The Outsourced Sales Development Process for 2024
What is the Role of Outsourced Sales Development Representatives (SDRs)
The primary function of outsourced Sales Development Representatives (SDRs) is to find and engage potential customers, turning cold leads into warm conversations that your in-house sales team can take over.
They use a mix of email campaigns, social media touches, and phone calls to reach out to potential customers. Their goal is to find those most likely to be interested in what you’re selling, saving your sales team time and letting them focus on closing deals rather than finding leads.
Why Outsourced SDRs Should Stay Focused Only on Lead Generation and Appointment Setting
Before we get into this —
What is an SDR responsible for in 2024?
An SDR is responsible for identifying and qualifying potential customers.
Once qualified, these leads are handed over to a sales executive or account manager who will handle the more advanced sales process stages, such as deeper discovery, negotiation and closure.
Now, back to the question —
- Identifying, also known as prospecting, i.e., using various strategies and tools to find potential customers who may have an interest in the business's offerings.
- Qualifying, which equates to discovery or demo appointment setting; i.e., involves a series of interactions designed to gauge a lead’s interest level, decision-making power, and fit with the product or service.
Knowing this, SDRS shouldn’t overextend their roles into areas that do not align with their core competencies.
For example, SDRs don’t close deals or manage client relationships. Their primary objective is to hunt for qualified leads and help grow the sales pipeline.
How Do Outsourced SDRs Fit into the B2B Sales Process?
In the B2B sales process, the journey from initial contact to closing a deal is intricate and often lengthy, involving multiple stakeholders and decision-makers.
[Source: Gartner}
I mean, looking at the image above, where do you even want to begin?
But in all of these, outsourced SDRs are integrated into this process at the very beginning.
They do this by focusing on three key areas: initial outreach, lead qualification, and appointment setting.
Step 1: Initial Outreach
Outsourced SDRs begin the sales process by identifying and contacting potential leads.
This step often involves cold calling, emailing, or leveraging social media platforms to establish first contact.
For example, an SDR might use LinkedIn to reach out to a potential lead by commenting on a post or sending a direct message that introduces their company’s services in a way that relates directly to the lead’s industry challenges.
Step 2: Lead Qualification
After the initial contact, SDRs look at factors like budget, authority, need, and timing to make sure a lead is worth pursuing.
This process ensures that only high-quality leads (in-market and solution seeking) are passed to your in-house sales team, optimizing their time and efforts.
An SDR might qualify a lead by asking targeted questions about their current solutions, budget, and decision-making process, effectively filtering out those who are not a good fit for your company’s offerings.
Step 3: Appointment Setting
Once a lead is qualified, SDRs schedule appointments for them with the in-house sales team.
This step is crucial as it ensures that sales professionals engage with leads who have already expressed a preliminary interest in the product or service, increasing the likelihood of a successful sale.
How Outsourced SDRs Impact Sales Pipeline and Sales Cycles
Impact on Sales Pipeline
Outsourced SDRs contribute to the sales pipeline by injecting a steady stream of pre-qualified leads.
Through rigorous initial outreach and lead qualification processes, they ensure that only leads with a genuine interest and the financial capacity to purchase are moved forward in the sales funnel.
This filtration process improves the quality of the sales pipeline, ensuring that the in-house sales team’s efforts are concentrated on leads with the highest conversion potential.
💡Take a look at this example —
Say your business sells cloud storage solutions. SDRs won’t just bring in any tech company. Instead, they’ll focus on those with growing data needs and a budget for cloud services. This targeted approach means your pipeline is filled with leads that are more likely to buy than just a list of contacts.
Lead Nurturing and Follow Up
Another important part is this — it’s not enough to add to the pipeline; SDRs keep it flowing smoothly.
They follow up with leads, nurturing them until they're ready to talk deals.
Imagine a lead that showed interest in your cloud storage, but wasn’t ready to buy at initial contact. An SDR keeps the conversation going, sharing valuable info and updates, so your solution is top of mind when the lead is prepared to purchase.
Impact on Sales Cycles
By qualifying leads thoroughly, outsourced SDRs ensure that your sales team talks only to potential customers who are ready and able to buy.
