As sales teams struggle to meet revenue targets that increase every year, many sales executives are turning to outside specialists to help improve sales quotas. The complexity of the buying process is also expected to keep growing, and as such, it will further increase partnerships with sales outsourcing providers. However, sales executives are demanding more value from outsourcing relationships, placing an emphasis on ROI-driven sales from outsourcing campaigns.

The same expectation applies to sales force performance monitoring. Today, every stage of the sales process, including successful performance optimization, depends on data-driven, logical, and strategic approaches. “Smart” performance monitoring is now the standard operating procedure for every company. It is no longer exclusive to large corporations.

On that token, a logical data-driven mindset requires significant technological investment. It may also require an overhaul of ingrained company culture, which is why outsourcing is a preferred solution for many firms. An outsourcing provider that employs experienced data analysts, coaches/mentors, and sales leaders can help your internal or outsourced sales team perform better and hit their quotas. Companies and sales solutions providers that achieve their goals use sophisticated analytics tools and actual data instead of relying on estimates or traditional intuition.

Offshore Sales Performance Management

Sales performance management (SPM) aims to optimize sales performance through metrics-driven practices and advanced tools. It emphasizes on intelligent risk-taking, and includes strategy tasks, such as planning and execution. It also encompasses continuous improvement, coaching, and compensation. In addition, SPM encourages the use of next-generation tools to increase sales productivity. Companies that use data-driven SPM enabled can effectively hit their annual quotas and beyond.

Most sales solutions providers adopt a performance-based pricing model, with total costs that depend entirely on the service’s value. This means that buyers are not required to pay for any add-ons to close sales. It is in the suppliers’ best interest to use the most optimal processes to provide exceptional service. Savvy sales solutions providers have integrated SPM into their sales offerings, allowing companies that lack resources to leverage best-in-class performance through monitoring and optimization.

SPM may be available as a discrete service or included in an end-to-end BPO sales solution. SPM drives growth because it leverages actual data and predictive analytics to improve effectiveness and efficiency. The outsourcing firm provides continuous training for new and veteran sales reps, and their performance is measured rigorously by using non-traditional metrics. These metrics are benchmarked against top-performing companies to identify and drive behavior that leads to success.

Third parties also make sure that their outsourced sales teams use SPM tools to improve performance. They are as follows:

• Advanced dialers that allow managers to track dials and deals right from the team’s CRM software.
• Social selling tools that target the right buyers.
• Sales knowledge portals.
• Lead management and scoring tools.

Adapting Sales Benchmarking to your Sales Outsourcing Strategy

Sales benchmarking is the process by which companies compare their sales performance with their competitors. They use deep analysis to evaluate the sales function. Their goal is to identify issues, opportunities, patterns, and behaviors that could drive revenue growth and reduce sales costs.

An example of benchmarking methodology is the creation of an accurate picture of a sales role for a particular company. By using clear and measurable characteristics they can define the skills, behavior, and experience required for success.

Traditional sales benchmarking compares sales teams’ performance using leading indicators with empirical data from a peer group or a high-performing sales team from another organization. Most sales solutions providers today employ big data scientists and researchers to extract insights and patterns from numbers and turn those insights into value. Outsourcing companies may also use cloud-based analytics tools to interpret data and share results with multiple users. This enhances transparency, collaboration, and understanding of actual issues causing specific sales problems. Accurate data is the key to successful sales benchmarking.

Sometimes individual sales reps and sales leaders respond unfavorably to benchmarking results and resist initiatives to improve performance. An outsourcing company can help you by providing an external and objective view. They can also serve as a buffer between the sales force and corporate management. This can initiate change and improve performance more quickly.

Sales Quality Assurance

Sales quality refers to a list of criteria defined and used by the sales solution provider and the company to measure the quality of performance of the external sales force. Quality criteria vary with the business, market vertical, and sales type. They may include standard levels and parameters. These may be the level of competence of individual sales reps and sales leaders, problem-solving abilities, and adaptability to special requirements. They may also help customers save time, effort and work.

Sales quality assurance (SQA) standard levels also vary, but each level usually defines a goal that the sales rep or executive must achieve. For example, a bronze standard level describes a situation where the sales rep and sales leaders are able to address technical and non-technical customer issues. They are able to evaluate the appropriateness of a solution using actual data.

