Outsourcing is a pretty widespread option these days, and one that most tech companies are comfortable using from time to time. Sales outsourcing is an excellent choice for growing SaaS startups who wish to quickly scale past their initial revenue and customer base. For a company scaling into new territory, it’s pretty much indispensable. There are plenty of readily-available tips to evaluate and use the services of an outsourced sales agency in order to find the perfect-fit partner for your business.
But what if you want assistance and help finding your feet in a new market with more than just your international sales representatives? Sales outsourcing can work really well as a full service. Do you want coverage for your specific tech product or SaaS service? You got it. Let’s discuss the options of outsourcing an end-to-end business development team, for maximum impact, in a new market with an outsourced sales agency as your partner.
After all, what’s stopping you? And there are several reasons why some organizations might be shy of taking the plunge with an outsourced sales agency.
These are all valid reasons. Nobody in business wants to renounce control of their hard-built operation or to delegate someone else to take the reins, that’s natural. But, in reality, partnering with an outsourced sales agency is anything but that. While there will always be scare stories and bad reviews — because there are bad actors out there as well as good — be sure to choose carefully and know the facts from the myths of sales outsourcing. Sweep away the misconceptions and the untruths and uncover the quality. A good outsourced sales agency will not take away control from you, they will understand your business, and while it’s not cheap, you don’t need a massive budget. Plans are there to be tailored to you.
We mentioned full-service coverage for your niche. Because, in a new and unknown territory, that is what you require. You don’t have time to start from scratch in a new language, in new cultural surroundings. Sit down with your chosen sales outsourcing partner and work out the finer details of one contract. That’s all you need. One contract to cover your evolving and expanding business. Mapped out. Evaluated. Measured.
It’s long been established that targetless marketing and B2B lead generation just does not work. There is no one-size-fits-all. Especially in Europe, one continent but 44 countries; they all require a different, but at the same time, localized approach. They must be familiar with product market fit and be able to identify your ideal customer profile.
If it takes 12 points of contact to turn a suitable prospect into a sales qualified lead (SQL) then you just don’t have the time to waste on cheap B2B lead generation. Quantity is vital, but quality is more so. Only high-quality, good-fit leads should enter your sales funnel. Nobody has time for pipeline bloat. Cold calling is dead. Multichannel European lead generation is communicating that very first message, so get it right. After all, it’s your brand, your product, and your business that is reaching the eyes and ears of prospective sales qualified leads (SQLs) for the first time. A bad reputation can kill your business faster than any bad decision.
Specialized inside sales representatives are the next to consider. You want to get in front of those new prospects sooner than the competition. The leads are qualified and the baton changes to outsourced inside sales people who will make that first call, the contact. Because tech is still about building relationships, and you need the personal touch. More importantly, you need that personal touch to be in the local language. Local culture. Local timezone. Support is available from regional management teams, and the metrics will be delivered right back to your desk.
Outsourced inside sales are experienced and used to listening and calculating which tactics are working best at stage of the sales process. They can gather information about your customers, ask them questions, and allow you to build on your ideal customer profiles and adjust for any changes in trends and tastes.
Full time or part time, where and when and how many? Field sales, channel sales, international sales representatives. There’s a lot to consider when you decide on expansion to Europe. The previously-mentioned sales assessment will help you to work out the answers to these questions. No guesswork involved. Your budget and what you can reasonably afford, how much help you really need to succeed, and a plan to implement all of that, quickly.
You need the best that you can afford. Highly skilled sales representatives — each with 10+ years of experience of selling in Europe — in your target market. These reps sell SaaS all day long. They are there to close sales — fast. They have the contacts, they know the tech market but more importantly, the local market. They are fluent in both language and how things are done — the cultural nuances that can be so easily tripped on by someone who just doesn’t.
Because it’s not the time to fall flat, it’s time to shine, by outsourcing your end-to-end business development team. You’ll avoid the many pitfalls of legal compliance necessary for hiring in Europe, the time involved in hiring in-house, and you'll be market ready in the shortest time possible, armed with a full team of experts, who will be passionate about your brand, and selling it — repeatedly. Ben Watkins, an SaaS recruiter says this about hiring SaaS senior sales representatives “A headhunting process will initially include around two to three weeks of thorough researching and candidate approach work…and this is before 1st interview phase commences from weeks three to five.”
You don’t have time for all this. The competition certainly doesn’t.
Predictable and repeatable revenue are your end goals, and you will give yourself and your business an edge with outsourcing your to an end-to-end business development team who that hit that European ground running!