💡For example, if an SDR identifies a company that needs to implement a cloud solution within the next three months, this lead is immediately more valuable than one with no clear timeline. Your sales team can jump straight into detailed discussions, moving quicker towards a deal.
This division of labor means that sales reps can dedicate more time to each potential customer in the later stages of the sales cycle, crafting personalized proposals and addressing specific concerns, leading to more successful closes.
The Difference Between In-House vs. Outsourced Sales Development
When you’re faced with the decision of choosing between in-house and outsourced sales development, weigh out the options.
Consider the advantages and disadvantages and understand the factors influencing this critical business decision.
Let’s do a rundown on both:
In-House Sales Teams
Advantages
Customized Sales Approach.
In-house sales teams offer a distinct advantage in B2B sales by intimately understanding their company’s operations. This allows them to craft sales strategies that precisely meet the unique needs and challenges of their clients, ensuring a more effective and personalized approach to sales.
For example, in industries like healthcare or finance, where compliance and regulations play a significant role, in-house teams can ensure that sales pitches and product demonstrations are compelling and compliant with industry standards.
Dedicated Product Knowledge
Your in-house sales teams are typically more immersed in the company’s products or services through collaboration with marketing, product development, and customer service teams.
This deep understanding enables them to address complex queries, tailor their sales pitches to highlight product benefits more accurately and handle objections more effectively, potentially leading to higher conversion rates.
In Gartner’s State of B2B Buying report, B2B buyers are 1.8 times more likely to complete a high-quality deal when they engage with supplier-provided digital tools in partnership with a sales rep [*].
A typical workflow is sales having calls with clients — then using the feedback to directly inform product development, while marketing materials are fine-tuned to support the sales process more effectively.
Long-Lasting Customer Relationships and Loyalty
In-house sales teams have unmetered proximity to the products or services they offer (or sell), which equips them uniquely to manage customer interactions with a level of personalization and attentiveness that external sales teams might struggle to match.
You’d see this in their client conversations— especially when managing customer feedback. Because they are part of the organization, these teams can more effectively channel feedback to relevant departments, ensuring customer concerns and suggestions are heard and acted upon.
This responsive and proactive approach to feedback management signals to customers that their input is valued, fostering a sense of partnership, loyalty and trust — even up to a personal level.
Disadvantages
High Maintenance Costs
The intro to this article remains valid on the financial implications of building and sustaining an in-house sales team.
Beyond the apparent salaries and benefits expenses, there’s the often-overlooked cost of training and developing a team to navigate the complex B2B sales environment.
Additionally, the investment in specialized infrastructure and technology needed to support effective sales operations, such as CRM systems and communication tools, can quickly add up.
For industries where the sales cycle is long, and the need for highly skilled sales professionals is crucial, such as in technology or manufacturing, these costs can be a major barrier to growth.
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Scalability Issues
B2B companies are really struggling to build, recruit and train in-house sales teams right now, and here’s why:
First off, finding and training new salespeople takes a lot of time. You need to make sure they fit in well with the team and the company’s culture. Onboarding reps is both art and science — there’s no shortcuts here.
But here’s the tricky part; industries like software and consulting often see their market fluctuate. When things are booming, companies need more hands on deck. But when the market slows down, they might feel the need to cut back.
A recent example is the search giant, Google, laying off hundreds of employees from its advertising sales team [*].
However, deciding to reduce the size of the team during slower periods can harm morale and affect your sales efforts.
Resource Intensiveness
Having an in-house sales team means you’re all in. While this is great, it does come with plenty of unavoidable challenges.
Firstly, there’s training, coaching, and enablement — and the reality is that most companies are doing a terrible job with this.
New reps need to get ramped up in a variety of ways — they need to learn the product, the sales process, industry terminology and overall acumen. This is a big investment of time and effort, and the truth is that most companies are just “half-assing” it.
Then there’s looking after your team’s wellbeing. This includes health benefits, paid time off, vacation days, and all that good stuff. While this is important, it also adds up to the cost of having them on board.
Lastly, there’s the awkward situation with sales managers. They’re supposed to be the ones guiding your sales reps, helping them close deals, and get better at their jobs. But here’s the catch: not all sales managers have the time or even the right skills to do this effectively.
