Outsourcing in the Philippines – Not Just for Big Business

by: Jean Grace | October 16, 2011 | 0 Comments

For small and family run businesses, outsourcing in the Philippines offers an alternative to hiring additional staff during peak seasons or requiring employees to deal with administrative tasks when their time could be better spent on other more important areas of growing the company. Below are some of the key advantages of using outsourcing in the Philippines to handle administrative or behind-the-scenes tasks.

Employee Cost Reduction

One of the most important advantages to outsourcing in the Philippines is the cost savings a company can experience. Recruiting and training new employees locally can be costly, along with the additional salary and benefits that must be considered before increasing staff. It is considerably less expensive to hire employees in the Philippines as compared to hiring them locally. As such, one of the most controversial aspects of outsourcing is that some individuals believe that outsourcing in the Philippines, or other nations for that matter, takes away local jobs by shifting them to lower cost countries. The reality however is that less than 300,000 of the over 2 million jobs that were lost over the past few years were directly related to outsourcing.

A better way to look at outsourcing in the Philippines is that it allows a company to hire local employees to focus on the main purpose of the business while using Filipino staff to focus on other administrative duties. Put simply, outsourcing allows companies to focus their limited resources more effectively.

Capital Costs

Another benefit to outsourcing in the Philippines is that there is no need to purchase additional equipment necessary to perform routine administrative functions. For example, Philippines call centers, which make up a large part of outsourcing in the Philippines, are experts in the field they specialize in and already offer the most up-to-date equipment necessary to perform specialized tasks. For the small or family owned business, this offers considerable cost savings in regard to capital outlay for equipment necessary.

Technology

Technology is ever-changing and for this reason, many small or family run businesses struggle with the costs involved in keeping computer equipment and programs up-to-date. Philippines outsourcing offers businesses the most current technological equipment without requiring the company to invest significant funds into purchasing the equipment.

Administrative Tasks and Outsourcing

Much of the negativity regarding outsourcing has to do with customer service, but by using a Philippines call center to handle bookkeeping, inventory control or other behind-the-scenes tasks, customer service should not be affected. Customers will not care who handles your inventory control or where your payroll is computed. Outsourcing administrative duties is one of the best ways to use outsourcing and your company may find that customer service improves as in-house staff are able to focus on the customer.

Things to Consider

Communication is the key to choosing the right Philippines call center or other type of outsourcing partner. With many outsourcing companies, the sales team might be extremely enthusiastic regarding what problems they can correct within your company and how their services can reduce costs and improve customer service. However, once the contract is signed, there may be a disconnect between what the outsourcing partners sales team promised and what the implementation team can deliver. For this reason, communication is critical to guaranteeing that the Philippines outsourcing company understands your company needs and what is expected of them during the contract period.

With due diligence, your company can experience significant cost savings and improved customer service using outsourcing. Clear communication, thorough research and proper handling of staff concerns regarding the outsourcing will lead to an outsourcing relationship that can benefit small and family run businesses for many years.