The Cost of Hiring an Inside vs. Outsourced Sales Team
33% of companies outsource their sales department to an external agency.
The decision to outsource sales to an agency or rather invest in an in-house sales team is one that almost all businesses have to make. As your company grows, you’ll have to make significant changes to the way you run it.
One of those changes is keeping your sales momentum going by trying to increase your sales. But this decision is not easy to make because it will directly impact your companies’ financial health. So now you’re faced with the question: should I hire employees or should I outsource to a sales agency.
The choice between insourcing and outsourcing is difficult to make, especially when you’re working with a small budget. To help you make a thoughtful choice, we’ve compared the costs of in-house sales to those of external sales firms.
But before we get to the costs let see how the internal sales team differs from the external sales team. Using an external agency can save the time and resources it takes to learn on your own. Why? Because an established outsourcing firm has experimented with a variety of tactics and knows how to satisfy clients. Outsourcing to an external agency will save you money.
Companies spend 26% of their time on training their in-house sales team.
On the other hand, an internal team will be very knowledgeable about your business. However, this doesn’t mean that they have the skill and professionalism to do a great job. Apart from that, you may also face difficulty when searching for the right talent to fill your in-house team. Another big hurdle is that internal teams are quite costly and they may gobble up a huge part of your budget.
Cost Comparison: In-House vs. Agency
A side by side scenario of in-house sales and outsource agency shows that it is cheaper to hire an agency. Why? Simply because hiring an in-house staff will quickly ramp up the costs as it includes one-time and ongoing expenses.
Annual expenses for in-house sales development representative is $120,520.
I’m talking about recruitment costs, salaries, additional employee costs (benefits and taxes), Overhead, etc. A Human Capital benchmark report found that the cost of a new hire averages at $4,129. And this is only recruitment costs, now think about all the other expenses your company will incur.
Working with an agency, on the other hand, is much cheaper and maybe a better value. Outsourcing your sales to an agency means no additional employment costs, such as recruitment, benefits, employment taxes, and overhead. Plus, an agency’s focused and specialized experience can provide a greater ROI in the long run.
Final Words
Making the decision to hire in-house staff or outsource your sales to an external agency can be difficult. Keep in mind that an outsourcing agency will in most instances be cheaper. Clearly, you won’t have to invest a large sum in an external agency and you won’t have to train for months before their workers are ready.
Let us know in the comment below if you have ever outsourced your sales to an external agency or kept it in house and what the costs were.
Why Outsource Cold Calling Services?
69% of buyers accepted a call from new salespeople in the past 12 months.
2 percent…That is the success rate of cold calls today. This means that if you’re calling a list of 100 names only 2 of them will be willing to grant you an appointment. When the odds of success are so meager, it is easy to understand why so many people believe that cold calling is dead.
The truth is, cold calling is not death, it’s just that you’ve been doing it wrong the whole time. Cold calling can be quite effective if you know how to do it right. The downside of this is that you’ll need certain methods and strategies to make it a success.
So why not outsource cold calling services and take the help of an expert to get more leads? Here’s why outsourcing cold calling is a great idea and what you will gain from it:
1. Productivity
High-performing sales organizations are twice as likely to provide ongoing training as low-performing ones.
One of the main benefits of outsourcing your cold calling activities is that you will gain a very productive team. Most outsourcing companies have staff who are on the calls for six and a half hour a day, making approximately 15 calls an hour.
Usually, in-house salespeople cannot meet these standards. Outsource sales agencies also have a team of backup sales representatives on standby who will take on the role of sales agent and makes the cold calls in case a sales agent is having an emergency. Therefore, you’ll never experience a slowdown.
2. Experienced Team vs. In-house team
Top performing salespeople are up to 10 times likelier to use collaborative words and phrases than low-performing ones.
Hiring a team with years of experience to make your cold calling is always wise. In-house staff will need lots of training before they become proficient. This training usually lasts for 9 months and can cost tons of money. On the other hand, an experience in house team will be able to make calls on the very first day you hire them.
In addition, these professionals know how to cold call the right way. The reason most cold calls fail is simply because they’re done wrong. Nowadays, outsourcing professionals are ditching the traditional way of cold calling, which is shoving a “sell” in the prospects face.