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Outsourced Sales Development
Advantages
Financial flexibility
The outsourcing sales development model operates on an ‘as-needed’ basis, introducing a layer of financial flexibility previously unattainable for many businesses.
This is particularly advantageous for businesses navigating the unpredictable and fluctuating sales cycles of B2B. During peak periods, they can ramp up their sales development efforts to capitalize on market opportunities without the long-term commitment of increasing their headcount. And, in slower periods, they can scale back these services to align with decreased demand, thereby maintaining a more sustainable cost structure.
More value from tools and data
In addition, outsourcing eliminates the need for substantial upfront investment in sales tools and technology, as the outsourcing partner typically provides these. This means businesses can leverage high-end sales platforms and data analytics tools without the hefty price tag of purchasing these technologies outright or the ongoing costs of licenses and updates.
Better Scalability Options
Outsourced sales teams offer greater flexibility in scaling operations up or down based on current business needs.
Unlike the traditional model of maintaining a fixed in-house sales team, which can often lead to operational rigidity, outsourcing sales functions enables businesses to adapt swiftly to changes in demand.
Access to Expertise
Outsourcing sales development firms typically have a broader pool of experienced SDRs skilled in the latest sales techniques and tools.
This could range from CRM tools that automate and track interactions with potential leads to advanced analytics platforms that provide insights into lead behavior and preferences.
Tapping into this level of expertise means not having to bear the cost and time associated with training and maintaining an in-house team at the same level of proficiency.
Whether you’re penetrating a new industry segment or launching a product in uncharted territories, you can leverage the specialized skills of your outsourced partners and adapt their sales strategies to each unique scenario.
For B2B companies, where the sales process can be complex and the stakes high, access to such specialized expertise can lead to a more robust sales pipeline filled with high-quality leads and, ultimately, better conversion rates.
Disadvantages
Less Direct Control
Outsourcing sales development means entrusting a crucial part of your business process to an external team (although we don’t think of it this way). And in some way, relinquishing some level of ‘control.’
This reduction in control can pose some challenges — especially when ensuring that the outsourced SDRs are fully in sync with the company’s core values, operational culture, and specific sales goals.
Communication Barriers
Working with an outsourced team can introduce communication challenges, mainly if the SDRs are in different time zones or speak different primary languages.
For example, time differences can delay responses and slow down the momentum of sales campaigns, potentially leading to missed opportunities or lapses in follow-ups with potential leads.
Another example is with language barriers. You risk miscommunication, which can affect the clarity of sales messages and lead qualification accuracy. Foreign accents might also be a concern.
The Outsourced Sales Development Process
1. Onboarding Process with a Sales Outsourcing Company
💡Goal → Lay the foundation for the outsourced team’s success in representing and extending the company’s sales efforts.
This comprises several key steps to ensure that the outsourced SDRs are well-equipped, informed, and aligned with the company’s goals, products, and market strategies.
Knowledge Transfer
This involves sharing detailed information about the company’s products or services, the value proposition, target markets, and the competitive landscape.
The goal is to enable the outsourced SDRs to understand what they are selling and why it matters to potential customers. This depth of understanding is crucial for crafting compelling messages and handling objections effectively.
Alignment of Goals and Metrics
Next, both parties align on the specific sales goals and performance metrics. This step includes setting clear expectations for lead generation, qualification criteria, and appointment-setting targets.
Defining these metrics upfront ensures that the outsourced team knows what success looks like and allows for tracking performance against agreed-upon objectives.
Communication Protocols
Establishing effective communication protocols is essential. This includes deciding on the frequency of updates, reporting formats, and communication channels (e.g., email, video calls, dedicated project management tools).
Clear communication protocols ensure the company remains informed about the outsourced team’s progress and challenges.
Training and Role-Playing
An in-depth training session covering the company’s sales process, products, and sales playbook materials is vital. This often includes role-playing exercises to practice sales pitches, objection handling, and qualifying questions.
Such training ensures that the outsourced SDRs are theoretically and practically ready to engage with leads effectively.
2. CRM Integration and Playbook Development
💡Goal → To ensure that the outsourced team is seamlessly integrated into the company’s existing sales infrastructure and has a clear, actionable guide to engaging with leads and managing sales activities.
