5 reasons why you need an outsourced sales team

Sales challenges come thick and fast in this ever-evolving business world. Whether struggling to close the skills gap, failing to hit sales targets, or lacking the ability to scale, many of these obstacles result in organizations falling behind the competition and hindering a business from realizing its potential. If you and your business can relate to these frustrations, then you'll be pleased to know there is a solution to your woes, which comes in the shape of an outsourced sales team. 

In this blog, we will introduce you to the concept of sales outsourcing and show you the top 5 reasons why you need an outsourced sales team. But before we get into the benefits, let's first understand what is sales as a service. 

Understanding sales as a service

Sales outsourcing is often referred to as sales as a service and is a resource utilized by businesses needing support regarding their sales operations without adding to the head count. From organizations looking to scale and grow by harnessing the latest data and technology to companies seeking assistance in building successful sales teams, sales as a service is a valuable solution for businesses of all sizes.

As an extension or partner to a business's existing sales team, the concept of sales as a service is delivered to businesses by a sales outsourcing provider. Sales as a service providers, sometimes known as sales contracting providers, support organizations by lending them singly, multiple to whole teams of sales professionals. These salespeople will be on hand to help a business with the sales challenges they face, be it supporting an internal talent shortage, helping a sales team hit their targets, or something more specific to the business needs. The key element to this is they are fully embedded in an organization, internally managed by the organization, but the payroll is managed externally.

Whether you refer to it as sales as a service, sales contracting, or sales outsourcing, utilizing this solution can significantly benefit businesses. So, now that you understand what sales as a service is let's explore some of the key benefits and give you some reasons why you need an outsourced sales team.

5 benefits of outsourcing your sales team

Outsourcing your sales team comes with fantastic benefits, from being a cost-effective solution to helping your business scale at a rate you can control. But ultimately, when you explore why the sales outsourcing model is so beneficial, you'll wonder why you didn't consider outsourcing your sales sooner. So, let's gain some insight and look at the top 5 benefits of outsourcing your sales team.

1. Sales outsourcing saves you time and money

One of the most significant benefits of outsourcing your sales team is the time and money you will save in the process. So let's start with the time.

When you outsource your sales team to support your sales operations, you can expect a reduced hiring and onboarding time as opposed to more traditional recruitment methods. With sales outsourcing, you don't have to worry about going through the often lengthy process of searching for top talent to other aspects of recruitment like interviewing potentials to onboarding your chosen candidate. 

Instead, a sales as a service provider will have a network of sales consultants at their disposal, which you can bring into your business in no time. Simply contact your chosen sales outsourcing firm and let them know what type of salesperson you require. From here, you can decide when or how long you need the salesperson or salespeople. As sales contractors are typically experienced professionals, they will be ready to jump straight into your business and help you tackle your challenges almost instantly, with little to no onboarding required. 

Regarding costs, an outsourced sales team is similar to hiring a sales contractor on an interim basis. Like a sales contractor, with sales outsourcing, you pay for the services you require and the length of time you need them. This benefit allows you to increase manpower without increasing the fixed headcount.

Additionally, you don't have to worry about other expenses you would associate with a full-time employee. Things like monetary rewards like bonuses, staff benefits, insurance, tools, and work resources are all taken care of by your sales outsourcing provider. 

2. Outsourcing your sales team is a flexible solution

Following on from our previous point, as you can pick and choose when, where and for how long you'll need the assistance, sales outsourcing is a flexible solution that allows your business to scale at an affordable pace that suits your business. 

Suppose you have a key sales team member on maternity leave, and you know they will be away for the best part of a year. In that case, sales outsourcing is an excellent solution, as you can bring an outsourced salesperson into your business to fill the gap without needing to take them on full-time. Then, when your employee returns from maternity, you can embed them back into the team without worrying about letting someone go - as your outsourced sales consultant will know the length of their contract with you. 

This solution works in similar scenarios, for example, if you had a sales professional off sick for a long time, a staff member on a sabbatical, or a team of salespeople moving to another branch within your business. 

