Introduction Inside sales outsourcing is a relatively new concept that has become increasingly popular in recent years. The idea is to outsource the sales function for your business, which can result in many benefits such as increased productivity, reduced costs, and higher customer satisfaction. However, there are some challenges that you may face when trying to implement this strategy in your company. In this blog post, we will discuss these challenges and how you can overcome them. What is Inside Sales Outsourcing? Outsourcing is a process of contracting work to an external service provider. In the context of business, it involves contracting out a firm’s non-core operations and responsibilities as opposed to core competencies that are retained in-house with internal resources. When you adopt this approach for your sales team, there can be many benefits such as increasing efficiency and productivity, better communication with customers, or even having more time to focus on growing your business. 6 Challenges of Inside Sales Outsourcing Although highly profitable, there are certain challenges associated with inside sales outsourcing, including: 1. Lack of Control One of the biggest challenges that you may face with sales outsourcing is losing control over your company’s main asset- data. Your customers’ information, history, and previous interactions are key to growing your business. If this data isn’t properly protected or maintained, it can lead to a decrease in customer satisfaction and damage your reputation. To overcome this challenge, you need to make sure that your outsourcing partner is a reputable company with a proven track record of success. You should also work out an agreement that clearly states the level of access and control they have over your data, so both parties understand their responsibilities going forward. Another challenge you may face is a lack of control over the sales process itself. Your outsourcing partner might follow their own unique sales strategy to drive more revenue for themselves or their company, which could go against your company’s goals when using this strategy. For example, your outsourcing partner might prioritize closing deals over building long-term relationships with customers, which could result in more short-term revenue but hurt you in the longer term. To overcome this challenge, make sure you clearly define what type of sales process both parties should follow to ensure that everyone’s goals are aligned before moving forward. 2. Alignment With Your Organization One of the most important things to do before inside sales outsourcing is to make sure you are aligned with the company’s goals and objectives. This will help ensure that they understand what is expected from them as well as allow for more effective communication throughout everything. It can be hard, though, if their reporting structure does not align with yours; that is usually something that can be figured out by just talking with them. It is also important to make sure you have a good plan in place for what happens if something goes wrong with the company. This might sound like an unlikely event, but it does happen. You need to be prepared ahead of time so that there are no surprises down the road. This can be done while remaining flexible by having a contract in place with them, but also having a backup plan in case things do not work out. 3. Intellectual Property And Data Security Of Inside Sales Outsourcing This is one of the biggest challenges faced by companies who are outsourcing their inside sales. This issue should be addressed beforehand to prevent any problems in the future. Make sure that your company has a contract that addresses all aspects of intellectual property and data security, including confidentiality agreements for employees involved in outsourced teams under non-compete clauses. Also, make sure that the contract specifies ownership of the work product. If you are outsourcing your inside sales to a third party, look for one with strong data security policies in place and monitor them on an ongoing basis. If there is any unauthorized access or leakage of confidential information by the provider’s employees, take immediate action against it. 4. Costing Of Inside Sales Outsourcing A prominent benefit that companies get out of outsourcing their inside sales team is cost reduction. However, this cannot be done without carefully studying your costs and identifying areas where you can cut them down. The next step in reducing costs associated with outsourced teams would require an analysis of factors like the number of employees required for carrying out the job, their salaries, and other similar factors. Make sure that your contract with the outsourced team has a cost-breakdown clause that specifies how much money you will be paying them for every deliverable. Once this is done, analyze all these factors and renegotiate if needed to reduce costs. This way, you can work out a win/win situation where both parties are benefiting in the long run. 5. Organizational and Regional Culture Differences The first challenge is differentiating between a company’s culture and the regional culture within which it operates. For example, a team in Alabama may have a very different way of doing business from one that exists in California or Texas. This can be further complicated by corporate structure as well as organizational hierarchy across regions. Another point to consider when inside sales outsourcing is that the company’s management team or its new outsourced inside sales reps may not have a strong understanding of this regional culture. 6. Having Very High Expectations One of the most common mistakes organizations make when outsourcing inside sales is to have very high expectations for results. This can be especially true if a company wants its outsourced employees to perform at the same level as it does in-house. It may not always be possible given that they are being paid less and will likely not access all the information they need to be as effective. There are a few different ways this can play out, but the most common is when there is no clear understanding of what these outsourced employees should accomplish and how their performance will be measured. This often makes them feel like they have too much on their plate while not having enough time to complete everything. So Should You Outsource Inside Sales? The answer to this question depends on the situation and what you’re looking to achieve. For example, suppose your company is unsure about how it wants its inside sales team(s) structured or simply needs extra resources with a lack of internal candidates available. In that case, outsourcing may help meet those goals. However, that doesn’t mean that you should outsource all of your inside sales tasks. You’ll want to make sure you have a strong grasp on exactly what needs to be done, and how it will get completed, and then incorporate that into an overall strategy for success rather than just throwing the whole thing over the wall and hoping for results. Conclusion Inside sales outsourcing is a great way to lower the pressure on your sales team and bring better sales results. However, outsourced inside sales come with certain challenges that must be addressed efficiently. When the company deals with these hindrances, outsourcing inside sales can provide you with improved sales, revenue, and ROI.
