Over the past years, there has been a lot of buzz around sales team outsourcing. The concept of outsourcing isn’t completely new. But it has skyrocketed in the last decade due to the large number of benefits it can offer.
According to a recent report by NTT, in 2022, 45% of companies across the world are looking to increase outsourcing to reduce costs and expand their in-house team’s skill sets with the help of new talent, and sales are listed among the top business functions that companies outsource most often.
But what is sales outsourcing in the first place? Is it suitable for every business? And how can a company make the most of it?
Despite the huge popularity of sales outsourcing, there are still plenty of things that cause misunderstanding and confusion. Belkins is here to change this! In this article, we are going to answer all your questions related to sales outsourcing and help you understand whether this solution really suits your business.
Let’s dive in!
Sales team outsourcing definition
The term “sales outsourcing” is used to define the process of delegating a part (or most of) the business’s sales process to an external agency. In this scenario, the contracted outsourced sales provider takes up the responsibility for shaping and managing the entire external team. They hire, train, and onboard suitable sales representatives and supervise their work as they represent your brand, products, and services to a customer.
So, basically, outsourced sales teams are dedicated, third-party sales teams for hire. They act as an extension to your brand and can handle different parts of your sales, including lead generation, market research, outbound or inbound calling, and more.
Who may need sales outsourcing?
Whether we are talking about B2C or B2B sales, in any case, the entire sales cycle is always a complex process that consists of multiple stages, each taking some time.
According to studies, an average salesperson spends only about 30% of their time closing deals. And the rest 70% are spent on other sales and marketing, as well as administrative tasks.
Clearly, with the availability of the right human and tech resources, every stage of sales could be simpler and less time-consuming. But what if a company lacks some of these resources? That’s when it makes sense to outsource inside sales duties to third-party agencies. With that being said, the first and core reason why your business might need outsourcing is when the resources of your in-house team are not sufficient enough to keep the entire sales process seamless and optimal. But, that’s not all.
A few other reasons a business might need professional sales outsourcing are:
- When it is a small business new to the market;
- When there is a task overload;
- When there is a lack of strategy and expertise to perform higher-level tactical tasks;
- When there is an overflow of qualified leads;
- When there are seasonal fluctuations;
- When entering new markets;
- When expanding the business.
Any of these cases might be a sign that your business needs to start outsourcing sales. All in all, regardless of the reason, having a dedicated outsourced sales team will help you streamline your operations, boost flexibility, and let your in-house sales specialists focus on things that matter most – closing deals.
Top 5 reasons to opt for outsourced sales teams
As you already know, there are plenty of cases when a business might need to use outsourced sales services. However, it is worth noting that outsourcing is not a one-size-fits-all solution. Not all business owners might find it relevant, even if they are facing any of the challenges mentioned earlier.
So, how do you know for sure that you need to team up with outsourced sales companies? Let’s look at the top five reasons to consider this solution:
1 - Small team
Salesforce outsource services can be real game changers for startups and companies with small sales teams. The thing is that a small number of sales reps is physically unable to process a large number of sales leads and deals. In this case, it is worth considering working with outsourced sales companies.
2 - Lack of resources
Handling different sales functions requires a wealth of various resources, including expertise, experience, and technical tools as well. If a company lacks any of these core resources, its sales operations might become too time-consuming and rough. As a result, this can lead to poor customer satisfaction and lots of lost sales opportunities. Thus, a shortage of resources is another top reason to opt for professional sales outsourcing services.
3 - Budget limitations
When you start feeling like your sales department doesn’t perform well enough to help you attain your business goals, the first reasonable solution is to expand your inside sales team with new specialists. But here is a catch – finding and hiring the top sales talent is not only time-consuming but also pretty expensive. In this case, using a reliable sales outsourcing service can be much more cost-effective.
4 - Excessive workload
Sometimes, the flow of managing and other manual tasks gets so intense that your in-house sales reps can be left with almost no time for selling. On the one hand, you can solve this problem by expanding your team and re-distributing daily tasks. However, this can be quite costly. On the other hand, you can delegate the excessive workload to outsourced sales teams and give your in-house team more time for things that matter.
5 - Expansion to new markets
Finally, the last major reason to consider outsourcing is when your company is experiencing business growth. When expanding to new markets, you need to research them, reach out to a larger number of new prospects, and process lots of new deals. As a result, the load on your in-house team will double. If they can’t cope with the growing tension, a reliable outsourced sales partner can help a lot.
Outsourced sales team pros and cons
As you now know, there are many reasons to outsource your sales force. But, what exactly does your company gain from it?
Let’s take a moment to consider the biggest benefits and drawbacks of sales outsourcing.
Pros: |
Cons: |
When hiring new sales talent for your in-house team, your options are limited by many factors, including your office location and budget. But when you opt for outsourcing sales and marketing tasks, you gain access to a huge pool of talents from all over the world and can find the right specialists to match your needs and objectives.
When you delegate day-to-day tasks to experienced sales experts, you gain more time and flexibility for your in-house co-workers. As a result, the employees can focus on the most important tasks and get more productive.
When expanding your team with new specialists, you will inevitably face a wide variety of recruiting issues. These involve finding and interviewing potential employees, hiring them, and creating a seamless onboarding process. But if you opt for outsourcing, you delegate all the related issues to a dedicated outsourced sales manager, thus, removing the hiring burden off your team’s shoulders.
