No. 4: Where's the value?
While many outsourcing vendors have had no problem delivering a commodity service, they have found it more difficult to create value propositions around that service, suggests Mary Tolan, managing partner of Accenture's Global Resources Market unit.
Some firms, including Accenture and IBM Global Services, have attempted to move up the value chain from routine operations and maintenance to the realm of "transformational outsourcing".
This can be done in part by bundling strategic consulting services into a long-term outsourcing pact, advises Peter Bendor-Samuel, CEO of outsourcing consultancy The Everest Group.
No. 5: The worst policy
Finally, nothing can sour a client relationship faster than a dishonest vendor. Attorneys say this cardinal sin tends to rear its ugly head most often in the sensitive area of pricing.
Vendors, notes attorney Zahler, typically apply pressure on the clients to sign the deals and leave the matter of pricing until the 11th hour. "Some [outsourcers] are misleading the client a little bit to price some of these deals, due to the fact that a lot of the vendors do not do the due diligence early on and have to go through their own managers to approve the pricing," he says.
High-pressure sales tactics and misleading pricing schemes undermine the fundamental trust that is essential to a successful deal, says Harvard Pilgrim's Gutierrez. "If I can't trust a vendor from the start, there is no way I will trust them with our network," he says.
Consider yourself warned.
