Inside Sales Outsourcing: Everything You Need to Know

One thing to keep in mind is the good ol' saying: it's best to hire a professional.

This is usually in the context of dad's refusing to hire someone to fix anything from a toilet to a light, then causing more of a mess and a higher bill because they thought they could fix it themselves.

It may be a stereotype, but it does teach that valuable lesson.

Why try to fix something you don't have time for when you could hire someone to do it for you and do it well?

This is the logic to outsourcing your inside sales, and what we will be covering in this post.

The first thing to understand is what is meant by inside sales.

Inside sales are sales done remotely by your representatives outside of a brick and mortar store, not in person. Typical tactics here are cold calling, cold emailing, social selling, or direct messaging via the internet. The sale is being pursued outside the physical proximity of the customer.

While inside sales teams can certainly be created and kept in-house for any company, you should always be aware that it can be outsourced. Any part of the inside sales process, whether outbound or inbound focused, can be passed on to expert companies dedicated to making sure these processes run smoothly.

As it is a job that can be done remotely, you could really hire from anywhere in the world. And while a lot has been said about the pros and cons of outsourcing, the reality is an outsourced sales team will always be more affordable than building one in-house.

Outsourced sales development companies will focus on generating a sales pipeline by creating and pursuing opportunities that result in real leads. They can offer to do so via outbound efforts, focusing on letting your potential customers know you exist via cold calling or emailing. Their efforts will be quickly rewarded, as they will be aware of what is working or changing in your potential customer's interests and lives. From their experiences, they will be able to create an even clearer picture of the ideal customer looking to solve their problems with your product or service.

Inbound sales can also be outsourced. They are typically connected to inbound marketing. Examples of this include signing up for free trials or newsletters, thereby providing some form of personal information that can be used to contact them. They have already expressed some type of interest in what you're selling. But this does mean that, instead of working off of a carefully curated and selected list based on the ideal customer like your outbound team, your inbound team may have some more duds that they have to wade through.

By outsourcing inbound lead qualification, you don't have to worry about spending hours of the day chasing every data point of someone that expressed interest. Your inbound lead management team, that you've hired expressly for this purpose, will do research and meet to qualify if these prospects are actual leads that may become clients. They will be the ones moving them along the pipeline based on your qualifications for the right clientele - or removing them if they are not worth it.

When you outsource these types of activities in your pipeline by purchasing inbound lead services, you are able to concentrate on building relationships with the right clients and closing the best deals instead of wading through too much information at once.

When you ask how to increase inbound sales, the answer is by managing them better.

And what better way to do so than by having a team or team member dedicated exclusively to doing that and nothing else?

With that in play, you can focus your time on improving your product or service even further.

You can outsource your sales efforts entirely or simply focus on outbound, inbound, market research, or whatever you prefer in your specific situation.

Seeing all the positives that outsourcing your inside sales team can bring, the question becomes, how do you do it?

Firstly, you can hire directly from an offshore supplier, a more expensive option, or a third-party specialized firm, like SalesPipe. SalesPipe functions as a bridge between our customers and our SDRs, ensuring needs are met on both ends while supporting both sides of the equation so the partnership is the most fruitful it can be.

You will seek references from the third-party firm or offshore supplier you select to work with. You will also run the numbers to compare the potential revenue generation with the costs of outsourcing, versus the creation of an in-house team.

You also need to be in agreement with the outsourced inside sales team about how you want the communication channels to work. Not only between you and your dedicated team, but between the team and your potential customers, and between you and your potential customers.

A good strategy is to have a weekly call with your outsourced inside sales team, in which you review weekly goals, what is working or not working and determining why, and ensuring that the messaging that is being sent out is fresh and accurate to your value proposition.

Any particular changes, such as additional features to your product or service, or a switch in the type of customer you are targeting, would be covered in these meetings.

