by Glen Springer | Jan 13, 2012
In this article we touch on entrepreneur challenges and 10 ways sales outsourcing will help.
James Altucher an investor and entrepreneur posted a great blog this week at TechCrunch – 10 Things Entrepreneurs Will Fail at. For any entrepreneur out there its great to remember that you are not alone. You can find the full blog at http://techcrunch.com/2012/01/11/10-things-all-entrepreneurs-fail-at/.
As a sales and marketing outsourcing company we have worked with well over 100 entrepreneurs building go to market strategies and providing sale outsourcing services for new product launches. We love working with visionaries. We appreciate what they do and we are in this business to help them avoid as many of the hiccups on the way to success and wealth as we can. Below is a quick summary of James Altucher’s blog (we advocate reading it in its entirety). We personally feel like sales and marketing outsourcing can help you dramatically mitigate the risk and dramatically increase your chances of success in several of the areas mentioned below so we could not resist commenting.
10 Things Entrepreneurs Will Fail At and 10 Ways Sales Outsourcing Helps
1. You will lose some customers. Not everyone will be happy with your product forever.
- Demand Gen outsourcing keeps the pipe full to replace them.
2. You will lose some friends and family. You’re spending so much time on your business that inevitably you will not be able to match all of the expectations of the people who love you.
- Maintain some life balance and let us do the grinding day to day blocking and tackling so you have time for the wife, kids, partner
3. You will lose the faith of investors. Not all of the time, and hopefully not at the end, but there will come a time when the investors question you.
- Sales and marketing outsourcing provides hard core third party verified numbers and sales metrics to defend your ability to keep valuation and confidence levels up on the sales front.
4. Your idea. Your idea might be a bad idea.
- We vet your idea and test it in the market fast with qualitative and quantitative feedback loops so you can improve and readjust.
5. You will fail some of your employees. Employees are there for many reasons. Sometimes they won’t always get what they want.
- As a sales and marketing outsourcing company working with entrepreneurs we only have understand success is mutual and dependent on closed business. Not a great deal of grey area or misalignment. We are half way through the 10 ways sales outsourcing helps.
6. You will fail at keeping stress levels low. Sometimes the stress is too much.
- Sales and marketing outsourcing can alleviate many of the day to day headaches of headcount and employees
7. Sales. You can’t win them all.
After losing a potential sale there’s a few things you should do:
- Call the decision maker and say, “Just for my own learning, is there anything we could’ve done better?” Then take sincere notes.
- Then ask, “Is there anything else we can do for you. Any other way I, personally, can help you succeed at your job.”
- And conclude with, “Well, it was a real pleasure going through the process and learning about your business. Please call us if you need anything new.” And check in every month after that. Send monthly updates of customers you are winning, new products you are building,
- Sales and marketing outsourcing is always about knowing why you win and knowing why you lose. CLICK HERE FOR VIDEO
8. Communication. Some people are just simply going to disagree with you.
- We manage sales by presenting the facts and the data and then take our marching orders based on your strategic targets
9. Raising Money. I just saw this happen: great idea, great people, revenues, and profitable and…the company in question could not raise money from professional venture capitalists.
- We focus on driving revenue and giving you bullet proof metrics so you can raise money without a dip in sales
10. Yourself. You will certainly fail yourself during the process. You can’t do everything. You can’t get everyone to like you. You can’t get everyone to buy your service.
- Sales outsourcing allows you to focus on your core competency
If you are considering sales and marketing outsourcing as a solution and want to better understand the 10 ways sales outsourcing can help you take a new product to market or prove the ratios of your sales process, a Gabriel Sales sales outsourcing solution may be a great option. Feel free to CONTACT US to see what we can do to help.
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by Glen Springer | Jan 8, 2012
As a B2B sales outsourcing company we do a great deal of cold calling to generate business sales leads. In a previous blog titled Cold Calling is like Dating, we explained how dating etiquette and sales etiquette are similar when it comes to making the first impression. This blog continues the dating metaphor to the next stages of the sales cycle.
In the first part of this blog, we discussed how the goal of the first date should not be to close the deal; it should be to get a second date. We find that if our reps succeeded at getting the prospect to agree to further interaction after the cold call, it is now time to “play it cool”.
