Global Software as a Service (SaaS) is trending upward and growing rapidly, in fact, it’s one of the fastest growing areas of tech. Digital Journal published the latest figures last week, showing that the global SaaS market estimated at $166.02 billion in 2020 is projected to reach a revised size of $370.47 billion by 2027, a growth of 12.15% over the period.

This is particularly true in Europe where dynamic market conditions are noticeable, such as the ever-expanding adoption of 5G and the cloud, and the new normal of working from home, due to both the pandemic and with the forced relocation of many Ukrainian tech personnel. Both have increased the need for businesses to embrace flexible work in a secure manner— and are prompts for you to seek scalable solutions to better serve your business and to allow you to keep a close eye on operations in these changing and unpredictable times. Your top priority is to better manage and better monitor your SaaS company, especially if you are considering a scale-up to new business in Europe in order to fully meet market demand. Forget telemarketing and cold-calling. You want warm and convertible leads that mean new business. You need a sales team who can quickly develop a strong international sales lead and convert it as soon as possible. To crack that market, bring on a sales team in place and ready to hit the ground running —  sales is a core competency —  as they must be qualified to do the job well. 

Unfortunately, at 67%, SaaS in-house sales departments have one of the highest voluntary turnover rates according to our partner, SFE Partners. They cite a recent Forbes article that the high churn rate is somewhat due to the high cost of an in-house sales team — people are leaving because they can find higher pay and commission elsewhere. There’s always something shiny and new to sell. Recently funded startups may not have the financial bandwidth to meet competitive salary requirements, leading to poor employee satisfaction and retention. 

Consider instead using the services of a reputable sales outsourcing company which can provide you with the flexibility you require. We hope this article will show you why sales outsourcing is a great fit for SaaS.

What is sales outsourcing for SaaS?

You’re looking for the most efficient way to build your tech business in Europe. Which sales methodology is best for your SaaS business? Tomasz Tunguz, venture capitalist at Redpoint, points out the advantages of choosing to build a SaaS startup — bottom up or top down —  and finds that “the data shows great businesses can be built using both sales methodologies. We can’t prove with this data set that there are meaningful differences in any of four measures of startup efficiency including revenue growth, gross margin, profitability or cash raised,” meaning that external and internal sales teams have just as much of an opportunity for SaaS sales success.

Sales outsourcing allows your SaaS business — whatever the size or age of your business —  to efficiently assign part or all of your sales function to a third-party provider. You might only want outsourced sales representatives in your European scale-up, or go the whole hog and outsource your entire sales team from marketing to B2B lead generation right through to inside sales, field sales and field sales representatives. 

However far you decide to take it will depend on your budget and how quickly you want to start making an impact on your new market. A detailed plan will be discussed with you and put in place, and you will always be in control — over budget and over outsourced staff. The beauty of sales outsourcing for SaaS is how both the outsourcing and SaaS models are inherently scalable. This allows you to choose a wholly outsourced division or partly, as the right sales outsourcing agency will provide you with a seamless and instantly workable extension to your existing sales team. You will bypass language and cultural obstacles, as well as remain compliant. All without the time, expense and headache of handling these things in-house.

How can sales outsourcing help you and your SaaS business?

Is sales outsourcing the right choice for your SaaS business? Maybe. Will selling SaaS in Europe be the same as it is at home? No. Scaling up across Europe means you’re branching out into not one addressable market but many. Are you going to look, act and sound local enough? European enterprise buyers are skeptical of U.S. companies that aren’t willing to localize their product and related materials to their country. And they will really doubt your commitment if you just have your American sales reps calling on them in English.

Look at five reasons that might convince you to look sales outsourcing in Europe as an option, going forward: 

1. Your sales team is small but you’re a growing startup expanding into Europe, so you need a team that is able to easily handle the volume of international sales leads generated by your B2B lead generation team.
2. Uncharted territory means new markets to explore and perhaps you lack the good, local sales talent you will need to crack those new markets fast. Speed is everything with competitors on your heels. If you’re not selling, then they are. 
3. Budget is everything, hiring a whole new team of international sales representatives may be your first thought, but that’s expensive, and will they work out? European laws are rather more stringent than American at-will employment. You are likely locked into covering a lot of social benefits and severance pay, even if they don’t work out. You have to be quite sure before drawing up permanent contracts.
4. We mentioned acting like a local. Your existing sales agents may not necessarily have the expertise — and local language skills and professional network — to handle certain sales functions required for your new market. You require the necessary expertise to crack that market. You don’t have time to sit around and wait for an existing team of sales reps to adapt to a new environment. You want sales agents already on the ground who already know that environment and local customs. And, importantly, in the local language. 
5. Perhaps your existing sales representatives are busy with existing customers, admin or other tasks that are leaving them short for time out in new fields. Maybe they’re overstretched, as there are a lot of bases to cover. You need a full sales enablement team including marketing, B2B lead generation, inside sales and sales representatives who will together form a dedicated sales function. You need a multichannel lead generation approach, too: reaching those customers by live chat, email, phone, and social media. No more lost opportunities, no more lost customers. Remember that if you’re not available online during the local time zones you’re serving, someone else is — a competitor’s site is always just one tab away.

What should you look for to help you choose an outsourcing company?

We say that success is built on specialization. You know that already, building your own business. You’re focused on tech and SaaS. We focus on tech and on helping SaaS companies find the right European product-market fit for them. A successful partnership begins with the right fit for you. When you choose an outsourced sales agency be sure to ask the questions that will drive the continued success of your business:

• Ask your European outsourced sales agency how it will be communicating with you, as it’s imperative that you are kept in the loop every step of the process. Will you have a designated go-to person that will assuage doubts and be on the ball with answers to your questions?
• What is their track record like for driving good results? Have a look at their current client list and don’t be afraid to ask for recommendations. On that note, do they have return customers? That tells you a lot. Ask to see some case studies of global expansion and how they successfully helped to launch SaaS companies in Europe.
• What do they do to ensure all of their outsourced staff are current and compliant? Your future hired sales function needs to be fresh and fully trained, or your business won’t be profitable.

Whatever you decide, don’t get left behind in the race for selling in Europe. Begin your journey into Europe on the right road, and start profiting today. Take the plunge and you’ll see why sales outsourcing is a great fit for SaaS, and a great fit for your business.