Looking to outsource sales generation

[MediYeah]

Hi all

A few weeks ago we had decided to take our business in a bit of a new direction which meant a lot more business networking, cold calling and telesales.

I have spent the last few weeks doing that and working hard at it with minimal success and I've pretty much come to the conclusion that the sales department would be best to outsource to a specialist.

Due to current ongoing investments and projects we have, our budget is tight at the minute, so I was looking at a couple of options:

1) Commission-only sales
I have heard a lot of negatives about this due to quality of sales people (you get what you pay for after all I guess) but I'm not sure whether there is any major downside or risk to it? Any thoughts?

If you are a commission sales person, know someone you can recommend or know where to look (already have listing on peopleperhour.com) it would be much appreciated.

2) Per hour + Commission but with some sort of guarantee from the provider
I am happy to pay for quality per hour as well as some commission, but I would like to agree some reasonable achievable target so we can be sure of a positive ROI and a guarantee from the provider to get there.

When I say guarantee what I mean - purely as an example, say we agree to a revenue target of £1,000 and the provider estimates it will take 20 hours. So I agree to pay for the 20 hours plus whatever commission. Say after 20 hours revenue is only £500, so the provider continues to do the work for no additional charge until they reach that revenue target. Hope that made sense.

(Obviously we would discuss with the provider in detail and only set a target both sides agree on and think is reasonable)

At least with something like that sort of guarantee in place I would be able to stretch our budget more. I'm not sure whether it is common to offer that sort of guarantee, but in my own business a similar sort of condition has been used to great effect.

Can anyone recommend someone who offers this service with this sort of guarantee? Or if you can do so yourself, please do get in touch.

Thanks

Abhi

PS: Just to be clear, I am looking for sales people, not just for lead generation. Thanks.

 

[marketingquotes]

Hi Abhi,

You are asking something that gets asked a lot, and (no offense) it is usually from start up companies, or companies that do not have marketing funds.

there are two options:

1/ Contact a UKBF member called 'the lead machine' - they do commission only selling
2/ Google a site called 'people per hour' and ask around the freelancers (but they get 100's of requests for commission only - you need to be paying big commissions

Regards,

Marketing Quotes Support

 

[telemax]

minimal success .

Ok, If you the owner of the business can't sell the product how can you expect someone else to?

 

[MediYeah]

Hi both of you thanks for your replies.

Telemax - I completely understand your point and that is why I have been trying to sell myself and that is why I will continue to do so. I don't intend to give up just because I have been finding it hard.

Its not that we haven't been able to sell at all. We've had success with marketing it online. But since we have decided to try to shift focus (which we did do a lot of research into before making the decision), and directly approach businesses, that is where we have come unstuck and need some specialist help. Its just an area which isn't met that well by the people skills in my business.

Maybe I am being naive but I don't see how getting a specialist in for selling is any different to any other area - if you can't keep track of the books of your own business how can you expect someone else to, if you can't build your business's own website why should you expect someone else to be able to?

Marketingquotes - I know it is something that gets asked a lot, in fact before browsing through these forums I assumed commission-only sales agents would be the best thing since sliced bread with no downsides whatsoever!

I was hoping for a bit of advice on weighing up the 2 options I listed.

And probably more importantly, more focus on the 2nd option - whether there are any sales agents out there who offer any kind of assurance or guarantee? Because the ones I have approached so far which claim to be high quality seem to go AWOL when I ask the question, which is what worries me.

We do offer a similar condition to our clients which ensures they are always happy and we think it gives them that extra bit of confidence in buying from us, so I wasn't sure whether I was expecting something unreasonable or whether there are companies out there that can do that.

 

[marketingquotes]

Hi Abhi,

Many people think that commission related workers will work harder as they have an intensive, however this is not necessarily the case.

There are a few things to consider:

1/ If an 'agency' is going to take on your project, they will need to insure the following:

a/ You are going to pay good commission and will definitely pay.
b/ Your product/service will certainly sell and give them a good chance of selling.
c/ Compared to other offers - yours is the most attractive

2/ Many 'freelancers' that do commission only work normally are using it as a stopgap between projects.

3/ From the 'established' telemarketing companies in the UK (and there are over 600) none work on commission - which does send a message.

Food for thought: article on commission only telemarketing

Regards,

Marketing Quotes Support

 

[captaincloser]

Hi both of you thanks for your replies.

Telemax - I completely understand your point and that is why I have been trying to sell myself and that is why I will continue to do so. I don't intend to give up just because I have been finding it hard.

Its not that we haven't been able to sell at all. We've had success with marketing it online. But since we have decided to try to shift focus (which we did do a lot of research into before making the decision), and directly approach businesses, that is where we have come unstuck and need some specialist help. Its just an area which isn't met that well by the people skills in my business.

Maybe I am being naive but I don't see how getting a specialist in for selling is any different to any other area - if you can't keep track of the books of your own business how can you expect someone else to, if you can't build your business's own website why should you expect someone else to be able to?
.

