The outsourcing process
Six phases, in the order decisions need to be made: discovery, solution design, partner shortlisting, commercial review, implementation and stabilisation.
A search on a partner directory, a handful of sales calls and a proposal comparison can feel like due diligence. It rarely is. By the time contracts reach a lawyer, the decisions that determine whether the partnership works have usually already been made informally: which process to move, which location fits the customer base, which operating model suits the volumes.
A process that needs careful judgement goes to a location chosen mainly on cost, without the experienced agents or language coverage it needs. A delivery model with no local management layer starts to strain once volumes exceed what remote oversight can handle. A headline rate turns out to exclude training, technology or telecom costs the operation depends on. The gap usually surfaces around month three, long after the contract is signed.
What follows is the route we use instead: six phases, from discovery through to a stabilised, performing team. Depth varies by engagement, but the sequence itself is not optional. Skip a step, and you get the mistakes above.
The six phases below describe how we approach outsourcing. No engagement runs through them in exactly the same order or depth. Some phases take days; others take months, depending on how complex the transition is and how much is already decided when we start.
Who does what is agreed project by project. The Cattalyst does not perform every activity directly in every engagement: some elements sit with the delivery partner, some with your team, some with us. That division is set out plainly during solution design rather than assumed.
No two engagements follow an identical path, because no two operations arrive with the same starting point, volumes or constraints. This is a working model for how the decisions get made in the right order. Nobody is placed on a conveyor belt.
Every engagement moves through the same six phases. Depth and duration depend on what discovery finds.
Phase 1
Before any solution gets designed, we test assumptions about volumes, skills, timelines or budget against reality, not a sales deck.
Phase 2
Discovery findings turn into an actual design, specific to what was found. The shape follows the findings; it never runs the other way round.
Phase 3
Candidates from our global network of 43 contact centre partners are shortlisted on verified capability alone.
Phase 4
Every cost gets compared line by line instead of hidden inside a headline rate. Minimum commitments, setup costs and contract terms are all discussed before anything is signed.
Phase 5
The team gets built: recruitment, training, systems access and testing, all before a single live customer is handled. A pilot proves the design before it takes full volume.
Phase 6
Go-live is a milestone, not a finish line. Issues get named and worked through early: that is what separates a partnership that lasts from one that quietly underperforms.
Straight answers, and a discovery call for everything else.
It depends on scope and complexity. A small pilot on a single process can be live in a matter of weeks; a complex transition involving multiple processes, locations or systems takes months. We set a realistic timeline during discovery, once we understand what is involved, rather than quoting a number before we know the scope.
There is no fixed price list, because the answer depends on the process, location, volumes and operating model agreed during design. What we can promise is that the commercial structure is discussed openly from the first conversation. Every cost is compared line by line during commercial review before you commit to anything: setup, training, technology, telecom, management.
You speak to the partner directly. Shortlisted partners are introduced and met before any selection is made. You are choosing the team that will run your operation, based on what you see for yourself.
That is what the stabilisation phase exists for. Performance is reviewed against the assumptions set during commercial review, and issues are named and worked through rather than left to settle on their own. A rough first few weeks is common; a problem that goes unaddressed is not.
Discovery can be compressed, but it cannot be skipped. Most of the expensive mistakes in outsourcing trace back to a decision made too fast, before the objectives, volumes or compliance requirements were properly understood. If the timeline is tight, we prioritise what needs answering first rather than cutting steps out.
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Tell Oliver about the operation you are trying to build or improve. The conversation begins with discovery, the same as every engagement on this page. A proposal and pricing follow only once we understand what you need.
