The benefit of outsourced sales is the infrastructure and shared resources that a company can enjoy.  Smaller companies can benefit from shared sales management, sales processes and sales infrastructure.  Similarly, a large business can “purchase” a different sales culture or methodology than they have currently and increase their sales with a new channel, approach or target market.  All in all, sales outsourcing has become more accepted and companies are willing to partner with a sales outsourcing provider for this critical portion of their business.

One sales tip to companies trying to expand their reach.  Make sure that the sales outsourcer that you choose matches with your own company culture, sales philosophy and is flexible and willing to provide a transparent outsourced sales solution.   Even more than with outsourced HR or IT functions, control and transparency is critical to maintaining your brand image, market presence and not sacrificing quality for quantity.  More sales that have a higher cancelation or return rate or that are sold at the expense of the product’s market perception are not good ways to increase sales.

B2b sales outsourcing is not a new concept or business.  Telemarketing and lead generation have been used in this segment for years.  However, with the dawning of another stronger, post recession economy, so to have new models of outsourced sales been born.  Today, you can find sales outsourcing companies that provide a myriad of services from lead generation, to face to face sales to cold call to close professional telesales.

The key distinction between retail or consumer sales and B2b sales or B2b sales outsourcing is that a business makes buying decisions with a process, with multiple stakeholders and with the business in mind and not on emotion.  While an emotional connection, rapport or relationship is still part of the sale, a sales professional must also be able to find a need, highlight the urgency, develop a position and show some return on the investment.  To Increase sales, a company must provide sales help or sales tips to any young professional transitioning into this type of role.

Another benefit of outsourcing sales is that there is typically some sales training where the new sales executives are provided with formal sales help and sales tips in areas like networking, getting past a gate keeper, using social media to develop leads and sources, needs analysis, rapport building and product positioning.  All of these things are critical to sales success and increasing sales when using an outsourced sales provider.

When evaluating a sales candidate or outsourced sales provider, it is important to probe deeper on these points and make sure the person or company has the skills to understand a business.  How strong is their business acumen and training to help position your product?  Will they have the skill to participate and provide feedback to help with product or program development?  Will they increase sales for your channel and provide an ROI, just like you expect your product or solution to provide to your customers?  In the end, just as your business would evaluate a new product investment; make sure to spend the same level of rigor on choosing your sales professional or sales outsourcing partner.

By utilizing outsourced sales services you can get that first part of the equation while your top revenue producers can focus exclusively on what it is they do – close new business.  One of the most effective ways to increase sales ROI is by hiring an outsourced sales force to become “pre-sales support”, or “appointment setting”. Once the calls start, a good outsourced sales person will make an average of 75 calls a day in a typical campaign, which will actually result in them speaking to more people and getting more appointments as a result.

Getting to speak to the right person is a highly skilled job – handling objections, getting past the ‘gate keeper’ and making the valid points to the decision maker is no mean feat.  It also involves a high level of rejection, which a lot of people find soul destroying.   It’s a job that not many people are good at but it’s the kind of job sales outsourcing services excel at.  They will take your sales failure, develop a sales strategy and begin a b2b lead generation campaign.  By outsourcing appointment setting to a skilled b2b sales consultant you not only save your best sales representative’s time, but you put them out there more – thus closing more business.

Winning Back Prior Accounts

In other cases, an organization will enlist the assistance of an outsourcing sales company to help them reconnect with former accounts or reinvigorate “dead” ones. In this case, outsourced sales professionals make contact with companies that have worked with the client company at some point in the past to re-establish a relationship. Once the relationship status becomes active, account servicing returns to the client company. This sales method also works for accounts that perhaps “slip through the cracks” of more senior sales reps and go ignored.

New Account Sales

Some companies will use b2b sales outsourcing to develop new accounts. In this case, the outsource sales team will generate and follow-up on leads, as well as making initial cold calls that will ultimately turn into sales. Once an initial sale is generated, the account switches to an in-house representative or account manager. Follow-up and customer service is handled by the client company, freeing the sales professional to continue prospecting for additional business. Activity in prospecting is one of the keys to sales success and splitting these roles.

Full Cycle Sales

Some companies will outsource the entire sales force.  In this regard, the client hands off all sales functions from lead generation to account management to the outsourced sales team.  This method is best for smaller companies who are doing a product launch or are not as familiar with developing a sales strategy and bringing a product to market.

As you can see – outsourced sales services offer a number of different sales strategies that can help your business to fast-track sales. If your business is seeing sales failure and boosting sales is on your agenda, consider b2b sales outsourcing!

Most small businesses don’t have many critical pieces of a successful sales infrastructure and culture which in turn can lead to poor sales results.  Small businesses typically don’t have professional sales recruiting and management on staff and this can lead to hiring the “wrong” sales person.  Even if a company hires the “right” sales professional, without proper sales management and culture that individual has a high likely hood of failing.

Through using a full service sales outsourcing force, small business can leverage the sales recruiting, management and culture/environment that many larger organizations are accustomed to having.

