Outsourcing functions to skilled service providers is becoming more and more mainstream. And in today’s business environment it is becoming common in areas like finance, HR, IT support and customer service.
And with the recent requirement for aligned sales and marketing to move deals through each stage of the funnel combined, sales outsourcing and outsourced marketing is now another area that many start-ups and small businesses are considering. Sales outsourcing can drive multiple advantages for a company looking to scale including; removing fixed costs, contributing trained and skilled reps immediately without the delays of recruiting and giving you executive sales oversight and strategy without the full time expense of hiring a sales executive. But how can you tell if you should consider sales outsourcing?
Is Your Cost of Sales % too high?
Sales and marketing all boils down to how much it costs to take a lead from the top of the sales funnel through to closed business. Success now requires you to invest in hard costs like technology, databases, floor space and phone systems. There are also multiple soft costs like training, recruiting and daily management. If you are a small business with only a handful of reps these costs can quickly become a substantial part of your budget. The reality is that when building a sales team you have a great deal of fixed and soft costs that don’t change between 1 to 5 sales reps. A sales outsourcing company will already have these fixed and soft costs covered as part of their operations. If you have a small sales team sales outsourcing will absorb the costs and lower your cost of sales percentage.
Inconsistent Sales Results
Many companies struggle to produce consistent sales results on a quarter by quarter or month to month basis. This then creates a challenge for the executives leading the company. They cannot forecast for sales growth. They struggle to make intelligent forecasts to scale the operations of their business. In many cases for small business this is the direct result of not taking care of the necessary blocking and tackling required to take care of the necessary tasks to move deals forward and generate new deals on a daily basis. Often we see companies spend the first quarter focusing 80% of their energy generating new leads. The next quarter developing leads. And the final quarter spending 80% of their time closing leads. A sales outsourcing company can level the pipe by providing the tools, team and talent allocated to all three tasks on a daily basis.
Not using all the Latest Automation Technologies
99 % of the Fortune 2000 are using sales automation technologies because they work. But many smaller or high growth companies do not have the experience or expertise to implement content marketing and lead scoring technologies on their own. If your sales reps are not supported by these technologies they are spending time on daily tasks that can be automated. They are spending their time working deals that will not close, and they are wasting their time on tasks that can be automated rather than working the phone. A sales outsourcing company can provide the tools and the expertise to maximize the production of your sales reps by helping you to automate your sales process and buyer education whenever possible.
Sales Pipeline Blockage
A proportional flow of deals advancing through your sales funnel is a key driver of success. Having leads consistently move from one stage to the next will provide consistent deal flow but inconsistent performance at any stage will lead to ebbs and flows in deal closure. A sales outsourcing company can help you to determine where leads are getting stuck and why. Once that is determined the problem can be addressed immediately. A sales outsourcing company will be able to walk you through the sales techniques to move deals forward with scripts, improved closing questions and a repeatable sales process. This becomes very powerful when combined with outsourced marketing services to create the sales or marketing materials you need to nurture leads and engage them to push them to the next stage.
Summary
Sales outsourcing can be a powerful sales leadership tool for companies looking to scales their sales to the next level. A key to your sale success is for you to clearly communicate where you feel your sales and marketing challenges are when you have your initial discovery sessions with sales outsourcing companies. Gabriel Sales makes this easy during our initial success criteria and discovery sessions prior to crafting a custom approach for every potential client.
