You have a viable product or service and a detailed business plan. And you have a core leadership team in place that is knowledgeable, experienced, and fully committed to your success. You’re all set, right?
Think again. Without a fully developed inside sales team that can do everything needed to turn leads into actual sales, you’re not there yet. But you’ll have a lot of competition for talent: according to a recent study by InsideSales.com, it’s a function that is growing at 15% each year, three times faster than traditional field sales.
Why outsource this important function?
Getting an effective inside sales team up and running takes time and money. Because most sales development roles are entry-level, hiring for them requires the development of a world-class training program (like the one we built at Bandalier University). These are also heavily risk-prone hires: technology and software companies report a voluntary sales team member turnover rate of 67%, according to Xactly. Finally, sales development team members need rigorous KPI management, regular coaching and check-ins to be effective, particularly in the first six months.
Outsourcing: Everything you need and don’t have
Outsourcing delivers the perfect combination of ingredients that startups don’t have enough of: time, talent, and training. A great outsourced inside sales partner like Bandalier can fill the gaps with everything you need to hit the ground running.
- TIME. You’re starved for it. The average time to fill a sales rep position is 57.5 days. That’s time you simply don’t have. A sales outsourcing services firm like Bandalier can save you all that time. Because they have lots of experience working with companies like yours, they know what works and what doesn’t. And because they are constantly recruiting, they can typically fill positions and build teams substantially faster.
- TALENT. You need to start with a deep pool. When you’re recruiting for inside sales reps, where do you look? An outsourced SDR firm like Bandalier expands your talent pool significantly. We recruit our team members from diverse pools of untapped potential in towns and cities across the U.S., with a focus on entry-level talent in small college towns. We use our data-driven interview process to select for the top 2% of applicants and carefully match team members to the unique needs of your company. In some cases – including any partnership with Bandalier – you can even hire team members directly onto your in-house team if there’s a good fit, giving you the best of both worlds: try-before-you-buy.
- TRAINING. You need your new talent to be trained in your industry and product. Every new team member participates in Bandalier University, our intensive training program that covers the ins-and-outs of top-of-funnel inside sales. We start with the psychology of sales (“why do people make decisions the way they do?”) and use that foundation to inform our tactical training in everything from how to structure a cold call to how to effectively perform social selling.
A lot of our customers tell us that outsourcing inside sales teams, particularly with a model like Bandalier’s, offers the best of all worlds – you get all the benefits of an in-house team with the added bonus of world-class recruiting, training, and management processes. When there is a good mutual fit, we actively encourage our clients to make our team members full-time: a win-win, try-before-you-buy model that creates incredible opportunities for folks beginning their careers in sales.
