A lot of people get a puzzled look on their face when they hear the term “Sales outsourcing” or “Outsourced sales”. So, for those of you who hear the term and have visions of call centers in India, here is what outsourced sales is. The definition itself comes from the trusty “Wikipedia” with my comments on their points in blue.
According to Wikipedia: Sales Outsourcing is the practice of having an external company become a virtual sales force for you – because we (mostly) focus on an inside sales model – we can work for any company. It is differentiated from value added resale in the usage of a “shared risk” model—that financing model requires both the client and the sales entity to invest in the actual sales program – it is this “shared” risk that makes sales outsourcing really work. If the client company puts some “skin” in the game, they become a strategic partner and not just a beta test. This is differentiated from telemarketing in that it requires direct recruitment of sales personnel with specific backgrounds for each sales campaign, as opposed to the generalist sales rep (where the sales rep may represent many companies) popularized in telemarketing – this is one area that we cannot stress the importance of enough. B2B sales recruitment is not an easy feat. When you are outsourcing a sales company, you are also finding a partner in recruitment. Finding and identifying top sales personal is a full time job in and of itself, and many outsourced sales companies have a dedicated sales recruiter whose sole purpose is finding and hiring top sales talent.
Sales outsourcing firms provide accountability regarding all sales results and activities while representing the brand of the client – our inside sales representatives are held to daily, weekly, monthly and yearly goals based on both ACTIVITY and PRODUCTIVITY. All of this information is meticulously kept up-to-date in our CRM system which is then used to report to our clients with whatever frequency our clients see fit. For the end-customer, it usually appears as if the client sold the product themselves rather than the sales outsourcing firm – most sales outsourcing firms who are performing sales channel development act as a transparent. Meaning, the outsourced sales team will carry the business cards, email, and persona of the client company. The B2B sales outsourcing company is the recruitment, management and execution team. The outsourcing sales firm is, in essence, an extension of the client but is responsible for all operations associated with direct sales activities (often receiving sales engineering and initial product/service training support from the client.) – We are what we like to call “Strategic Partners” – because you are the “experts” on our product, you will train our representatives (along with one of our managers) and we will give you valuable market research and, best of all, increase sales.
The key reasons many companies look to outsource sales are:
- Speed to market; – we recruit great sales people FAST and have all the necessary tools to get a sales team up and running
- Improved ROI as opposed to building or extending an internal force; – building a sales force is expensive, utilizing the tools of an outsourced sales firm is almost turn-key
- Ability to access markets unavailable to client; – we have vast sales experience in numerous industries and verticals and can leverage those relationships for you!
- Improved systems and process to better capture a marketplace; – we stay on top of sales trends and software for you and utilize the latest sales tools
- Providing a litmus test to compare internal sales resources – our inside sales team will be on the front lines and will report valuable market research back to you
- Test a new product/service without distracting current in-house sales team – leave your people to what they do best, and let us test out a new product or market so that you don’t loose ground.
Hopefully this clears up some of the confusion that surrounds outsourced sales. Outsourcing sale is a fantastic way to grow your business. Contact us today for more information!
Happy Selling!