When dating, after meeting someone for the first time, there’s no quicker way to end a budding romance before it begins than to be over eager or show desperation. The same goes for business sales leads. You want to convince your prospect that you aren’t annoying or creepy. Too many calls or voice mails after a first date might give the impression you are needy or dependent; this is not attractive.
After a first date, a woman wants to feel like she’s being thought about, not obsessed over. This means no gushing emails about how much you love me and how you cannot wait to see me again. In the dating world, this is an immediate red flag; we just met. In the sales world, and when we are providing sales outsourcing services we find, people are just as suspicious of sudden and constant affection that seems to come out of nowhere. Building a strong and lasting relationship takes time, regardless of whether it’s romantic or business related. If you are going for more than a one-night stand, having patience is key.
Generally, the higher caliber the romantic prospect is, the more work it will take to impress them and arouse interest. This means you must be willing to expend this extra time and effort if you have your sight set on a Victoria Secret model. You have to wine and dine her before you can even think about closing the deal. For your sales process, think of Fortune 500 companies as Victoria Secret models. If you get to know them and put in the time to show you respect who they are, you’re much more likely to succeed.
Also, remember that not returning a phone call does not necessarily equate with non-interest. If she’s the type of girl that is worth keeping around, she will more than likely play a little hard to get. When it comes to sales prospects that act this way, you have to play back and be persistent, but not pushy or annoying.
Our advice as a sales outsourcing company and what we find across verticals and most decision maker types is that the right balance between persistence and non-pushiness can benefit you in more ways than one. First, you have convinced your prospect that you are respectable and are willing to work for what you want. If your prospect takes the bait at this point, you have succeeded. However, just as not all first dates lead to epic romances, not all cold calls lead to closed deals. But, if you have managed to convince your prospect that you’re cool and not creepy, she might set you up with one of her friends (a Sports Illustrated model perhaps?).
For more on how sales in like dating, check out Cold Calling is Like Dating. If you would like to learn more on how to generate new business sales leads or about Gabriel Sales services strategy and how these strategies work for clients, or to decide if B2B sales outsourcing is right for you, please feel free to contact us.
by Glen Springer | Dec 22, 2011
This blog discusses cold call sales scripts, and how to craft one into your overall B2B sales content strategy to make your sales process as efficient and effective as possible.
As an outsourcing sales and marketing company, we have found that a good sales script for cold calls does not begin, as many often assume, with intent to sell. A cold call script should aim to introduce your company’s service/product as a possible to solution to the specific customer’s needs. A cold call sales script should also set out to help determine any and all possible objections that may stand in the way of closing the deal.
At the beginning of the call, ask for the person you wish to speak with, and once you have them on the phone introduce yourself by name and the company you represent. You then need to make the potential buyer understand who you are and how you could help them. This works best when the conversation is focused on how your company solves problems or fills needs.
In order to sell your company’s product/service as a solution to someone’s needs, you first have to know what those needs are. This requires research on the company you are trying to sell to, as well as their competition. You can only position yourself as an industry expert if you actually know the industry.
Another way to position yourself as an industry expert is to list any of your previous clients whose name your potential buyer may recognize. This helps build confidence in your company, and also gives you a chance to direct him/her to case studies that show the success of your relationships with those clients.
Your sales script should also have answers prepared for any objections you might face. This means you need to know what those possible objections are before you make the call.
A good cold call sales script can also help you speed the decision making process. Early in the sales process you want to give your potential buyer your ROI statement. As an outsourced sales company with over 10 years of sales experience, we have found the following formula to be effective:
▪ My company /service will create an X (month, quarter, year) program that over the life of that program will produce and estimated $X dollars (go for the big deal upfront).
▪ This will mean an estimated % increase in profitability or % decrease in cost.
Once the potential buyer understands the overall picture of what you want to do for them, they can decide if that is something they might want or not. If the customer is still interested, you can then offer to do a more detailed analysis of the specific return after you have determined their specific needs.
Overall, you want your cold call sales script to work for both you and your potential buyers. While the main intent behind any sales process is to close deals, the goal of the cold call sales script is to assess whether or not the deal is closeable, and how to proceed if it is.
For more information on cold call sales scripts or B2B sales content strategy, please feel free to contact us.
by Glen Springer | Dec 12, 2011
Why should you choose our sales outsourcing services over Rolodex?
This blog discusses the pros and cons of using a sales outsourcing organization like Gabriel Sales vs. hiring a Rolodex Rep specifically for new product or service launches.
