The nature of eSourcing is typically global, multiyear, with changing environments, changing expectations and often, changing players who are involved in the delivery of the commitments. It is not difficult to imagine that the one constant that needs to be carefully nurtured and built, which forms the very foundation of success is a trusting relationship among all the stakeholders.

Research shows that between 50 and 70 percent of business relationships fail to meet their objectives and that the primary cause of failure is poor working relationships between partners. A Conference Board study found that 97 percent of respondents would outsource their operations again but would pay less attention to service levels and more attention to relationship management. In a survey performed by The Outsourcing Institute, 40 percent of customers and service providers believe that ongoing management of relationships is the most important factor for successful sourcing.

The eSourcing Capability Model (eSCM) for service providers confers a very significant place to formal relationship management with all stakeholders and flushes out the best practices in this area. The model emphasizes the need for relationship management across the lifecycle of sourcing and extends it to include customers, end-users, employees, service providers and partners.

The relationship-management practices in the model focus on actively managing relationships with stakeholders and cover the following:

• Managing interactions with customers to ensure their effectiveness and to capture critical information uncovered during these interactions
• Establishing relationship objectives and tracking progress against these objectives
• Selecting suppliers and partners based on their ability to meet requirements, and managing their performance against the agreed-upon commitments
• Obtaining feedback from all stakeholders and using this feedback to improve performance and relationships
  Proactively identifying opportunities to add greater value to customers
• Identify cultural attributes that impact the relationship and implement actions to achieve a culture fit.

In institutionalizing the spirit of these practices, one encounters several significant challenges. Good relationships are seldom built by always agreeing customers. It is an observed trait amongst several providers from India that they “always nod,” even though they believe that they may have a different opinion. Trust and confidence also come from ‘professional’ conduct of the personnel and teams of the service provider. Respect is only the other side of the same coin.

Relationship building cannot be a one way street. Yet, the service provider controls only his organization. The need is to move away from needing “control” to “collaboration” with customer to build a strong relationship. The collaboration can find context in problem-solving, decision-making, developing metrics jointly, and integrating the planning. Open and frequent communication between the provider and the customer is essential for the relationship. This ensures that the customer is not surprised at any point of time.

Cultural differences can impact the success of service delivery and the relationship. While it is not necessary or advisable for the provider to change his culture, it is critical to recognize the differences and consciously plan to mitigate the impact of these differences.

There is enough understanding that relationships are not about wining and dining, but are based on “value creation.” Business Process Outsourcing (BPO) companies often look to “efficiency”’ in delivering their services, and this is the basis of their success as a business enterprise. The moment a customer expects “value addition,” also expects the service provider to truly become a “partner,” there is a need for a complete change in mindset! Proactively identifying value-creation opportunities, communicating them to the customer, and supporting the customer in addressing his changing business needs, will make the customer view the provider as a valued business partner.

The recognition that a good relationship is not happenstance, that it cannot be taken for granted and that one has to very diligently, consciously work at building it, that it can be fragile and needs to be nurtured and maintained, is half the battle won!

To read the series' first article BPO — Building Capabilities for the Future, click here.

To read the series' second article Leveraging the Power of Knowledge Management in BPO, click here. 

To read the series' third article The People Factor in Building BPO Capabilities, click here.  

To read the series' fourth article Managing Organizational Performance to Strengthen BPO Capabilities, click here.