Does Inside Sales Outsourcing Actually Work?

Scaling quickly with limited resources can be difficult. You want to focus on growing and innovating but staffing up your sales team is often too expensive or time-consuming for startups.

Fortunately, there may be a solution at hand in the form of outsourcing inside sales functions. Outsourcing sales can improve accountability, leverage data insights for better revenue outcomes, support new product rollouts, reduce operational silos, and save valuable company time.

Instead of hiring an entire team early on, you could outsource key functions such as lead generation or bookkeeping to experienced sales professionals. These professionals could provide reliable services at an affordable price and help you eliminate some of the risks associated with scaling up rapidly.

But how could you benefit from it?

Inside sales, outsourcing is delegating a company’s inside sales activities to a third-party provider. This can include tasks such as lead generation, appointment setting, and sales calls, typically handled remotely via phone, email, or other digital channels.

Outsourcing inside sales enables companies to leverage the skills and resources of a dedicated sales team, helping them concentrate on primary business activities while still achieving revenue growth.

Sales outsourcing is hiring a third-party company to handle some or all of your sales activities. This can include prospecting for new leads, making cold calls, negotiating deals, and managing customer relationships, a crucial aspect of customer relationship management.

When you outsource your inside sales, you outsource many everyday tasks.

Inside sales do not require physical contact to sell: they are all done remotely. All the associated tasks only need a laptop and WiFi connection.

You can, therefore, outsource comfortably.

This can occur at any point in the sales cycle, although most companies opt to outsource in the early stages, particularly to build a pipeline.

The tasks at this particular stage tend to be quite tedious and repetitive. They require a thick skin, 100% concentration, and commitment.

Often, inside sales hires can be best served by spending their time closing deals or focusing on sales channels and messaging that have already proven successful.

Startups also typically assign them additional tasks. On any given day, they must select what to focus on, and initial, less likely-to-be-fruitful tasks are often overlooked.

And so along comes outsourcing as a solution.

Outsourcing tasks such as cold calling, cold emailing, social selling, lead qualification, or building B2B lists to experienced professionals has saved companies time, money, and stress.

You can have experienced, dedicated staff without making too much use of your own resources. It is a very attractive alternative to hiring internally.

Given how lucrative an option it is, you must wonder how sales outsourcing works.
It’s pretty simple.

Specialized firms and companies such as SalesPipe have trained and experienced Sales Development Representatives (SDRs) at their disposal. These firms often utilize an outsourced sales development team to increase productivity by managing various sales tasks, such as lead generation and appointment setting.

You write the skills and tool expertise of your desired SDR, and we dive into our database of SDRs.
Based on their experience and your requirements, we match you up with the best possible rep for you and your company.

Simply choose a subscription model that suits your needs; you can cancel at any time or add more SDRs to your team.

Inside sales outsourcing is a viable option for companies of all sizes and industries, but it’s particularly well-suited for businesses that:

• Lack of the resources or expertise to build and manage an effective inside sales team
• Need to scale their sales efforts quickly to meet growing demand
• Want to improve sales performance and increase revenue without adding to their internal headcount
• Are looking to reduce costs associated with hiring, training, and managing an internal sales team
• Need to focus on core business functions, such as product development or customer service

SDRs tend to be green when they are starting. It’s the nature of the job.

And yet, the job is one of your company’s most important: they are your business’s face.

It is they who make that first impression and contact each prospect.

As lovely as it is to be patient and train new salespeople, sometimes you do not have time to wait for them to gain that experience.

When you outsource this influential role, you are guaranteed to work with experienced SDRs and sales reps from the get-go, who understand how critical they are, and already have tips and tricks up their sleeves that newer hires do not.

They already possess the thick skin any SDR worth their salt needs to cultivate to succeed.
Outsourced SDRs are also more creative and comfortable trying new things than the average internal hire.

A lot of spending is involved if you want to hire internally for sales and marketing. And a lot of time.

For newer companies, startups, or companies looking to test the waters for a new product or explore a new market, outsourcing is a better call than spending on talent that may not stay for long.

As mentioned above, outsourced SDRs are already experienced.

This means you do not have to train them.

Typically, one to two weeks of learning the product and your messaging is enough for them to start their outreach campaigns through several means.

Most SDRs take a while to truly show their results, especially if they are just starting out and unsure how best to approach the role.

This is not the case with outsourced SDRs, who have been in the game for some time already, leading to faster sales growth.

Combined with already knowing everything there is to know about the job and merely adapting it to fit your industry, outsourced SDRs from specialized firms have access to top sales technology to enhance sales operations.

And those same tools are now at your disposal.

While your time is struggling with shifting between sales tools and keeping them up-to-date, your outsourced SDRs focus on using specialized technology to help them do what they do best: outreach and booking meetings.

Want them to also work with your CRM?

No problem!

Outsourced SDRs have experience with multiple types of CRMs and can quickly adapt their work to your tech stack as needed.

The average hiring cycle includes: deciding on the requirements, posting the position, interviewing the candidates, and then training the selected candidates.