Additionally, you may require a salesperson with a specific skill set to complete a project. Sales outsourcing is the perfect solution if you don't have the in-house skills or the finances to deliver sales training. You can bring an outsourced sales rep into your business with the specific skills you need to support your latest project.  

Sales as a service is a flexible solution with far less risk than hiring a sales consultant on a full-time contract. Suppose you hire a person on a full-time contract and quickly learn they are not what you require after you have invested time and effort into training & onboarding, you now need to go through the hiring process again. With a sales outsourcing provider, if your sales consultant turns out not to be the person you need, you can part ways with this person and dip into the wider talent pool your provider has access to. Of course, if the outsourced salesperson you select is a top talent, some providers will allow you to take them on as a permanent hire for a reduced fee.

3. Sales outsourcing enhances your business

Another great benefit of sales as a service is how it helps enhance your business. For example, you may be wondering how your business can expand into new market sectors, you may be thinking about providing a new product or service to your customer base, or you may be considering branching out to other locations to target new clients. Whatever the next steps are for your business, an outsourced sales team can help you get to where you want to get to and realize your business potential.

Outsourced sales consultants are experts in their field and often have experience in your market and other markets you may have considered entering. They can offer advice and a fresh perspective to your existing sales team. In addition, they can advise you on what areas of the market you could or should target and help you develop a strategy to achieve these goals. 

Moreover, an outsourced sales team can come equipped with resources and tools your current sales operations don't have access to or don't know how to access. As a result, they can bring valuable industry data, analytics, and insights into your business to support and justify your growth plans. This data could also be internal to monitor your sales team's performance. With this insight from your outsourced sales consultant, you can see how you can increase the performance and productivity of your sales team - which leads us nicely to our next point. 

4. Outsourced sales teams increase productivity

Suppose you're looking to increase the productivity levels within your business's sales teams, improve the performance of your salespeople, and help them reach or even exceed the targets set for them. In that case, sales outsourcing is a great option. As mentioned, an outsourced salesperson will typically be an experienced professional and can often bring leadership credentials. These valuable qualities can help give your sales talent the direction they need and can be the spark to ignite motivation and help realize the potential of your salespeople.

An outsourced salesperson can also encourage collaboration within your business. With their experience, they can bring departments who would not usually collaborate to cooperate on strategies and ensure the goals and objectives of the company are aligned throughout the organization. Having your sales teams work more closely with the marketing team, for example, can amplify not only productivity levels but also enhance innovation and build professional working relationships with your wider team - great for morale, retention, and your culture as a whole.  

In addition, the consultants you acquire when you outsource your sales team will help set the benchmark for what is expected and what is possible for your salespeople to achieve. They can be the person or people who lead by example and give your sales team someone to look up to or aspire to be. In time, these high standards of performance and productivity can become engrained in your salespeople and embedded within your sales operations. 

5. An outsourced sales team is an extension of your brand

Finally, when you outsource your sales team with the help of a sales as a service provider, think of this solution as not a replacement for your existing sales team but an extension of it and an extension of your brand and a partner to your business. 

This means that whenever your sales team needs support, be it filling a skills gap, adding to your headcount, or covering for an absent staff member, you can call upon your trusted sales outsourcing provider to deliver you the talent to help your sales operations and overcome your immediate challenges. 

In time, your outsourced sales consultants, although technically not full-time members of your team, will become very much part of your business and your brand - especially if you utilize their services frequently. They will become accustomed to your culture and align with your business objectives to the point where you will class them as one of your own and a core asset to your business. 

Ultimately, an outsourced sales team brings numerous benefits to your business and can be the solution you need to overcome your sales hurdles, positively impact and drive change while transforming your sales team, and being the resource that takes your business to new heights.  

Discover Pareto’s outsourced sales solution

If your business is ready to explore the possibilities of an outsourced sales team, then we can be the provider to help realize your potential. Explore how to outsource your sales operations with Pareto or see how our sales outsourcing solution can support your business. Alternatively, contact a member of our outsourced sales experts to discuss how we can best help you today.