
One of the most common tasks every business needs to accomplish nowadays is data entry. With the growing trend of digitization, almost all organizations from different industries are looking into transforming their printed files and other information into a digitized format. But considering the large amount of data businesses usually need to handle, it’s not always viable to go straight to hiring multiple people, especially if you need all your data inputted and ready to use as soon as possible.
Doing your data entry in-house will mean a bulk of additional jobs for your current team members, including hiring, onboarding, training and more. And if you already have an in-house team handling your data entry needs, you might be thinking of a better way to manage your costs. The good thing is there is a way for you to get past all of these preparation intricacies and reduce your operational costs, and that is through data entry outsourcing. If you consider this business approach as unfamiliar, then here are some things that you should keep in mind for you to efficiently start or shift to data entry outsourcing for your business.
Know what you can automate
The first thing you should do before you decide to outsource is to identify what data entry tasks in your business can be automated. Careful analysis and planning are both required to help you identify which processes to outsource and which ones are better automated. Some useful things to consider are the following:
- Your team’s specialties and essential roles
- Repetitive roles in your company and if their tasks can be delegated
- If outsourcing can help improve your team’s overall efficiency
Remember that the more tasks you pass on to your outsourcing partner, the more you benefit. This is when your team gets more time to do specialized work that only they can perform.
Identify your needs
You may already know what data entry tasks need to be outsourced. However, you also need to be specific on how you want these tasks to be performed. Aside from identifying tasks that you can automate, you also need to consider how you want the outsourced tasks to be handled by your outsourcing partner. When setting up your arrangement with your potential outsourcing partner, you should learn more about their:
1. Availability. You should know how available your outsourcing partner can be anytime you need data entry tasks done.
2. Tools and Processes. To thrive in an ever-changing business world, a business should have the right set of tools and processes available. Your data entry outsourcing provider should have the right business processes and tools in place to help you accomplish your business goals.
3. Scalability. If you ever decide to grow your business, will your provider be able to provide you with what you need? To help you achieve business continuity, your outsourcing provider should be able to provide you with what you need to scale your business.
4. Precision and Accuracy. Dirty data is never welcome. All data entry outsourcing companies always aim to be precise. But how do you want to keep track of their accuracy? To see to it that your provider’s quality is at par with yours, see to it that they have quality audits regularly.
Make a list of your potential outsourcing partners
Now that you have identified your business needs and you have decided to outsource, you can now proceed to finding the right outsourcing provider to partner with. Every business process outsourcing company is different, so make sure that you review each potential partner’s offers, as well as their strengths and weaknesses. Let them know what your business needs are and see to it that you document everything that you have agreed upon so that if any legal issues arise.
Plan and prepare for the transition
If you fail to plan, you plan to fail. So before you move forward with your transition, see to it that you have everything organized to make sure that nothing can go wrong. You will need to properly reallocate your resources, so see to it that you keep in mind of how your data management will change. There may also be a need for you to redefine work roles to give way to the data entry outsourcing you will be adding to your processes. Everyone in your team should be made aware of the changes in your processes, and if necessary, set up a meeting to discuss and clarify these changes. And because you will be freeing more resources, you should clarify how these will be realigned. You might need to reassess and reallocate your current, the size of your team, your tools and other resources that you may no longer need.
Maintain and monitor the process
Once your new outsource process has been established after the shift, all you need to do now is maintain. See to it that you remind your team members of the essential roles that they play and that the flow of materials between you and your BPO partner are kept smooth. And because business data will be flowing in and out of your company, make data security a top priority. Invest in secure servers or use the best cloud services you can afford.
Boost Your Team’s Efficiency by Outsourcing to Assivo
Data entry outsourcing can help improve your team’s efficiency. It can also help you scale your business and enable you to achieve your business goals faster. If you need more information and some assistance on how you can jumpstart your data entry outsourcing, contact us here at Assivo. We will provide you with the guidance and support that your business needs to start your shift to data entry outsourcing.