There comes a time in the evolution of every company when the sales department becomes the topic of focus. Perhaps you need to hire more salespeople or maybe you’re not getting what you need out of the salespeople you currently have. It could be that you’ve been the entire sales department until now, but you need to turn your focus to other tasks. Whatever the reason your sales department has come under fire, you need to make a change, which might include the decision to successfully outsource your sales. Here’s how to know when it’s time to pull that trigger.
You Need More Salespeople, But Don’t Have the Budget
Sometimes, a business grows faster than planned, which means you might not have the budget to hire all the salespeople you need to handle the leads coming in. Altering your budget isn’t always the answer, particularly if you need to ramp up a sales team quickly. In this case, an outsourced sales team already has sales experience, so you just need to train them in your business, collaborate on a sales plan, and let them do their job.
It’s usually much more cost-effective to outsource your sales department than it is to hire full-time sales staff. If you want to keep part of your sales team in house, but outsource a specific part of the pipeline, an outsourcing company can help with that too. You make the decisions and the outsourced team implements them, all at a fraction of the cost of a full-time sales crew.
You Want to Expand to New Markets
Expanding to new markets can be challenging because you’re not going to be very familiar with the area. Hiring an outsourcing company to handle sales in the new markets will give you an advantage because the salespeople there will already have experience with marketing in the region. You won’t have to establish an entirely new workforce in the new markets, either, saving you money and time.
This is specifically important if you’re moving into foreign markets, which is not only expensive, but requires an entirely new understanding of the culture and local business customs. If you were to handle a move like this with an inside sales department, you will have to hire a new HR staff, overcome language barriers, set a travel expense budget, and navigate local business regulations. An outsourced sales company will handle all of those hassles for you.
You Need to Jumpstart Your Sales
If your sales have stalled, it might be time to go in a new direction to both challenge your inside sales staff and come up with new marketing strategies. Businesses can get into a marketing rut, where you’re doing the same type of advertising every month with decreasing returns. An outsourced sales company can help you brainstorm new marketing ideas and channels and implement them more quickly than you can on your own. This can often serve as inspiration for an inside sales team as well, since they may be stuck in that same rut.
Conclusion
Outsourcing your sales department doesn’t have to be a permanent decision, but it can bring a new dimension to your business, whether you’re looking to grow your sales team, expand into new markets, or just breathe new life into a stale sales rut.