The cost of B2B sales outsourcing depends on various factors, including the team’s location and expertise. Nevertheless, it is almost always more cost-effective than hiring new in-house staff. |
First of all, one of the biggest challenges of any type of outsourcing is communication. When you hire a dedicated team that works outside your office, setting up effective communication channels can be hard. Moreover, if you hire teams from overseas, there also might be additional time-zone-related obstacles that can get in the way of success. You need to develop advanced scheduling skills to cope with this issue.
Most often, when hiring external salespeople, you will also engage in sales management outsourcing to know a dedicated manager is supervising your outsourced team. On the one hand, this means more time for your in-house sales leaders to focus on important strategic tasks. But, on the other hand, it can also mean less control over your sales process.
The last significant drawback is related to data and privacy. When your business depends a lot on third-party vendors, you always have higher risks of data leaks and other issues. Therefore, if you fail to find a trustworthy outsourcing sales company, you jeopardize your business’s security. |
5 Things to consider before outsourcing sales
When you decide to hire an outsourced B2B sales team, of course, you want to rest assured that it will meet your expectations and help you achieve your goals. To make this real, here are the top five tips you want to keep in mind before you start outsourcing:
- Understand your business reason. As we already said, outsourcing isn’t right for all businesses. Thus, before you start looking for the right partner, you should first understand your business reason. Can the task you want to outsource be automated or done in-house or really need to outsource them?
- Define your goals. The next thing you want to do before outsourcing is to determine what goals you want to achieve. Do you need B2B sales outsource services for lead gen, new market expansion, growth, customer satisfaction, or other purposes? Once you answer this question and define your objectives, also determine the key metrics that will help you measure the success of your outsourcing efforts.
- Get clear on your scope. If you are hoping to enter new markets, note down which ones you want to focus on. Suppose you want to improve customer satisfaction, then list down the areas that need to be improved. By defining your scope clearly, you will help the contracted outsourced sales executives understand your expectations better and achieve results faster.
- Align all teams. To ensure seamless and productive collaboration, you want to align your in-house and outsourced teams. Your goal is to clearly define all roles, responsibilities, KPIs, and goals of every team and its members. This will help you ensure that everyone works together toward a shared goal.
- Manual or automated? Depending on your objectives and needs, you might want to hire an outsourcing agency that will handle your tasks manually or that will automate the core processes for you to help you generate more leads and sales. Be sure to define this before you start outsourcing.
How to build a sales team via outsourcing
First and foremost, to outsource B2B sales, you need to choose a reliable partner. To get started, ask around or conduct preliminary research to identify the options that are there. Once you have a list of options, pay attention to the following:
- Experience;
- The quality of outsourced talent;
- Infrastructure;
- Tech stack.
After evaluating these core factors, you should be able to narrow down your options to several outsourced sales companies that look good to you. And that’s where the hardest part begins.
When you have a narrowed list of options, you should carefully evaluate every service provider. You need to study their corporate websites and customer reviews, case studies, and, ideally, schedule calls or meetings with their representatives. During this stage, you want to ensure that the experience, talent quality, values, and other features of every vendor align well with your own. Also, you want to get a clear understanding of every company’s price policy to know which agencies fit well into your budget.
Need a little help with making the right choice? Here is a list of core questions you want to ask an outsourcing agency before committing in the long run:
- How long have you been in the sales outsourcing business?
- What makes your agency different from others on the market?
- What percentage of customers will recommend your agency to other businesses?
- What makes your outsourcing services worth the investment?
- What specific privacy and security means do you use to protect your customers?
- How will you help my company achieve its goals?
- How long will it take you to get familiar with our company and start the process?
- How will your team cooperate with our company?
- How do you handle communication challenges?
- How will I be able to monitor the progress and share my feedback?
- What guarantees can you provide to us?
Asking these simple questions should help you assess the vision, operations, and reliability of every agency and make the best pick.
What outsource sales services can you get?
These days, there are thousands of specialized outsource sales companies that operate across different industries and offer various services. Choosing the right partner in such a wide range of options can be hard. But if you are reading this, there is no need to look any further.
Being around since 2017, Belkins is one of the best sales and marketing outsourcing agencies out there. With our company, customers can get a number of solutions that propel business growth and profitability. The available solutions include:
- Appointment setting;
- Inbound appointment setting;
- Lead research;
- The LinkedIn Influencer Program.
With Belkins, companies of all sizes and across all industries can outsource B2B lead generation and appointment setting to real pros who know how to get their businesses noticed by potential customers. So if you are looking for a reliable partner that will drive more sales for your business, don’t hesitate to reach out to us and we will help you attain your goals!
Conclusion
The sales process is complex and time-consuming. Nevertheless, it is the key function of every business (both B2B and B2C) that helps brands get noticed and generate revenues. So, every brand wants it to be seamless and efficient.
Due to the high importance of this process, every company’s in-house sales team is facing a hefty load by default. And then, when a business starts growing and there is an overflow of sales tasks, leads, and related challenges, the load on the sales team often gets too high to cope with. And that’s when sales outsourcing can really come in handy.
Hopefully, after reading this guide, you have a clearer understanding of sales outsourcing, its value, and the ways to keep outsourced sales management seamless and effective. Use this guide to make the most of sales outsourcing and boost your company’s profit. And don’t forget that the proficient team of Belkins is always there for you to help your business grow and prosper!
