1)       Product – many times people will hire sales outsourcing companies when their product/service is not ready to go to market.  While it might be tempting to “get ahead” by putting the cart before the horse, there is no quicker way to fail at an outsourced sales campaign then trying to bring a product to market that is not ready or has not been approved.  It will serve you better to be patient on the front end, rather than scramble to deliver to a paying client/customer on the back end.

2)       Messaging – this is where a lot of companies get stuck.  They know their products/services so well and have been so entrenched in them for however long, that messaging becomes lengthy and entirely too specific.  Utilizing sales and marketing outsourcing can assist here.  Experts in these fields will be able to identify what sort of messaging will resonate with potential buyers.  There is a reason we develop “elevator pitches” for our outsourced sales clients – it is because often, that is all the time you have to grab someone’s attention.  Make sure your message is clear and succinct.

3)       Target Market – it is not unusual for us sales outsourcing companies to help our clients determine their target markets or, at the very least, uncover other areas where the product or service might be useful.  In sales you must be creative, which is another reason why hiring a sales consulting company can be beneficial.  If you haven’t identified your target market, you need to do so – and be as specific as possible.

4)       Defined sales process and sales goals – we cannot tell you how many of our sales outsourcing clients had never employed a “sales process” before working with us.  Sales is like anything – you must have a plan for it to be consistently effective and successful.  The sales process helps to keep you organized and understand what the next step is.  Utilizing a sale force outsourcing company will certainly help you do this – and it is often where many sales outsourcers excel and many other companies’ fail.  Similarly, you must have realistic sales goals and milestones – how will you know where you are going if you don’t know where you want to go?  Goal setting is critical for sales success.

5)       CRM – if you don’t know what this stands for, you are not alone!  CRM is the acronym for Customer Relationship Tool and should be utilized by ANY company who not only wants to increase sales, but keep their sales people happy!  The ability to track information about potential deals, set reminders, make notations and reminders for next steps is CRITICAL for sales success.  Your target market is, most likely, going to be thousands and thousands of prospects deep – and a little excel sheet will only get you so far.  As sales outsourcing experts we utilize several different CRMs for our clients depending on how robust it need be.

6)       Dedicated sales person/team – is your COO running operations by day and selling by night?  If so – you are doing both you and your COO a disservice.  So many companies make this mistake and it is a critical one.  Your COO should be running operations, not cold calling and setting appointments that he or she, most likely, doesn’t have the time to run.  By having a dedicated sales person or team – like those that are built when utilizing sales outsourcing companies – you are able to focus your people on doing what they do best 100% of the time, as opposed to 50% of the time.

7)       Effective sales management – hiring an excellent sales person or team is, unfortunately, not enough for sales success.  Many of our clients come to us after a failed attempt at hiring a few remote sales executives in target markets, and then leaving them up to their own devices.  Again, this is NOT a sales campaign.  This is hoping that your sales person is working and doing what they made you believe they would during their interview.  Oftentimes, they are not.  Without effective sales management event the best sales rep can falter and fail.  You must have management that can challenge, inspire and drive the sales person to be the most productive they can.  By utilizing an outsourced sales firm, you are going to get not only a great outsourced inside sales team, but excellent sales management as well.

8)       Excellent customer services and/or product implementation – while sales force outsourcing can provide a lot of these essentials above, the one area sales consulting cannot do is ensure that – once the product has been sold, the service and implementation will be satisfactory.  Companies have been made or broken by excellent or poor customer service – so make sure you can keep that client after the sale and make sure you can deliver what you promise.

If you have all of the above taken care of – congratulations – you are well on your way to a successful sales campaign.  If not, call Acquirent today and let us help you begin your sales outsourcing initiative!  We love sales – but more importantly we love to sell for our clients, so put us to work for you today!  Happy selling!

Some common problems (and potential solutions) include:

Having the right sales team, but not the right sales process:

• Organizations that suffer from this issue often times can be helped by Sales Consultants.  Sales consultants can come into an organization and assess the strengths and weaknesses within their sales process and sales infrastructure.  Once assessments are made, they will create game plans on how that organization can improve on those processes.

