by gabriel_sales | Jun 20, 2013
This is Part 2 of a 4-part blog series discussing the need for expert solutions for B2B sales and marketing in 2013.
In the third part of this blog series, we explained that sales expertise, technological capabilities, the ability to produce a mountain of marketing content, a little bit of storytelling and some social intuition are required for successful B2B sales in 2013.
In light of this daunting and expensive list, many companies have turned to experts for help.
Here are some analogies to illustrate this point: If you had a cockroach infestation in your home, would you buy the equipment and get the training to do the exterminating yourself, or would you call an expert? Or, if you or your partner goes into labor, do you think, “I can handle this on my own,” or do you call a doctor or midwife that has been delivering children for years?
Similarly, by hiring a B2B sales and marketing outsourcing company, you get the benefit of new insights, technologies and capabilities without having to learn everything yourself. Sales and marketing outsourcing companies have been paying attention to how the rules of buying and selling have evolved because that is the water they are swimming in.
At Gabriel Sales, we have been helping B2B companies increase sales and revenue and close more deals, faster for over 13 years. We have been closely monitoring industry trends and are using the most up-to-date and efficient internet technologies available.
We have a streamlined discovery process to help you quickly plan and execute integrated and scalable B2B Sales, Content Marketing, Lead Management and Pipeline Development Programs. We make the complex simple by combining your knowledge of your customer, market and business with our best practices, sales tools, marketing technologies, database expertise and industry benchmarks. We then create a program that meets your needs, hits your targets and gives both sales and marketing a shared “Sales Quota Scorecard” across tactics.
To learn more about how we can help, you can visit our services page or download our white paper called, “Integrate Sales and Marketing in 2013 & Beyond”.
If you have any questions, please feel free to contact us.
by gabriel_sales | Jun 14, 2013
This is Part 3 of a 4-part blog series discussing the need for expert solutions for B2B sales and marketing in 2013. For Part 1, please click here and for Part 2, please click here.
In the first two parts of this blog series, we explained how technological innovations have dramatically changed the way we communicate with one another as well as how we buy and sell things.
To briefly review, we explained that the internet and internet-based technologies have changed communication from a transmission model to a participation model. For B2B sales in 2013, this means that you can no longer simply ‘transmit’ sales material or sell hard upfront. This is because your buyer wants to ‘participate’ in the sales process every step of the way.
By creating digital marketing content and running content marketing campaigns using a marketing automation platform, you can simultaneously give your prospects something to participate in and monitor their buying behaviors.
Using the information you gather from your marketing automation solution, you can intuitively guess how each prospect would like to participate with your brand as they move down the sales/buying cycle. For example, if they have been reading all of your educational blog posts, they might also enjoy downloading a white paper. If they have been clicking on “pricing” or “comparison” type pages, they might be ready for a phone call.
Understanding how the new participatory communication model works, and integrating this information with B2B selling and buying cycles is not a simple task. It requires sales expertise, technological capabilities, the ability to produce a mountain of marketing content, a little bit of storytelling and some social intuition.
In light of this, many companies have realized they do not have the internal capacity to revamp their sales and marketing to fit the new communication model and buying cycle. Instead, they have turned to the experts.
In the last part of this blog series, we explain why trusting the experts makes sense for B2B sales and marketing outsourcing in 2013. Click here for Part 4.
If you have any questions, please feel free to contact us.
by gabriel_sales | Jun 5, 2013
This is Part 2 of a 4-part blog series discussing the need for expert solutions for B2B sales and marketing in 2013. For Part 1, please click here.
In the last blog, we explained that for B2B sales in 2013, buyers have control of the buying process and want to ‘particpate’ in every step of the sales cycle.
What all of this translates to for the B2B sales world is that your stellar salesmen are no longer enough to consistently close deals. When the buyer feels like he is in control; he is not about to let some smooth-talking stranger tell him what to do. He may end up making the same buying decision your salesman wants him to, but he wants to feel that he has been an active participant in reaching that decision.
So, how do you appease the buyer and let him revel in his newfound sense of buying power? You build a sales engine with digital content marketing and let the buyer interact with you digitally until he/she is ready to be sold to directly.
Because the new communication model is about participation rather than transmission, you need to build digital content that buyers can engage or “participate” in. Give prospects the value proposition they need to make an informed decision, but don’t be overtly sales-y about it. Give them educational blogs to read, quick videos to watch or invite them to attend live webinars.
By having participatory experiences with your brand, prospects will start to feel comfortable enough with you to actually want to be sold to. If you use a marketing automation platform along with a strategic content marketing campaign, the buyer’s digital behaviors will let you will know when to start selling.
For Part 3 of this blog series, please click here.
If you have any questions or would like to speak to a B2B sales and marketing outsourcing representative, please feel free to contact us.
by gabriel_sales | Jun 1, 2013
The changing world of B2b sales
In B2b sales in 2013, many companies are starting to catch on to the fact that sales and marketing have changed. Dramatically. This is mostly due to technological innovations that have severely altered the way we receive and interact with information.
In this four-part blog series, we explain how the ways we buy and sell things have changed and why it is no longer easy or effective to sell without the help of experts.
Throughout human history, we have seen time and time again that technological innovation changes the way we live. Inventions like electricity and the telephone played such a role in shaping the world we live in today that we could hardly imagine our lives without them.
