outsourcing sales

[chrisdorset]

Hello
My name's Chris from England, I'm new to this forum. I am launching a new start up next month, a bicycle billboard company. I have two questions:

What would it take to convince your business to adopt a new advertising medium that you hadn't used before?
Would you recommend outsourcing sales for small start ups?
(I am considering using an outsourcing company / freelance individuals to book appointments and recruit and manage a Field Sales team as I do not have experience in sales and would prefer to leave it to professionals)

[GT Bulmer]

Hi, Chris:

Bicycle billboard advertising sounds to me like a kind of locally focused advertising, something I do not personally need, but I see good potential for it for local businesses. I think that for businesses to take an interest in it, it will have to be competitively priced with other forms of advertising and you will have to be crystal clear in explaining the value and benefits to advertising prospects.

Regarding the outsourcing of the sales process, personally I think that would be good if the sales commission is competitive in the local sales industry and if you have strong, professional sales literature and a strong, professional sales pitch for your salespeople to use.

GT

[chrisdorset]

Hi GT
Thank you for your advice. Yes, initially I would be targetting local businesses and there are currently no other local companies offerring the same product, I've never seen one here before. The main benefits are that you can target areas where large numbers of your target market gather, you can also access pedestrianised zones, town and city centres, areas of high footfall and put adverts directly in front of consumers, you can't turn our ads off and because this advertising medium is so different it will be memorable.

I have been advised by the manufacturer that by outsourcing sales I run the risk of those salesman cutting me out, taking the clients and setting up in direct competition with me. Do you have experience of this happening to you personally? If I offer a very competitive rate of commission I would hope to prevent this from happening. Do you have any recommendations for how to identify the right types of sales reps / outsourcing company and what package to offer?
thanks

[GT Bulmer]

Hello, Chris:

If you are a distributor for a manufacturer and if that manufacturer is warning you that others might cut into your territory with the same product, then it is probably not a good idea to hire salespeople.

If the product was yours and you controlled who the salespeople were, then it would be no problem.

In your situation, if you still want to hire salespeople, then you are simply going to have to go on gut feeling for choosing dependable ones. I do not have experience or advice in that area.

GT

[Evan]

Hi Chris - welcome to the forums and great questions!

I'll create a video reply for you!

[chrisdorset]

Thanks Evan, I look forward to watching it.

[chrisdorset]

I opened a business bank account last week and as part of the package I got a free session with a marketing expert. i met her a few days ago. She has a lot of experience and gave me an insight into the industry I'm getting into and what is required to succeed. She recommended I recruit a salesperson to attend appointments instead of learning to sell myself. In any case she offered her services to assist me. Her company has a great reputation. She offered to build a database of potential leads, use one of her experienced telesales staff to book appointments, create a media kit and support me with other marketing activities on an ongoing basis if I wish. If you were starting a businesss from scratch in an industry in which you had no experience or prior knowledge would you take all the help you could get even if it's going to be substantially more expensive than trying to do it all yourself, because my instincts tell me I should take her up on her offer.

How much would you think is an average charge to create a media kit, build a database of 200 potential customers and call them to book appointments?

[Evan]

Hi Chris,

I hope you're doing well! I wanted to let you know that my video response to your question will be going up on my YouTube channel today.

http://www.youtube.com/user/ModelingTheMasters

Good luck!

[johnrogers]

Hi Chris,

Small businesses can greatly benefit from outsourcing telemarketing to a sales call center, such as InSO. For one, you'll save money hiring a sales call center to perform telemarketing for you compared to hiring a couple of representatives to do so in the office. In addition, a call center is open even after your business closes, which allows for your campaign to reach a lager audience of potential customers. Ultimately, hiring an InSO telemarketing sales call center to take care of your telemarketing campaign for you is an excellent way to get your business started and off the ground while also getting your name out there before diving into bigger and better things.

Roger

[drdony]

Welcome aboard John and thanks for the post

Too bad, so many start-ups are ill funded and prepared to market their product or services. I funding is available, picking the right company to outsource too is a challenge, make sure they take time to understand your product or services, your values and preferred sales approach,

Try more than potential company and let them give you a sample of their pitch, and their final offer for your pitch for approval

[aspilialleli]

Hello
My name's Chris from England, I'm new to this forum. I am launching a new start up next month, a bicycle billboard company. I have two questions:

What would it take to convince your business to adopt a new advertising medium that you hadn't used before?
Would you recommend outsourcing sales for small start ups?
(I am considering using an outsourcing company / freelance individuals to book appointments and recruit and manage a Field Sales team as I do not have experience in sales and would prefer to leave it to professionals)

What's the update with this now, Chris? I mean, what was your decision in the end? I suppose you already have came up with the best option since it's been almost 4 months since you asked here. I have watched Evan's video reply... I guess it helped you a lot, too! Good luck with your business.

[john345]

You can use internet as your advertising medium. Online advertising is the best way these days that can help you in getting more number of customer. While talking about outsourcing sale, i would say yes. This is actually a smart choice.