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Chicago-based Firm
Serves as an Outsourced Sales Provider to
National Clientele Seeking to Penetrate New
Markets and Reduce Employee Turnover
Forbes.com, July 18, 2006
CHICAGO, July 18 /PRNewswire/ -- "Outsourced
sales" is not synonymous with "telemarketing."
The length and complexity of the sales cycle
demand more than a simple phone line, according
to Pete Kadens, CEO of Acquirent LLC, an outsourced
sales provider.
For a monthly fee of almost $6,000 per salesperson
plus commissions, Acquirent will recruit,
train, and manage a team whose efforts include
generating leads, setting appointments, developing
sales strategies, and closing deals ( http://www.acquirent.com
).
"Being involved in someone's sales force
is a very intimate thing," says Joe Flanagan,
the company's majority owner since June last
year. "But we enjoy becoming our clients."
In October 2003, Kadens, 28, launched Acquirent
(a combination of the words "acquire"
and "client") to provide businesses
with sales people dedicated strictly to executing
deals on their behalf. But that service doesn't
come cheap.
After pulling in $1.3 million in annual revenues
last year, doubling his office's square footage
and beefing up his client roster, Kadens believes
his original theory was correct.
"Most businesses don't hire the right
sales people," he says. "They're
too focused on administration or management
to recruit talented sales reps."
To alleviate that fruitless recruitment, Kadens
brings his 25-member sales force to them.
Their goal is to secure a signed contract
that creates revenue for their clients who
include mostly $100 to $500 million companies
such as Midas Inc., Allscripts Healthcare
Solutions Inc., and bSwift LLC.
"About 75% of our clients utilize their
own larger sales force to sell enterprise
products," says Flanagan. "We work
to exclusively drive their smaller, slightly
less technical sales."
Kadens sold printing supplies for his first
client -- the man who owned the building where
he initially set up shop. Today, his staff
primarily sells software packages that streamline
employee benefits, fleet management and patient
records.
But how do they make that seem so easy?
"It's all we do," says Kadens. "Our
people are hunters."
And while Flanagan and Kadens continually
hunt for clients of their own, their focus
remains on quality partnerships. Acquirent
turns down over 100 requests for new business
each month. According to Kadens, before they
can sell for anyone, they have to know and
understand them.
"We're deeply involved with each one
of our clients," he says.
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