The best 'specialist' in sales for any business is the business owner. Most owners try sales and when they fail on the phone they get edgy and ultimately can become real antis (check the threads on here)

The answer is to get yourself trained to sell by a professional.

At a rough and probably inaccurate guess I would say 1 in 500 small business owners might consider getting trained to sell and probably 20% of them actually get trained. But it would be the answer.Getting trained is very, very different from telling oneself and others that 'I have done sales-loads of times and all the other off the cuff remarks that amateurs make)

Frankly far too many 'owners' just dont get it when it comes to the most important part of their business hence a big reason for many, many start up failures in the first 6-12 months. Most of these failures are blamed on something else but it's lack of brass b-a-l-l-s in the sales arena that really kills 'em off before they get going.

Get trained and good luck. Trust me, you would not look back once you get the skills from a professional. Everyone walking on this business planet is in sales, the fact that most are lousy at it really is no excuse.

Get trained or get the train...

 

[MediYeah]

captaincloser, thank you for that.

To be honest I didn't even consider taking on a proper professional training course! I will definitely look into it, very interesting idea. Long term I would like to ideally get a separate sales team in as my skill set is probably better served elsewhere in my business but to see some real progress, that is definitely something I will consider.

Are there any courses or anything in particular that you would recommend?

 

[captaincloser]

captaincloser, thank you for that.

Are there any courses or anything in particular that you would recommend?

Not sure I can make any reccomendations on here...so I am not going to run the gauntlet on this one.

What I would suggest is you use Google for your local area and be wary (a euphamism for do not touch) of anyone who cannot prove a long stretch in sales themselves and not at any corporate level such as banking or Fortune 500 companies etc etc. There is an army of phoney sales training consultants who have never ever been in sales but like to teach it to others ! Be wary.

Far too many 'salespeople' have sold the Scottish road bridge and a squadron of tornados to the Middle East etc etc. Real salespeople of a certain age will be the best mentors...no wish to be ageist here either- just my own very good experience of being mentored.

Check references and testimonials...any decent sales mentor will have business owners that are literally in love with them..if you dont get that vibe do not engage.

Good luck, you sound a bright guy and with the proper training and direction... ???? Once you have mastered it you quickly build your own team who will make your business owning soooooo much more enjoyable and profitable.

 

[MrCloser]

Nothing wrong with working commision only, most self-employed big earners get paid by their results rather than by the clocking in machine.

One potential downside to commission only is that the reps are so incentivised to get the deal and if you don't keep a close eye on them they can sometimes make unrealistic promises and fail to represent your company as you want. The last thing you want is a team of 'the apprentice' style barrow boys making outrageous claims that you can't deliver on.

 

[captaincloser]

Nothing wrong with working commision only, most self-employed big earners get paid by their results rather than by the clocking in machine.

One potential downside to commission only is that the reps are so incentivised to get the deal and if you don't keep a close eye on them they can sometimes make unrealistic promises and fail to represent your company as you want. The last thing you want is a team of 'the apprentice' style barrow boys making outrageous claims that you can't deliver on.

Mr Closer, if you continue to post such good advice I will be promoting you to sergeant.

 

[TangerineDream]

This is a subject that comes up regularily.

For me its all about risk. Your experiance is that having dipped your toe in the water and had some initial challange you look to get another company to take all the risk of starting your sales pipeline based on your current budget being small.

Althought there are a few telemarketing companies that may offer this commercial arrangement they are few and far betwen and oftern those that are less established.

I personally do not agree with the concept that commission provides better results. Take a look at your proposition again, your target marekt and benifits. Work on getting this right and being effective before you look to outsource. As you stand it is likely that even if you outsource this they will come back with the same answer that you received.

Good luck

 

[Montaigne]

3/ From the 'established' telemarketing companies in the UK (and there are over 600) none work on commission - which does send a message.

Given the number of threads we have both posted in where I have said I am a commission only sales agent/company, I really wish you would stop insisting that I don't exist

 

[MH1]

captaincloser, thank you for that.

To be honest I didn't even consider taking on a proper professional training course! I will definitely look into it, very interesting idea. Long term I would like to ideally get a separate sales team in as my skill set is probably better served elsewhere in my business but to see some real progress, that is definitely something I will consider.

Are there any courses or anything in particular that you would recommend?

Well worth considering, I had another poster on the forum ask for some sales advice and he seems to think it has helped a fair bit in his business.

I'm not touting BTW, I did it as a one off to help a new guy starting out, but I'm sure there will be various offer's shortly.

 

[EliteFM]

Hi There,

Having read through the previous threads, i believe that I can help. My company is a preferred supplier of the Direct Selling Association UK, depending on your needs we have the ability to outsource your products on a nationwide scale.

Please PM if I can be of any help, or give me a call - 07584350518

Martin Smith

 

[jitendra1990]

When I used to do telesales for a security alarm company I got minimum wage an hour plus £40 for the first lead of the week, £50 for the second and £60 for anything else during that week. This company was apparently worth £1.6 million by the way.