So when business owners think of the topic, many misconceptions come to mind.  Some outsourced sales misconceptions include:

1. Lose of Control
2. Hiring the “Wrong” Person or Team
3. Improper Brand Representation
4. Having a Vague and Unclear Sales Pipeline or Funnel
5. Lack of Sales Results

By properly researching and partnering with the right outsourced sales company these misconceptions should be completely erased.  The right outsourced sales partner will act and feel like your own sales force (or at least an extension of your current force).

To eliminate the feeling of lose of control, the right sales partner will work with it’s client to identify your ideal client profile and will collectively build and execute on a sales game plan to effectively acquire those ideal clients.

The right outsourced sales company will hire specifically for each new client engagement, as opposed to shifting a bench of utility sales representatives from account to account.  In addition, most firms will prefer that you are involved in the final candidate interviews which further reduces the chance of hiring the wrong person.

Professional outsourced sales firms will take on the persona of its client (with client specific business cards, email addresses, auto signatures, marketing material, etc.).  In addition, its clients are heavily involved in the training (company, industry and product specific) for the outsourced sales partner and sales professional(s).

Lack of clarity regarding one’s own sales pipeline can often frighten a potential outsourced sales client.  With the right CRM (Customer Relationship Management) tool in place and proper utilization of the tool by the outsourced sales professionals a potential you will know exactly what stage each opportunity is in at all times.  Also the use of weekly sales meetings between all parties prohibits the chance of an opportunity “falling though the cracks”.

Finally a lack of sales results may be the #1 reason for a company to second guess outsourcing their sales.  This fear can occur no matter if an organization uses an outsourced sales partner or if they build their own sales team internally.  The benefit of sales outsourcing is that it takes very little upfront capital and your organization has turn key access to a proven best practice sales system and processes and an experienced sales recruiting and management team, at a fraction of the cost of building your own.  This winning combination greatly enhances your organizations chances and speed to seeing fantastic sales results!

I don’t want to say that keeping everything on multiple accounts together is easy or to over simplify the situation and say I look at only one factor when making decisions, but it can be a powerful tool.  A good sales pipeline should have deals in all stages of completion, no matter how long the cycle.  After ramping up, a good team is generating, maturing and closing deals each day and week.  When there are holes in one of those activities, a red flag shoots up and makes you re-evaluate how your bandwidth is deployed.  It can also indicate where there are personnel issues, when someone is dissatisfied and not focused or disenfranchised with the opportunity presented to them.  When you find the hole, make sure that the sales person has the right tools, training and guidance to get the sale and then work with them to plug the hole and move on to the next team.  Using this method, you can efficiently and effectively keep track of accounts no matter their size, product position or price or sales cycle.  Schedule weekly meetings with your teams to do pipeline review and defense sessions and see where you stand.  It is important in this process that you challenge your sales people and make them defend why someone is at a 50% chance to close or why they are not projected until Q3 of 2010.  As you refine and improve their ability to forecast the status of their deals, the more accurate your pipeline tool becomes in managing and monitoring their path towards success.  After awhile and building a level of trust, this snapshot can become your daily touch on each account and open your schedule to work with the less experienced and developed sales people and help them more in their careers.

Businesses that pursue outsourced sales relationships will benefit from the inclusion of regular sales reports that track, statistically, the performance of various campaigns and tactics, from which sales managers and business development executives can make decisions about how to improve sales. Statistical analysis provides the perfect platform from which to launch incentive programs that will motivate salespeople – for instance, running contests for highest conversion rate, highest sales, quickest conversion, etc, that improve the quality of the overall sales force. Data can also offer insight into who is under-performing and even offer insights into why that may be – too little contact with the client? too much?

Statistical sales data provides an objective picture of the success of a sales program and can be obtained on an outsourced basis for in-house sales programs. And as a measure of outsourced sales success, regular reporting should always be included by an outsourced sales company in their package of services, so that client businesses can see just what they are getting for the money they pay. (And any sales outsourcing companies that do not or refuse to offer this should be avoided entirely and are not to be trusted.)

Without a methodology for organizing and interpreting sales data, it is extremely difficult for companies to realize their full sales potential because they are missing out on the story told by their customers through historical sales data. Which salespeople should be earning what? What types of clients are the most responsive to which individuals and which approaches? Do longer courtships of clients lead to higher or lower rates of conversion? These are all questions that can answered by sales statistics – and those answers are crucial to developing a successful sales program, whether it is in-house or outsourced.

But I was not a salesman. I had always dreaded having to think of ways to advertise and increase our sales. I like dealing with customers, and I really shined while we were discussing the customer’s vision for their property. When I saw that there were sales outsourcing companies available, I jumped at the opportunity. I hired them to drum up some more local business for my company.

