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By Percy Chong, 11th June 2015
Not enough prominence has been given to the importance as well as the proliferation of the outsourcing of the Sales Management function in the marketplace. ASG observed that most sales leaders are unwilling to surrender the command and control of their sales team over to a consultant or subject matter experts; even in the face of immutable benefits that outsourcing may bring. Others have been known to resist outsourcing in the name of integrity and consistency of their organisation’s methodologies and principles.
Many of such sales leaders simply fail to see the benefits that outsourcing of (either the entire or partial) Sales Management function can bring to the organisation.
There are also many organisation that lack the expertise or even the temperament (ie. of sales leader) to develop, drive and dismiss their sales people. It takes deep understanding to respect and recognised that not everyone is suitable for a selling career; and not everyone is made to lead a sales team either.
Process like tracking and monitoring though commonly acknowledge as integral part of Sales Management, are not always practice and even when adopted, does not necessarily accompanied with the right follow through actions. ASG observed that many sales leaders are also emotionally challenged with letting go of unproductive staff. Their inability to act swiftly on compelling information may be attributed to their personal values, or even the clarity of mind to differentiate the ‘goat’ from the ‘sheep’ (ie. the staff with potential to be developed and those who are not suitable for the job).
On top of the obvious advantage of expertise and personality fit, outsourcing can also deliver better cost and resource management to its adoptive organisation.
It allows for a more targeted solution to be administered to specific Sales Management function that may require urgent attention. The broad category of function includes:
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Inside Sales / Tele-marketing / Prospecting & Approach function
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Business Development / Sales Consulting function
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Accounts Management / Relationship Management function
Each of this function may in turn require different competencies and methodologies to fix. Some core competencies include:
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Process Architecture(Training Needs Analysis, Curriculum, Process and Concept Development etc)
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Learning Delivery Approaches (Consulting, Training, Coaching, Mentoring and Supervising etc)
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Sales Process Optimisation (Driving, Managing, Tracking, Monitoring, Analysing of Effectiveness, Recommendation of candidate/process enhancement & removal, Solution Execution & Implementation etc)
Again, different functions within the Sales Management domain require different expertise as well as the right personality to execute effectively. And these qualities may not be available within your organisation. External consultants are void of attachments or feelings toward the sales team. They are objective and their executions of tasks are clinical and thorough. It is especially essential quality when dismissing of unproductive staff with poor fit early.
All these benefits add up to huge resource savings. There is also no need to start experimenting and building experience from scratch. Competencies can immediately be acquired with appointing the right consultant. Furthermore, potential team leaders may be develop, as they walk alongside the external consultants observing and practicing the right set of actions/decisions.
The final and perhaps most salient benefit to this outsourcing debate lies in the fundamental practice of all Sales Management professionals; their track records for all campaigns that are successfully managed, are all available for audits. No genuine Sales Management practitioner would ever miss the opportunity to track and monitor their own effectiveness in any project that they are involved in.
So, request to have their track records audited and interview their references. The efficacy and the benefits of appointing a credible Sales Management professional to manage your Sales Division’s needs may just surprise you.
Article contributed by Percy Chong (through Asian Sales Guru) |