Instead, they strategize their call by planning, researching, and scheduling the call. By doing this, they significantly increase their success rate.
3. Focus on Your Retention Strategy
Making phone calls to existing customers is the #1 most effective prospecting tactic.
Cold calling is not only about making calls to new customers, it is also pertinent to existing customers. It’s an effective way to get past customers back. When you outsource your cold calling activities to a skilled provider you can request that they keep in contact with existing customers. Finding new customers is significantly more expensive than retaining previous buyers, therefore it’s important to circle back to this group of buyers.
Final words
Cold calling is not just a job, is a skill set that you need to attract new prospects and turn them into customers. Outsourcing your cold calling efforts means that you’re hiring someone who is focused on calling and making appointments with prospects with the goal to turn them into customers.
What To Look For When Outsourcing Your Sales
According to Deloitte cost optimization is still a critically important criterion for outsourcing, but it is no longer at the top of the list.
Just a couple of years ago companies sole reason for outsourcing was to cut cost. Nowadays companies are looking for something more than simply a big break in their sales budget.
Companies want to have a clear understanding of the firm they are outsourcing their sales efforts to because, in 2019 performance, better service and innovation are deemed more potent.
If you’re looking to hire a sales outsourcing company, here are a number of aspects you should consider before making your final decision:
1. Areas of Expertise
Nearly 50% of employers that outsource say the quality of their service providers and a reactive versus proactive attitude is the most frustrating issues to deal with.
It may seem like a no brainer, but industry experience is a potent quality when outsourcing your sales team. You need a team that is proactive, goal oriented, will get you great results and has great knowledge of your product or services. It is therefore important to consider doing more research in order to get real and adequate information on the potential and professionalism of the outsourcing destination.
2. Privacy and Security
Even more so in outsourcing, where firms often relay confidential business information to a third-party staff. The smallest problems with data could mean massive loss and damages.
Hacking has become a common practice nowadays. A couple of years ago even yahoo got hacked which caused a great uproar in the tech world. Problems with data breach and misuse are a great concern for companies and organizations. Even more so in outsourcing, where firms often trust third-party operations with confidential business information. Now more than ever, you should take privacy and security concerns in consideration when looking to hire an external sales firm.
3. Technology Infrastructure
95% of SMEs have adopted cloud technologies for outsourcing purposes.
In this digital era, companies rely heavily on technology. Technology has become one of the pillars that keep businesses running. When shopping for a great external sales team learn about their technological infrastructure in terms of connectivity, availability, quality security, and reliability. Another trend that can improve efficiency is Cloud services. With cloud services, external agencies can strengthen their security and provide innovative products and services to their customers.
4. Business Reputation
87% of executives rate managing reputation risk as more important than other strategic risks.
The success of a business hinges on its reputation. In the age of social media, every single thing you do will be placed under a microscope and scrutinized. Therefore, when shopping for a good external firm, do your due diligence and do in-depth research. Check their client reviews, testimonials, referrals and success stories. This is important because offshoring may free capital, but if the outsourced sales team is performing poorly the cost of rebuilding business reputation will be much higher than any initial savings.
Conclusion
Sales outsourcing can be very rewarding only if you select the right outsourcing firm. Partnering with a great firm offers you the opportunity to innovate and generate the highest quality results possible while taking the burden of an in-house sales team off your shoulders.
Top Four Benefits of Customer Service Outsourcing
69% of Americans would recommend a company to others following a positive customer experience.
If you’re an entrepreneur that stays on top of things, then you know that customers’ expectations regarding support and care have considerably grown. Today, more than ever, customer care has become a priority for every company. Consumers expect full support and want solutions for emerging issues 24/7.
For most companies, the easiest and most beneficial way to answer this demand is to outsource their customer support service to a professional agency. Outsourcing customer support has a myriad of advantages, read on to discover the top four benefits of outsourcing your customer support:
1. Quality in Service Delivery
31% of organization choose to outsource because it enhances the quality in service delivery.