You can avoid this process by simply working with an outsourced SDR, allowing you to streamline your sales processes and focus on core competencies.

When selecting a sales outsourcing company, several key factors must be considered.

These include:

• Experience and expertise in inside sales outsourcing
• Proven track record of success in driving revenue growth and improving sales performance
• Ability to customize sales outsourcing solutions to meet the unique needs of your business
• Access to advanced sales technology and tools, such as CRM software and sales automation platforms
• Strong communication and project management skills to ensure seamless collaboration and integration with your internal team
• A clear understanding of your target market and customer base
• A robust training program to ensure that outsourced sales reps are knowledgeable about your products or services
• A transparent and flexible pricing model that aligns with your business goals and budget

By carefully evaluating these factors and selecting the right outsourced sales partner, businesses can tap into the benefits of inside sales outsourcing and drive revenue growth, improve sales performance, and increase customer satisfaction.

As we saw above, you avoid the hassle of hiring internally, the time and money that tends to cost businesses by opting for an outsourced sales team.

There is an argument to be made that, since you’re outsourcing, you may lose the knowledge that the outsourced SDR brings with them. And several businesses fear this, making them hesitate to outsource.

It is not something that needs to be a worry, however.

Simply be aware that outsourcing means working with a professional who brings their expertise. Then ensure that the contract you sign means you obtain all the data they gain throughout their contract with you.

The lists they create, messaging, and channels they use are valuable information that can be shared. Most SDR outsourcing companies will do this, but ensuring it is part of the formal contract is always important.

When working with the SDR, make sure that you ask them what they are doing, what is going successfully, and what is not.

They are on the frontlines and have the best ideas and feedback for you. Focus on the numbers, yes, but not at the expense of strategy.

As we saw above, outsourced SDRs can start immediately and much faster than internal hires, which can be a significant advantage for sales and marketing teams that want to collaborate effectively and achieve quick results.

However, if a startup needs quick sales and meetings, you may not wish to try an outsourced SDR for longer than the first month.

This is entirely your prerogative and an understandable decision, but it can be seen as a con.
Depending on the industry, even the most experienced outsourced SDR may have to play a longer game. If your company cannot wait, you might not have the patience for it.

You still come out of it with more knowledge.

Namely, what tactics may or may not be working in your industry.

Or you learn that currently hiring externally or internally is not a good idea to continue based on your budget.

And you’ve done this without spending as much time, effort, and money as you would have on an internal hire. So outsourcing is still the way to go.

Outsourcing companies offer comprehensive sales outsourcing services, including access to top sales tools through the assigned outsourced SDR.

It often makes you realize that your sales tech stack may be missing a few components and tools that could benefit your internal sales team.

And it makes you think you need to spend more on expanding your sales tech stack.

But spending on the tools your outsourced SDR already uses does not necessarily mean they will be used. Often, it becomes another expense.

Instead, continue to rely on your outsourced SDR and their company for their specific sales and outreach-focused approach to building your early-stage sales pipeline.

An outsourced SDR is an experienced player that you add to your team to focus on specific tasks within the sales process.

Think of us as a plug-in of sorts.

This means that your product or service has to be ready and optimized to receive said plug-in.
While outsourced SDRs can help with messaging, particularly focusing on cold messaging to arrive at a meeting or sale, the core must already be prepared.

You cannot expect an outsourced SDR to do the work of your marketing team or a founder, so make sure you hire one at the right time for your company.

First, you want to learn how long this particular company has existed and successfully offered this service.

Longevity is significant in building trust and attracting the right talent. A business that has stood the test of time can be seen as reliable and established.

Considering the duration of the company’s existence can provide valuable insights into its experience, expertise, and track record of delivering the service.

This can often involve anything from Software-as-a-Service, Real Estate (SDRs for PropTech), AI, or FinTech.

For both of your sakes, it is best to see if your product matches the expertise the company is most comfortable with.

A clear understanding of how payment works for the company.

Most companies, including SalesPipe, offer subscription services. These can be monthly, bimonthly, yearly, or completely customized to your needs.

You want to know what you would be getting into and how much you would spend.

Most companies will ask that you prepare target and marketing information or previous sales information. You may have to select an SDR that best suits your interests.

They will ask you to tell them about your product or service, its industry niche, and the market value it provides.

This may be done in a first meeting, in their sign-up form, or via email follow-ups or exchanges.

This provides you with knowledge about the type of SDR you may be assigned.

Learning about their sales enablement tools, how they will work in your favor, and what the available SDRs have experience with, helps you figure out how to fit them into your existing tech stack.

Plus, you can start thinking about strategies to diversify your approach.

Given everything you have read, what do you think?

As you can imagine, at SalesPipe we strongly believe inside sales outsourcing is the future for sales teams.

The world is more connected than ever, and inside sales do not require anyone to be in any physical place. With the right tools and strategy, an outsourced SDR is worth its weight in gold.
Not to mention the treasure trove of talent outsourcing can connect you with.

If you’re ready to take the plunge, get started with SalesPipe today!