How to Decide to Outsource Sales - Step 2: Determine the Outsourced Sales Team's Role in the Sales Process

Define Your Outsourced Sales Strategy

Before your company decides to outsource all or part of your sales team, it is important to determine what role your outsourced sales team will play. "Your sales team will have metrics, targets, and quotas to hit. If you don’t have the resources you need to reach your goals, and no way to bring them in internally, sales outsourcing might be an efficient way to get there." Link

For most companies, this means adding to the parts of the sales team that the in-house team struggles with. For example, customer follow-up is generally a tough spot for most in-house sales people to get to. It always feels like the last thing that they want to do, no matter how important it is to the overall success of the business. These are the key points of interest that you need to look at when evaluating your outsourced sales strategy.

Signs that Outsourcing Sales Might Be Right For Your Company

Some important signs that your business may be in need of outsourcing all or part of your sales process include:

Lack of a Sales Growth Strategy

Business either grows or it dies. This seems like it is more true for the sales team. Sales professionals must have increasing goals from month to month and quarter to quarter. Growth comes both in activity and closing sales, but also personal and educational growth. If your company does not have an active plan in place to grow your sales team, it may be time to look at outsourcing all or part of the sales process.

Lack of a Sales Process or Playbook

Businesses that do not have a well defined sales-process are prime candidates to outsources sales. Consider that "40% of sales teams don’t have a playbook—and a playbook or sales strategy makes you 33% more likely to close sales at a higher rate." Link. A professional sports team wouldn't dream of taking the field without having a set of plays in place. Yet many successful sales teams do just that.

Not Enough Leads

Leads can be the lifeblood to any sales organization. Lack of leads may be from inadequate training of in-house staff, not enough time to dedicate to finding and qualifying leads or not having a process in place to ask for and find leads. Outsourcing can immediately relieve the sometimes tedious job of finding new leads.

Not Enough Time to Follow Through with Qualified Leads

Sales people, especially in-house sales, are focused on the day to day grind of closing existing clients. What is usually overlooked is the time for them to follow through with leads that are already qualified. Studies suggest that you are five to seven times more likely to close a qualified lead than a non-qualified lead. This makes sense inherently because you go into a call more educated about the prospects that you know about.

Not Utilizing All Channels for Sales

Is your sales staff only using one channel to sell to your potential clients? For example, do in-house sales people gravitate to sending emails because they are not particularly skilled on the phone. Or do they shy away from social media because of the complexities of selling there? Not using multiple sales channels is a clear sign that it may be time to outsource the sales process.

No Consistent Message

Lack of a consistent message to clients and prospective clients is a sure sign that outsourced sales help is needed. Having a strong and cohesive value proposition is crucial to in-house and outsourced sales success.

Start with Outsourcing Part of The Sales Process

Very few businesses could (or should) outsource all of the sales process. Most only focus on those parts of the sales process that either drive the highest revenue growth and offer the highest ROI or those that no one in-house is particularly skilled at or has time to focus on.

The beauty of outsourcing part of the sales process is that it provides management with a clear path to controlling the outsourcer's access to information and contacts with clients. It has the added benefit of giving the third-party sales professional a clear path to success.

Knowing what part of the sales path to outsource starts with an in-depth review and knowledge of your business's current sales process. While you may think you know the sales process, it is important to be specific when defining it so that you can confidently comminicate job duties to potential sales professionals.

A general sales process consists of 7 steps, which are outlined below. Each step is defined and related to how an outsourced sales representative may help.

Sales Process Step 1: Prospecting & Qualifying

Prospecting and qualifying a potential client consist of: (1) does the person have a need for your businesses product or service, (2) can the person afford it, and (3) are they the correct person to speak to about your company's product.

Outsourced sales people are specifically talented at prospecting and qualifying. They can learn about your company's products and services rather quickly and locate potential clients that match those needs.

Sales Process Step 2: Preparation

Preparation consists of researching a potential client's business or service and whether or not your company is in a position to help them improve their ROI. You may start preparing a presentation for the prospect at this stage.

Preparation involves a lot of time and effort on the salesperson's part and is not always a "favorite" of in-house sales people. This is a prime step to outsource because you can be very specific in your directions to third-party sales people.

Sales Process Step 3: Approach

Approach is when a salesperson contacts the potential prospect for the first time. This isn't to present to them, but rather to set a time to meet face-to-face or virtually.

Setting appointments is a key skill that many outsourced sales professionals have and can be offloaded from the in-house sales team, allowing them to focus on other more crucial parts of the sales process.

Sales Process Step 4: Presentation

Presenting your company's services and goods to a potential client is a key step in closing sales. This can occur in-person, over the phone or in a face-to-face meeting. It can happen with or without a paper or virtual presentation depending on your specific industry.

Admittedly, presentation is not ideal for an outsourced sales professional. This is generally due to geographic limitations rather than a lack of skill on the outsourced sales person's part. However, with the recent rise of virtual meetings, many large companies hire non-traditional sales personnel to present their products.

Sales Process Step 5: Handling Objections

Handling the potential client's objections is a vital step in closing a sale. These objections may come immediately after the presentation or further down the road once the prospect has had a chance to review and think about the presentation.

Follow-up is extremely important in sales; so much so that lack of follow-through is the main reason why sales fail in the first place. According to some sales research, "44% of salespeople abandoning pursuit after one rejection, 22% after two rejections, 14% after three, and 12% after four, even though 80% of sales require at least five follow-ups to convert."

In-house sales people commonly complain that they don't have the time to follow-up with potential clients after the presentation. This can be a problem for your company, considering 4 out of 5 sales take 5 or more follow-ups to land a new client. Outsourced sales teams, especially those who are brought in on the initial presentation, are key to adequately following up and doubling or tripling your sales team sale's rate.

Sales Process Step 6: Closing

Closing consists of asking for the client to move forward with your company. In reality, prospects don't always move forward with what you originally asked them to do. This takes a skilled sales professional, one who is adept at providing alternative ways to close the sale through modifying the terms of the original proposal.

Outsourced sales teams can be critical in closing, especially with re-doing or modifying proposals to fit the client's needs or following up after a new proposal is created.

Sales Process Step 7: Keeping in Contact

After the close, when the contracts are signed and the checks are cashed, the sale is over, right? Wrong! Follow through is critical and can result in two very important things to any sales-based business. First, existing clients are the best source of potential future sales as their needs change and they continue to grow. Repeat business is also profitable for the business because it is almost ten times less expensive as finding and closing a new prospect. Second, existing clients are an excellent source of referrals of potential new clients. And these referrals are free!

Failing to follow through is a crucial error businesses of all sizes make. An outsourced sales professional is a prime candidate for helping with this task, freeing up in-house sales to focus on other steps of the sales process.

Finding the Right Fit in the Sales Process for Your Outsourced Sales Team

Now that you know the steps of your business sales process, you can identify where an outside sales professional may help.

For most businesses, it is obvious where a third-party would best fit. If it is not, dig deeper into where most of your sales fail. It is there that an outsourced sales professional might best fit.