Outsourcing has become a part of every business and exists within every industry. Buying outsourcing services is a decision that every business owner or departmental manager has faced over the past 10 years. But not everyone call sell outsourcing services. I can't count how many times I've heard "I can sell snow to Eskimos" or "I can sell anything, because people like me and I like people". Sales is NOT sales when you're selling outsourcing services, because feature and benefit selling techniques are not going to make a sales person successful selling in the outsourcing market. There are multiple reasons why a company decides to explore outsourcing some of their business activities or units. Companies have many reasons and factors to evaluate in deciding which vendor will provide them with the best possible service. The selling of outsourcing services is unlike selling products or services; it is unique in the approach and methods. Successful sales professionals in the outsourcing industry must understand business first and foremost. Do NOT expect to convert your current sales team into outsourcing sales professionals. The selling and buying process is unique. Too many companies try to expand their sales team's capabilities and explore the outsourcing market with existing sales representatives. As we all know, selling services is nothing like selling products and selling outsourcing is nothing like selling either products or services ! The key to successfully selling outsourcing services is Business Knowledge! 5 Critical Questions for Selling Outsourcing Services. What makes a company buy from a specific vendor? What sales skills does my team need? What value do my solutions bring to my clients? Do we possess specific industry knowledge or product expertise? Have we established an effective sales support structure? You cannot be just a sales person; you must become a business consultant when developing outsourcing opportunities. Investing in sales training or alternative sales channels, such as sales outsourcing, is essential to change your sales team's direction. Companies have spent millions in marketing campaigns to launch new products or territories, but forget that they need to invest in supporting the sales team to enable them to meet the capabilities of the market.

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1. What makes a company buy from a specific vendor?

Vendor choice is the key to successful outsourcing engagements. Consulting companies have made millions alone in developing RFP's and performing vendor evaluations. How can you make sure your company is an organization that is viewed favorably in the outsourcing industry? Industry experience and past performance are key ingredients in the buyers' decision process. Having the ability to leverage past experience in a specific industry is essential. Having a well defined transitional and management process is also extremely important to not only gain customer confidence, but also to develop a client list which can be referenced.

2. What sales skills does my team need?

Your sales team must not only understand consultative sales, but understand team approached business based consulting. As in any consultative selling environment, the sales person is the orchestra leader and maintains many relationships within the buyers' environment; he must also have business savvy in order to show solutions that will clearly bring benefits to the buyer. Relationship based selling is essential, but business operations knowledge and the value the outsourcing solution can provide to the client is the key.

3. What value do my solutions bring to my clients?

Define your value! Cost Savings, Speed To Market, Focus on Core Competencies, Fee Structure, and Scalability are a few of the reasons why buyers decide to outsource. Make sure your value statements are clearly defined, easily understood, and appreciated by the decision makers. Your values must meet the demands of the buyer. Buyers decide to outsource for many reasons; therefore, your sales team must identify and qualify the opportunity early in the process. Education of the buyer by the sales person is a key part of a successful selling process in any sales outsourcing program.

4. Do we possess specific industry knowledge or product expertise?

Most buyers will look to an outsourcing provider who has experience in their specific industry. The industry knowledge must contain experience of business operations and provide an appreciation for the way in which a business is managed. Every outsourcing vendor should focus on a specific market and have a repeatable implementation process that can be leveraged across markets horizontally. If you can truly understand a prospect's pain and their industry buying influences, your chance of winning that deal increase tremendously.

5. Have we established an effective sales support structure?

Being a sales person in the outsourcing market is similar to being an NFL quarterback, whereby they are only as effective as their supporting cast. Even the greatest quarterbacks in NFL history had great receivers, a strong front line, and someone to hand it off to for support. The best and most successful sales people recognize the need for support. They can understand the needs of their prospect and bring in the heavy hitters to move the deals to closure. Orchestrating the proposal process, presenting the final solution, and subsequently getting the buyer to sign takes perseverance and qualities that do not exist in every sales person. Support through marketing, finance, technology, and administration all need to be aligned and focused on one target: achieving the end result -- whether it's contracts or touchdowns!

Selling Outsourcing Services is unique and needs to be addressed as a unique business, not an extension of a current business or a subset of an existing sales force. Through proper training and support, existing sales professionals can enter the world of selling outsourcing, but it will not happen overnight, especially without a focused approach!

About Sales Focus Inc.

Sales Focus is driven towards a single goal: "Generating Immediate Revenue for our Clients! " Whether it's implementing our S.O.L.D. Methodology, Developing Specialized Training Programs or Launching an Outsourced Sales Force, we remain focused on the goal of TACTICALLY GENERATING RAPID REVENUE.

For more Information or to see if we are a good fit with your company, contact us directly at 866.840.8305 or 410.442.5600, or send us an email at info@SalesFocusInc.com or visit our web site: www.SalesFocusInc.com. Learn about a few of our numerous sales success case studies, some of the many clients we help, and request a free white paper while calling us or visiting our website.

Sales Focus Inc. 3210 Florence Road, Suite B Woodbine, Maryland 21797 P. 410.442.5600 F. 410.581.8306 Toll Free: 866.840.8305 URL: www.SalesFocusInc.com

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