CRM Integration
Here, you’re granting the outsourced SDRs access to your company’s CRM. With this, they can record interactions, track lead progress, and analyze data per the in-house team’s practices. This step requires careful attention to data security and access rights to protect sensitive information.
The process includes:
- Access Setup. Establishing user accounts for the outsourced team with appropriate permissions.
- Training. Providing comprehensive training on how to use the CRM effectively, including logging calls, emails, and meetings, as well as managing and updating lead and contact information.
- Customization. Tailoring the CRM’s workflows, fields, and dashboards to fit the specific needs and objectives of the outsourced sales activities. This might involve creating custom views for tracking lead generation and qualification efforts or setting up automated alerts for follow-up actions.
Playbook Development
Developing a sales playbook is about creating a detailed guide that outlines the sales process, messaging, qualification criteria, and best practices tailored to the company’s target market and sales objectives.
The playbook is a collaborative effort, drawing on insights from the company and the outsourcing partner to ensure it reflects the best approach to engaging potential customers.
Key components of the playbook include:
- Sales Process Overview.A step-by-step guide to the sales process from initial contact to lead qualification and handoff to the sales team.
- Messaging Frameworks. Detailed scripts and templates for emails, calls, and social media outreach that align with the company’s brand voice and value proposition. This section also includes objection-handling guides and frequently asked questions.
- Qualification Criteria. Specific criteria for identifying and qualifying leads, ensuring that efforts are focused on prospects most likely to convert. This might include BANT (Budget, Authority, Need, Timeframe) or CHAMP (Challenges, Authority, Money, Prioritization) methodologies.
💡Pro Tip → At AltiSales, we’ll build your company a Playbook to keep your sales team aligned to its best practices and prepare them for the main outcomes during a call. This includes the cold call script, 6 email sequences, ICP descriptions, persona priorities, etc. It's the fastest way to speed up your success.
3. Defining Target Markets and Ideal Customer Profiles
💡Goal → To analyze market data, customer feedback, and sales trends to pinpoint the segments most likely to convert.
Identifying Target Markets
The process begins with examining the broader market to segment potential customers based on various criteria, such as industry, geography, company size, and market needs.
This segmentation is informed by the company’s historical sales data and market research, identifying trends, growth areas, and sectors where the company’s solutions can address a significant pain point.
The goal is to narrow the vast market into more manageable segments where targeted sales efforts can be applied.
Developing Ideal Customer Profiles (ICP)
An ICP is essentially a blueprint of the perfect customer for the company’s products or services.
It includes specific characteristics of businesses that are most likely to benefit from and purchase the company’s offerings.
Below are areas you can explore to develop your ICP:
Demographic Information
This includes basic yet essential details about the businesses that constitute your ideal customer:
- Industry. What sector do they operate in? Are they in manufacturing, tech, healthcare, etc.?
- Company Size. How big are they in terms of revenue, employees, or market share?
- Location. Where are they based? This could be specific to a country, region, or even city.
- Type of Business. Are they B2B, B2C, nonprofits, startups, or established corporations?
Business Needs
Understanding your product or service’s specific needs or challenges is crucial. This can vary widely depending on what you offer. For example:
- Operational Efficiency. Does your product help businesses streamline operations?
- Cost Reduction. Can your service reduce overhead or operational costs?
- Growth and Scaling. Does your solution help businesses expand or enter new markets?
- Compliance and Security. Is your offering aimed at helping businesses comply with regulations or enhance security?
Pain Points
Identify the problems or challenges your ideal customer faces that your product or service can solve. These can be:
- Technical Challenges. Issues with current systems or technologies.
- Resource Limitations. Lack of staff, expertise, or financial resources.
- Market Pressures. Competition, customer demands, or market changes.
- Operational Bottlenecks. Inefficiencies in processes or workflows.
Buying Behaviors
Understanding how your ideal customer makes purchasing decisions is key to tailoring your sales approach. This includes:
- Decision-Making Unit (DMU). Who is involved in the purchase decision? This could range from IT managers and procurement officers to C-level executives.
- Buying Journey. What steps do they take from realizing they need to make a purchase?