Outsourced inside sales teams can also provide statistical evidence of how they're doing, which helps determine how much revenue is being generated for you. This data usually includes the number of prospects being reached out to, open rates on calls and emails, and the number of leads being generated per week and month.

Providing your outsourced inside sales team with access is part of the process. Not only access to the basics of your company product or service so they can sell it accordingly, but access to you and whoever else in your company may need to be in the loop.

For example, you want to make sure that you have the right set-up for your sales team to add meetings to your calendar. Give your sales team access to some type of scheduling system where they can add a meeting with a lead that they have qualified as worth it for you to meet with. Without this access, it is very easy for potential customers to disappear between your fingers.

If all of these instances are followed correctly, it is very easy for you and your outsourced inside sales team to generate quality leads in no time at all. Having a third-party firm to also support the efforts on both sides of the equation also offers great confidence and solutions whenever you come across something you are unsure about.

When you're looking to outsource, you want to make sure you're looking for the best of the best to help you out.

Just like searching for the right outbound lead generation service, it's a process.

There are a few checklist items to think about, just like when you're looking for the right cereal brand for your morning breakfasts.

Expertise or Experience

You want to know what expertise or experience the outsourcing company has.

Some outsourcing companies focus on Software-as-a-Service (Saas), others may focus on supply chain or product.

There tends to be particular lingo that certain industries will have, and an outsourced inside sales company with a specific focus will be able to meet your needs best.

But a company focused on SaaS, like SalesPipe, does have some wiggle room.

After all, there are so many different types of SaaS examples, from healthcare to marketing to soccer clubs, that our outsourced SDRs are jacks of all trades.

Give them a basic idea of your product or service and they can hit the ground running to get you valuable meetings on your calendar.

Your Team

Tied to this, you want to know a bit more about the individual SDR or SDRs that will be working for you.

Ask about their experience and background, and why they're being considered for you specifically by the company.

If they have other customers or have had similar customers in the past will also tell you a lot about them.

You should also consider asking what the length of time for a first meeting should be, and if the company would step in to provide aid in this case.

Answers to these questions would provide good insight into how the third-party firm works and whether or not you think they're the right fit for you and your needs.

Re-engagement

Another good question to consider is related to re-engagement.

It's been proven that it takes multiple times of talking to a prospect before they become a client.

Asking what their different tactics are to go from cold to warm with leads, and whether re-engagement plays any role at all is a good indicator of how the company trains and manages their SDRs to be the very best they can be.

Sales Channels

You should also ask what channels they use to sell, such as calling, email, or social selling, and see if it matches what you are currently set up to do.

For example, if you have been focusing on emailing, they can pick that up but also add a component of social selling or calling after a few emails, which you and your company may not have time for currently.

Tech Stack

Check what tech stacks they are working with as well.

If you are all familiar with Slack, for example, it makes communication easier, or if you want them to be added to your CRM.

Ask what they use for lead generation so it gives you an idea of what they will be working with, like LinkedIn Sales Navigator.

Payment Plan

A good thing to consider as well when choosing an outsourced sales company is a payment plan.

Is there a tiered plan or different types of payment plans that may be better for you depending on your situation?

Some may have it and some may not, but getting the full picture is always best.

Additional Materials

Some companies will offer additional materials for their clients, beyond email copy.

Their SDRs may do a bit of promotion on social media to engage with prospects or create marketing materials that the company may add to their LinkedIn.

This is up to you and your needs, but it is good to be aware that some outsourcing sales companies can offer these services to top sales team members as another way to generate leads for them to manage.

Starting to build your sales pipeline on your own can be a daunting task, and then keeping track and managing on top of everything else can become overwhelming for any small to medium business.

We've adapted to the majority of sales being inside sales, whether outbound or inbound. Your sales team has to be in tip-top shape to keep track of everything, and training them takes time and resources you may not have.

A great way to circumvent these issues and still ensure you are generating revenue is to outsource your inside sales to an expert team.

Get in touch with us to see how SalesPipe can help you with your inside sales!