Sales as a ServiceⓇ continues to grow in popularity, with more and more companies outsourcing key sales processes to help meet their goals. Still, some sales leaders are hesitant to consider it, especially to support their inside sales needs.
We’ve noticed over the years that there are a few common myths about outsourcing inside sales—objections that many sales leaders seem to share. But we’ve seen for ourselves that these myths aren’t true. And for companies that are already leveraging Sales as a Service, these myths have been debunked in the form of a growing pipeline and increased revenue.
Top Myths About Outsourcing Your Inside Sales
Here, we explore four of the most common myths about outsourcing an inside sales team:
MYTH 1: Outsourcing costs more than building my sales team in-house.
As we emerge from the coronavirus slowdown, many businesses will be more focused than ever on controlling costs. And though it may seem like outsourcing your inside sales would cost more than having your own team, it’s important to consider all of the costs involved. After all, the cost of a sales team is more than just each employee’s salary. Other costs include:
- Commissions and bonuses
- Benefits, which typically make up nearly 40 percent of compensation
- Recruiting, including hiring a recruiter, advertising the position, conducting background checks, and more
- Hiring, which averages more than $4,400 per employee
- Training, which can take up to 10 weeks
- Infrastructure, such as office space and computer equipment
On top of those more predictable costs, with your own team you must also consider costs that you may incur as the result of an economic downturn or a change in strategy. In these cases, the cost of attrition, backfill, and even severance can quickly begin to add up.
These problems can be solved by outsourcing your inside sales to a Sales as a Service provider. A Sales as a Service partner can hire employees faster and often for less money. Plus, they can quickly scale the team both up and down, depending on your needs—but without broader cost implications.
MYTH 2: Fortune 500 companies have no need to outsource their sales processes.
Sales as a Service isn’t just for startups. In fact, working with a Sales as a Service partner provides a variety of potential benefits to Fortune 500 companies, and a significant percentage of these firms are already leveraging Sales as a Service to bolster their inside sales.
Sales as a Service providers like MarketStar give large companies a reliable way to reduce their infrastructure and management costs—which in a Fortune 500 firm can be significant—while standing up a high-performing sales team quickly and predictably. And, as their needs evolve, the Fortune 500 company will also benefit from the Sales as a Service partner’s ability to quickly scale.
MYTH 3: Outsourcing my inside sales team is too risky.
Some sales leaders hesitate to outsource sales because they worry that the Sales as a Service team won’t represent their brand well, or that their products or services are too complex for an outside team to effectively sell. But a quality Sales as a Service provider will treat your products or services as if they were their own, working with integrity and diligently learning your business—regardless of its complexity.
Outsourcing a sales team is actually far less risky than building a team in-house. That’s because when a company recruits and staffs its own inside sales team, it assumes all of the risks associated with it. But an outsourcing inside sales strategy team lets the company move some of that risk onto your Sales as a Service partner, whose revenue is often directly tied to its performance.
MYTH 4: Outsourced sales agencies don't bring thought leadership to the table.
Outsourcing inside sales is significantly different from outsourcing something like customer service, wherein many cases, representatives can simply read from a script. Outsourcing your sales processes requires a true partner—a company that knows your business, understands its challenges and opportunities, and can help you grow.
A Sales as a Service provider will be laser focused on selling. It hires highly experienced salespeople and utilizes the best marketing technologies, including advanced analytics capabilities and big data techniques, which will provide insight into what drives your sales process. As you and your company look for new and innovative ways to sell, your Sales as a Service partner will likely have useful insights into how you could be building your business. After all, selling is all they do.
Busting the Myths
As the use of Sales as a Service continues to grow among companies of all sizes, many sales leaders still assume that outsourcing their inside sales isn’t right for their company.
Sales as a Service is a reliable, time-tested method for outsourcing inside sales. When you and your team see why these myths simply don’t hold water, you stand to reap the benefits of this innovative, effective approach to sales.
