There are multiple reasons to consider an outsource sales company for lead generation and lead qualification to help you grow your revenue and shape your company’s growth strategy.
For example, a tech start up that has a proven product may need to accelerate its sales efforts prior to a round. Or an established business may need to test a new market. Employing an outsource sales company will help you get to market faster – an experienced sales outsourcing and marketing firm enables the startup to hit the ground running with an experienced sales team, rather than wait six months or longer to recruit and train an internal team.
Another typical reason involves testing a new solution or a new process or strategy. An outsourcing team can take on the blocking and tackling of generating leads and sales opportunities for the new product. This allows your existing sales force to stay dialed in on the established product line. With an outsource sales team, you can fine-tune your process for the new solution, document the process and lay the groundwork and infrastructure for a full-scale roll out with your existing team.
Sales outsourcing can also immediately improve a company’s targeting capacity, cold-calling efforts, email marketing tactics and inbound lead generation approach. All this will increase your capability and capacity to identify qualified leads and drive deals into the sales funnel.
So once you’ve decided hiring an outsource sales company makes sense for your company, here are 3 tips to help ensure you make an intelligent decision about which company is right for you:
Evaluate the outsource sales team’s credentials
When choosing any vendor, it’s important to understand who they have successfully worked with in the past. Most sales outsourcing companies will have case studies online and will also have testimonial videos available. And before you make the final purchase, they should be OK with you checking references from other clients. Ask questions about the specific sales and marketing gaps you would like them to cover.
Determine if there is a strategic fit
A solution only works if the vendor’s capabilities meets your organization’s needs. When you outsource sales this means different things to different companies. Ask direct questions about their areas of strength. Some focus primarily on lead generation. Some focus end-to-end sales services. Others, like Gabriel Sales, build modern sales and marketing operations that can be transitioned over to the company. It’s also important to consider a firm’s flexibility in adapting to changes in your sales needs. Will they transition teams or systems to you?
Examine processes expertise
Take a close look at what they are best equipped to service. Can they help you implement a process for pure transactional sales? Are they experts in solution sales where a senior rep needs to manage the close of the transaction? Examine how they report on sales metrics and if they can help you forecast. Will they share data or hide data? Do they help you grow your business? Or do they just put deals into your pipeline? Do they do both?
Assess the sales outsourcing and marketing technology stack
An outsource sales firm’s technology capabilities and expertise is now a key factor in the selection process. What type of demand-generation technologies does the firm employ? Are they using marketing automation? How will it make use of CRM and analytics to achieve your objectives? Are they tied to a set of platforms or are they flexible?
Other factors when selecting an outsource sales company
Other issues evaluate a potential an outsource sales company:
- Experience in your industry
- Experience with your decision maker type
- What type of feedback do they provide?
About Gabriel Sales Outsource Sales Solution
Gabriel Sales helps companies build modern sales and marketing operations to help small businesses and start ups build a consistent and sustained flow of qualified leads. To learn more, please visit our outsource sales approach page.