Gabriel Sales is an organization to work with when outsourcing sales. In short, what we do is build sales engines. Those sales engines are usually for new product launches and new service launches but we also work with companies looking to turn around under performing sales teams, improve effectiveness of cold callers or anything else you can think of that has the end goal of generating sustainable revenue through a solid sales process. Because we are not a rep company, when we take on clients launching a new product, we are required to wear many hats – sales consultants, marketing consultants, lead gen rep, inside sales rep, closer, sales manager and market research (so we can accurately forecast and create an aligned sales content strategy).
One question that comes up frequently when discussing a new product or service launch is: “Should I hire a Rolodex Rep or hire Gabriel Sales?” There is no clean answer to that question because it depends on:
- Short term and long term strategic needs
- Short term and long term revenue goals
- Competitors
- Maturity of the market
- Maturity of the solution
We can make recommendations once we understand all the specifics with relation to the bullets above but here are some general thoughts (based on experience) for boards and executives to consider when evaluating Rolodex vs. Sales and Marketing Outsourcing.
Pros of hiring a Rolodex Rep
- Rolodex Sales Reps have established relationships.
- They can generally get you in front of a handful of decision makers quickly- By quickly we mean they should be able to spend 2-4 weeks reaching out to their network and another 2-4 weeks doing the first round of meetings. So within two months you should have 6-10 meetings completed and if the product or service is the right fit you can get some quick deals in the pipe depending on the sales cycle.
- If it works you are a hero. If it does not work you are no further along than when you started and you will have lost two quarters (1 quarter waiting for that rep to produce and another putting another solution in place).
- If it does work you can show investors traction but not scale.
Cons of hiring a Rolodex Rep
- The ability of a Rolodex Rep to penetrate the market is limited. Studies have shown that the average Rolodex Rep can maintain 7-20 really strong relationships with senior buyers and another 15-30 plus friendly relationships. If you have a finite market this could be a great solution.
- In most cases you have no visibility into what a Rolodex rep is doing for you until they actually produce something.
- It has been our experience that Rolodex Reps with valuable relationships (20 strong relationships with senior buyers and 30 plus friendlies) are not cheap.
- An experienced Rolodex Rep with genuine value in their network are often reluctant to take on a product until its proven unless you are willing to give them an exclusive for a period of time.
- Rolodex reps rarely sell using a script (process in not necessarily repeatable and sometimes does little to convince investors you can scale) and do not provide and significant sales ratios for future pipe forecasting.
- If it does not work you are no further along than when you started and you will have lost two quarters (3 months waiting for that rep to produce and another 3 months implementing the next solution).
Summary of hiring a Rolodex Rep
When a Rolodex produces it’s a huge win! Hiring a Rolodex Rep is generally high risk and high reward. Gabriel Sales is often brought into an organization after this approach has been attempted unsuccessfully. We are also often brought in simultaneously to start the lead generation engine so when the Rolodex Rep’s pipe runs dry we are filling it to sustain the sales momentum.
Pros of hiring an Outsourced Sales Company (like Gabriel Sales)
- Outsourcing Sales Companies sell using a repeatable sales process. They generally get on the phone to start filling the pipe leveraging a scripted and repeatable sales process.
- Outsourced Sales Organizations staff blended teams so you get the advantage of being able to hit 1000’s of decision makers with their dedicated telemarketing staff, leverage direct marketing campaigns and still have senior inside reps and part time enterprise reps to close business.
- Unlike a Rolodex Rep, Outsourced Sales Companies are collecting critical market data for long term strategy and growth, creating a sales content strategy (and in our case producing digital sales content ).
- When Outsourcing Sales and Marketing you don’t have to deal with all the database management and acquisition work. You get the advantages of a dedicated sales team without the 100K-200K of technology and support team investments required if you were to build your own technology stack. In addition you get rid of some of the fixed costs you would incur by hiring a Senior Sales Executive and Senior Strategist to frame your own engine. The savings is usually in the 100K -150K+ range.
- With an Outsourced Sales and Outsourced Marketing Organization you get accountability, market intelligence and transparency on a weekly basis.
- You get into the market fast and you get infinitely smarter faster.
- Unlike a Rolodex Rep with a Sales and Marketing Outsourcing Company your sales momentum is just starting to build heading into months 3 and 4 which is generally when a Rolodex rep is starting to run out of steam.
