Outsourced sales management is a serious undertaking – putting your process in someone else’s hands. So it needs careful consideration by the C-suite.
Of course, every company needs a sales management person or team to manage their sales operations. This manager is responsible for hiring, training, and motivating sales staff. Plus coordinating operations across the sales department, and implementing a cohesive sales strategy that drives business revenues. This includes sales forecasting and making adjustments based on data analysis.
But in recent times, many companies have been choosing to outsource their sales staff and operations. So businesses wanting a change in their sales management are now more open to trying this option. They’re hiring specialists who can focus on changing the company’s growth and profit trajectory.
The big question remains, should your business outsource its management? In this post, we dive into sales management outsourcing, and take a look at the possible reasons for, and potential benefits of, outsourcing this crucial task.
Five Reasons to Outsource Your Sales Management
There are good reasons to consider outsourcing. Here are our top five.
1 Access Top Sales Managers Without Hassle
Problem
In a very competitive sales industry, it’s hard to access and acquire top talents in the industry for your business.
Solution
However, outsourced sales managers are among the best talents available, and this is mostly because they live and breathe sales. These managers are sales experts who have spent time and effort crafting their expertise to high levels. Thus, when outsourcing your sales manager, you get to access these experts easily and work with them to accelerate your business growth.
2 Save Costs and Time
Problem
In hiring your own sales manager, you will spend a significant amount of money and time finding the right fit, going through the hiring process, and training your new staff to adapt to the company culture. Their salary, benefits, and onboarding are additional costs.
Solution
Sales outsourcing onboards more quickly. Progress does not have to stop when there’s an emergency with a team member because you can easily replace them with others. It’s even more beneficial for a startup or small company because they can access resources that are otherwise difficult to find when it comes to sales management.
3 Build a Solid Infrastructure
Problem
When you’re just starting out, you don’t yet have a solid foundation for your future sales processes.
Solution
Outsourcing is a great way to help you invest in your future sales operations because it provides this foundation – expertly – for your processes, structure, and sales model targeted to fit your business requirements. Whether it’s short term or long term, your business will benefit from the infrastructure put in by the outsourced sales management.
4 Enjoy Scalability and Flexibility
Problem
Scalability is an important factor for businesses to grow sales. But things may reach a point when a business struggles to sell more and maintain or increase profit as it grows.
Solution
At these times, outsourcing your sales management gives you that boost to scale up your business almost immediately. It’s a flexible option that lets you start and stop whenever you see fit, and in this way, you’re able to hire sales professionals whenever you want to help you achieve business growth.
5 Reduce Risk
Problem
The process of developing quality sales management and sales teams comes with many risks such as hiring the wrong person, not having the right sales model, etc.
Solution
Outsourced sales management means you reduce these risks by a large percent, and the team will help establish your business processes appropriately and accurately – as long as you are careful to choose the right partner.
How to Get Started in Outsourcing Your Sales Management
There are three important things to bear in mind as you start.
Define Your Goals
Before making the decision to outsource your sales management, you must outline and define the sales goals you’re trying to achieve. Whether you want to enter new markets or introduce new products to market, understanding and outlining your goals will make it easier for you to find the right outside management that aligns with them.
Pick the Right Expertise
Outsourced sales management teams should match what you’re looking for. Consider all that your clients will be expecting to get from your business, and then choose vendors who will be able to deliver those results.
Sales expertise and management stems from many factors, so you need to be open to looking around (or asking for recommendations) for the right one with the right mix of experience and knowledge. Once you find the best-fit person, make sure you have an open conversation on your expectations and how they can fit with your needs.
Pick a provider that aligns with your team
Since your sales management team may not be in the same premises as you, you need to make sure they’re in lockstep with the rest of the business and share common principles. Others will be depending on them.
Having a good culture fit with your sales team is vital for smooth business operations. They have to be able to communicate with your team so that their marketing and sales plans are accepted well by your inhouse team.
When should you outsource?
Outsourcing sales management is a big decision that can make or break your business, so it’s not something to undertake lightly.
The reason is that there’s always another argument, another view about when it’s not good to outsource. So here are our four tips for when it might be a good time to at least consider the outsourced sales management option:
- If you’re about to change your sales model. For example, maybe you’re splitting your team between lead generation needs and follow-up calls by account executives.
- When you’re introducing a new product/service, entering a new market or targeting a new demographic and would like new sales skills to be applied.
- If you want to challenge your own sales talent to boost sales results.
- When you’re ready to hire a new sales leader or your team’s productivity has stalled and you want to grow again.
In Conclusion
As much as there could be drawbacks and other factors to consider before hiring your first outsourced sales manager or management team, working with outsourced sales management is an efficient way to cut costs and scale a business into growth and profits.
We can help you achieve your growth plans. At 360 Consulting, we’re driven by sales – it’s our passion. We can help you achieve your sales goals through
- assessing your needs, what works, and what doesn’t
- creating a custom sales infrastructure to fit your business development plans
- helping you find the right sales leadership solution to generate lasting sales success.
Contact us today to book your free consultation.