10 Questions to Ask Your Business Process Solutions Provider

Working with business process solution providers can be tricky. You want to choose a quality solution that is cost-effective, yet provides excellent ROI. Business process management should help you increase your efficiency, service, and quality.

You want to work with a company that optimizes your processes, with easy implementation, and reliable support so you can focus on your core business. Let’s examine 10 crucial questions that you should ask your business process solutions provider.

 

10 Questions to Ask When Searching for a Business Process Solutions Provider

These questions will help ensure that you work with a business process solution provider that understands your business and needs.

 

What Makes You Different to Other Business Process Solutions Providers? 

Although this may seem like a generic question, it’s a good way to weed out the providers that offer a weak answer or no real differentiation to their approach. You will benefit from working with a business process solution provider that specializes in a high level of customer service. Don’t be afraid to dive deep and ask about their process management strategy. An excellent provider will likely even have their process in working with clients documented. If you’re just treated like another number or client in the roster, beware before you start any business relationship.

 

Tell Us About Your Company Culture 

If possible, you should try to not only meet the salespeople, but also the staff that keeps the cogs of the machine running. Ask to meet any project managers, solution specialists, the technical team, and the leaders of the company. Visit the company HQ if you can see their people in action. 

When surveying business process solution providers, there’s no such thing as too many questions. If you get the sense that you’re dealing with top quality staff with a positive work culture, proceed. On the flip side, if you get the feeling of apathy, unresponsiveness, or even incompetence, it’s time to find another firm to work with.

 

Which Aspects of Your Business Are Outsourced?

This can be a telling question that reveals a lot about a company. You need to know what functions they do internally compared to what is outsourced. No provider can do it all, but some tasks may require outsourcing while others may be more sensitive. If you are dealing with contracts that consist of classified data, you’ll need to question which 3rd parties are involved and how your data is treated in these scenarios.

 

Can You Provide References?

It’s surprising how often this question is overlooked. If the company doesn’t have references or actionable examples of their process, are they worthy of such investment? It’s hugely beneficial to talk with current customers to find out whether your potential provider actually delivers on their promises. Even if this means contacting them yourself, consider it time well spent before investing with a business process solution firm.

Ask the company if they can provide case studies and materials that walks you through their process. As an example, Trinity provides guides with actionable advice on topics such as business process automation software mistakes, customer success stories, how-to guides on various software, and best practice for API integration.

 

What Are the Contingency Plans if Infrastructure Fails?

Your business process management provider should have a disaster recovery plan or something similar in place. In today’s world, there are bound to be technological or natural disaster issues that come up. Every business should have a plan. 

Your provider should have a recovery policy or be willing to create a customizable plan with your firm. Obviously, if there is no backup, no contingency plan in place, and if they’re not willing to work on a plan, they’re not the right firm and it’s time to keep searching.

 

Which Services Are Covered Under the Contract and Can You Define Which Services Aren’t?

Don’t be afraid to get specific on this. Ensure that you have a direct list of which services they offer compared to which are off the table. Specify exactly what you require from a provider and have their pricing policy laid out clearly. You don’t want hidden fees or surprise charges blindsiding you down the road.

You also need to know what the pricing plan is and whether they have limits on certain services. As an example, if you’re limited to a certain number of hours per week with your account manager, you’re going to want to know!

 

How Will You Keep Us in the Loop?

You’ll want to know how their reporting system works and how they’ll keep you in the loop. Find out how transparent the system is and what their standard practices are. For example, you should have answer to the follow questions about communication and processes:

• Update Meetings: How many meetings are there per month and how are they delivered (for example, in person, on the phone, or via video chat)?
• Reporting: What type of reporting is included in the service and how often are reports are provided?
• Troubleshooting and Support: How are these factors handled? Ensure that an agreement is laid out so that expectations are set.
• Admin Reporting: It’s quite often that business solution providers offer admin portals to provide a high-level reporting tool and snapshots of activities.

 

What Happens When You’re Updating or Doing Maintenance? 

This is a good question. You need to know how often they update or undertake maintenance on software. This is crucial as it can result in actual downtime for your business. On one hand, a lack of attention to infrastructure can be a warning sign. On the other hand, you need to know if updates will affect your operational productivity. Simply inquire what their policy is, timelines on maintenance, and how you will be alerted. Confirm whether there is an easy means of communication with your provider.

 

 

How Do You Handle Troubleshooting?

It is important to understand how your questions are received and responded to. Are there representatives available every day of the year? You’ll want to know how far your service truly goes.

 

How Will You Support Our Business Growth?

Ask the company how they will support your business growth. Factors such as staff onboarding, new employee data, expanding to new locations, scalable services, and how to accommodate increased data are all good topics to cover. Work with a company that makes business growth and expansion easy.

If you need assistance with business process management that offers a high level of customer service, let’s chat. Our business process services are truly customizable to your business. Contact Trinity for a no-obligation discovery call.