Call Center Outsourcing Tutorial Series Module 3   Finding an outsource supplier by Jerry Tschikof, co-founder and former CEO of Center Partners This tutorial discusses how to find outsourcing partners - developing the long list and screening it to create a short list of potential suppliers. Content is drawn from Centerserve's eToolkit, Call Center Outsourcing.  The eToolkit provides the process, guidelines, worksheets and templates needed to make a successful and profitable outsourcing decision.    Introduction If you have decided to outsource all or part of your call center operation, then finding a potential list of suppliers will be your first challenge. The supplier identification and evaluation effort is investigative legwork that begins with locating many potential suppliers (the long list), then screening the suppliers against pre-set criteria to arrive at a short list. The short list becomes the population for final evaluation. This tutorial is intended to provide some insight into finding the final few to evaluate.   The Long List This step in the investigative process will produce a list of approximately twenty suppliers who on the surface appear qualified. The objective here is to get names and capabilities. The search results should be recorded on an evaluation checklist. Screening of the checklists content will ultimately determine the top prospects. A comprehensive checklist is contained in the Outsourcing eToolkit mentioned above. Example checklist items include: Product preference - The products categories most often supported by the supplier. Operational coverage - The scope of the distribution system such as international operations and site redundancy. Transaction expertise - Call types most generally handled by the supplier i.e. customer service, helpdesk, order entry. Service and quality - Service and quality performance and monitoring methods. Available technology - Technology support for open systems, multi media or CRM applications. Commitment to staff and training - Staff commitment and investments in training. Financial stability - The financial dynamics and strength of the supplier. With this simple checklist, you can begin identifying suppliers who qualify for the long list. This work is obviously judgmental as there is no comprehensive source that ranks suppliers or their capability. Information is found by a process of investigation using sources that are available. Probably the most powerful tool for this initial investigation is web searches on the Internet. Search engines can help but there are also specialty sites that have supplier listings. At call-center.net, go to the yellow pages and click on outsourcing. Other sources are trade publications or business listings such as Standard and Poor's Register and Dun and Bradstreet million Dollar Directory (look for the business listings under NAICS number 561422 or SIC Code 7389). Financial information can be found for public companies by stock symbol or Hoover's evaluator, while D & B ratings are generally available for private firms. Often the process can be expedited by asking experts to recommend a few suppliers. Consultants will normally ask for fees but the expenditure can be worth it if time is a critical factor in arriving at a short list. In some cases suppliers may have made sales calls leaving behind material that represents their services. Using the web as the primary investigative tool can be somewhat frustrating if one just rambles through the thousands of listings. The best way to approach the investigation is to use the big search engines to identify sites that have comprehensive supplier listings. These sites are primarily from publishers or associations that have yellow pages or buyer's guide searches. Examples include: www.call-center.net  www.callcenterdepot.com www.ataconnect.org  www.customercare.com www.tmcnet.com/tmcnetbg www.callcentermagazine.com Again the objective is to produce a long list of potential suppliers. This provides the basis for an objective evaluation by including those suppliers, that on initial review, have the desired capabilities.  By using a checklist, many suppliers will be dropped simply because they do not meet the base requirements. The net result of this search may result in numbers over the desired amount. In this case a judgmental review of those qualified may be needed to get to the best ten to twenty.   The Short List Your initial screening should have reduced the list from hundreds to less than twenty. The challenge is now to develop a short list that best fits your business model. The suppliers making the short list will be those firms to whom you send the RFP (request for a proposal) and eventually ask to make a presentation. At this stage each of the surviving suppliers should be reevaluated. A more complete investigation should be conducted focusing on the specific requirements. Again use the checklist as the foundation for evaluation. For each supplier a new checklist should be completed but in more detail than the initial investigation. The information sources for the investigation is the same as the initial screening but the content search is more comprehensive. The search is for specifics that validate the original findings and answer the following questions: Does the supplier support my type of product? Does the supplier provide sufficient operational coverage? Does the supplier have specific transactional experience? Does the supplier have a respectable service and quality program? Does the supplier offer technology that covers my needs? Does the supplier have adequate staffing and training plans? Does the supplier have financial strength? To get complete answers the investigation can be extended to include direct calls to potential suppliers, reference checks and inquiries to current customers. This information is non-biased testimonial that adds objective content to the process. In some cases it may be useful to use a simple ranking process to arrive at the short list. Using the checklist and assigning points to each question can accomplish this task. Although judgmental, the ranking can put the potential suppliers in a reasonable order of capability that translates to the best qualified. The net result of this effort is to choose at least five suppliers to offer the RFP. Once received, the RFP submissions will determine the final prospects. The process then changes to critically evaluating the proposals and determining who is the best.   Conclusion Finding a supplier is simply hard work that uses an investigative process to sort through the alternatives that best fit the business model. This approach assumes that the needs and objectives are understood and drive the process. Without clear requirements the effort can ramble and be frustrating. The best source of potential suppliers is the Internet or published documents that can be quickly examined to find close fits. The information extracted should be put into some logical order where each supplier can be readily compared, then qualified or eliminated. A qualification checklist should be prepared in advance of the investigation to document the findings. The process should move from broad evaluation to specific requirement content. The objective is to find suppliers that can meet the full requirements stated in the RFP. The final five should all be capable of delivering these requirements. About the author Jerry Tschikof co-founded and managed Center Partners, a "contract" inbound call center, growing the center from 10 agents to 300 agents at two locations in two years. Prior to this effort Jerry was the Chief Operating Officer at Starpak, Inc., President of Vectra Bank Services Corporation, Senior Vice President at Citicorp Diners Club, and Executive Vice President at Capital Cities Cable. Jerry can be reached by email at jtschikof@msn.com. Related resources: Call Center Outsourcing eToolkit How to complete a successful outsourcing project; a comprehensive guide for making outsourcing decisions, conducting a needs assessment, identifying and selecting an outsourcing partner, and establishing a service level agreement (more information).