A proven way to successfully accelerate growth and revenue, using outsourced sales teams can yield astounding results. Whether you’re a start-up trying to build a new client base or an enterprise business seeking to enter new markets, outsourcing sales can help you reach your business goals cost-effectively.

However, it isn’t as simple as hiring an outsourced sales team and leaving them to their own devices. Rather, there is an aspect of relationship management and ramping up that is required to get the very best results out of the venture. Follow our top tips for successfully managing an outsourced sales team below.

Benefits of using outsourced sales teams

There are a number of benefits to using an outsourced sales team, even if you already have a team of your own. Having a hybrid approach to sales with both an internal and external team is now a very popular approach.

Some of the many benefits of using an outsourced sales team include:

• The ability to scale into new markets
• Reducing costs – the cost of building an internal sales team is much higher than you may think, whereas you don’t have to worry about paying salaries, rent or equipment when using outsourced sales teams
• You reap the benefits of having an experienced sales team without having to invest money and time into training
• Increases productivity of internal teams
• Experiment with new strategies and untapped opportunities
• Increased flexibility and scalability, as you have the option to add more resources if necessary.

However, all of these benefits can only be gained if you manage your outsourced sales teams effectively. Unsure of where to start? We’ve got you covered.

Tips for using outsourced sales teams

Even the most experienced SDRs need to be properly enabled to get the best results. Regardless of if you’re new to the world of outsourced sales teams or you simply want to ensure you’re getting the best results possible, our tips below will help put your SDRs on track for success.

Use outsourced sales reps as an extension of your own team

One of the major benefits of hiring an outsourced sales team is that they need little technical and sales training as they’re already experienced in this field. However, that doesn’t mean that they should simply be given a list of accounts to target and left to their own devices.

Those who use outsourced SDR services as a ‘plug-and-play’ solution are unlikely to see the same results as those who utilise them as an extension of their internal teams. Regardless of how skilled the sales representative is, they need to be given an insight into target personas and enabled from both a messaging and collateral perspective.

It’s all well and good investing in SDR services, but if you treat them like a supplier and don’t provide them with the information necessary to deliver the right messaging to the right people, you simply won’t get high-quality results. Having a collaborative approach to outsourced teams will have you on the right track to success at a much faster pace.

Relay on expectations early on

Setting expectations is vital in ensuring that your outsourced sales team understands what you want from the venture, as well as giving them a direction to go in. This tip goes hand-in-hand with the previous advice of using your outsourced SDRs as an extension of your own team. After all, you wouldn’t hire an internal sales team and leave them unsure of the business’s goals.

Having a ramp-up period in which you offer clarity around ICPs, branding, goals, why accounts are being targeted and expectations can not only accelerate an SDRs understanding of your specific needs but ensure they’re on the same page as your internal teams.

Make sure to provide information surrounding:

• Target personas
• Qualification
• KPIs
• Lead handover processes
• Specifics about branding and messaging
• Goals
• Common objections

Do you want to expand into new territories, or perhaps you have a new service you want to roll out? How do you want your SDRs to qualify leads? What KPIs do you expect to have visibility of? Having clarity around these metrics will get your outsourced sales team on track and pulling in results at a much quicker pace.

Keep up with communication

The most successful programs are the ones in which there is a high level of communication. This doesn’t mean constantly checking in on the SDR, but instead developing a relationship in which there is an open line of communication, trust, and friendliness.

This communication could come in the form of a weekly video catch-up in which the likes of objections, hurdles, tips and strategies are discussed or a team group instant messaging chat, such as Slack or WhatsApp. Having this communication and trust is mutually beneficial, allowing you to strategize, tackle issues and keep up to date with processes.

Have the right mindset

As mentioned previously, some have a misconception that SDR services are a quick fix or ‘plug-and-play’ solution in which they can invest money and have little input or interaction but still get results. Instant results are not possible without the clients’ support, no matter how experienced the outsourced sales team is.

Those who understand that things can go wrong with outsourced sales teams and work with them to resolve issues have a far more succinct journey than those with unrealistic expectations of perfection. Again, this looks back to the main point of using outsourced sales teams collaboratively rather than leaving them to their own devices with little direction.

If you’re looking for an outsourced sales team that specialises in the realm of B2B tech and software, then you’re in the right place. Get in touch with the team at Operatix today to find out how we can help accelerate your sales.