One of the biggest obstacles for growth that many companies face is the challenge of finding and hiring good salespeople. A requirement to grow any company is to find new leads then in turn make them into qualified customers, which is why sales reps can make or break a business. More than ever, many businesses today are realizing that implementing an outsourced sales team can actually be an incredibly effective way to cut costs, achieve revenue goals, and grow a company quickly.
What is Outsourced Sales?
Just like how many companies may choose to outsource projects for IT or Accounting departments to a professional IT or Accounting company instead of hiring an entire department of permanent staff, companies can also choose to outsource sales to a sales and marketing company. Once implemented, the outsourced sales team would manage the sales process as a whole and take over tasks such as:
- Lead generation
- Management of advertising campaigns
- Management of prospects
- Qualifying prospects
- Contacting leads
- Setting & confirming sales appointments
The benefit of outsourcing a sales team is that after the company has given the outsourcing company their advertising budget, outsourced sales teams will do much of this leg work required to generate and qualify leads, and then the company just has to sit back and have qualified prospective clients lined up for them to close the sale.
There are many different solutions out there for companies to choose from when selecting an outsourced sales solution. Here are some factors to consider when considering using outsourced sales services:
Benefits of Outsourced Sales Team
There are a multitude of proven benefits to outsourcing that companies of all sizes can take into consideration when determining if outsourcing sales is the right fit for their business needs. Companies that have used outsourcing have reported the following benefits to outsourcing:
Outsourced Sales Reduces Costs while Increasing Sales Revenue
Hiring new salespeople can take time and be costly, and oftentimes there is no guarantee that new hires will perform immediately. By outsourcing sales, companies save time and money on recruiting, training, and retaining new employees and an expert outsourced sales company can start driving sales growth almost immediately. Outsourced sales teams are equipped with the experience and training necessary to represent your company’s brand, provide top of the line services to clients, and perform within your company’s sales metrics.
Pay for Performance
Choosing to hire an outsourced sales company vs. hiring a sales rep holds much smaller of a risk. In the case of outsourced sales, companies pay for performance and the results that they get. If an outsourced sales company isn’t performing, it is easy enough to stop using them, as opposed to if a sales rep does not perform, a company will have to follow a range of performance improvement plans and procedures to remove an underperforming rep from the company.
Outsourcing Sales Provides Data Insights
Oftentimes, an outsourcing company will provide a data insights platform that can be used by companies to analyze important sales data and leverage that information to maximize sales and increase revenue. The data and analytics that hiring a sales outsourcing company can provide can offer valuable insights on identifying qualified prospects and possible sales process bottlenecks.
Outsourcing Sales can Help you get to Market Faster
It can often be challenging for smaller internal marketing departments to launch new programs and onboard new clients if the marketing departments do not yet have the resources or infrastructure in place to manage the extra marketing and sales workload. By hiring an outsourced sales team however, many companies have found that new marketing campaigns can be launched with much more ease. Whether your company is launching new products or growing into a new sales territory, an outsourced sales team can work to help empower your internal team and help to effectively deliver sales results.
Outsourced Sales Teams can Provide Expertise
Oftentimes, existing sales teams can benefit from the experience and expertise that an outsourced sales team can help provide. RDI’s sales teams are equipped with breadth and depth of experience from a multitude of different industries and are able to help provide companies with proven sales best practices and techniques.
Who Is Outsourced Sales a Good Fit For?
There are many benefits out there of outsourcing company sales vs. hiring a sales team in-house however, outsourcing might not be the best option for every company out there. Businesses that would be good candidates to use outsourcing are the following:
- Businesses who have taken the time to develop their own sales model that is sustainable and has been proven to be successful by members of that company's sales team.
- Businesses that already have their own team of sales reps
- Businesses that are large enough to be able to afford to outsource (at least over 10 people)
- Businesses that are in an industry that has a relatively short sales cycle so they are able to measure sales metrics of the outsourcing company in a short period of time.
There are some categories of business that particularly see a high value in outsourced sales models. These types of businesses include:
- Technology firms
- B2B products & services
- Emerging growth and start-up companies
- Medical device
- Financial services
For these types of companies and many more, outsourcing sales can produce desired revenue goals at a fraction of the costs of hiring an internal sales team.
Who Is Outsourced Sales a Bad Fit For?
Although many businesses may be a great fit for sales outsourcing, there are some types of businesses whose business model would not work well with sales outsourcing. These are the types of businesses that might not be a good fit for outsource:
- Smaller businesses that are newer and have not yet taken the time to develop a successful sales process.
- Businesses that are within industries that have a longer sales cycle (6 months or more)
- Newer companies that have not yet developed their own sales team
- Businesses who would prefer to be “hands off” with their sales and do not want to take a collaborative approach to sales outsourcing do not make the best fits for sales outsourcing.
How Much Does Outsourced Sales Cost?
In many cases, outsourcing your sales team costs around the same amount as hiring an in-house sales rep. Costs can vary depending on a variety of factors such as industry, products you are selling, how many reps you have, the sales process, and revenue objectives. Pricing structures vary depending on the sales outsourcing company, however most sales outsourcing companies should be able to provide you with a quote for the exact sales outsourcing costs depending on your company’s needs.
If you’re tired of searching for good salespeople why not give RDI a call today? Our team can help you generate new leads and turn them into qualified customers while effectively cutting costs and growing your company.