Outsourced sales, otherwise known as contract sales, is a method of providing sales resources to a client business by a trusted third-party sales team. The entire sales process or partial sale processes can be outsourced. From lead generation, and follow-ups to managing particular product/service segments or locations. Using a sales outsourcing company allows businesses to access a sales force without having to hire employees in-house. Outsourcing has gained traction in recent years, providing necessary talent when needed as companies grow rapidly. Companies realize the time and cost savings they gain and are outsourcing more non-core competency functions like accounting, HR, IT, marketing, and sales. Furthermore, it is often deemed as a market entry strategy for startups or businesses that want a quick time-to-market. Let’s look at some of the key cost savings and benefits below. What Is Sales Outsourcing and How Does Sales Outsourcing Work? As its name implies, sales outsourcing is allowing a third party to perform your company’s sales process. Outsourcing sales lets you leverage the presence of more sales representatives provided by another company. With growing competition and dynamic business models, the business landscape now emphasizes on time, focus, and scalability. Therefore, you must consider outsourcing sales to quickly and effectively gain profit. Sales outsourcing can include market research, lead generation, and conversion strategies such as cold calling and messaging. As we mentioned, you must partner with a third party to outsource your sales process. While there are many sales agencies out there, not each is a great fit for you. Hence, you must choose a company that meets your needs and goals carefully. Specific Sales Training is developed for each client, depending on the type of sales, approach, and process. Our clients are an integral part of our training process, as we utilize their knowledge and expertise to develop a training program that is targeted and focused on developing quality sales professionals. Our training “toolkits” provide each sales professional with sales skills and techniques to ensure success. All training consists of Accountability Training, Product Training, Sales Training, Sales Process Training, Role Playing, and an Assessment Test. Extensive role-playing and reviews are conducted to ensure each sales agent has the knowledge to effectively represent our client’s brand with the utmost level of professionalism. Each Sales Agent must demonstrate their ability to have an intelligent conversation with prospects and have knowledge of the product and the process. Sales Agents are put in the field with team leaders for the first week to see the entire process and assess their skills and performance. Daily phone calls were conducted to review activity levels, targets, expectations, and training needs. Managers work in the field constantly to review sales techniques and approaches. Training is constant and consistent – it never stops and is based on the specific requirements of the field sales agents. We measure KPIs as activity levels – Knocks, Open Doors, Conversations, and Conversions. We also measure quality by conducting random calls to customers and the quality of reps filling out tracking reports and reporting promptly and accurately. Each Field Manager will have specific quotas around KPIs, Quota Performance, and quality. Guaranteed Performance Any size sales team, anywhere in 45 Days or less Brand Protection – we are an extension of our clients Commitment to Excellence Scalable teams from 2 to 200 sales representatives Dedicated and focused on success Process Driven with daily performance tracking How Much Does Sales Outsourcing Save? According to Bersin by Deloitte, the average cost per hire is almost $4,000. This may differ from company to company, but you can calculate this important metric on Glassdoor for your business. This cost is not only an upfront recruitment and training cost, but also a risk to businesses for additional payroll employees and also any future turnover costs. Seeking an outsourced salesforce reduces that risk and both partners are invested to grow together. What are the Benefits of Outsourcing Your Sales? The benefits of outsourcing sales are plenty. When you decide to outsource sales with a reputable partner, you’ll gain access to higher-quality talent faster than you would search through the talent pool yourself or via a recruiter. Less training required also means that you won’t be facing the same reduced productivity when new hires are still learning their role. An outsourced sales company is also specialized to solely focus on your sales needs, so you’ll be able to dedicate more resources and time to core competencies like product development or management. Here are the top benefits of outsourcing sales: 1. Outsourcing sales increases your profit. Profit drives your business. When you do not have enough profit, you will go out of business. As you may well know, you can only gain profit if you make sales. If your business does not provide the ROI (return on investment) you projected, it likely suffers from a lack of sales. Think about this: you have the most valuable product or offer. However, you do not have a focused sales team that reaches out to people interested in your product or service. If this is your case, you will not make enough profit to keep your business running. Your employees will lose their jobs. Plus, your business will join the long list of ventures that failed within their first five years of operation. You don’t want that to happen, do you? 2. Sales force outsourcing lets you tap new or underserved markets. The way people consume products or services constantly changes. New and underserved markets always pop out of nowhere. Hence, you must tap the said markets for your business to thrive. However, doing this often requires a lot of resources. For one, you need to hire people to do extensive market research. You also have to generate leads and convert those leads to paying customers. If you outsource your sales effort, you do not have to do these by yourself. A company that focuses solely on increasing sales can do these instead. They can find new or underserved markets for you. They can also get leads and convert those leads to paying customers. 3. Sales outsourcing allows you to work with a limited budget. Let’s face it― hiring top sales agents is expensive. You have to spend money to get applicants. Then, you have to spend some more to have the qualified ones join your company. If you have a limited budget but want to improve your sales report, you must consider sales force outsourcing. Contrary to popular belief, you do not have to spend hundreds of thousands to outsource your sales process. Many companies allow you to start with a limited budget. By outsourcing sales, you get a team that solely focuses on improving your sales report. It’s like having your own sales team without spending a lot. 4. Outsourcing sales lets you offer expertise in a certain field. If you are offering a product or service, you have to be an expert in it. Your prospects must also think the same way. Think about this: who would you rather buy clothes from? A clueless or knowledgeable salesperson? Sales force outsourcing lets you work with sales agents who know the ins and outs of your product or service. Remember, consumers tend to trust sales agents who know a lot about the product or service they’re offering. 