- Criteria for Purchase. What factors are most important to them? Price, features, support, or integration capabilities?
Decision-Making Processes
This focuses on the specifics of how decisions are made within the target businesses, such as:
- Approval Processes. How complex is their approval process? Who needs to sign off on purchases?
- Budget Cycles. When do they plan their budgets, and how does this impact their purchasing timing?
- Preferred Engagement. Do they prefer to be contacted through direct sales, partners, or digital channels?
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4. Optimizing Inbound and Outbound Workflows
💡Goal → To optimize inbound and outbound workflows for maximizing lead generation.
Inbound Lead Generation Workflows
Inbound strategies focus on attracting leads through content and activities that draw potential customers towards the company’s offerings. This approach leverages valuable, relevant content, SEO, and social media engagement to create pathways for prospects to discover the company naturally.
The emphasis is on creating informative and engaging content that addresses the prospects’ pain points and interests, positioning the company as a thought leader and solution provider.
Inbound leads are often considered higher quality because they have taken the initiative to engage with the company, indicating a pre-existing interest in the solutions offered.
Outbound Lead Generation Workflows
On the other hand, outbound strategies involve proactive outreach to potential customers. Techniques include cold calling, direct email campaigns, and targeted social media messages.
The goal is to actively initiate contact with potential leads, introducing them to the company’s offerings and gauging their interest and fit. With outbound lead generation, you have more direct control over the pace and scale of lead generation efforts. This makes it possible to target specific segments or industries identified in the ICP actively.
- Identify Target Market. Start by pinpointing the businesses that need your product or service. Understand their industry, size, and specific challenges.
- Research Prospects. Dig into each target business to find key decision-makers. Use tools and databases to gather contact information and relevant details about their business needs.
- Craft Personalized Messages. Develop tailored messages for each prospect, highlighting how your solution addresses their unique challenges. Keep it concise and focused on benefits.
- Reach Out. Use email, social media, or cold calling to initiate contact. Follow a schedule but avoid spamming. Aim for a balance between persistence and respect for their time.
- Follow-Up. If there's no response, follow up with additional information or a new angle on how you can help. Sometimes, timing is everything.
- Qualify Leads. Through interactions, determine if the prospect has a genuine interest and the authority to make purchasing decisions. Focus your efforts on leads with the highest potential.
- Handover to Sales. Once a lead is qualified and interested, hand them over to the in-house sales team for a more detailed discussion and to close the deal.
5. Messaging and Outreach Techniques: Cold Calling, Social Media, Email
💡Goal → To create tailored messages that resonate with the target audience through cold calling scripts, social media posts, or email templates.
Crafting Compelling Messages
This is all about creating clear messages that are to the point and resonate with your potential customers' specific needs and challenges.
Here’s a breakdown of how to do it effectively:
Understand Your Audience
Before you write a single word, you need to deeply understand who you’re talking to. This means knowing their:
- Industry-specific challenges. What unique issues do they face?
- Business goals. What are they trying to achieve in the short and long term?
- Pain points. What problems do they need to solve urgently?
Highlight Your Unique Value Proposition (UVP)
Your UVP is what makes your product or service stand out. It’s the reason a customer should choose you over competitors. Your messaging should clearly state:
- What you offer. Be specific about your product or service.
- Why it’s beneficial. Connect your offering directly to how it solves a problem or meets a need.
- What makes it unique? Emphasize what sets your solution apart from others.
Keep It Simple and Direct
B2B buyers are busy. They don’t have time for fluff. Your messages should be:
- Concise. Get to the point quickly.
- Clear. Use language that's easy to understand. Avoid jargon unless it's industry-specific and widely understood.
- Actionable. Tell them precisely what you want them to do next (e.g., “Schedule a demo,” “Download our whitepaper”).
Selecting Outreach Techniques
With a solid messaging framework in place, the next step is to select the most appropriate outreach techniques based on the preferences and behaviors of the target audience.
- Cold Calling. This traditional but effective technique involves reaching out to potential leads via phone. It requires a high level of skill to engage the prospect within the first few seconds, making it critical to educate outsourced SDRs thoroughly on your product to deliver the pitch and handle objections.
