This article was written by Ray Kemper, CMO of Televerde and published by Business2Community in September 2016.

Business2Community provides a balanced view of the current business landscape based on industry news and trends.

By Ray Kemper

3 Steps to Successfully Outsource Your Inside Sales

While outsourcing strategies have

transformed the B2B landscape over

the last decade, one of the most

hotly debated areas has been inside

sales and marketing. Many leaders

considered them strictly internal

functions, too central to trust to

ooutside hands. Yet these days more

and more companies are handing

over functions like marketing

automation, lead generation,

telemarketing and inside sales to

expert external partners.

IIf you’re new to outsourcing you

might assume the most obvious

benefit is simply lifting a burden off

your team. That the new partner can

take care of time-consuming

responsibilities while your team

focuses on its core mission. But

ooutsourcing is also an opportunity to

acquire expertise you don’t have.

Maybe it’s taking advantage of a call

mastery program or deep insights

about your company’s buying

personas.

The partner can also bring fresh

eeyes to your business – and

compare that new perspective

with verified industry benchmarks.

There’s no need to hire new

ffull- time staff to get the right talent

bench or retrain your existing team

on a long learning curve. You can

leapfrog over delays and tap

advanced expertise on day one.

What does that lead to? More

rrevenue from experts that specialize

in inside sales excellence and a

bench for minimizing downtime.

Just one caveat: outsourcing isn’t

something to plunge into. Your partner

3 Steps to Successfully Outsource Your Inside Sales1

will act as an extension of your brand,

with your image and messaging in

their hands, which means you want to

pick very capable hands. The other

team might also have different

processes and approaches in a few

areas. To ensure your partner fits

pproductively into your existing

dynamic, you’ll need to work through

three phases: understanding if

outsourcing is right for you, picking

valuable and compatible partners, and

then making the partnership work.

Diagnosing Your Needs

To understand if an outsourced

inside sales partner makes the most

sense for you, see if any of the

following traits fit your business:

You’d like to rapidly increase sales

to boost, meet seasonal demands or

accompany growth but don’t have

the bandwidth, right in-house

technology or other resources.

Your growth involves handling

new geographic regions outside your

wheelhouse – and you need

experienced sales and marketing

pros who understand those areas.

You’d like to focus your resources

oon organizational goals beyond sales

and marketing.

Or maybe you’re grappling with this

ongoing challenge: a high turnover

rate in your inside sales department.

If you’re spending significant sums

on constant recruitment and training,

aand continually sacrificing lost

tionships and sales, outsourcing

could solve that challenge.

Picking the right partner

Your partner will act as your

ambassador, conveying your image

and commitment to your customers.

IIdeally, your prospects and customer

interactions should be seamless and

represented as one team. To attain

that seamless feel, a thorough

selection process is critical. Also,

remember that your partner will

inflinfluence your internal team as well.

Any cultural disconnect will be felt

on every level, creating a fissure that

could derail momentum.

TTo assess whether a prospective

partner’s culture is compatible with

your own, evaluate them on these

measures:

Experience. Have they handled

clients in your industry, or helped

businesses with similar objectives?

Will the learning curve be minimal?

Skill. Do they have the talent

bench you don’t? Can they

supplement the right skill set so your

people can focus on their own

directives?

Audience. Do they understand

your target audience – how to sell to

your buying personas?

Reporting process. Is there a

feedback loop and how does it work?

What metrics will measure success?

What specific data will you get?

Cost and Value. Don’t just factor

in their fees; consider the overall

value of the above areas. Make sure

you anticipate the resources needed

to make the partnership work and

have an understanding of the ROI

goals needed to justify the

ooutsourcing model.

3 Steps to Successfully Outsource Your Inside Sales2

Ideally, your prospects and customer interactions should be seamless and represented as one team.

Turning Synergy into Success

One of the most common – and

ppoisonous – partnership mistakes is

the attempt to micromanage activities.

Successful partnerships are built on

trust. If you’ve done your research

and concluded that this is the best

partner for your goals, at some point

you’ll need to hand over the keys and

wawatch your partner drive off.

Candid communication is key here,

both internally and with your partner.

Map out expectations and agree on

your definition of success. Both

teams are going to be playing off

each other’s strengths – and fostering

open, frequent dialogues will help

everyone feel more connected.

TThat transparency will also help you

earn the necessary buy-in. Schedule

quarterly business reviews with stake-

holders to share partnership progress

details. Give your existing sales team

the information they need to feel

comfortable and confident about the

““new guys.” Let them know this new

the relationship from an investment

perspective? How long is it taking

potential sales to hit the pipeline? Is

your partner offering up actionable data

and providing quality qualitative insight?

Regular check-ins will provide you

with this intelligence, as well as

opopportunities for modification. You

may decide to pull some areas back

in-house or hand over even more

rresponsibilities. Two years down the

road, your partnership may look very

different from what you intended.

That’s a good thing – it means the

program is growing with your needs.

Keep talking, testing and measuring

and you’ll create the map to long-term

susuccess with an outsourced sales

model.

relationship will benefit them so

they’re motivated to collaborate with

the other team instead of competing

with them. Any sense of secrecy,

ininternally or externally, can lead to a

fractured program so outline respon-

sibilities and share successes and

setbacks. Create an environment

where you are both learning and

pushing for the best results. Foster a

safe environment to get better

together on the campaign results.

The Evolving Partnership

Even great relationships change over

time. As the partnership continues,

evaluate its success from a variety of

angles. Do the metrics match

expectations?

RRemember to set realistic expecta-

tions. For example: Tracking

closed/won deals in a six month trial

when you already know your typical

sales cycle is eight months, sets you

up for failure. Focus on the pipeline

vs. the closed/won in this case. What

ROI are you seeing – does it justify

Find out how Televerde can be an

extension of your sales and

marketing team.

televerde.com 888-787-2829

If you’ve done your research and concluded that this is the best partner for your goals, at some point you’ll need to hand over the keys and watch your partner drive off.

3 Steps to Successfully Outsource Your Inside Sales3

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