Full Interview: Tarun Verma and Sun Softwares
on Mon, 2008-07-21 19:52. News
India's Sun Softwares is an IT outsourcing company that started with one person in 2003, and now employs 20. Owner and CEO Tarun Verma credits a lot of that growth to oDesk. Sun signed up as an oDesk provider in July 2006, but Verma says his company didn't start using oDesk effectively until the following January. Today, about 60 percent of Sun Softwares' work comes via oDesk buyers.
Q: What made oDesk attractive to your company?
A: We were facing a lot of problems, like delayed payments, which were affecting our growth. But oDesk helped us not only to grow in size but also in streamlining our payments, especially using oDesk's hourly payment system. ODesk Team is unique from anything I have seen in other marketplaces.
Q: Why do you say oDesk is your favorite online marketplace?
A: We are using some other marketplaces as well, but oDesk gives us the best business. It is the only one that we are using that has a very well-organized hourly job system which guarantees payments. There has been instances where buyers entered into dispute for payments, but after oDesk arbitration, we got the payments. This is the only system in which the buyer can see the screenshots of what we are doing and is always aware of the status of the project. This gives the buyer more confidence in us, and thereby we are able to create better relations with the customers. ODesk is a complete system, as it offers tools to find jobs, to manage jobs and providers, then finally to handle payments and accounting. What else could a company expect?
Q: It took about six months from when you joined oDesk to when you started using it effectively. What did you do when you decided to really take advantage of oDesk?
A: I took advice from an existing user who had been working extensively with oDesk. For starters, it’s a little difficult to understand and get to a point where one starts taking advantage. One must have some patience to start with, as it takes a little while to get the first job, as one has no rating or history at oDesk.
Q: How important is it to really target which kinds of job posts you respond to?
A: Its very important to take up the jobs that we can do because if we took something which we are not knowledgeable in, then there would be high chances that we could fizzle out and get bad ratings and comments from buyers. This would have an impact on the profile and in taking up future projects. So we must take the projects that we are very confident of executing in time and with high quality standards, in order to ensure that the profile gets good ratings and good comments from happy customers.
Q: It's important for a provider to find a buyer he or she can work well with. Besides looking for a project that fits Sun Softwares' expertise, what do you look for when you see a job post?
A: We try to look for projects that are required to be built from scratch using the latest technology, and we look at the client's comments in the job postings. At times we see some harsh comments in the job post, and we tend to ignore those posts, as there are high chances of project failure due to the client's attitude. Some job posts call only for bug fixing--we ignore them, as it's difficult to take those projects to completion which are already in some kind of mess. We pursue the full projects and the projects with complete specifications. The projects which are posted with complete specifications show that the buyer is really keen and would be very good to work with, as the scope has been clearly defined.
Q: When you interview with a first-time buyer, how do you make sure you're understanding the project requirements and the client's needs, when you have to communicate long-distance and don't yet know the client's style?
A: We try to get detailed specifications from the client, URLs of example websites, wire diagrams of screens, expected time for completion, expected budget. If the client does not provide the complete details then we build a prototype to make sure we are trying to do what client wants. It's very important to get the complete picture that is in a customer's mind to make sure the project gets to completion in time.
Q: How would you advise a new buyer who asked you how to find the best providers when several applicants may have good basic feedback scores?
A: My advice would be to look closely at the portfolio links, expertise of providers, other experiences and history on oDesk, rating and comments of buyers. Buyers can choose the best providers by looking for well-laid out profiles, a good history at oDesk, and good ratings and comments from past buyers.
Q: What about providers? What tips would you offer a new provider?
A: I would say to lay out the profile well--do not ignore any part of the profile ... take tests. Apply for jobs which you are confident in executing to completion. Have patience, as it may take some time to take the first job. Many providers give up the very first time when they don’t get a response. So don’t give up, and keep on applying.
If you get the job, execute it well. Maintain consistent communication through Yahoo IM, Skype, MSN, AIM and/or Google Talk. Never let the job get loose, meaning keep in constant touch with they buyer. Tell him in advance about any leaves or absenteeism. Try to make sure your client never asks you for a status report--rather, you provide the status regularly to him.
Once the job is finished, ask for a good rating and good comments, as they are very important for further jobs. Update your profile on a regular basis.