Why outsource your business development?

Business development has a bad reputation. Although it is an essential part of sales planning, it is considered to be time-consuming and difficult. From now on, the "traditional" search for new customers is no longer considered to be effective.

How do you explain this lack of results?

Lack of time

It's the number one scourge of salespeople: lack of time. Commercial prospecting requires blocking time slots and respecting them. Example: a sales representative will block his morning and start his calls at 9am. After half an hour, he will receive an e-mail requiring a direct response. Fifteen minutes later, someone will come into his office to talk to him about a current file, he will then have to pause his prospecting to manage more urgent files. In less than an hour, the half-day initially planned will already have been disrupted. As the sales representative's schedule is generally well filled, he will not be able to make up for his morning of prospecting. Indeed, according to an Uptoo study, 51% of them admit not to be able to keep up with the prospecting pace imposed by their company, in spite of the objectives set.

By outsourcing the search for new customers, the company is assured that the prospecting rhythms are respected and the internal sales staff can then concentrate on the most important thing: transforming prospects into customers.

The need for a fluctuating sales force

Some companies are experiencing seasonality in their business. As a result, business development needs fluctuate throughout the year. It is therefore relatively difficult for a company to meet this one-time demand. It is tricky to recruit salespeople for a few months, especially when you take into account the training time required for the job.

By subcontracting business development, the company will be able to vary its sales force without having to hire. It is also a way of entrusting lead generation on a temporary basis, but repetitive over time to the same company.

Lack of knowledge of certain tools

The "traditional" canvassing channels, (telephone and e-mailing) remain the most used channels. However, their isolated use remains inefficient. It is estimated that 50% of companies do not train their sales representatives to prospect by telephone. In addition, telephone prospecting is considered unsuccessful in 51% of cases. Sales representatives must therefore diversify their lead acquisition channels.

By outsourcing the booking of appointments, the company is assured of entrusting its prospecting to companies that carry out a continuous technological watch, research and test new tools regularly and have trained teams at their disposal. This allows the company to seek to use a multitude of efficient channels to get in touch with prospects and make qualified appointments.

Conclusion

All this illustrates the complexity of making appointments for sales representatives. Many companies are asking themselves the question of outsourcing their sales prospecting so that the sales representatives only keep the most important part of their job: transforming prospects into customers. From searching for prospects to making qualified appointments, including database qualification, everything is managed by an external company. The human and technical means, as well as the pace are adapted to the company's needs, all with the aim of optimisingcommercial efficiency.