outsourcing. reap the benefits

Tuesday, 18 January 2011 12:27

A growing number of businesses are reaping the benefits of outsourcing their appointment setting. By increasing the productivity of their sales team they are increasing their profits. They are enjoying measurable success and seeing a return on their investment.

Why is outsourcing your appointment setting so successful? Are there any other benefits to your company in doing so? Here are some considerations;

Double your sales time.

If your sales team is setting their own appointments they could be spending more than 50% of their team generating leads and securing meetings with potential clients. By doubling their time spent in face-to-face meetings you can guarantee an increase in sales. And when a company is securing appointments with clients who are genuinely suited and interested in your product or service, their job will be made even easier.

It's a different skill set.

Sales people are great at closing deals. They shine in negotiation and presentation, but gathering data and analytics, getting past the gatekeeper and securing the appointment requires a different set of tools. Many sales people will tell you that cold calling and appointment setting is their most loathed task. If your sales team doesn't feel confident in doing this task, then they probably are not doing it as well as it could be done.

Sales people also have the compulsion to sell from first contact. A caller who is clearly trying to ‘sell' something straight away can put off many prospects. Your outsourced service will know how to entice the potential client with information that is interesting, brief and relevant. They will tell them just enough to grab their attention and then suggest an appointment to expand further – your sales team cans then take over and secure solid deals in face-to-face meetings.

Improves Performance Measures.

By outsourcing your appointment setting you can guarantee that every meeting set is with a client who is genuinely interested in your product or service, and fits the client profile you are looking for.

With all your team getting these great leads you can start to analyse your sales figures and individual performance rates with greater accuracy. You can see immediately where or who in your sales team are underperforming and address any problems or difficulties head on.
Being able to gather this information confidently could directly affect your sales plan.

Cost Effective.

If you are securing more appointments, you are increasing face-to-face sales time and therefore increasing sales. It is much harder to say ‘no’ to someone who is talking to you in the same room than on the phone. Clients have more opportunity to ask questions and your team has guaranteed uninterrupted time to do what they do best. The more sales you secure the more you are offsetting the cost of outsourcing your appointment setting.

Get straight to the right people.

Researching demographics, gathering data and getting directly to the people who are interested in your product or service is time consuming. Even when you have all the data you require it still needs to be analysed and used properly to maximise its use.

You already know your ideal target market, their age, and their circumstances and maybe even their postcode. But you may not have a list of these people to call on.

Outsourcing to a company who readily gather, analyse and organise this data (and who may already have their own lists waiting) can quickly get to your target audience and secure valuable appointments.

Expand the brand.

With more direct leads and experienced, knowledgeable people speaking to your target group you'll also find an increase in brand and company awareness. The more people who are brought into contact with your product or service, the more people they can tell about it. And if they have had a positive, interesting experience, as opposed to a hard sell straight away, they are more likely to recommend you to another party.

It’s tailored to your company.

The company you outsource to will do much more for you than just get dates in the diary. They will get your potential clients genuinely interested in your product or service. They can prepare a client for a visit by your sales person by asking them to think about questions or sending advance information.

They can gather simple marketing information whilst speaking to the client e.g. If they have heard of your company before, what their opinion of your company is and even what other products or services they would find useful.

You can work with your chosen company to make sure that the information you want to give out and the information you want to gather is specifically tailored to your needs. It is also easily changeable and completely reactive. So when your plans change, they can change with you.