Accelerating Growth with a Sales Outsourcing Strategy

In the majority of companies, from large multi-national firms to smaller high-growth companies, strict attention is paid to operational efficiency but little or no attention is paid to sales process optimization. Designing an efficient, effective sales process is an essential step in accelerating growth with a strategic approach to sales.

Most companies take a tactical approach to sales. The sales force is focused on acquiring another new client and getting the next reorder. They are playing a numbers game, but they often they do not hit the target. The big question then is, "Why aren't we hitting the sales goal?" The most common answer from internal experts and consultants is usually "low sales force productivity." And the solutions often include increased investment in lead generation, sales force automation software upgrades and additional price concessions.

The real problem is often quite different – the sales force, marketing and customer service are usually disconnected and the company's message is confused. The most effective solution is to move from disconnected, tactical efforts to a strategic sales process. Although this transition can be accomplished by a company's management team, a successful transition to a strategic selling organization usually requires an external consultant to facilitate the process and provide an objective, outside perspective – to challenge the status quo. The goal of establishing a strategic sales process is simple: get everyone on the same page and align all the efforts in the same direction. Like many simple goals, this is one that is easy to set but a difficult to achieve.

A step by step process

• The first step in taking a strategic approach to sales is to clearly define what the company stands for and how it should be presented to prospects, customers and employees – a formal mission statement. If this mission is created through a collaborative process then formalized, you have the best shot of having everyone understand and support it.

• Once you have a clear mission, move on to the value proposition. What can you offer to customers and prospects that will differentiate your company from the competition?

• Now define the target market so that the marketing department and sales support vendors can align your lead generation program to focus on this key target market. Many companies have found that carefully targeted lead generation programs are the most effective way to improve sales force productivity, increase close rates, increase sales revenue per customer and measurably increase sales revenues.

With a mission, value proposition and target market defined, your management team can get the advertising, sales presentations and service support to all communicate a clear, unified message to your prospects and customers.

Sales Process Review

Finally, examine all of your sales processes. Do all of your employees have easy access to the right information to make sure that key prospects become customers and customers prefer to do business with your company? Are your sales processes lean, fast and efficient? Is there a feedback system in place so the senior management team rapidly knows about issues and opportunities for growth? Which sales functions can be done more efficiently and effectively if outsourced and which are best done by internal staff?

There is no standardized template for sales process design and your company's sales processes will be as unique as your employees, your product and service offering, and your customers. But there are some basic principles:

1. Abandon the concept of "big quick wins." Look for opportunities to make small, but meaningful changes. Small improvements made in a number of areas across the sales cycle will add up quickly and yield big results.
2. No two organizations have the same requirements, the same challenges or the same assets. Take a cold, hard look at your organization to identify the real strengths and weaknesses. Then build on your strengths and take actions to minimize the weaknesses.
3. Work to build and maintain shared ownership of the goals and tasks across your organization.

These are just a few of the observations we have made working with our clients. If you have any questions about your sales process, please contact us.