Outsourcing helps your company due to it being faster, better and much cheaper. You will tap into greater resources and expertise through people and systems. Often outsourcing agencies recruit only candidates with the right fit for your business – those with excellent communication skills and a strong customer support service work ethic. On top of that, outsourcing companies use cutting edge disruptive technology that allows them to multitask.
2. 24/7 SERVICE
70% of buying experiences are based solely on how the customer feels they are being treated.
An important factor in customer care is convenience. Granting your customer the ability to send you an email, pick up a phone, or jump into a live chat session when it is most convenient for them is a big plus. Providing 24/7 customer service, clients receive real-time responses to their requests, even if these request are made outside the working hours of the company. This is especially beneficial to people who work night shifts or live in a different time zone.
3. Frees Up Manpower
57% of respondents says outsourcing frees up man powers and allows them to work on core business tasks.
Another prominent benefit of outsourcing is that your staff can focus on more important duties. Many companies – especially smaller ones, deem handling of incoming customer calls part of a more elaborate job description. This can hinder your employees from completing other important tasks. Companies that outsource their customer support services get to reserve their in-house manpower which results in a boost of productivity and profits.
4. Lower Costs
Deloitte’s global survey shows that 44 percent of companies outsource because of cost reduction.
As a business owner, you’re more than likely constantly seeking new ways to reduce your overall costs. Since an outsource company already has the technological infrastructure and available staff; collaborating with a customer support service provider will often involve lower costs. When working with a customer support services provider, companies will have access to the latest technology and to enough resources to be at the customers’ disposal whenever they need it.
Conclusion
In a nutshell, the benefits of outsourcing include around the clock professional service, cost reduction, and more time to focus on other important tasks within your business. Outsourcing your customer service to the experts will allow you to expand and grow your business fast.
Sales Outsourcing: Is it Right for your Startup?
15% of global companies reported that outsourcing their sales efforts helped scale their business.
As an entrepreneur, one of the most challenging dilemmas your startup will face is to build a solid, capable internal sales team while managing the cash burn rate. Some startups prefer to have in-house staff, however, the costs of this effort are significant and add to the cash burn rate.
Instead, it would be wiser for startups to build a two-way relationship with a sales process outsourcing partner and to outsource their sales team.
If you haven’t built an efficient in-house sales team, using an external sales team is an ideal option to attract higher and rapid returns. Here are some reasons why:
1. Agencies have the talented experts that Startups Need
A survey by Silicon Valley Bank reveals that 90% of Startups said finding talent was challenging or extremely challenging.
As you build your sales structure, you’ll seek ways to have your sales team perform better. Without experts on your team, this can feel like an uphill battle.
When you outsource sales, you put all your sales efforts in the hands of experienced professionals. These external agencies are knowledgeable in sales services. They have performed tasks several times and are familiar with strategies that can boost sales. A company can benefit from such exceptional sales teams to improve its revenue.
2. Outsourcing firms provide a Stable team
Companies that outsource reports that 25% of their workload gets handles by the external company resulting in them having more time for other important things.
When you’re dealing with a brand new team, chances are that not everyone will be able to bring results in fast. This can be critical for your business as you run the risk of upsetting the growth process.
Working with an agency ensures that you’ll receive a team of experts doing your sales. This gives you the stability you need to focus on the growth of your business.
3. Development of Strategies
“The other part of outsourcing is this: it simply says where the work can be done outside better than it can be done inside, we should do it.” – Alphonso Jackson
Sales outsourcing firms provide an opportunity to work with Sales professionals who will develop a strategic plan for your company. This plan is for acquiring clients and assure greater return on investments. Business can utilize these same strategies when building their internal sales team to achieve their goals.
4. Business Growth
If you deprive yourself of outsourcing and your competitors do not, you’re putting yourself out of business – Lee Kuan Yew
Achieving business growth is never easy for startups. Most of them barely have the resources to foster growth. Startups, in particular, have a very small return of investment in the early stages of existence. Therefore, it is better for startups to hire an independent sales firm to ensure returns and help boost growth.
Final words
Just like any other business, startups are interested in results. Outsourcing their sales effort will not only help speed up the process and get ROI quicker but also provide the blueprint to building your own internal team.