Finding a perfect match: Oodi helps companies outsource to agencies

As a marketing executive for companies like iCIMS and Thomson Reuters, Oodi CEO Karen Parisi thought that the process of outsourcing work to an external agency was outdated and slow. Her ecommerce platform, Oodi, promises to help companies quickly find quality agencies and get started faster on the actual work.

Parisi launched the platform in June, frustrated by a lack of transparency and the waste of time involved in outsourcing to an agency.

“I wanted the process to be more transparent, more modern and accelerate the process of hiring and managing an agency,” Parisi told me as she took me through a demo of the platform.

The intuitive platform allows users to choose an agency partner based on several variables, including package cost, timeline, deliverables and location. The user gets a search result screen featuring a selection of pre-vetted agencies. They can then use a compare-and-contrast tool to further narrow their decision, followed by an option to communicate via messaging or by phone with the agencies to learn more.

Parisi takes the vetting process seriously, putting agencies that apply to be part of the platform through a 10-point vetting process that includes assessments of the agencies’ financial health, quality of the work, the kind of clients they’ve had and whether there are any outstanding legal issues. Oodi currently has 17 live agencies on the platform, with 11 more approved and ready to be added.

“We’re not interested in being a directory. We want to be the cream of the crop,” Parisi said.

Parisi said that Oodi can help marketers save money and time by cutting out some of the red tape. Instead of a drawn-out process that includes issuing an RFP, waiting for the agencies to respond, making a decision, and then finally beginning the work, companies can get started almost immediately.

Oodi is an end-to-end platform that facilitates the process from selection to completion, offering tools for communication, payment and management. The platform is free to use, though Oodi takes a percentage of sales transacted on the service.

Parisi also stays involved so that both agencies and companies get the benefit of a personal human touch, she said.

“We’re trying to improve the communication overall,” Parisi said.