Sales outsourcing is an effective and proven methodology to reduce costs and reach out to more prospects but there are some pitfalls to avoid during the initial stages of the engagement. Some of the common issues that arise are:
Expectation Mismatch
When a company enters into a sales outsourcing services agreement, they have very high expectations from the vendor in terms of sales revenue, project completion in minimum possible time, overseeing the sales team, and making them future-ready to handle complex business challenges.
However, such unrealistic expectations can hamper the project adversely and can lead to project failure and disappointment for the business.
The best practice is to define the process played by the outsourcing service provider and the client, and the expected results. It is also important to understand the expectations and the risks involved.
Cultural Gap
Entering into a sales management outsourcing agreement impacts an organization’s culture significantly. There are potential cultural barriers that may impact business relationships.
A company outsourcing their project to the offshore destination may face issues such as time constraints, different cultural backgrounds, dissimilar values and traditions, and style of doing business. Besides that, there can be communication barriers between the outsourcing service provider and its customers.
A vendor may face problems in communicating with the customer as the latter may speak a native language unfamiliar to the vendor. This can lead to miscommunication between the parties and can hamper the business project adversely.
The best approach to ensure good alignment between partners is to discuss advance the general approach to commence a business, the communication model, the business environment, and the organizational and regional culture.
Efforts can be made to train company employees about the norms of the outsourcing service provider and to educate them about business pain points, work priorities, time management, and accountability.
Companies can combat language differences by using tools for instant messaging and video calling. Remote working tools can be used to conduct business deals seamlessly.
Off-shore vendors can overcome language barriers by outsourcing professionals who can understand and speak English fluently.
Data Security and Privacy
Outsourcing sales operations and management to third-party vendors pose a severe risk to the integrity and security of the client’s company data, and intellectual properties such as business plans, trade secrets, etc.
There is also a risk of breach of data of a company’s customers, and if it is not handled properly, one might lose the developed application or its rights.
Organizations should take adequate care to work with a partner who has defined security mechanisms and is able to ensure data privacy.
The best practice to combat challenges in outsourcing sales is to clearly define the steps to protect your IP and other business assets in the sales outsourcing contract.
The businesses can hire audit firms to check every service provider that communicates with user or customer data. The legally binding documents can be signed such as the non-disclosure agreement with the outsourcing sales team.
While choosing an outsourcing partner, you can choose a vendor that uses technical safeguards such as protocols for access to data, physical safeguards to prevent unauthorized entry into premises, and administrative safeguards to regulate employee’s code of conduct.
Identifying New Prospects
There is an unrealistic expectation from B2B sales outsourcing companies to provide maximum sales leads but often these leads are not high-value or ideal prospects. The outsourcing partners are not successful in finding out the relevant target prospects.
It is essential for small and large companies to choose their sales outsourcing vendors carefully and also clearly define the target account lists.
The sales outsourcing companies aim to make the most out of the business deal while assuming the least amount of risk.
The buyer should discuss in advance the pain points such as potential business risks, decision-making authority, project completion time, and roles of both the parties with the third-party vendor before signing the sales outsourcing agreement.
If you want to stay ahead of the curve, sales outsourcing is the go-to business strategy to generate leads, maximize sales and revenue, and improve ROI as opposed to building or extending an internal sales force which is comparatively costly.
With an outsourcing sales team, businesses can experience improved systems and processes to capture a marketplace better.
You can save time and achieve time-to-market benefits with state-of-the-art data and technology environments.
