Don’t Believe Everything You Hear About Outsourcing
by
If you’ve ever considered outsourcing your lead generation function, at least one of these thoughts has probably crossed your mind:
“What’s the point in paying for lead generation services when none of the leads actually convert?”
“How can an external team effectively sell my product/service when my own salespeople are struggling?”
“Why would I pay for outsourced services when I can hire my own person/team for the same cost, if not cheaper?”
All valid questions.
What’s your objective?
There are lots of outsourced lead generation services to suit different needs – Demand Generation, Inside Sales, Account-Based Marketing… the list goes on.
Ultimately, what most business leaders need is to quickly grow sales pipeline, thus generating more revenue.
But, in all honesty, outsourcing isn’t the right choice for every business. Sometimes it makes more sense to do things in-house. And this is fine, as long as you’re prepared to deal with the challenges, such as:
- New starters underperforming for the first 3-6 months while you pay their salaries.
- You and your team managing new starters and having less time to focus on revenue-generating tasks
- The loss of time and associated costs if a new starter leaves within the first 6 months.
The key is understanding your objective. Do you want to keep costs to a minimum by doing everything internally (even if it means stretching your resources and negatively impacting results)? Or are you more concerned about quickly filling your pipeline with quality leads so you can focus on closing deals (even if it means investing more in the short-term)?
If your main objective is the latter, outsourcing is the best way to go.
Still not convinced? Then read on.
Quality vs. Quantity
At least 50% of prospects chased by salespeople are not a good fit. – Hubspot
The Myth: Quantity over quality
Cheap outsourcing providers will often pay their salespeople commission on a ‘per lead’ basis. This means their people are likely to pass over any old lead to earn extra cash, resulting in an awkward and pointless follow-up call for you or one of your people.
The problem with this high-volume approach is that it incentivises the wrong behaviour. It encourages cutting corners and risks devaluing your brand and reputation.
The Truth: Quality over quantity
The average sales rep using a blanket prospecting approach will find at least half of the prospects they spend their time chasing are not a good fit.
However, a good outsourcing company earns their reputation by generating high-quality leads for their clients. This means a more targeted approach, resulting in higher conversion rates, higher deal values and better ROI in the long-run.
In most cases, you don’t need more leads. You need better leads. Would you rather spend hours sifting through mountains of s**t? Or spend your time on a smaller pile of golden nuggets?
We hear you; you want quantity and quality. But quality always wins in a game of Top Trumps (shameless plug for our Lead Gen Top Trumps eBook).
One approach fits all
69% of buyers say they’re most likely to speak with salespeople who provide industry-specific data. – Hubspot
The Myth: Not suitable for niche or high-value products/services
If your product or service is especially niche, you may assume only your own people are able to grasp the concept. But if that were true, how would your customers understand its value?
As with niche offerings, there is some stigma around the difficulty of selling high-value products and services. But this is where targeted prospecting makes all the difference. If you target the right size companies, your price tag won’t be much of an obstacle.
The Truth: Highly adaptable
The truth is that experienced sales outsourcing teams are experts in getting up to speed on new things quickly. Plus, having sold many different things to many different people, their approach is typically far more agile and adaptable than that of a more specialised SDR.
No matter how niche the product or service, the key is to provide buyers with information relevant to their specific industry pains (69% of buyers say they’re most likely to speak with salespeople who provide data relevant to their business). This personalised prospecting approach is where most successful outsourcing organisations excel.
An extension of your team
66% of businesses with 50+ employees use outsourced services. – Time Doctor
The Myth: Out of sight, out of mind
One of the biggest advantages of doing things in-house is having total visibility of all ongoing activity… right?
Wrong!
Having that visibility means investing time and money into monitoring calls and Email activity, holding regular team meetings and compiling in-depth analytics – no easy task for business leaders with little time to spare.
The Truth: Deep insight and collaboration
With a good Outsourced Sales provider, total transparency is part of the package. You can expect regular reports with details of activity (including any notable conversations the team had with prospects, even if they didn’t result in an SQL). Some may also use AI tools to help analyse and automate reporting, allowing for clearer insights and continuous improvement.
Often, sales and marketing outsourcers can provide the best form of market intelligence research. There’s no better way to test your proposition than to actually sell it to people. Forget making decisions based on the answer of weirdos filling out surveys to win a free Amazon Echo. Real insight comes from the coalface!
This level of communication means a good outsourced team are more like an extension of your own organisation, rather than an external third party. It’s probably why 66% of businesses with 50+ employees use outsourced services.
We know what we’re talking about. Trust us!
You may have gathered by now that, here at durhamlane, we’re damn proud of our outsourced services. For 10 years, we’ve been helping B2B organisations with complex value propositions build and convert pipeline.
We typically run integrated marketing and sales campaigns that ignite demand, drive sales, and accelerate revenue. We’re obsessed with doing stuff that actually moves the needle, and helps build our clients’ businesses.