So, why should we expect that the internet and internet-based technologies wouldn’t have the same revolutionizing effect on the economy, business and culture?
One of the more interesting changes resulting from the internet revolution is the way people buy and sell things. Before the internet, the mediums we used to get information about the products and services available to us worked on a transmission model, where a message goes from an active sender to a passive recipient. In this model the buyer has little control over the process; he or she basically sits there and waits to get sold to.
The new communication model is less about transmission and more about participation. The internet has allowed everyone to have a voice and created a two-way dialogue. This means that in terms of selling, the power is now in the hands of the buyer. The buyer can now choose what type of sales content to view, what type of medium or device to view it on and when to view it. And now that buyers have all of this power, you can be sure that they will use it.
The next part of this blog series discusses what these changes mean for the world of B2B sales and marketing. For Part 2, please click here.
If you have any questions or would like to speak to a B2B sales and marketing outsourcing representative, please feel free to contact us.
by gabriel_sales | May 6, 2013
In 2013, many B2B companies are trying to improve their sales and marketing by hiring a new sales representative to join their sales team. While allocating more time and effort to the task of sales is the right thing to do, hiring a full-time rep internally might not be your best option. This blog explores how hiring an outsourced sales team can help you achieve your business goals more efficiently and effectively than an internal rep.
If you look at the process of hiring a new in-house salesperson, you see that it is a considerable expense to you. You have to spend time searching for the right person and training him or her once found. After all of this, you still do not come close to the amount of ability, competence and connections you have in a full team of people. In addition, you may be hesitant to let an internal person who is not working out go because of the significant investment you made beforehand. We therefore believe you stand to gain more success from hiring an outsourced team than you do with an internal rep.
Here are four more reasons we believe B2B companies can benefit from hiring an outsourced sales team:
1) Low overhead cost and zero fixed payroll or benefit costs. An outsourced sales team has its own office space, phones and computers to use, eliminating those costs for you. If you go with the outsourced team you also do not have to treat the team as your own employees in terms of payroll and benefits.
2) Access to a larger and more resourceful sales team. In most situations, the cost of an entire outsourced sales team is the same as hiring one full-time rep internally.
3) Improved sales coverage. When you have multiple people, you are able to increase the number of people you reach and expand your list of potential customers.
4) Advantage of previously established business relationships. By hiring an outsourced team, you gain access to a variety of connections and contacts you can exploit to gain profit for your company.
If you would like to know more about the pros and cons of an Internal Sales Rep vs. Outsourced Sales Team, please reach out to us at Gabriel Sales by contacting us here.
by gabriel_sales | May 2, 2013
In our work as a B2B outsourced marketing and sales company, we have found that many people have a misunderstanding of what sales and marketing outsourcing companies do. This blog explains these misconceptions and details how an outsourcing company uses their services to solve business problems and drive sales growth for their clients.
At Gabriel Sales, we understand that many businesses are just now beginning to look into the possibility of outsourcing marketing and sales. Most B2B businesses have no prior experience working with an outsourcing company, they therefore may be confused or apprehensive about hiring one.
To help clear up some of this confusion, here are the five myths or misconceptions about sales and marketing outsourcing that we see the most:
1. “If I outsource, I will lose control of my sales process.”
While it may feel as though you are handing the keys to your Corvette convertible over to a complete stranger, this does not mean you have to lose control over your sales process. It is no doubt unnerving to hand the reigns over to someone else, but we have found that open communication between both partners can alleviate this tension. At Gabriel Sales, we keep our clients informed of all of our activities and progress at all times and during all situations.
2. “Hiring a full-time sales rep will not do anything for me.”
We understand many businesses do not want to staff a sales rep full-time, but our experience shows us this seldom works in the long-term. Usually, a company will start with a part-time rep, but soon needs to scale to full-time. A sales and marketing outsourcing company can help you to determine what the most effective balance is for you in this regard and help you to implement it. Gabriel Sales offers temporary, part-time, and full-time options for lead generation and inside sales.
3. “I don’t need outsourcing because I already have a sales team.”
Just because you have a sales team in place already does not mean you cannot benefit from sales outsourcing. Many of our clients already have internal sales teams of their own. It is our job as an outsourcing company to improve on what you have. We can act as an extension of your current sales team, and if we do employ a sales rep, it is usually exclusively for setting sales appointments, sales qualifying or B2B lead generation. We have also been taken on primarily to aid in the launch of a new product. There are a variety sales services an outsourcing sales company can provide to an existing sales team; to see more of them, check out our services page.
4. “My recruiting process cannot be improved.”
If you are now considering outsourcing your sales and marketing, that is a good indication your current process needs improvement. An outsourced sales company can certainly help if you do not have years upon years of experience attaining salespeople who can execute at a high level. Hiring an outsourcing company allows you to take advantage of the vast sales expertise experienced sales personnel provide to them and therefore saves you the time and money usually put into the recruiting process.
5. “Hiring an outsourcing company builds the outsourcer’s brand, not mine.”
Once you have hired an outsourcing company, their job should always be to sell you and not themselves. At Gabriel Sales, we perpetually put the client first and train our sales reps to act as your employees during all business calls and interactions. We define our success in terms of your success.
We hope this blog helps to clear up any confusion you may have regarding sales and marketing outsourcing companies. If you have further questions or concerns, or would simply like to know more about B2B sales outsourcing, please feel free to contact us.
