Within many medium-sized companies there is a misconception that building an internal team of sales development reps’ costs less and allows you more control than outsourcing. However, while there is a lot of mediocrity in the outsourced lead generation space, the best firms provide high quality opportunities, actionable market intelligence, extensive testing and in some cases digital services for less than in-house tele-prospecting cost.

While it is relatively easy to calculate the cost of direct labor, marketing and sales executives fail to add up all the costs of establishing an inside team. Hiring, supervision, training, equipment, overhead, management and administration costs need to be part of the equation. Then there are hidden costs including rehiring, retraining, and lack of productivity when a position is vacant.

Regarding productivity, internal teams suffer from (as compared to a quality outsourced partner): 

1. Too much or not enough research: 

   Research should not be cutting into the time to make outbound dials. Conversely, if you are in a “grip it and rip it” environment where everybody has their own process, and you are calling without research then most of calls will be wasted.

2. Lack of tested cadence: 

   A precise combination of dials, voicemails and emails (and in some cases direct mail) needs to be nailed down (and continuously tested). Don’t give in to those that regard voicemails and emails as a waste of time. They are not. In many cases one half of all leads generated for clients come from a cadence of voicemail and email precisely delivered over a tested period. 

3. Over-dependence on emails and not enough dials:

   I usually find that inside sales teams are making 30 – 40 touches per day, but most of them are email touches with very few dials. This results in too few conversations, no relationship-building and poor outcomes.

4. A poor “script”: 

   Prospects value quality conversations with outside experts so don’t read them a rote script. Don’t believe that prospects are 57 – 78% of the way through the buying process before they get suppliers involved. According to ITSMA, buyers of strategic solutions and services want to converse with supplier/experts early, in the middle and late in the process. 

5. Inefficient / ineffective nurturing:

   Nurturing can triple the return on every marketing investment (see this blog for more). Taking the time to continue conversations with qualified targets even if the times not right for them (yet) to buy is well worth the effort.

Outsourcing provides access to world-class capabilities, reduced operating cost, increased quality and productivity, improved ability to focus on the core business and minimizes risk. Download this PDF to see how you can also increase revenue by over 92%.