- Social Media. Platforms like LinkedIn, Twitter, and Facebook offer valuable channels for connecting with potential leads. Tactics include direct messaging, engaging with posts, and sharing content that directs traffic to the company’s site.
💡Note → Social media outreach must be personalized and non-intrusive, focusing on building relationships rather than making a hard sell.
- Email Campaigns. Email remains a powerful tool for reaching out to potential customers. Success in email outreach hinges on personalization, relevance, and timing. Crafting emails that speak directly to the recipient's needs and stage in the buying cycle can significantly increase open and response rates.
6. Qualifying Leads and Appointment Setting
💡Goal → To filter the influx of leads generated through various strategies to pinpoint those most aligned with the ICPs and more likely to convert into sales opportunities.
Qualifying Leads
Qualifying your leads takes on different methodologies. The oldest one in the book is BANT, which stands for Budget, Authority, Need, Timeline.)
But the one i’ve found to be my favorite is P-MAP — and here’s what it stands for:
- P – Pain/Need → Similar to the Awareness Stage. “Is this important enough to do something about it?”
- M – Mobilizer → Is the person we are talking to able to evangelize our solution and help us move the needle to win the deal?
- A – Authority → Do we have access to the person, or at least some of the people in the buying committee, those who will ultimately make the decision?
- P – Project → Do they have a project around this initiative that is SMART (Specific, Measurable, Attainable, Relevant, Time-bound).
When you think of how P-MAP is structured, you’d see that it lines up perfectly with the buyer’s journey.
Applying the ICP Criteria
The first step in qualifying leads is to compare each lead against the ICP. This involves assessing:
- Industry and Company Size. Does the lead operate in a target industry, and does their company size align with your ICP?
- Business Needs. Do they have the specific needs or challenges that your product or service addresses?
- Location and Market. Are they in your targeted geographical market or sector?
- Buying Authority. Does the contact have the decision-making power or influence within their organization?
Assessing Interest Level
Interest level is a vital indicator of a lead’s potential to convert. SDRs gauge this by:
- Engagement with Content. Have they interacted with your marketing materials, website, or social media?
- Response to Outreach. How do they respond to emails, calls, or messages? Are they open and engaged or indifferent?
- Questions and Feedback. Are they curious about how your solutions can address their challenges? Genuine questions often signal real interest.
By applying these criteria, SDRs can prioritize leads that are a high fit with the ICP and have a strong interest in your offerings.
Appointment Setting
Once a lead is qualified, the next step is to set an appointment for a more in-depth discussion between the prospect and the AE.
This transition is crucial and must be handled carefully to maintain the prospect’s interest and momentum towards a sale.
Here’s a quick rundown on what to do:
- Choose a convenient time for the lead, respecting their schedule and time zone.
- Provide leads with information on what to expect from the meeting, including topics to be discussed and who from your team will be attending.
- Send calendar invites and reminders to minimize no-shows.
When handing off to the in-house sales team:
- Share detailed notes on the lead’s needs, pain points, interest level, and interactions to date.
- Clarifying the purpose of the appointment and any expected outcomes.
- Establish clear next steps for the in-house team during and after the appointment.
7. Sales Prospect Follow-Up and Relationship Building
💡Goal → To implement a structured follow-up strategy, maintaining contact with prospects through personalized communications, providing additional information, and addressing queries.
Sales Prospect Follow-Up
This stage involves reaching out to prospects after initial contact, qualification, or meetings to keep the conversation going and reinforce the value proposition of the company’s offerings.
This could be through a series of strategically timed emails, calls, or social media interactions, each designed to provide additional information, answer questions, and address any concerns that may have arisen.
The key here is persistence without intrusion, ensuring that the company remains at the forefront of the prospect’s mind without overwhelming them with constant contact.
💡Note → While automation tools can assist in scheduling follow-ups, personalization is crucial. Each communication should feel individually crafted rather than generic.
Relationship Building
Beyond individual follow-ups, building a relationship with prospects involves a broader strategy of engagement and value provision.
This includes sharing valuable content such as industry insights, case studies, or helpful resources that align with the prospect’s business challenges and goals.
Inviting prospects to webinars, workshops, or industry events the company is participating in can also be an effective way to engage them further, providing opportunities for live interaction and learning.
