Are you struggling to increase sales? Struggling to generate leads? Struggling to build your business? Now is the time to begin expanding your sales team.
You have two options when it comes to sales: build an in-house sales team or turn to an outsourced sales team for support.
The difference between outsourcing and in-house.
Outsourcing means hiring external resources to help you complete projects. These might include freelancers or agencies specialising in performing a particular task or project. For example, hiring a social media consultant is a way to outsource your social media management.
Outsourcing is generally done for cost-saving reasons, but there are other reasons.
- Increased efficiency: Companies can concentrate on their core competencies and work more efficiently.
- Optimal scalability: Outsourcing increases the availability of labour. As a result, maximum output can be achieved and production guaranteed.
- Quicker response: You are more responsive to change because you can pass these tasks on to specialised third-party companies.
- Quality improvement: Outsourcing often brings quality improvements. For instance, in manufacturing, a good factory or workshop can improve the quality of products.
- Lack of know-how: Companies’ new processes and operations are often necessary, but the employees often lack the required know-how and implementation skills. Outsourcing is an alternative to hiring skilled workers for this.
On the other hand, in-house resources are any work done within a business by its employees rather than by external people.
Both of these approaches have their advantages and disadvantages, and the right decision isn’t always clear.
Advantages and disadvantages of in-house sales.
With an in-house sales team, you will have complete control over the sales team. If you have a history in sales and are an experienced manager, this will not pose a challenge to you. If not, it may be sensible to outsource to sales professionals who make sales every day.
Similarly, hiring an in-house team requires considerable investment. Some of the costs include:
- Employee wages
- Benefits costs
- Training costs
- Software licenses
- Human resources expenditure
- Administration management
For perspective, most British companies spend on average £1,068 per employee for training alone. Similarly, building an in-house sales team takes time, especially if extra training is needed.
Advantages and disadvantages of outsourcing sales.
Outsourced sales is considerably cheaper than building an in-house sales team. Hiring experienced full-time salespeople can be costly, especially for start-ups. If cash flow is a challenge, then outsourcing your sales on a part-time basis could be a much more affordable option.
Another positive aspect of outsourcing sales is that you also buy a robust sales methodology in addition to purchasing an experienced sales team. By relying on a professional sales team, you have more time to focus on your own skillset and the running of your company.
Some people, however, believe that outsourcing sales can lead to a loss of control of the customer relationship or even the complete sales process. Whilst this is a perfectly valid concern, outsourcing your sales can actually give your more control in that you can clearly outline the process to the sales team, which they then have to follow.
Another classic argument against outsourcing is the potential loss of information. The implication being that outsourced sales teams may not be transparent and, in essence, build their own network at your expense. Whilst this can happen if working with an unscrupulous sales team, it can easily be avoided by partnering with a reputable sales team with a sold record.
Which one are you going to choose?
You can build your sales team in-house from the ground up, but that takes time and money you may not have at your disposal. If cash flow is a problem, and you can’t wait several months to start seeing results from your sales effort, you should consider using an outsourced sales team.