When we started Aexus, in the year 2000, outsourcing new market development activities wasn’t very common. And although the concept is still relatively new to many organizations, the model of working with a specialized, professional partner for international sales and business acceleration is swiftly gaining popularity.
Exponential Growth
More and more innovative, high-growth companies, especially in the tech and software fields, understand that they need to focus on their core competencies in order to remain agile. Non-core activities such as finance and logistics should be outsourced to companies that are fully dedicated to this and that can thus be even more efficient and effective. The success of “exponential organizations” that have remained lean and flexible by focusing on what they’re best at illustrates this point.
There is a growing realization that commercial tasks (business development, marketing and sales) require a high level of experience and expertise in those particular fields. That’s because high-end sales, especially in a B2B context, are complex and entail very specific skills, the right tools and a systematic approach. This explains why many businesses choose to outsource this work to professional business development, sales and marketing companies.
Faster ROI
The fact that the outsourcing company is already active in the relevant markets makes a huge difference. Their business developers are native speakers in the local language, understand how business is done and comprehend the cultural nuances and – even more importantly – they bring an existing network of contacts and relationships.
Related: What to keep in mind when choosing your outsourcing partner?
What’s more, unlike a situation where you’d hire local salespeople yourself and have to go through a sometimes complicated recruitment and onboarding process, the outsourced sales team can start the actual commercial activities (reach outs!) within a matter of weeks. This not only provides a much more cost-effective option but also comes with a significantly quicker route to market and a faster ROI. The latter is extremely important since although the potential returns are very attractive, the risks that are associated with the new market development can be quite frightening.
Test the Market Appetite
As a startup company looking into an outsourced sales team, you want to test the waters. Working with a sales outsourcing company allows tech and software companies to try out different propositions in diverse segments and various geographies without high upfront costs. This enables them to get a better understanding of the appetite in various sectors and markets, verify which positioning and go-to-market strategies provide the most optimal yields and execute on those.
One additional piece of advice is to choose a partner that understands the domain in which your organization operates. A good comprehension of your product offering and the verticals you focus on can drastically shorten the learning curve.
Complete Transparency
Naturally, when outsourcing activities are vital to your organization, you want to continue to have a good overview of what’s happening. Complete transparency with regards to the various leads, the relevant contact people, next steps, and so on. You also need customer feedback with regard to the product or solution and that needs to be shared with the relevant people in your organization immediately. A well-established, specialist outsourcing company has processes and procedures in place that guarantee such a direct, frictionless and uninterrupted information flow.
Maximum Agility
Working with a dedicated sales partner increases the flexibility and agility of your sales organization. You can quickly try out new markets and do more of what works well and less of what doesn’t. You can add people to a specific team quickly and easily and, if necessary, reallocate resources in a matter of days, allowing for continuous a/b testing.
Interested in discussing how outsourcing your sales activities could work for your organization? Leave us a message. We’d be keen to schedule a call.