Startups are often running on a tightrope of innovation and better sales strategy. Once your product gets ready and goes to the market, it is crucial to ensure the sales representatives handling the sales are equipped with knowledge about the product and sales skills. It may not always be possible for a startup to find salespeople, train them and equip them with sales tools in a short period. There is a great solution for this problem, i.e., sales outsourcing for startups.
The rule is very simple. You focus on refining your product, and the sales representatives from the outsourced firm will handle the sales. This is a win-win scenario for the startup, the sales team, and even the customer, as they get quality service.
Here, in this article, we will discuss sales outsourcing, its benefits, different types of sales outsourcing, and things you should consider while outsourcing sales for your startup. Let’s get started.
What Is Sales Outsourcing For Startups?
As already stated, startups struggle to form a good sales team as they are very new on the market and do not have members on their team well equipped to offer sales services in the competitive market. It is also not wise to gamble with untrained staff for sales as it can ruin the reputation and create a bad image of the company.
On the other hand, the firms that provide sales outsourcing are well equipped, trained, and have lots of experienced staff. They also have a complete suite of sales services to fuel startup sales. As a result, they can build awareness around the product, and get better leads, often using advanced tech like AI and machine learning, closing sales deals, and analyzing the sales metrics.
This is where you can take advantage of sales outsourcing as a startup. You can fill the void on your team with this skilled manpower and build an overall magnetic team. You can then focus on improving your product from the feedback you get from the market and, in turn, improving sales. This is a perfect solution for your problem as a startup.
In addition, there are different types of sales outsourcing models that you can opt for.
Different Models Of Sales Outsourcing For Startups
Sales outsourcing for startups can be done in various ways. However, there are mainly three models that summarize all the ways you can outsource.
Fullstack Model
The full-stack model is where you outsource all of your sales tasks to the outsourced firm. They will handle the whole sales funnel, like building awareness about the product, generating leads, closing deals, and collecting and analyzing sales data for further sales improvement.
In this model, your internal team just has to work on your product while the external sales team handles the sales. It is practical for small startups as they do not have enough manpower and skills.
Vertical Model
This model is called vertical in relation to the sales funnel. The bottom part of the sales funnel, such as closing deals with a customer, is done internally by your own internal staff, while the external team will focus on the top part, such as building awareness, collecting leads, and providing the leads to the internal team.
This model is a good solution if your business is still growing and is not yet fully capable of handling the whole sales funnel by itself. It also ensures the quality of the sales is as per your standard, and you can make changes to the sales strategy as your internal team wants.
Horizontal Model
The horizontal model is often called the parallel model, where two parallel teams handle the sales funnel. One of the teams is internal, and another is outsourced. Here, both of the teams are responsible for handling their own sales funnel from top to bottom. It often fosters healthy competition between the two teams and results in better sales growth.
This model is often opted for by multinational firms where the domestic market is handled by the internal sales team while the external or a specific market is handled by the external team. Here there can be more than one external and internal sales team. This model is popular in many tech companies as they employ sales outsourcing in the growing market before setting up their own internal sales team.
Benefits Of Outsourcing Sales For Startups
Sales outsourcing is a growing market. It is so because of the lucrative opportunity it provides for startups. The benefits of sales outsourcing often win over the cons. Here we have identified and described some key benefits you get when you outsource sales for your startup.
Low cost
When you outsource sales to an external firm, it is often at low cost than establishing your own internal sales team. The price is also fixed or predictable, so you would not be hit by a big surprise bill putting the future of your startup at risk. You can manage the cost as you will already know the cost upfront.
Scalability
It is also scalable. You can increase or decrease the sales team or service as you go. It often is a good idea as you do not know how many sales resources you need as a startup. If your sales increases with time, you can ask the firm to increase support for you. This scalability is not possible in an internal team as it takes a long time to recruit and train sales representatives with the right skills.
Time-Saving
It saves you a lot of time. As already explained, recruiting your own sales team, training them, and making them an expert on par with the competition will take a lot of time and effort. It may drain the energy from your team and negatively impact the company as a whole.
Skilled Manpower
Skills are what you need in a sales team. A new recruit or a recently transitioned staff from another department cannot be as skilled as a member of the external sales team who has been working in sales for a long time. With sales outsourcing, you will get skilled manpower at your disposal which will be an asset for you. It is a sustainable idea.
Other than these mentioned benefits, there are a ton of benefits that you will get when outsourcing sales. If you are a startup, it is a great idea that most of the startups in this day and age opt for.
Things To Consider Before Outsourcing Sales In A Startup
There are some things you may want to consider before outsourcing your sales to an external firm.
- How much experience does the firm has, and if they have worked within your product niche before?
- What are their past achievements, and which companies have they worked for?
- What is the work process of the firm, and how will they handle your sales?
- How do they report? And how often do they provide you with feedback?
- How scalable are they? If you want more services in the future, will they be able to provide them?
Looking For Experts To Outsource Your Sales?
As it may be evident to you by now that sales outsourcing is a great idea for your startup. If you still have some questions and need them to be answered, we at Vparagon can answer them all for you.
Contact us today to outsource sales of your startup. We handle all your sales for you and ensure that you concentrate on your product so that we can have a long-lasting relationship. We believe in the mutual benefit of ours and our clients together. Contact us today for any inquiries.
