Know and document the services you provide and the “per call” costs. In the Desktop Support area we have also come up against those who think outsourcing is the way to go and we fought money with money. Although, we in the industry already know that outsourcing is a losing proposition, it?s ?Uber? important to be able to document why. By educating ourselves on how to put a cost to a service the outsourcing companies won?t stand a chance.
First, you must define exactly what your services are and what they currently cost to provide. Make sure that you include the service levels and response times as well. It’s crucial that the numbers reflect how quickly you are providing the service and what response times your customers currently expect. By doing this you will kill 2 birds with one stone. The first will probably help you to see areas where cut backs can be made if necessary. The other will allow you to see just how much it will cost to replace you. This information will put the outsourcing company on the spot and ensure that they are quoting the cost to provide what you are providing today. This will also give you a base to negotiate from in case your management team thinks that there are some services that they could live without.
When we really broke down our costs and put them on a “per call” basis the numbers were in our favor. Across the industry it looks like everyone is doing a lot more with less so make sure you can put the money where your hard work is.