Software to Improve Outsourcing Success

If you’re leading a team in the E-Commerce or Promotional Products industries, then you’ll no doubt know about the plethora of software tools available to support your operations. In fact, your inbox is probably inundated with sales emails selling you the ‘next big thing’ in project management software or accounting SaaS. 

What you might not realize though is that these software tools can be leveraged to improve your outsourcing success too - especially for operations that underpin the E-Commerce and Promotional Products industries. Here we’re talking about things like the importance of real-time communication for dealing with customer service queries, or performance tracking to ensure outsourced teams are hitting the same goals that your in-house team are held to.

From many years of working with outsourced teams and of ensuring their success and contribution to a company’s bottom line, we’ve identified the top software tools that really impact how a team works and, ultimately, move the needle on customer service and customer experience operations.

Communication

Communication is essential for every E-Commerce and Promotional Products business. Miscommunication between in-house and outsourced teams can therefore cause some serious headaches and, ultimately, impact your revenue. To keep your team communicating effectively, consider the following great software tools:

• Skype is an excellent way to communicate virtually. Plus, Skype for Business enables you to add up to 250 people to online meetings and provides enterprise-level security.
• Microsoft Teams is a messaging app designed specifically for business organizations, with a virtual workplace for meetings and real-time collaboration.
• Slack is another great way for all employees to keep in touch with organized and effective communication channels.
• Email is still the go-to for many businesses and remains one of the most widely-used tools for virtual communication.

Project Management

Communication is one thing, project management another. Project management software can help you to keep track of projects, assign them to employees or outsourced team members, and keep apprised of progress, regardless of where your workers are. The visibility this provides into the day-to-day progress of an outsourced team is like gold dust. In fact, cloud-based project management software really is the key to keeping projects on track, deadlines met, and revenue goals achieved.

• Asana is a top-notch choice for defining workflows for employees and outsourced teams. It’s an easy way to track tasks and keep things rolling the way they should.
• Trello places tasks on cards, and team members assigned to the task are added to the card, making it easy to track progress and workflow.
• Slack combines document management with real-time chat and video meetings.
• Microsoft Teams is still the go-to for many businesses and remains one of the most widely-used tools for virtual communication.

File Sharing and Storage

Most companies create a great deal of documentation that needs to be stored but also be easily accessible, especially if your outsourced team sits outside your company firewall on the other side of the world! Using file-sharing software, successful teams can keep track of documents, offer accessibility to only the proper employees, and search and pull-up files when they need them.

• Dropbox makes it easy to share and store files with a simple cloud storage interface. You can create a share link to any file you want and send it to the appropriate person, who can access it even if they don’t have a Dropbox account.
• Microsoft Teams has a cloud storage system that enables file sharing. All files are encrypted and can be shared during chats and team meetings.

ERP and Accounting

When it comes to ERP and accounting, there are thousands of excellent options. Whether your company is offshoring or working locally, consider the following options:

• Quickbooks is powerful, versatile, and used by accountants worldwide.
• Sage simplifies and facilitates a diverse range of accounting tasks.
• Industry-specific are available for almost every kind of business and can go a long way in managing every aspect.

Performance Tracking

Performance tracking software is a great way for managers to write job expectations, create objectives aligned with the company’s goals, write appraisals, and document performance. However, it’s best to create what works best for you in measuring your outsourced team’s performance.

Closing

Managing a business is challenging at the best of times. Running an E-Commerce or Promotional Products company right now is no easy feat. But help is at hand in the form of software tools that can not only ensure any outsourcing efforts are a success, but can also improve the efficiency of your operations. And we all know where efficiency leads - to increased revenues and company success!