Cons of Outsourcing vs. a Rolodex Rep
- The same principle applies here as with a seasoned Rolodex Rep: The better the Sales Outsourcing Organization, the more expensive they can become. (On the plus side neither comes close to the sunk cost of building and managing your own team).
- These organizations can get you into the market much faster than you could get there on your own but it will still take a little time to customize your sales machine and build a process that is both sustainable and repeatable.
Overall Summary
The best solution if you can afford it is to hire both. However in this market you are better off walking away with something if you can’t afford to risk walking away with nothing. Good Rolodex guys are not cheap and you don’t know if you are getting anything back on your investment unless guarantees are made up front. With an Outsourced Sales Organization you are guaranteed call volumes, weekly reports to help you shape future metrics, market intelligence, a sales pipe with multiple stage deals that you can at a very minimum if the product you are taking to market does not quite hit the mark.
At the end of the day everyone is looking for the fastest cheapest way to fix their problem. While you might be able to get something in the short term from a Rolodex Rep you will not get anything for the long term. Building a sales engine is like building house and you have to do it the right way, build a strong foundation and lay the groundwork for success, or you will end up dealing with repairs on a consistent basis and wishing you had invested that extra effort up front.
For more background on the type of consulting you can expect and to understand some of the additional options you have we invite you to check out our blog post on Sales Consulting vs. Sales Outsourcing. If you are looking to drive sales faster while building a sustained foundation for a high velocity sales machine we invite you to contact us for a free consultation to see what we can do to help.
by Glen Springer | Dec 6, 2011
The purpose of this blog is to help our outsourced sales and outsourced marketing clients understand how we recommend they think about their B to B demand generation and sales content strategy and what we do as part of our consulting engagements to shape Sales Collateral.
What defines a “better” piece of b to b sales collateral? Well, in our opinion better b to b sales collateral moves a prospect further into their decision making process and does it at a faster rate. The goal: close more business, faster.
The first thing to remember is that to create better sales collateral it’s never going to be about you. It’s about your prospect’s specific sales information need and the type of information they need will depend on where they are in their decision making process.
As a sales and marketing outsourcing company, when we launch a new client we take them through our proprietary discovery process to establish the initial messaging and targeting strategy. Once this is complete we get on the phone and simultaneously accomplish the following functions:
- We execute immediately to start generating leads to fill the sale pipe
- We start collecting hard data and metrics
- We continue to consult creating a content and sales process strategy that aligns sales and marketing
This ongoing consulting based on hard data allows us to frame a repeatable sales process. Creating this process requires that we listen to and then meet the sales needs of the prospect. Without the correct sales process and the right content nobody wins. This includes our clients, their prospects and us. What most sales outsourcing organizations won’t tell you is that no ones content is perfect out of the gate. The idea here is to talk to the prospects, test, refine and become more efficient to fill the content gaps as quickly as possible. This is what helps us become more effective and more efficient closers. This is where we gain our advantage.
We realize that content creation can seem daunting. It does not have to be. It should be fun. What we generally find is that our initial immediate needs can be met quickly and created quickly as we are putting the first wave of deals in the pipe. In most cases we find that existing content just needs to be tweaked, reframed, repurposed and/or reformatted.
The chart you see at the top of this post is the simple framework we use as we create your long term content strategy during the consulting portion of our initial client launches. What drives the efficiency in this approach vs. a typical marketing firms approach is that we are not guessing. As we are filling the pipe we are measuring what is successful and what is not successful. We are learning when we lose and improving what works. We are making decisions based on real customer data and real customer feedback that creates a content strategy that fuels a sales process has a real impact. We are simply listening to your customers and giving them what they need to transact. This is not rocket science but it does require following a specific process, road map and framework, and then supporting the effort with proper tools. This approach creates a scalable sales machine.
Depending on your stage of sales and marketing maturity, there are multiple sales and marketing strategies and tactics Gabriel Sales can leverage to drive sales growth. A strategy or tactic is most effective when anchored in real numbers tied to realistic targets and measureable goals. The best sales and marketing operations outsourcing company will help you to create a unique plan to create this strategy and set real metrics if you are just getting started. If you have an existing sales history Gabriel Sales can fix what is not working and build on what is. Contact us for a free consultation to see what we can do to improve your sales performance and pipeline velocity in 2012.
