by Ben Schmidt
For law firms who outsource their back and/or middle office operations, every five years or so a very difficult decision comes up: whether or not to renew with the current provider.
This decision can be difficult for many reasons: the provider is doing an adequate job, the staff feel like they’re part of the firm now, the firm doesn’t have an appetite to undergo a transition, costs seem reasonable, and so on.
What it all really boils down to though is that you’re sitting there saying to yourself, “I’m pretty happy. Why make this difficult on myself when I can just re-up with my provider and call it a day?”
I can fully appreciate that point of view. I just happen to respectfully disagree. Let’s take a look at why you shouldn’t just renew with your current provider even if things are going well.
Drive the Hard Changes – Change is inevitable, evaluate the changes that occurred in your firm since the last time you signed your outsourcing contract. Does the current arrangement fit your updated needs? These changes should drive the specific requirements you‘ll need in your new contract.
Get the Best Deal – Create a buyer’s market. Through a competitive process, you can see what others are offering and ensure you get the best all-around deal for yourself.
Educate Yourself – Knowing where your spend is allocated and comparing it to market spend is worth investigating. This discovery puts the power back in your hands.
These are just a few of the reasons we’ve found that cut in favor of a competitive process. There are certainly others, but this gives you a good flavor of why we preach competitive Request for Proposal processes. It comes down to fostering competition to secure yourself the best deal.
