Global Outsourcing 100 – The Dog Ate My Homework...and other tales of woe.

With the GO100 launching tomorrow, September 1st, we thought this was the perfect time to share a humorous take on some past questions, excuses and complaints.  

The IAOP Global Outsourcing 100 rankings are heading into year eight, and to say we’ve “heard” it all is an understatement.  For the most part, service provider companies open their applications and “lock” them within the deadline, read all of the detailed instructions, check out the “help” information for tips on getting the best application, and do it all with the minimum fuss and muss. 

Then, of course, we hear the tales of woe, year after year.  Here’s a sampling: 

“My company is the (biggest, best, fill in the blank) but we’re not on the list.”
Nine times out of ten, it’s because the company didn’t complete an application!  GO100 is an opt-in program….everyone must apply each year to be considered…no exceptions. 

“I didn’t get notified about the application open date.”

The GO100 program sends important communications about the program throughout the year to the main contact listed in your application…if someone in that company has moved on, IAOP must be notified.  For the past seven years, the application process opens on September 1st and closes on November 1st. 

“The spam filter ate the email.”  

See above, not a valid complaint; please have your SPAM filter LOVE IAOP! 

“I know that it’s October 31st, but I (just found out) (was sick) (got married) (got divorced) (was in jail) (was on holiday) and can I have an extension to complete my application just this once?” 

The IAOP administrator can be very forgiving, but when 99.9% of all applicants get their applications in on time, it’s simply not fair to the judging panel to put their job on hold for the latecomer!  All applicants have a full two months to send in their application. 

“I’m still waiting for my customer testimonials and need more time.”

See above, plan ahead! 

“I didn’t understand what was ‘valid’ for the best score.” 

No excuse on this one.  The questions are as plain as we can make them, and for each one, you can click through on additional “help” tips with samples of valid answers.  The GO100 administrator is always happy to answer your questions if you are unsure….we’ll even get a judges call on it if needed. 

“I gave the same information as last year, but my ranking is lower.” 

The applicant pool is different every year, plus the importance of the ranking makes it more competitive  each and every year.  You can’t look at your overall ranking on an apples-to-apples basis from year to year. 

“I’m hardly on any sublists at all.” 

If you answered “other” on any of the company profile questions, you may have excluded yourself from some sublists for no reason.  Always find the dropdown category closest to your service areas or industry specializations, and only use the “other” for clarification.

So that's it...not too bad. Did we leave anything out? You be the judge and tell us here.