You’ve probably already heard of BPO, or Business Process Outsourcing.
We go into more detail here about what BPO is, what the benefits are, and the criteria you should consider when selecting a BPO provider.
To recap, Business Process Outsourcing (BPO) is when you hire an outside party to handle certain business tasks. These outsourced employees are typically not members of your company, but they can operate as independent contractors, either as part of a business or a solo venture.
Outsourcing for Growth
BPO has many benefits – the foremost of which is growth. In recent years, outsourcing has been used by an increasing number of successful businesses not just to CUT COSTS, but to FUEL GROWTH. In fact, outsourcing is now seen as a major factor in businesses looking to adopt a ‘growth mindset’ as it provides teams with the ability to scale up quickly and efficiently for specific areas of the business.
This trend has gained further traction in the past few years due to the ‘gig economy’ and ‘remote working’ - not only are employees looking for a more flexible approach to work, but companies are also starting to see the advantages of drawing from a more international pool of talent, one that can be flexed up and down in synch with business needs.
BPO for Promotional Products
The Promotional Products industry is no stranger to outsourcing, but with global talent now much more accessible and becoming more and more highly skilled, Promo companies are starting to revisit their BPO approach.
This growing popularity of Promo outsourcing can be attributed to several factors:
1. Cost Efficiency: By outsourcing specific tasks such as Accounting Admin, Graphic Design and CSR responsibilities, Promo companies can save on FTE expenses such as wages, benefits, and infrastructure. Downstream, this cost advantage enables Promo companies to offer more competitive pricing and services to their customers.
2. Global Market Access & Specialized Expertise: BPO gives Promo companies access to specialized expertise and resources that may not be available in-house. By assessing ‘tasks’ rather than ‘roles’, Promo businesses can also benefit from hybrid resource, I.e. team members able to cover a set of admin or back-office tasks across a number of different departments.
3. Increased Focus on Core Competencies: Outsourcing non-core activities like checking inventory and processing cash receipts enables Promo teams to focus more on their core competencies. Salespeople in particular can focus on selling, and customer-facing teams can focus on value-add tasks for clients.
4. Scalability and Flexibility: With outsourcing, Promo companies can easily adjust their team sizes based on demand fluctuations, without incurring significant overhead costs or disruptions. This approach is perfect for an industry that often has to deal with annual peaks and troughs, but that’s also experiencing a huge period of growth!
BPO Roles for Promotional Products
Having hired for 100’s of Promo Suppliers and Distributors, here are the top roles (and tasks!) we see being outsourced:
- Accounting Assistant
- Graphic Designer
- Production Specialist
- E-Commerce Associate
- Customer Service Representative
- Sales Assistant
You can find out more about what each of these roles entails in our article ‘Typical Promotional Products Industry Jobs’.
Then, when you want to know exactly how we hire here at DCX, just visit this page and watch our short ‘HOW WE HIRE’ video!