Lead Generation/Appointment Setting:

For those organizations that have an existing outside sales force but need more consistency when it comes to “qualified” opportunities, outsourced lead generation/appointment setting is a great option.  Once the lead/opportunity is created, it is the company’s outside sales force responsibility to qualify, pitch and take them to a close.

Face-to-Face Sales Outsourcing:

This solution is great for companies that don’t have sales infrastructure in specific markets and that need face to face sales presence.  Typically this type of outsourced sales solution is perfect for companies that sell different commodities (office supplies, VOIP phone and internet solutions, coffee and water services, etc.) and target the SMB market place.

Full Cycle Sales Outsourcing:

Full Cycle Sales Outsourcing (aka. “cold call to close”) services are ideal for companies that are looking to launch new products, that don’t have proper sales infrastructure (recruiting, sales management, lead services, CRM, marketing support) or to even just complement their internal sales efforts.  With this type of sales outsourcing solution company’s basically get a “turn key” sales solution without having the capital expenditure.

Happy Selling!

Time efficiency is one of the biggest reasons small businesses turn to sale outsourcing. It just simplifies the whole process because your outsourced sales team already has the tools and the markets in place to get your campaign successfully underway and adding up to increased sales and substantial profit. With outsourced sales, you get immediate implementation. Considering how dramatic the market has been lately, time efficiency is key. Wait too long, and you’ll be dealing with the contingencies of an entirely new marketplace. Everything is ready for use at a moment’s notice.

You also save considerable money on overhead. There are no hiring costs, and you don’t have to pay for extensive training programs. You also avoid extra payroll or insurance costs, not to mention money saved on equipment such as computers, phones, and other infrastructure. Sale outsourcing provides you everything you need without the extra overhead cost.

Nothing is predictable, especially the marketplace. Often, it’s hard to judge how much of a selling team you’ll need until you are in the thick of it. With outsourced sales, you also have the capacity for more resources. Experienced personnel can be added to your campaign as needed. This avoids pitfalls, roadblocks, and dead ends that often happen in the face of today’s difficult markets.

Outsourced sales get your campaign up and running optimally as soon as you leave the gate. You begin with the capacities of an experienced professional sales force working for you, earning their pay through your increased sales that result from the partnership. It simplifies the whole process, putting you down the road to increased profits and expanding markets without the added preparation time.

Business is complicated enough. Why not simplify your sales force by outsourcing it to the professionals?

Sales staffing takes up such a large quantity of time because there is a lot of extensive training involved. Most business owners want to hire a sales professional that has many years of successful sales experience. Unfortunately though, successful sales experience in one area of sales does not always translate well into another. Not only do you need to hire an experienced sales executive you need to hire an experienced sales executive that can be successful in selling your products.

That is where the extensive training must come in. The most important aspect of sales staffing is making sure that your sales staff are knowledgeable about your products and that they can clearly articulate themselves when discussing the products that your company manufacturers or the services that you provide. Competent and skilled sales professionals will learn everything that they can about your product or service in order to sell it. They will actively seek out any competitive edges that will make your product stand out against its competitors. If you are prepared to take on the responsibility of hiring and training your sales team, make sure that you have the time required to successfully carry out the task.

You must also consistently monitor any new sales team members to make sure that they are performing well and treating all existing and potential clients with courtesy. A sales person is often the first impression that someone has of your business; you want that impression to be the absolute best impression that it could possibly be. Polite manners and a professional appearance are required at all times. Make sure that you clearly communicate your expectations of your sales team and outline what type of conduct that you anticipate. Sales staffing is an important job that must be performed carefully and extensively in order to make sure that your company will continue to be successful.

Lead Generation/Appointment Setting:

This type of outsourced sales service really benefits companies who may have a team of outside sales professionals in different markets.  Typically in this scenario, organizations experience tremendous ebs and flows in their sales funnel.  The reason behind this is the outside sales professional is responsible for setting and running their own meetings and then closing the account.  By using an outsourced lead generation or appointment setting firm, organizations can keep their outside sales force in meetings and closing business.

Face-to-Face Sales Outsourcing:

This solution is great for companies that are commodity based and require a high face-to-face presence (examples are office supply companies, Telco companies, coffee and water service providers, etc).  An outsourced sales solution offers these companies a sales, recruiting and management infrastructure at a fraction of the cost of building one out themselves.

Full Cycle Sales Outsourcing:

For companies that are looking to launch a new product, test a new market, sell an underserved market, or don’t feel like they have a sales environment Full Cycle Sales Outsourcing may a great option.  This solution allows a company the ability to take a sale from an initial cold call all the way through the life cycle of the sale to the close.  It could be executed with an inside and/or outside sales force.  Many organizations see tremendous value in this solution as it offers them great customization and flexibility.

As you review the different outsourced sales solutions in the market, remember that they come in many different flavors.  To get the right partner, you must ask a lot of questions and explain exactly who your target market is and what you are looking to accomplish (from a monthly, quarterly and annual basis).

Happy Selling!