Having the right sales process, but not the right sales team:

• Companies can be crippled by hanging onto non productive sales people.  Often companies benefit from getting rid of sales reps that don’t produce and replacing them with top sales talent.  Your chances of hiring top producing sales talent greatly increases when you use professional Sales Recruiting firms (who hire great sales people for a living) who understand and can identify people with “sales DNA”.

Not having the right sales process or sales team:

• When this problem occurs, companies tend to look towards outsourcing their sales to a professional sales outsourcing company.  Professional outsourced sales companies are ones that normally have professional sales recruiters on staff who help their clients’ identify top sales talent.  Once the talent is identified, that outsourced sales partner will hire, train and manage that sales professional and help create/execute a sales game plan which in turn will allow your organization the ability to focus on its core competencies.

Happy Selling!

An outsourced sales force can take many different shapes and sizes depending on the specific b2b sales environment for your product or service.  Most providers will tailor your b2b sales experience and strategy based on your input and provide a turnkey solution.  Keys to sales success in this type of a cradle to grave outsourced sales force is total accountability and transparency so both the vendor and client can work together to change direction, messaging and integrate marketing support and activities.  Recruiting sales professionals is often part of this turnkey type solution.

Another way of boosting sales is to consider b2b sales lead generation in support of your sales force.  Often the sales roi for your existing sales infrastructure can be improved with better efficiency and the roi can increase if the sales professionals spend more time where they are productive.  In this model, your top sales person can spend more time in front of a qualified prospect and focus on closing sales in tough times.  Developing a sales strategy where the two teams or sales professionals can integrate their activity and work as a seamless team is key to sales success.  The use of a unified CRM platform is crucial in this blended approach.

In both instances, sales in tough times are possible and can build a foundation that will increase results even more when the economy turns around.  Sales methods can be developed and deployed on a smaller scale in this environment and ramped up when needed down the road.  IN the end, a b2b sales outsourcing company can be great addition to your sales strategy and a great long term partner if chosen carefully and set up strategically.

1. Hiring the wrong person!
   • Many know the saying “Slow to hire, quick to fire” but have a hard time abiding by it.  Hiring the wrong person causes many companies’ sales departments to spin their wheels.
2. Not having the right sales environment in place.
   • Cold calling is a necessary evil in today’s sales environment and many companies don’t have cultures that are conducive to this practice.
3. Lack of sales training and/or management.
   • Companies (especially small to mid-sized businesses) often lack the proper sales training and management needed to take their sales force to the “next level”

All of these issues could be taken care of by partnering with a professional outsourcing sales company.  These outsourced sales partners bring the necessary sales recruiting, training and management needed to have a world class sales department, without having to invest large capital expenditures to accomplish such a feat.

Some common problems (and potential solutions) include:

Having the right sales team, but not the right sales process:

• Organizations that suffer from this issue often times can be helped by Sales Consultants.  Sales consultants can come into an organization and assess the strengths and weaknesses within their sales process and sales infrastructure.  Once assessments are made, they will create game plans on how that organization can improve on those processes.

Having the right sales process, but not the right sales team:

• Companies can be crippled by hanging onto non productive sales people.  Often companies benefit from getting rid of sales reps that don’t produce and replacing them with top sales talent.  Your chances of hiring top producing sales talent greatly increases when you use professional Sales Recruiting firms (who hire great sales people for a living) who understand and can identify people with “sales DNA”.

Not having the right sales process or sales team:

• When this problem occurs, companies tend to look towards outsourcing their sales to a professional sales outsourcing company.  Professional outsourced sales companies are ones that normally have professional sales recruiters on staff who help their clients’ identify top sales talent.  Once the talent is identified, that outsourced sales partner will hire, train and manage that sales professional and help create/execute a sales game plan which in turn will allow your organization the ability to focus on its core competencies.