💡Remember → The goal of relationship building is to transition the dynamic from vendor and potential buyer to trusted advisor and client. This shift is fundamental for long-term customer retention and can significantly impact the prospect’s willingness to engage in serious buying conversations.
Understanding Pricing Structure for Outsourced Sales Development
💡Goal → To understand the various pricing models offered by outsourcing partners, evaluate them against the company’s budget and sales objectives, and identify opportunities for cost savings without compromising the quality of the sales development efforts.
Understanding Pricing Models
Outsourcing companies typically offer a range of pricing models to accommodate different business needs and objectives. These models can include:
- Pay-per-Lead. Where the company pays a set price for each qualified lead delivered. This model is straightforward and aligns the outsourcing partner's incentives with generating high-quality leads.
- Monthly Retainer. A fixed monthly fee for a specified scope of services. This model provides predictable costs and suits companies seeking consistent sales development efforts.
- Commission-Based. Payment is based on the success of the leads in converting to sales. This model strongly aligns the outsourcing partner’s interests with the company’s success but can be more variable in cost.
- Hybrid Models. A combination of the above offers flexibility and aligns the interests of both parties more closely.
💡Pro Tip → Choosing the suitable pricing model requires a clear understanding of the company’s sales cycle, average deal size, and the expected volume of leads, ensuring that the chosen model offers the best return on investment.
Metrics and KPIs for Measuring Sales Development
Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) for Sales Development
KPIs for sales development are critical elements needed to assess the effectiveness and efficiency of a sales development team, particularly when it’s outsourced.
These metrics are essential for B2B companies to ensure their sales development efforts align with broader sales and business objectives, providing a clear picture of performance and areas for improvement.
Establishing a System for Tracking
The first step in tracking and analyzing metrics is establishing a robust system that captures all relevant data points across the sales development process.
This system should be integrated with the company’s CRM and other sales tools to ensure seamless data collection and aggregation.
Automation plays a key role here, allowing for real-time tracking of activities and outcomes without requiring manual entry, which can be prone to errors and inconsistencies.
Key Metrics to Track
- Lead Source Efficiency. Understanding which channels and tactics generate the most qualified leads helps allocate resources more effectively.
- Engagement Rates. Tracking how prospects engage with emails, calls, and content can highlight what resonates with the target audience.
- Sales Cycle Length. Analyzing how long it takes for leads to move through the sales funnel can identify stages with delays or bottlenecks.
- ROI of Sales Development Activities. Calculating the return on investment for different sales development activities helps understand their financial impact on the business.
Analyzing the Data
With data in hand, the next crucial step is analysis. This involves looking at trends over time, comparing performance against benchmarks or targets, and identifying correlations between different activities and outcomes.
Data visualization tools can be beneficial here, providing a clear and intuitive way to see patterns and insights.
Choosing your KPIs
Your KPIs should reflect activity levels and the quality and impact of those activities on the sales pipeline and revenue.
A few KPIs to get you started include:
- Number of Qualified Leads Generated. This KPI tracks the number of leads that meet the predefined qualification criteria, indicating the effectiveness of lead generation efforts.
- Conversion Rate. The percentage of leads that convert into opportunities provides insight into the quality of leads and the effectiveness of the sales development team in nurturing and qualifying leads.
- Average Lead Response Time. Measures how quickly sales development reps respond to leads, which can significantly impact conversion rates.
- Number of Appointments Set. Tracks the number of meetings or demos arranged with prospects, a direct indicator of the sales development team’s productivity.
- Sales Accepted Leads (SALs). The number of leads accepted by the sales team as valid opportunities reflects the alignment and quality of leads passed from the sales development team to the sales team.
Finding the Right Outsourcing Company
The search for the right outsourcing company involves comprehensive research to identify firms specializing in your industry or those with a broad range of experience in similar businesses.
It’s important to assess the company’s reputation through reviews, testimonials, and case studies, giving preference to those with a proven track record in sales development. The services offered should meet your specific needs, such as lead generation, appointment setting, or sales qualification. A company whose work culture and values align with yours is crucial for smooth communication and collaboration.
