Authority Magazine published an article sharing 5 things we wish someone told us before we founded CGL in December. In it, we outlined that outsourcing has been key to our success. But there are risks that come along with outsourcing, so evaluating B2B providers for outsourcing becomes important in managing these risks. If your evaluations aren’t carefully managed, your business can face reputational damage, legal noncompliance issues, and ballooning costs from your provider.
At CGL, we focus on these areas when we’re evaluating B2B providers for outsourcing services:
1. Dig into the details of the day-to-day management before you sign on.
You want to know who will be working on your business matters and what their expertise is.
Before you agree to work with a service provider, you want to:
- Dig into the structure of the team,
- Ask the tough questions about employee turnover and average length of time clients stay with the provider, and
- Be sure you understand what the day-to-day management looks like.
Don’t ignore red flags like high employee turnover, short client lifespan, or not having a dedicated team working on your business matters.
2. Choose partners who are industry experts focused on the task being outsourced.
Your business benefits from choosing service providers with industry expertise. They have the right infrastructure, the right technology, the right personnel, and they’re more likely to be a sustainable, long-term resource for you. To assess their expertise, ask if they service any of your competitors.
3. Guarantee privacy and cyber security!
Data incidents and data breaches can impact your business even if your business isn’t the target. Imagine the impact of your HR provider’s servers being hacked. Your employees’ details may be compromised, and your employment records lost.
When choosing a service provider for outsourcing, be sure to check on their cybersecurity planning and continuity planning. Don’t settle for anything less than industry-leading data protections.
Final thoughts:
When making decisions about outsourcing, it’s inevitable that your business needs and legal risk are entangled. Proper due diligence at the outset is important. But open communications and an understanding (on your part) of the scope of what you’re outsourcing are also key. If you’re ever uncertain, rely on the guidance of your potential providers to determine the scope of the work you’re outsourcing since they (should) know best.
If you need help managing risk when it comes to outsourcing or if you’d like to outsource your company’s legal workload, get in touch. We’re here to help!
Disclaimer
The materials available at this website are for informational purposes only and not for the purpose of providing legal advice. You should contact your attorney to obtain advice with respect to any particular issue or problem. Use of and access to this website or any of the e-mail links contained within the site do not create an attorney-client relationship between CGL and the user or browser. The opinions expressed at or through this site are the opinions of the individual author and may not reflect the opinions of the firm or any individual attorney.
