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Following on from my previous question about outsourced marketing can you outsource sales effort as well in b2b senarios?

Once marketing has brought in a qualified lead someone has to get the over the line ... currently that is me. This is fairly effective as I can sit in the room and actually solve their problem on the spot, this is very powerful. The bit I suck at is the 3 followups, modifying the proposal, booking the appointments etc. Basically the "sheepdog" work as I see it, once I have solved the problem, I seem to go searching for the next problem ... thus this question.

Where can I realistically expect to draw this line? Is it practical to do so?

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3 Answers

up vote 3 down vote accepted

Yes. Of course.

Representatives, Resellers, Value-Added-Resellers, Distributors . . . these are all different models of outsourcing sales. They all have significant advantages-- and none of them are mutually exclusive of the other. These models are the foundation of B2B sales.

You can also expand your sales operation by differentiating the sales responsibilities into different roles -- "promoting yourself" to a sales management role limiting yourself to providing technical assistance to the frontline sales effort, or to the a sales engineer providing support on the technical nature of the project/service offering.

To do this be sure that you have developed a well documented sales process, and designed an effective CRM with appropriate accountability and transparency to allow you to effectively manage it. A good CRM should also provide you significant support in those tasks you hate!

Of course having reps and resellers, VARs and distributors are just additional target markets for your sales operation. Each of them are customers in their own right. And bringing them over the line and providing them ongoing services is essential to the success of the operation.

Remember -- there is nothing sadder than an artist selling themselves -- and you Sir are a problem-solving artist. Having someone other than the boss involved in the sales process, and using the boss to close the deal can make all of the difference.

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Thanks ... I think :) I agree the boss should be one removed from the sales process so they can come in and be he "hero cutting the deal" when it is required. More to the point, I don't want to be doing that, I have spent the last few days doing actual Development work again and your right I'm much better of focusing on that. – Robin Vessey Apr 14 '11 at 8:40

Many high-growth companies have outpaced their competitors and accelerated new market entries by employing sales outsourcing. Rather than expand their existing sales teams, these innovative CEO's have used outsourced sales teams to dramatically increase sales and achieve rapid market penetration. These companies have left their lagging competitors in the dust.

If your company is planning to expand into new customer segments or new territories, the most time-efficient and cost-effective method may be to use sales outsourcing. Sales outsourcing firms can provide you with access to existing relationships and market knowledge about new customer segments and new territories. The benefits of sales outsourcing include:

• Sales outsourcing can result in both increased sales and reduced marketing costs. • Sales outsourcing can diversify a company's sales channel and expand the reach to new customers. • Companies who work with sales partners have significantly accelerated their time to market and shortened their sales cycles. • Sales outsourcing can lower risk – most sales partners are willing to enter into a shared risk, shared rewards arrangement. • Overall marketing ROI is improved because of higher close rates and lower costs per sale that a specialized firm can deliver.

There is a handy white paper on using sales force outsourcing to augment your developing sales strategy at: http://www.mansfieldsp.com/

Best of luck! Chris

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I had the same issues trying to open europe for tech companies, thus I started my own service. Happy to provide any advise.

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Rather than simply list your site -- why not share with use some of the advice that you do have? – Joseph Barisonzi Apr 5 '11 at 3:16

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