What is a white label product?

White label software products are websites, apps, or other IT solutions offered to customers by a reseller after rebranding. A white label product is a product or service created by one company and sold by another one under its label. 

In such a situation, a digital agency produces a system or software which is then rebranded to make it look like the selling company created it. In a nutshell, it means that the buyers receive a working system, which does not bear any logo at the transaction time. Then the future resellers have the right to brand it and sell it under their trademark.

White label services in 2020

With the beginning of the Internet era more than 20 years ago, we gained more extensive access to resources and goods that were not available to us until then. We could quickly contact people living in remote corners of the world without feeling the distance between us. Nevertheless, the year 2020 brought tremendous havoc to our lives by bringing even more areas of our lives to the online world. Overnight, companies were forced to switch to a remote working model. 

The worldwide pandemic has made the remote working mode something completely normal. This situation convinced many of us that cooperation with people who work at home a few streets away or at the other end of the world is not a problem. It is also hard not to get the impression that more and more companies decide to outsource many digital projects to remote teams. They still mainly include Internet marketing activities and those aimed at developing technological projects – websites, mobile or web applications.

Tips on how to choose the best technological partner

When choosing a technology partner, you should carefully check the candidates you are considering. Find out if the agency of your choice has already worked in the white label model. Ask what experience they have with this cooperation and what projects they have carried out within its framework. By asking these questions, you will get to know the experience of the partner you are choosing. It can be crucial for the effective accomplishment of your goal.

Here are some additional questions worth asking candidates for a future digital agency providing white label services.

How does the workflow of creating a white label product look like?

Depending on the technological partner with whom you decide to cooperate, a workflow may differ in the context of their management methods or organizational culture. Some digital agencies choose a model in which the clients do not participate in the whole project. They only communicate the vision and expect reports on the work done so far within the set deadlines. In Applover, such a model of cooperation is also possible, but all clients who want to be present in the project permanently can take such an opportunity.

Depending on our clients’ preferences, we either allow them to directly contact and manage the team we outsource or cooperate mainly with the project manager. Our clients usually prefer the first form of cooperation, in which they participate in the whole development process. This is crucial in many cases because it allows the development team to fulfill the client’s vision entirely. In such a situation, our developers become a part of the client’s team. They usually participate in their internal communication and get to know the habits of the organization. It’s an essential factor, which often translates into the appropriate mapping of the client’s vision in the project. For those who do not want or cannot engage in software development at such a high level, we provide updates and progress reports within certain deadlines.

Whom can I contact during the project?

White label software development projects usually involve several people. There’s not always the need for each of them to directly contact the client, who would have to remember and understand their functions. In Applover, each project has a dedicated project manager, whose task is to control the workflow and contact with the client. 

The project managers are the primary source of contact. They know perfectly well what is happening in the project and pass this information on. The presence of a project manager in white label projects is crucial. They are available in emergency cases, where it is necessary to decide how to deal with crises. In Applover, depending on the client’s arrangements, daily communication will take place using Slack. All summaries and documents will be sent through emails, while the video conferencing will take place via Google Hangouts.

How will our cooperation proceed?

At white label projects, it is essential to commit the team to keep the secret about the project and its functionalities. White label agencies sign a non-disclosure-agreement (NDA). It’s a contract ensuring confidentiality for the client. This document also provides that your technological partner can’t take credit for the project or publicly talk about it. Other terms and conditions should include the scope of work that the agency commits to deliver but also the budget, and the time frame within which it will be completed.

How does my technological partner deal with crises?

It is well known that technology is developing at a dizzying pace, which sometimes results in crises. Even the most prominent players on the market, such as Google or Facebook, face problems with some functionalities that become inaccessible to users from time to time. The same can happen in the context of your project. Then the digital agency, which you employ, should take care of it.

Before you start working together, ask your partner and the team how they plan to deal with crises. How will they solve the problem that will appear after their working hours? Are they ready to change their strategy entirely if the need arises? How much time will they need to do it? It’s vital information that can translate into satisfaction or resignation from using your solution by end-users. 

How does the team cope with time zone differences?

Remote cooperation with white label agencies sometimes involves time zone differences. Such situations very often trigger a lag in communication. Time differences come along with cultural and language differences. However, suppose you have decided to carry out a particular project with a specific partner. Chosen digital agency impresses you with its experience in similar projects and excellent reviews of existing clients. Check where the opinions come from. If these are flattering reviews from foreign clients or even those operating near your location, that’s a good indication. In such a situation, you can be sure that the technological partner has experience working with your preferred, remote model.

In such situations, it will be crucial to understand how the team deals with time differences. Are they ready for videoconferencing, even if it will require them to make sacrifices and contact the client after their working hours? Ask them how they have dealt with similar situations so far. Some agencies operate in a shift system so that clients have access to contact with the team at convenient terms. In our case, such cooperation rules are always established individually, taking into account all the needs of our clients and the team’s capabilities dedicated to a particular project.

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How does the process of selecting a team for a given project proceed?

This is a crucial question for all those who want to know the team dedicated to the project. Most of the white label agencies choose developers taking into account only their technical skills.

At Applover we have moved the selection of appropriate specialists for the project to a slightly higher level thanks to our proprietary tool – Bench by Applover. Bench by Applover is a system that helps in selecting developers for specific projects. What distinguishes our system from those used by other agencies is that apart from the developers’ experience and technical skills, we also take in mind their portfolio and projects they were working on to fit well into the project and take in mind not only the technical part but also business aspects based on their experience. Especially we pay attention to character traits and soft skills, which are often neglected and may prove necessary while collaborating with the client’s team.

Bench by Applover and its methodology is based on standardized psychological questionnaires and competence tests. Every developer in our base needs to fill them in. The application works on the principle of machine learning, thanks to which, in a relatively short time, it can select team members who will be perfect for a given project. It considers both the client’s challenges and the required hard and soft skills necessary for effective project implementation. You can find out more about Bench here.

Brace yourself properly and start the cooperation

Once you have asked all the above questions before you start working with the agency providing white label services, you will be able to assess whether the partner you are considering will be the right choice for your project development. Hiring an external agency is a huge responsibility not only for the technology partner but also for you.

Providing your technology partner with feedback within a mutually agreed time frame, briefing information, and a shared understanding of the work scope will allow the team to work effectively. It will translate into your project’s success.