Discover the secrets to partnering like the Fortune 500 with our comprehensive guide. In the world of business, failure is not an option as the stakes are incredibly high. In other words, you simply cannot afford to fail. This holds particularly true for outsourcing. When you stumble in vendor partnerships, you not only miss out on valuable opportunities but also forego the chance to achieve three crucial objectives:

Cut operational costs
Increase added value
Focus more on core functions

By collaborating with experienced outsourcing IT service desk providers, you can unlock the potential to achieve these goals and ensure a successful partnership that maximizes efficiency and drives growth.

And this is just the tip of the iceberg. There’s more.

When you fail at contracting, you also miss the chance to improve flexibility, increase revenues, and boost customer satisfaction. In other words, you miss the chance to transform your business and increase your competitiveness. So if you’re planning on external vendor-provided customer service or tech support, you better make sure you succeed. Your survival is on the line.

Below are the 7 top reasons why such a partnership fails. Knowing them boosts your chances of succeeding with your project:

Unclear Objectives

Defining your objectives clearly is paramount when building vendor alliances. It works best when it’s accompanied by changes in workplace structure or organizational culture and it’s led by strategic objectives.

One thing that shouldn’t be an objective is cost savings. Cost savings should be an outcome – not the objective. Using it as an objective is a recipe for failure.

Incorrect Expectations

Know what happens when expectations aren’t clear? Costs escalate. Long delays occur. And the quality of work deteriorates.

Setting the correct expectations equips the service provider with a clear understanding of what motivations are driving the project.

Defining tasks, setting benchmarks, and employing the right processes and tools help set expectations. So does use the right metrics.

And don’t be afraid to share things like “roadmaps” and strategic plans with your service provider. They can be a big help.

Lack Of Communications

This dooms many projects. Keep in mind it’s not what you say that’s the key but what’s understood. You can say one thing but if the provider understands another, trouble ensues.

Communicate frequently and clearly. Make sure the provider hears—and understands—exactly what it is you want them to hear and understand. It’s paramount.

Poor Transition

One of the key secrets is – If you botch the transition, you’ll fail with the entire project — plain and simple. Make sure you have a good transition plan in place. Then execute it correctly.

A detailed transition plan helps prevent long delays in project execution and contain costs. More important, it can help boost customer satisfaction and keep customers from defecting.

Inept Project Management

One more of the key secrets – Good management is the heart of every project. Over-managing and micro-managing are two of the biggest detractors to good management. Both wear people down over time.

Often, overmanaging and micromanaging are rooted in poor transitions and bad communications. They are also rooted in a poor choice of the service provider. Make sure you find a service provider with relevant industry experience.

Changing Needs

Business needs to change all the time. Sometimes the changes are anticipated in SLAs. Sometimes, they’re not. So be prepared to make changes when offshoring. Be flexible and nimble, and roll with the punches.

Change In Relationship

Another one of the key secrets – A change in the relationship between you and the service provider is unfortunate. But it happens. One reason why is because you deal with the provider in an unstructured way.

Instead, view the service provider as a partner and treat it that way. Make sure it’s in sync with your long-term vision and strategy, so when things change, they’re ready to address the changes.

There’s no “give” when it comes to outsourcing projects. Failing at this can cost you revenues by decreasing customer satisfaction. So keep these 7 reasons for failing in mind when planning your project and you’ll put yourself on the road to long-term success.

Let us put our proven experience in providing tech support for small and medium-size companies to work for you. Request a quote from our sales team.