If you’re not at the stage of bringing in contractors, you
better get used to the idea because there will be things that are better
managed by other professionals, and there’s other things your business simply
requires that you will not have the internal resources to manage in-house.
You need to work with partners.
If not now, then you soon will in the future. Your business
will eventually be looking to outsource something or other. It could be as
simple as a uniform cleaning service or it could be your entire janitorial services.
Whatever it is you need to bring in outside help for, the
key ingredient you need to get your outsourcing right is analytics.
Now…the larger your company is, the more data you will have.
When you’re working at enterprise level - managing multiple sites - you will
essentially need big data analytics and staff on hand to manage your data,
analyse it and scrutinise it for efficiencies across your entire operation.
If you don’t have the procurement specialists aboard your
organisation, then an option open to you is to outsource your outsourcing for
which you’ll need a procurement
specialist to assist you with data optimisation for savings realisations.
What you’re looking for in your analytics to improve outsourcing
efficiencies
Three things…
1)
Spend
2)
Contracts
3)
Suppliers
Those are the three areas of your company’s data that you
need to have access to, to manage your outsourcing efficiently.
·
Spending
This will need periodically reviewed. Many firms have
pricing policies in place for which annual price increases form part of the
contractual process. Opposite from what you might expect, the longer you deal
with the same supplier, the costs aren’t always the best you can get.
This is true for domestic contracts as much as it is for the
commercial sector. It’s often better to switch suppliers but in doing so, you
can’t neglect the quality of service being provided. Over time, depending on
your in-house quality requirements, you may be better placed sticking with a
premium service provider if it means you’re guaranteed consistent quality
because your supplier will know your business better.
Take for example a five-star hotel or a Michelin starred
restaurant. Getting the linen washed (be it bedding or gleaming white table
covers) may be a basic service for some cleaning suppliers, but to maintain
your standards, your current supplier may be investing in top of the range
equipment to ensure your whites are whiter than white, enabling you to maintain
the highest of quality standards for your end-users.
That being said, you still need to be reviewing contracts.
That’s why that’s listed second on the list of areas to monitor.
Your contracts should always have a start and end date. As
you approach your end date and your contract nears renewal, it’s not just a
case of deciding whether to stay or switch. It’s a chance to get back to the
table and renegotiate everything within the contract.
Without reviewing contracts periodically, any bottlenecks
that your data show you to be happening, won’t be eliminated.
Use your contract renewals to ensure your suppliers are on
the same page as you so they can provide you a top-notch level of service. They
can’t do that if you don’t tell them what you need them to do to take care of
your customers.
One idea you can and should be doing is surveying your
customers to ensure that any problems are identified and brought to the
attention of your suppliers so they can be rectified. Every supplier you bring aboard
your operation will affect your customers at some point. That’s why these
contract renegotiations are super important. It’s your chance to maintain and
even enhance your customer’s user-experience.
The last piece of actionable advice for strategic
outsourcing using your data analytics is to monitor your suppliers.
Where possible,
consolidation is best.
The fewer suppliers you have, the less administration you
have, and the more efficient your business will operate.
·
Minimise suppliers
·
Review contracts periodically
·
Monitor your expenditure
Those are the three areas to use your analytics for when
you’re outsourcing. The more efficiently you can manage those three aspects of
your outsourcing, the better quality of service your suppliers should be able to deliver to your
business, with continually bettered contractual agreements, terms of service,
service level agreements and sometimes pricing (but not always depending on what you need).
Using your data smartly is the best way to improve
efficiencies and drive cost savings across your business.
Image courtesy of data-analytics.github.io.
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