Once you’ve made the decision to offshore, the next step is finding the optimal way to do it.
Whether it is customer service, customer support, back-office operations, or development, working with an agency is the fastest way to get your offshore team up and running. But in such a crowded space, how can you differentiate one firm from another?
The agency selection process is all about understanding your own needs and asking the right questions. We’ve listed some key considerations below to give you a roadmap to offshore success.
Do they have experience with other tech companies?
As you evaluate different agencies, take a look at their client lists. The ideal staffing agency will have plenty of experience with companies similar to yours.
Consider the results you want to get from offshore staffing, and how you would define success. Do you need to increase your customer satisfaction rates? Do you need support with customer onboarding? Do you need your remote team members to be fully onboarded to your onshore office culture?
If the agency in question has worked with startups and tech companies, have those partnerships been successful? Have they achieved results similar to those you’re looking for? During your vetting process, ask how the agency would address your specific needs and make your desired results a reality for your organization.
How do they recruit talent?
It’s important to find an agency whose talent recruitment process aligns with your expectations. This is any offshore staffing agency’s core service offering, so how it works should be crystal clear.
Here are a few specific questions to ask agencies:
- How quickly can you provide us with candidates?
- What would the selection process look like on our end?
- Once we select candidates, how soon can they start?
- Do you offer performance guarantees?
- Is it fast and easy to add more team members if we decide we need to scale further?
If you have any other questions or concerns about an agency’s recruitment process, be sure to bring them up! They should be able to provide you with straightforward answers — if they can’t, that’s a red flag.
Do they provide local management?
Some offshore staffing agencies expect you to completely hand over the reins, while others leave you high and dry without managerial support. But you shouldn’t have to choose between these two extremes.
A great agency will be flexible in this regard, allowing you to find a middle ground and even customize your experience to suit your needs.
Ask agencies these management questions as part of your assessment:
- Do you provide on-site/local managers?
- What does your account management model look like?
- What is the experience level of your managers?
- Have your managers worked with startups from our country before? Are they able to mitigate any cultural differences?
What are their capabilities?
Technological alignment across your in-house and offshore teams is especially crucial for IT/development teams, but can also be important for customer success teams. A remote team that can hit the ground running with experience on your existing tech stack is a huge plus — it means less training time.
In addition to experience working with your current platforms, look for competence in omnichannel support (responding to inquiries and issues via web chat, phone calls, email, and social media). Research shows that customers want the flexibility and speed that comes with omnichannel support.
It’s also smart to choose an agency that can provide 24/7 support for you and for your clients. One of the main advantages of having an offshore team is having the ability to cover multiple time zones, so flexible hours are key.
What is the cost?
If you’ve made the decision to offshore, managing costs is likely important for your organization. But keep in mind that you need to find a balance between saving money and getting your needs and expectations met.
In other words, the cheapest agency is not always the best choice.
Try to frame it less around cost and more around value. Does the agency meet your requirements? Are their rates reasonable considering the level of service they provide? Are there hidden fees? Will the partnership continue to be cost-efficient and sustainable if you need to scale up again?
Answering those questions should give you a better idea of the long-term value of selecting the agency in question.
Over to you
Building an offshore team is a big decision, and there are a lot of agencies to choose from. If you’re vetting an offshore staffing agency and find that they can check all the above boxes, it’s likely that you’ve found the right partner for your company — and will see the success you seek by working with them.
Looking for reliable talent at competitive rates?