Evaluating Experience and Expertise of Outsourced SDRs
Verifying the experience and knowledge of outsourced SDRs in your specific market or industry is essential. The outsourcing company should invest in regular training and development to keep its team updated with the latest sales techniques and tools. Performance metrics or KPIs demonstrating the SDRs’ effectiveness in previous campaigns can provide valuable insights into their potential impact on your sales efforts.
Ensuring Quality Leads and Effective Communication
Understanding the outsourcing company’s process for qualifying leads is important to ensure alignment with your target market and buyer personas.
Establishing clear and regular communication channels, such as weekly or bi-weekly meetings, helps maintain alignment on goals and feedback. A structured feedback loop is crucial for continuous improvement, allowing for the refinement of strategies based on insights and analytics on lead quality and conversion rates.
Incorporating Outsourced SDR Team with Internal Sales Strategy
Incorporating an outsourced SDR team into your internal sales strategy requires clearly defining and communicating your sales goals and expectations.
The outsourced team must understand your sales process and integrate seamlessly, necessitating product training and access to sales materials. Collaboration between your internal sales team and the outsourced SDRs through joint training sessions or team meetings ensures alignment and the sharing of best practices.
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64+ Teams. 150+ SDRs. 11+ Years. 100% Guarantee
AltiSales — Start or Revamp Your Outbound Sales Team
Many SDRs face a steep learning curve, grappling with various skills ranging from Data Research and Cold Calling to Email Personalization and Data Analysis.
Recognizing that strengths vary among individuals, we’ve reimagined the traditional SDR model. This is because the conventional approach of purchasing 10 licenses each for Outreach and ZoomInfo, expecting each SDR to dedicate only 2 hours daily to each tool, proved inefficient.
As a result, we innovated the Assembly Line approach — ‘dividing the team into 5 Researchers focused on data gathering and 5 Outbounders specialized in engaging prospects.’
This strategic reallocation allowed us to reduce our tool licenses to 5, optimizing our resources.
The results speak for themselves: with the same team size of 10, we now generate 33% more meetings, experience a 42% faster ramp-up time, see team members stay in their roles 75% longer, and enjoy a 27% reduction in costs.
And this streamlined, efficient Assembly Line is now at your disposal.
Instead of hiring 2 additional SDRs, partner with us. Within just 2 weeks, we’ll have a fully equipped Assembly Line operational for you, complete with all the necessary tools and data, revolutionizing your sales development process.
How Does AltiSales Work?
Prospecting
In the initial phase, we collaborate closely to identify your Target Market Accounts (TMA), crafting an algorithm that evaluates various dimensions of these accounts. Our Account Scoring System is designed to pinpoint your Ideal Customer Profile (ICP) with precision. AltiSales equips a specialized Data Research Representative with top-tier tools to uncover contact details and personalization factors for each identified account, ensuring a targeted approach to prospecting.
TAM Graph & Reaching Out
Upon identifying your TMA, we assign you a dedicated Sales Development Representative (SDR) trained to the highest standards. We create bespoke email templates, call scripts, and LinkedIn messaging strategies and implement complex, prospect-centered multi-channel campaigns. Utilizing AltiSales.io, we continuously refine our approach by analyzing data to enhance the effectiveness of our communications, tailoring our strategies to better connect with target personas.
Scheduling Meetings
Our process extends to arranging meetings directly on your calendar, with a weekly review to assess meeting quality and outcomes. This iterative process involves fine-tuning our Ideal Customer Profile and Buyer Personas to discover the most lucrative niches and maximize revenue opportunities through strategic targeting.
Bring It Home (Optional)
Should you decide to internalize the process, we offer the option to purchase a perpetual license to our intellectual property. We facilitate a seamless transition to your in-house team, providing access to Outreach.io and licenses for all necessary tools to ensure your team can operate efficiently and effectively, enabling a rapid scale-up of your internal capabilities.
AltiSales is dedicated to delivering a comprehensive, bespoke sales development solution, from initial prospecting to fully empowering your in-house team, all designed to accelerate your sales cycle and drive revenue growth.
MOVE FROM TARGET ACCOUNTS TO REVENUE
64+ Teams. 150+ SDRs. 11+ Years. 100% Guarantee