5. Sales force outsourcing helps you quickly scale your business. While patience plays a crucial role in scaling a business, you should not take it as procrastination. If you want to scale your business efficiently, you have to make sales now. Sales force outsourcing helps you quickly scale your business. For one, you do not need to train people to do your sales. A third party has protocols that streamline training. Their sales agent can start reaching out to prospects in no time, helping you get more sales quicker. Is Outsourcing Sales Right For Me? The decision to outsource sales cannot just be focused on the cost savings or skills benefits. Companies must decide if it’s the right time to grow, and what their focus is, and become educated with the different outsourced sales options out there. Like any business partnership, choosing a partner that aligns with values is important to be successful. With all the benefits you stand to gain by choosing SFI, the question you really need to ask is “How soon do I want to outsource my sales?” Get started today. Contact us to speak to a knowledgeable representative about your sales needs and be ready to launch your new start-up sales plan in less than two months. Here are the top benefits of outsourcing sales: 1. Outsourcing sales increases your profit. Profit drives your business. When you do not have enough profit, you will go out of business. As you may well know, you can only gain profit if you make sales. If your business does not provide the ROI (return on investment) you projected, it likely suffers from a lack of sales. Think about this: you have the most valuable product or offer. However, you do not have a focused sales team that reaches out to people interested in your product or service. If this is your case, you will not make enough profit to keep your business running. Your employees will lose their jobs. Plus, your business will join the long list of ventures that failed within their first five years of operation. You don’t want that to happen, do you? 2. Sales force outsourcing lets you tap new or underserved markets. The way people consume products or services constantly changes. New and underserved markets always pop out of nowhere. Hence, you must tap the said markets for your business to thrive. However, doing this often requires a lot of resources. For one, you need to hire people to do extensive market research. You also have to generate leads and convert those leads to paying customers. If you outsource your sales effort, you do not have to do these by yourself. A company that focuses solely on increasing sales can do these instead. They can find new or underserved markets for you. They can also get leads and convert those leads to paying customers. 3. Sales outsourcing allows you to work with a limited budget. Let’s face it― hiring top sales agents is expensive. You have to spend money to get applicants. Then, you have to spend some more to have the qualified ones join your company. If you have a limited budget but want to improve your sales report, you must consider sales force outsourcing. Contrary to popular belief, you do not have to spend hundreds of thousands to outsource your sales process. Many companies allow you to start with a limited budget. By outsourcing sales, you get a team that solely focuses on improving your sales report. It’s like having your own sales team without spending a lot. 4. Outsourcing sales lets you offer expertise in a certain field. If you are offering a product or service, you have to be an expert in it. Your prospects must also think the same way. Think about this: who would you rather buy clothes from? A clueless or knowledgeable salesperson? Sales force outsourcing lets you work with sales agents who know the ins and outs of your product or service. Remember, consumers tend to trust sales agents who know a lot about the product or service they’re offering. 5. Sales force outsourcing helps you quickly scale your business. While patience plays a crucial role in scaling a business, you should not take it as procrastination. If you want to scale your business efficiently, you have to make sales now. Sales force outsourcing helps you quickly scale your business. For one, you do not need to train people to do your sales. A third party has protocols that streamline training. Their sales agent can start reaching out to prospects in no time, helping you get more sales quicker. How to Choose the Right Service Provider Choosing a service provider can make or break your business. Hence, you need to carefully do this. Here’s how you can choose the right company to outsource your sales process to: 1. Do your research. Doing your research is a step you should not skip. While many sales companies promote their services well, you cannot just take their word for it. You have to do unbiased background and reputation checks. Do these by going to a company’s website and checking what other companies think about them. If possible, read some reviews and talk to people who worked with the sales companies. Remember, this step can determine whether you should reach out to a certain company or not. 2. Pick a partner with relevant experience. Next, you need to pick potential partners with relevant experience. A company might have decades’ worth of sales experience. However, if they do not have experience in your industry, you might want to rethink things. For instance, if you sell supplements, you should pick a company with agents who have sold supplements, not clothes. Once you find companies with relevant experience, list them down. 3. Talk to the companies you’re eyeing. Contact sales companies based on the list you made. Find their contact information online and call them. You must do this to see how they treat their prospects. This also lets you ask all necessary questions. In short, this step expands your initial research. After talking to every sales outsourcing company you’re eyeing, make a shortlist. 4. Compare their offers. Evaluate the offers based on your shortlist. Look at the costs, the number of sales agents involved, and working hours. Take your time doing this. Make sure to assess every important detail. If you think that you don’t have all the details you need to make an informed decision, ask the companies to provide them. 5. Look for a long-term partnership. After comparing offers, make a shortlist of companies you can have long-term partnerships with. Doing this saves you time, money, and effort in the long run. In particular, you do not have to go through the rigorous process of choosing a sales force outsourcing company again. Plus, sticking to one force means that your sales team will get better over time. Conclusion Sales force outsourcing is tricky for many business owners. However, it does not have to be tricky for you. Print or bookmark this sales outsourcing guide to find the right partner in no time. Happy searching!