Sales outsourcing might be the best strategy for boosting your in-house sales team — you just need to find the right partner. Sounds easy, right? Well, there’s just one thing: partnerships can be tricky and challenging.
Building and maintaining a strong and healthy long-term partnership doesn’t happen on its own. Let’s see some tips to help you get the most out of your outsourcing sales partnership.
Sales outsourcing
Sales outsourcing is a strategy that can help businesses grow their sales and revenue without investing in hiring, training, and managing an in-house sales team.
Sales outsourcing providers are companies that offer sales services such as lead generation, appointment setting, deals closure, account management, and customer retention.
By outsourcing sales, businesses can benefit from the expertise, experience, and network of the sales outsourcing providers, as well as save time and money on sales operations.
Partnership building
Outsourcing sales isn’t a one-time transaction. It’s a long-term partnership that requires trust, communication, and alignment between the business and the sales outsourcing provider.
There are tons of outsourced sales providers to choose from regardless of your industry, location, budget, or sales goals.
That’s both a great thing and a not-so-great thing. On one hand, you have more options available to choose from and negotiate the best deal. On the other hand, it’s more difficult to choose the right partner from so many alternatives.
As with any other relationship, a successful outsourcing partnership doesn’t become strong and fruitful just because you’ve signed a contract. So how can you build and maintain a successful partnership with a sales outsourcing provider?
Define clear goals and expectations
Before engaging with a sales outsourcing provider, you should have a clear idea of what you want to achieve from the partnership, such as the market you want to engage with, the sales process you want to use, and your key performance indicators (KPIs). You’ll also need to define your budget and clearly understand your value proposition before talking to a sales outsourcing partner.
That’s because you need to communicate these goals and expectations to the sales outsourcing provider and make sure they understand and agree with them. Negotiate an agreement that works for both you and your partner.
This will help both parties to align their strategies and actions in the same direction and avoid misunderstandings or conflicts later on.
Choose a provider that fits your needs and culture
Sales outsourcing isn’t a one size fits all approach. Also, not all sales outsourcing providers are the same. They may have different specialties, methodologies, tools, and values.
You should do some research and compare different options to find the one that best aligns with your needs and culture. Analyze their expertise, reputation, and track record. Look for a sales outsourcing provider that has experience in your industry, your target market, and your product or service.
It’s a good practice to look for a sales outsourcing provider that shares your vision, mission, and values. One that can adapt to your business model and processes.
A good fit will ensure a smooth and productive collaboration between the business and the sales outsourcing provider.
Establish regular communication and feedback channels
Communication is key to any partnership.
The best thing you can do is establish regular communication and feedback channels with your sales outsourcing provider. This way you can monitor the progress of the partnership, share insights and best practices, address issues or challenges, and celebrate successes.
You should also set up clear roles and responsibilities for each party and assign a point of contact for each side. Communicate with your sales outsourcing provider frequently and transparently, using various methods such as phone calls, emails, video conferences, reports, or dashboards.
Also, don’t forget to encourage feedback from both sides and use it to improve the partnership continuously.
In addition, open communication with your partner can help you anticipate and prepare solutions for possible problems, challenges, or future demands.
Treat your sales outsourcing provider as a partner, not a vendor
A common mistake that companies make when outsourcing sales is treating their sales outsourcing provider as a vendor, not a partner. This means they view the sales outsourcing provider as a service provider they pay for results, rather than a strategic partner they collaborate with for mutual success.
Such an approach can create a lack of trust, respect, and commitment between the parties. It can also reduce the performance and satisfaction of both in-house and outsourced teams.
To avoid this mistake, think of your sales outsourcing provider as a true and trusted ally. Involve them in your planning and decision-making processes. Share your vision and goals with them. Support them with resources and information. Appreciate their efforts and contributions, and reward them for their achievements.
By treating your sales outsourcing provider as a partner, you will build a strong relationship based on trust, loyalty, and collaboration. After all, you’re a team!
Be open to suggestions
Even when everything is going according to your plan and you clearly see the results you expected, there’s always room for improvement.
One way you can enhance your performance and achieve even better results is to listen to the suggestions of your outsourced sales team. Why? Because they are the experts you hired precisely because they have more experience, resources, or competence in the field of sales.
They can provide you with a wealth of insightful information and help you spot untapped opportunities to increase sales.
Provide support to your outsourced sales team
No matter how skilled the professionals on your outsourced sales team are, there are always things to learn, flaws to fix, and gaps to fill before you can achieve optimal effectiveness.
That’s why you should provide adequate training, support, and incentives to the outsourced sales team to ensure they understand your product, market, and customers.
Your partner is a valid extension to your in-house team and plays an essential role in your sales process. To achieve your goals, you must actively participate and collaborate with them. Therefore, it’s critical to establish regular review meetings to evaluate performance, goals, and metrics.
Long-term partnership – long-term success
Sales outsourcing can have many benefits, such as reducing costs, simplifying the sales cycle, increasing flexibility and scalability, improving the quality of leads, and boosting conversion. In fact, sales outsourcing can be a powerful way to grow your business— provided you do it right.
What does the “right way” look like? It’s different depending on who you are. However, if you follow these tips, you can build a long-term partnership with your sales outsourcing provider that will bring you lasting benefits and results.
