Why I Won’t Outsource To You

Creative Commons Licensed - flickr/nic221

The phone rings and the caller ID shows it’s a number in some neighboring state.  You assume that either it’s a place of business that is hopefully calling you for a possible contract deal or it’s a wrong number.  So you take the call and you’re greeted with a bored voice with a thick foreign accent informing you that they are a [insert state name] web development or SEO firm that would love it if you could outsource some of your work to them.  What do you normally do when this happens?

For me personally, I just say “no thank you” and hang up.  I don’t wait for a rebuttal.  I don’t wait for anything at all.  To be honest with you, these kinds of outsourcers are leeches.  And they’ll never be welcome to latch onto me.

I haven’t been under some rock for the last decade or so, I know full well that if you work with an outsourced firm, you have your reasons and you have a positive history with them.  That affirmation is usually followed up with a few horror stories about previous attempts with schemers and companies with horrible customer service skills, but eventually you found the right group of people to call on when the work flow got unmanageable for you.  Kudos to your determination.  Just don’t expect me to look you in the eye if we meet, I won’t respect someone who places “saving a buck” over helping others in the industry.

Here’s my take on this point blank; I don’t know you, you don’t know me, and I won’t put anymore of my money out of the hands of the people I do know and trust than I really have to.  I already can’t stand the fact that every damn thing I buy is made somewhere overseas while American families are getting sucked under after they watched their jobs go overseas, but now I should share my clients with you?  You’re kidding me right?

The first couple of times I got these calls, I demanded a portfolio of sites along with hard marketing data that shows the quality of their work.  Then I told them that I would only consider working with them after they gave me some names and numbers for other web dev and marketing outfits they have worked with here in America or Canada.  Can’t supply me with that?  Here’s a fresh can of dial tone for ya…

But what really clinches the deal for me is this; these guys either bought a PBX system on American phone lines or they pay for a US based cell phone package so the numbers are always appearing to be what they’re really not.  That right there tells me that you can’t even be honest with me about where you are and that you have absolutely no respect for me.  If you base your first interaction with me on bold faced lies, then you can kiss my white American ass.

In closing I do wanna make one thing perfectly clear; this has nothing to do with them being from another country or a different race.  This has EVERYTHING to do with business etiquette, my professional reputation as well as not tainting our screwed up economy with bullshit that is purely profit driven for you and no one else.  You don’t give a shit about my clients or whether or not my kids have a meal for the night.  But I do.  And that’s why you’ll keep hearing the sound of dial tone within the first 5 seconds of our conversation.  You take care of your own, I’ll do the same.