Outsourcing all sorts of functions has become more and more popular. The fact is, it often works out cheaper especially as it effectively sidesteps many of the expenses usually relating to employees. One of the most common arguments for outsourcing is that it is a way to access specialised knowledge which might otherwise be unavailable. Many organisations will not have specialist trainers for example and cannot justify having such a person on the payroll. They will therefore outsource their management training to a company who provide the same service for a number of clients. In fact it is sometimes difficult to differentiate between outsourcing and consultancy.

However there are a number of areas that should be critically examined when considering outsourcing telesales.

The most obvious risk is that you are handing the responsibility for keeping in touch with your clients over to a third party and you have no way of knowing how good they really are.

You also need to consider whether you should be investing in your own company, rather than in a third party. After all your own staff may well be the best people to talk to your clients especially if they receive appropriate training.

The management of customer relationships is a priority particularly in times of recession. Do you really want to leave it to someone else?