Unlike others perhaps, I didn’t learn the adage “you never have a second chance to make a good first impression” until I had graduated from college and was in my early working years.  I know for sure there have been times I did not put my best foot forward.  It may have been that I was just too nervous to know how best to make that good first impression.

Over the last year or so I’ve dealt with dozens of service providers both onshore and offshore who have had the opportunity to make a really good first impression.  For some reason, several have made it more difficult for themselves in the next scheduled interaction with the client because they came off as looking not as good as they really are to the client.  I am not sure if they didn’t take the time to plan for the meeting or couldn’t muster the right resources to engage with the client.

I know this is going to sound a bit too trite… but it’s the simple things that make the difference to clients.  Let me cite three that stand out: 

1) Take notes - Sounds a bit ridiculous but I have had clients who after an interaction came away with the impression that the people they met with were not really interested in their business.  I believe this was quite to the contrary, however, there sat five executives who just listened, nodded, but didn’t take a single note.  Taking notes demonstrates you are interested in what the client is saying.

2) Engage - More often than not I’ll see three or four people attending a meeting and one or two of them do all the talking.  After they leave, the client is not sure why the others were brought along.  Everyone should have a defined role to play and needs to contribute to the topic.  Otherwise leave them behind.

3) Push back - I think sometimes service providers go too far in agreeing with the client.  We had one client recently who told a provider, “Tell us what we need to hear, not what you think we want to hear.”  The clients I have worked with want to hear the truth.  If you don’t agree with what they say, tell them.  But do it in such a way that you can factually back up your position, not just provide an opinion.

I realize these sound very trivial, but whether you are a service provider seeking new business or interacting with your own senior executives, all three apply.  I have to remind myself every time I meet a new client or service provider that I too am held to the same standard of making a good first impression.  Make yours count.



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What a way to kick off the New Year?  Alsbridge continues to grow organically and has just added a new service line to our suite of offerings to clients.  I’m excited!

We’ve just introduced what I believe is a step-change in the sourcing advisory space by acquiring TAG, the leading experts in procurement, contract negotiation and expense management of telecommunications services including voice, data, wireless, internet, local, and international services. 

In my opinion, Alsbridge already had the best methodology and database of information to assist clients to reduce costs and improve services levels in information technology and business processes.  Now, we have data-driven capabilities in the telecommunications network space as well. 

I’ve watched the outsourcing industry grow up and seen its sibling – the telecommunications network services industry – growing side by side.  And since moving to the sourcing advisory space in 2003, we’ve worked side by side with consulting firms in the telecom network spaces.  Combining the expertise in both spaces has long made sense to me, but I hadn’t found a firm with the right focus on service delivery excellence until we began talks with TAG.  The acquisition of TAG is a continuation of a strategic plan to acquire data-rich consulting capabilities to be able to provide a wider set of services to our clients and meet today’s as well as tomorrow’s need to reduce cost across the enterprise.

Simply put, no other sourcing advisory firm can provide clients with the depth of expertise in sourcing information technology, business processes and telecommunications network services.  Our current and future clients will benefit greatly from the synergies!



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It occurred to me the other day there was a time when outsourcing providers would cringe when they heard a sourcing advisor had been retained by a client or prospect.  But I don’t think that is the case any longer, nor should it be.  In fact, I believe that the news should be met with optimism, and not just because the buyer is sending clearer signals regarding making a sourcing decision.

Companies looking to begin a sourcing journey, whether outsourcing their IT infrastructure or applications or sourcing a mix of business processes, desire a well-crafted deal that will optimize their goals.  Providers used to think that an advisor in the mix would lengthen the time until a deal is struck.  I offer the opposite is true.  Advisors bring to the table structure and project management acumen that will assist their clients by quickly determining key sourcing decisions and an overall streamlining of the project.

I contend providers will benefit the same as buyers do when an advisor has been engaged. 

Continue Reading "One Sourcing Deal, Three Wins"

When was the last time you purchased a home?  Last year?  A few years back?  Five, perhaps 10, years ago?  Did you hire a realtor, or did you go the whole way through on your own?  For most people, domestic and internationally, the decision to purchase a home is one of the single most important and largest financial transactions a person makes and experiences.  As a potential homebuyer, you have limited knowledge (even within the locale in which you focus your search). At best you have a handful of experiences in the process (and those are usually a few years removed), and you lack access to information on the latest transactions (even with internet-based searches).  It is a complex decision-making process, filled with risks and financial obligations not normally encountered daily, weekly, monthly, even annually, by the vast majority of people.  Hiring a specialist reduces risks, expedites the process, arms you with an advocate, and usually produces results faster, cheaper, and at significant savings of effort on your part.

Continue reading "Why You Need a Sourcing Advisor"

I’m delighted to welcome you to the launch of our new and improved website and online publication!   Our staff of writers, editors, and web developers has scrutinized and evaluated everything we publish on www.outsourcingleadership.com and effected improvements across the board.  The transformation is nothing short of astounding.  One thing has not changed, however, and that is our objective of being the indispensable information resource chosen by sourcing, financial, and IT professionals.

Visit www.outsourcingleadership.com now, subscribe and explore the new features and technologies available to help you get engaged in innovative and interesting ways. The new interactive features will allow you to contribute your opinion, feedback, and even original material for publication. It will be easier than ever for you to provide input and feedback directly to us.  

Most importantly, we thank you, our readers for your continuing support.  It is our sincere hope that you will find the new Outsourcing Leadership to be more informative and valuable than ever.

Sincerely,
Ben Trowbridge
CEO, Alsbridge, Inc.

I recently spent a week meeting with eight outsourcing providers as part of one of our selection processes. Every single one mentioned their desire to achieve “non-linear revenue growth” by leveraging SaaS, value pricing, transaction pricing, service bundling (integrated IT and business process outsourcing) and a few other relatively new concepts in the industry. The argument here is pretty simple: most of the industry today is based on selling people and pricing in some risk. In this model, the only way to grow is by adding staff and paying them a salary. However, most of these providers were clearly worried about running out of people, and felt that their ability to recruit was artificially constraining their growth. Customers, the story goes, will derive more value from these pricing models.

There is no question in my mind that you get what you pay for: If you buy bodies, you will get bodies. If you buy services, you will get services. But this great deal where sellers make more money and customers get more value does raise some questions:

1.    Where has this new-found efficiency been hiding? Are all existing outsourcing deals by definition outdated and low value?
2.    Can buyers really be assured a fair deal if they lose transparency to the provider’s basic inputs?
3.    Is this simply a process automation play—replacing labor with technology—and if so, hasn’t this stuff been around forever?
4.    Why is it that the industry universally decided to talk about it, very openly with their customers, I might add, at this time?
5.    The benefits of non-linear revenue to the provider are quite clear, but what are the benefits to the customer?

I have my own answers to the questions above, but I am interested in hearing from you. Will this become the dominant pricing model in the industry? What other questions does it raise?


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