5 reasons why outsourcing your sales activity is a great idea for small businesses

2nd February 2021

Are you struggling to get any new business meetings? Wondering where that next dream client is going to come from?

Understandably right now given the current climate, many MDs and business owners are too busy dealing with the ‘day to day’ firefighting and operational issues to devote time to searching for new business.

It’s about reducing costs, managing headcount and over-servicing your existing clients so they don’t go to a competitor.

However, this can lead to problems down the line when business hits a quiet period and there is nothing in the pipeline. Desperation can then kick in, resulting in taking on unprofitable business that you wouldn’t ordinarily do.

It also not uncommon for businesses to be over reliant on one client, sometimes to the extreme. We have seen many instances where a single customer has accounted for over 50% of a company’s overall turnover. This is a dangerous situation to be in, but often, businesses are too consumed in servicing their key clients, they overlook where the next new ones are coming from.

Hunting for new business also takes a commitment of time, dedication, consistency and a focus on value creation. You need to have a regular cadence of communication and contact with your prospects, to ensure you remain front of mind when they are ready to buy.

Here are our 5 top reasons why outsourcing your new business activity is the smart thing to do –

1. You have more control of costs

Now more than ever, businesses are having to get a much firmer grip on their headcount and costs. The luxury of having full time dedicated staff is not realistic for some businesses and outsourcing is becoming the norm across many core functions.

Depending on your type of business, you may have seasonal peaks and quieter periods, where full time sales resource isn’t needed. Having the ability to buy a flexible amount of time each week or month and then scaling up or down when required is now seen as a more sensible approach, as more and more businesses are running the slide rule over every department and function.

2. Your prospecting actually gets done

When you’re busy running a business, it’s natural to get consumed with your existing clients demands and other pressing deadlines. This often means that the important but not urgent activity gets overlooked and prospecting is one of those things. It needs a daily commitment of time blocking out to do the necessary work and to build the momentum required in order to be effective.

Moreover, not every business owner is a good sales person, which is all the more reason to put your trust in to someone who does it for a living and has developed an understanding of the modern sales approach and how best to create value for your prospects.

3. You’ll generate good content

When you have someone committed to doing the prospecting work, they are going to be speaking to more people who are in the market for your services and getting more meetings.

These prospects will most certainly want to see evidence of your previous work with other clients, such as case studies and testimonials. Generating this type of content is often overlooked until you need it at the last minute, however when you have a bank of good case studies and other examples of social proof to hand, these can be repurposed and used as content for blogs, emails and posts on your company’s social media channels. See below.

4. You’ll increase the awareness of your business

Using the content that you’ll be generating, your prospecting activity will help to elevate you and your business into thought leaders and subject matter experts, enabling you to build rapport and trust with your target audience.

Having someone manage and optimise your LinkedIn profile for example, allows you to reach thousands of potential leads directly and indirectly through the content that you share. It’s one of the most effective ways of reaching the eyeballs of your target market.

It is the biggest new business database in the world and when used well, provides every person and business a prime opportunity to establish credibility in the sector they operate in.

5. You win the right kind of clients

Unless you are in a very transactional business, your dream clients take time to nurture and win. Equally, you don’t want to be wasting your time with clients who will never be the right fit for your business. Having someone regularly keeping in touch and learning about your prospects key challenges and who the key stakeholders are, enables you to build a deeper understanding of their business and be able to tailor and develop your solution accordingly. This will put you in a stronger position when they are ready to buy and increase your chances of winning the business through the relationships and trust that has been built.

 

Outsourcing your business development gives you the space and time to work ‘on’ your business; growing your existing clients and leading your people, safe in the knowledge your pipeline is in good hands.

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