The cost of making a sale today is more than it’s ever been, and the challenges of designing a well-oiled sales function continue to grow in complexity. Sales reps understand today’s consumer is more educated, informed, and powerful than ever, and getting face-time with the right people is becoming increasingly difficult. On the other hand, sales managers are seeing firsthand the constant influx of new competition, and standing out in an overcrowded market is costing a lot more than it used to.
With so many new players in the game, and since consumers have more power than ever, it makes sense that sales are becoming increasingly difficult to come by. As a myriad of industries grow more and more turbulent, so do sales teams and the processes they’ve relied on for so long to clinch high-priority deals. The ‘one-size-fits-all approach’ is a thing of the past, but so many sales functions are left struggling to change their processes. Because of this, gaps begin to form in sales performance, and sometimes even trickle down deeper into the sales structure itself.
Changing Your Sales Structure
Although most organizations devote a considerable amount of time and money to manage their sales forces, few focus much thought on how their sales structure needs to change in order to keep reaching their accelerating market goals in such a flooded marketplace . . . at least until now. A recent article published in the “World at Work Journal,” estimated that U.S. companies alone spend an estimated $800 billion on their sales forces each year, and because of this, many organizations have started scrutinizing their sales structure while beginning to look at different marketplace opportunities.
A large amount of companies have started looking toward outsourcing specific products or services so they can free up their direct sales teams to focus on high-priority business objectives while continuing to maintain a strong return on their investment, and because of this, several businesses are beginning to outsource “non-core” functions such as IT, Logistics, Human Resources, and Advertising. A number of new studies are showing that large and mid-market businesses that have started incorporating sales outsourcing into their sales function are seeing a competitive advantage over companies that retain these functions in-house.
Closing The Sales Gap
Sales outsourcing companies should understand your target segment, be able to use big data to identify the most profitable territories, market to different segments with different offers using a variety of channels and platforms, and match their sales reps to individual customers based on the likelihood of converting that particular type of person or business. They should be able to train sales representatives quickly and have boots on the ground within a couple of months to start engaging your target customers, effectively communicate your message, and continue your brand’s growth.
In return, your organization benefits from fewer sales gaps, lower costs of operations, greatly reduced error rates, and the ability to shift limited resources and internal top sales performers to the critical parts of the business that they are best equipped to manage. Beyond just getting better results though, you’ll acquire a complete transparency into your data with executive analysis to help identify threats and opportunities going forward.