I was impressed by the sales outsourcing company right away. They comprised a professional book of my most elaborate projects and sent it off to a printing company. They sent these books out to anyone in the area that recently purchased a home that cost more than half a million dollars. Then they made up pamphlets showcasing some of the smaller jobs that I did around the neighborhood and they sent them out to any new home buyer advertising that there was no landscaping job that was too big or too small for my company.

Before the first sign of spring I had several large scale jobs lined up along with a dozen or so smaller ones. I had to hire some more help to keep up with all of the landscaping projects that we had agreed to. The sales outsourcing team had acquired many new customers for my landscaping company. On the north side of the city we were to install a gorgeous kidney-shaped in ground pool and a rose garden complete with trellises and a fountain in the center. This job would take a couple of weeks to complete, especially since we had to schedule the concrete pourers to come out.

On the south side of the city we had several new construction homes that were recently built that needed sod installed and some other landscaping. We spent a month working in the same neighborhood performing a number of different landscaping jobs. I was thrilled with the results of the sales outsourcing company. They provided me with more sales leads than I could have ever come up with on my own.

We have a great sales team, but I needed to find other ways to expand by b2b sales. My company needed to find new markets and different avenues to explore. I decided to call in the help of a professional company that specialized in helping businesses to grow their sales. I was really hoping that they could open a few more doors for my business and to introduce us to some new prospective clients. I signed up for a six month long program with the sales company. They would come in for six months and work to increase my company’s sales while providing my sales team with useful sales strategies.

I was very impressed by the way that this company increased our b2b sales. First, they compared my company to other construction equipment manufacturers and showed me where my company stood in the market. While we were doing quite well there was plenty of room for us to expand. We had never considered dealing with companies out of the country which was a huge oversight. There were many companies in Canada that were on waiting lists to buy some of the pieces of equipment that we had just sitting for sale in our warehouse. I was absolutely surprised by this. We contacted several of these Canadian companies and were happy to accommodate all of their needs.

Our sales team picked up on all of the sales tips that the specialists offered and continued to apply these skills and sales strategies after they were gone. Our sales were increased by one million dollars the year that we hired the sales specialists compared to the year before they came. They had a significant impact on my company’s immediate business and the long term success of my sales team.

If sales aren’t a core function of your business, you can hire an outsourcing company to make it so. Really, we’re all in business to turn around profit, which is generated by sales, the circulatory system of any business. You may have a great product line with extraordinary services, but if you can’t sell in the marketplace, you’ll never get your ideas off the ground.

Granted, switching to outsourced sales is a decision to be made carefully. There are a lot of factors weighing in on your decision. First impressions are only made once, and you want your initial sales contact to be professional, upbeat and convincing. Your sales team is really representing you, so you want to ensure that it’s a professional company with qualified personnel who will represent your company with class and style.

Of course, it’s easy to gauge their success. It’s measured in profit. If your outsourcing company isn’t providing you the record profits you’re promised, you can always switch to one that will. That’s what makes this field so competitive and specialized. If a company doesn’t perform, they will evaporate in this competitive economy. Those who are successful consistently earn their client companies money, earning their way with each sale and every new market that opens up.

You may have to pay an outsourcing company a little higher commission than you would in-house staff, especially if their only fee is on a commission basis. They have to close a sale and earn your company profit to prove their job is well done. They get paid to close the deals, and any pay they make, they’ll have to earn through making your company successful.

Outsourcing just makes your business more efficient. It not only results in greater sales, but it helps your company grow to its maximum potential. Outsourcing will help you discover and reap new markets quicker, creating faster turn around and more timely success. It’s really the only way to stay competitive in this increasingly specialized world.

Hiring an Outsourced Sales Team Myth #1: I have to give up all control. This is simply not true. You can outsource some of your sales functions, or all of them. It’s all up to you.

Some organizations outsource, for example, just their cold calling. They use the outside sales firm to generate leads and set appointments. Then, these warm leads are followed up on by their in-house team.
This is an excellent way to utilize your company’s sales resources in the most effective manner.

Hiring an Outsourced Sales Team Myth #2: Nobody can sell our products but us. Outside sales forces can be trained to know your product/service, and sell it extremely well. And, because they are unburdened by other duties an in-house sales force may have, for example, they routinely bring in even more sales.

After all, you are their customer. They cater to your needs the way you cater to your customers’ needs

Hiring an Outsourced Sales Team Myth #3: I can’t afford to hire an outside sales force. Hiring an outside firm to handle your company’s sales and marketing can be cheaper than doing it in house – way cheaper.

Many companies offer various compensation plans, making them affordable for every type of business. Until you talk with a firm, you’ll never know how an outsourced sales for can benefit your bottom line.

Your company could literally be sitting on an untapped gold mine – all because you don’t have the sales force to handle the need.

Hiring an outsourced sales team can be just the ticket.