As a B2B tech business planning to expand to Europe, or beyond, you have probably considered sales outsourcing. After all, the aim is to get to market fast, generate more leads, and close more deals ahead of the competition. Outsourcing will help you get there, simplify the process, smooth your path to market and save you time and money — and maybe a lot of unnecessary headaches.
Perhaps as a business owner, you’re wary of the unknown and like to play it safe by either bringing your existing team abroad or hiring locally in-house because internalizing is what you know and what you’re used to. Maybe you’ve casually looked at some outsourced sales agencies and read some scary stories online. It happens. There will always be bad experiences to offset the good reviews, and there are bad agencies as well as superb ones, as in any business. Maybe some even deserve to get the bad rap.
But, there are also plenty of misconceptions and untruths. Don’t judge until you know all the facts. Let us assuage your worries, and go some way to debunking the three myths of sales outsourcing.
Truth: It’s not cheap, no. However, neither is hiring a sales team in-house. Consider the components involved. Let’s compare the real cost. First, consider the salary of a dedicated recruiter or an outside hiring company. Add in an HR expert with legal knowledge of the country (or countries) you plan on expanding to. Legal jargon, local employment laws, discrimination, GDPR, that list goes on and on, but non-adherence can cost dearly. Then the time involved must be taken into consideration — it takes a long time to research the employment market, find a set of suitable candidates, approach them, interest them enough to want the job, shortlist and finally interview them.
It’s not over then. You will have references to check, second or third-round interviews. Maybe, as often happens, their current employer will make them a sweetened offer to stay put. The Great Resignation has made some employers think twice about losing staff and they have wily ways and means to keep them interested. So it’s back to square one.
What if you manage to successfully hire and after a while, it doesn’t work out? The sales representative chooses to move on or is a bad hire, for instance. Contacts can be sticky and difficult to get out of. Sometimes people choose to move on and you and your business are left in the lurch. Back to the start yet again. Factor in salaries, commissions, bonuses, and expenses. Weeks may have gone by trying to get the perfect hire. Weeks when your competitors are there, on the ground, and already selling. Frustrating, isn’t it?
Now take another look at that time and expense, and compare it to the simplified, clean, and the fast process of a first introductory call, a sales assessment bespoke to you, and a plan of action. Most international expansions take on average up to six months to get the ball rolling. Outsourcing the process can take you straight to market in just four weeks. That’s budget-friendly. Instant sales teams, speaking the local language and who sell SaaS all day long and who know the local market are ready to introduce and sell your brand. Ask yourself again what is more costly.
“We were tasked to rapidly expand our global footprint in a highly competitive space, and, without the Sales Force Europe territory team, we would not have been able to hit the ground running with relevant local resources nearly as fast had we used the traditional recruitment mode,” Scott Sorochak, then SVP global sales atLivefyre, said of working with us.
Choosing an outsourced sales agency is like choosing any important purchase. You don’t go to a bakery for a pair of shoes just because they sell stuff. Success is built on specialization.
Carefully choose an agency with proven and close experience in your industry. One that has past clients in the same industry, a continuum of worldwide partners in tech, and years of experience. Let the reviews and testimonials speak for themselves.
Ask the questions. Read and investigate the reviews. Talk to the agency directly and talk to others who know them well. If they cannot answer your questions then something may be off.
Also, how does their business look? Ask yourself if it’s healthy and successful with steady growth, because if it’s not, then why would you put your business in their hands? Reputation is everything, and if theirs is good then they should be good enough to nurture and grow your brand too, with ready-to-go-to-market teams of outsourced sales from multi-channel marketing and B2B lead generation to inside sales, reporting managers, and international sales representatives. After all, you’re an expert in your industry, and they’re experts in theirs — to provide you with sales outsourcing teams that will be both passionate and knowledgeable about your brand, and quick to get it out there and to close deals and make profits.
When you’re used to being in full control over all aspects of your business, it’s natural to fear the unknown. The last thing you want is to hand over the reins and sit back blindfolded and hands tied. That’s not going to happen.
Yes, the outsourced sales will be, in reality, working for the agency. However, you should think of this as more of an extension of your existing team. They’re another layer, not a separate entity.
Hand-picked outsourced sales teams are just that — experts in selling, the cream of the crop, and working just for you. What can be more in control than the ability to easily scale?
In truth, that’s what you get. Not just experts in their field, but B2B lead generation, and inside sales via tech-focused native callers. Marketing experts and sales representatives with over 10 years of experience selling tech in their specialized verticals and home markets. And you can scale up or down at will. Start small and work up to a full deck, or go in with the entire team and scale down as you see fit, but always with you in control.
You want to get more leads in your pipeline so you engage a larger lead generation function. You want to drive more meetings from strong leads, so you employ more reps — but it’s always scaleable.
Readily available metrics and regular reporting will help you to decide how you play it, and expert advice is always just one call away.
Everyone has doubts before embarking on any new business relationship, but debunking the myths of sales outsourcing can only help to make the decision of whether or not to use an outsourced sales agency clearer — and probably more appealing than going it alone, even if it’s only for a short time while you get to know the new foreign market a little better.
