payroll is the most commonly outsourced service, yet 60% of small businesses still handle this function in-house. Handing this task off to the experts or helpful payroll software has been shown to decrease costs and increase compliance. Companies that outsource payroll save 18% over businesses that tackle it themselves.
Marketing
Ecommerce and social selling has made online marketing, web stores and social media more vital than ever for small businesses. But, for most, it isn’t financially feasible to have full-time PR, social media and web design functions in house, nor is it the best use of resources. A survey showed that small business owners spend roughly 33 hours a week on marketing activities.
For smaller organizations, having trained or dedicated customer service staff isn’t always a viable option. This often means office staff or salespeople have to handle this function, dividing their time between getting new customers and keeping the old ones happy. Outsourcing to a contact center can give you that extra manpower to handle those customer calls.
Outsourcing can be a smart strategy for extending capabilities as an organization while keeping a focus on the core competencies.
Most importantly, outsourcing allows companies to refocus priorities and avoids wasting money, time and talent on activities that could be better handled by an expert outside the organization.