The next standard level, silver, describes a sales rep who provides the highest level of customer satisfaction for current and future transactions. Silver sale reps also use resources available to prevent any possible complaint. Gold, the highest standard, describes a sales rep that is able to go above and beyond the call of duty. They sell more units than required, find new customers, and ensure maximum customer satisfaction after completing each transaction. 

Top outsourcing companies use sophisticated, next-generation tools to perform sales quality analysis and prevent problems before they arise. First, they must define, manage, and implement sales quality systems. Then, the service provider and the outsourced team must agree on the image or brand that the company wants to project. Finally, they must determine the methods for continuous improvement in sales performance.

Coaching and Mentoring

Because of ever-increasing yearly targets, many sales executives adopt the traditional approach of hiring more sales reps and attaching a quota to each new rep. This practice has a counterproductive effect as it tends to reduce returns. Although hiring more people may be necessary when expanding to a new market or introducing a new product, it shouldn’t always be the default action. A better solution would be to work with a sales provider specializing in coaching sales teams and executives to improve skills and performance. Outsourced sales coaching has been proven to increase the number of closed sales and pipelines while reducing sales cycle time.

Sales training is different from coaching and mentoring. While training focuses on knowledge transfer from one facilitator to a group of sales reps, coaching and mentoring are developmental instruction techniques that prompt salespeople and leaders to perform better. Coaching sessions are also long-term and may be incorporated into weekly schedules.

Outsourced coaching and mentoring services include diagnostics, assessment, reporting, relationship management, and strategic plan development. Sales coaches work closely with sales reps and sales leaders. They identify, track, and benchmark performance against sales best practices to pinpoint strengths and weaknesses. They know which tools and processes to use to address specific issues. Sales coaches can also provide sales acceleration tools customized to the client’s needs.

Great sales coaching can make an immediate impact on sales performance. Coaches address the most obvious issues first, thus ensuring rapid improvement. This may position them as long-term coaches as they assist and encourage continuous monitoring and improvement on the performance of the company’s sales team.

Leadership and Oversight in Outsourced Sales Team Monitoring

Depending on the agreement with the client, the outsourcing company can also provide short or long-term leadership and oversight to the outsourced staff. This ensures continued improvement as it avoids common issues such as:

• Inconsistency
• Demotivation
• Inability to reach performance and revenue targets
• Poor activity management
• Unclear performance metrics
• Stagnant growth

In addition, the outsourcing provider uses data and analytics to assess the health of its sales team. After identifying challenges, the sales leader provides structure and accountability for the team and sets clear objectives aligned with the company’s goals. The leader then measures results, monitors the activity of each sales rep. Finally, he or she provides coaching and mentoring as needed. The goal is to ensure continued improvement so that the sales team can succeed in their sales quotas.

With effective leadership and oversight from the outsourcing firm, internal sales managers no longer need to question what sales representatives do with their time. The CRM tool records and tracks daily activities. Data is then shared with corporate managers for utmost transparency. This includes, but is not limited to, weekly reports with sales forecasts and potential closed sales. For longer term oversight, the outsourcing firm provides weekly meetings with each rep, monthly meetings with sales leaders, periodic assessments, and annual process reviews.

To learn more about outsourcing, you can read our Top 8 Qualities of an Outsourcing Company in the Philippines article. We invite you to follow us on social media and to visit our website to learn more about our services.

About Us: Sourcefit is a widely recognized US-managed business process outsourcing company based in Manila, Philippines. We proudly serve over 100 clients with a workforce of more than 1,300 employees. Our global centers can serve multiple markets, and our staff is highly proficient in English, Spanish, French, and Portuguese. Whether you need a few or many employees, we can help you achieve your business goals and build high-quality offshore teams.

Latest Awards

Sourcefit’s commitment to excellence has been recognized through numerous industry awards and certifications.

We recently received the Fortress Cyber Security Award from the Business Intelligence Group. Sourcefit was also honored with the prestigious recognition of Best Outsourcing Solutions Provider in the Philippines during the 2023 Business Excellence Awards.

Other awards include: FT ranking of 500 high-growth Asia-Pacific, The Marketing Excellence Awards, Inquirer Growth Champion,  HR Asia Awards, among others.

Related Pages

• Guide to Telesales and Customer Service Outsourcing in 2016
• Customer Service Outsourcing
• Sales Outsourcing and How It Can Help Your Business
• Finding the Right Outsourced Sales Solutions Provider
• Advantages of Outsourcing Sales and Telesales
• Hiring an Outsourced Sales Provider: Some Red Flags to Keep in Mind
• Are you Working with the Right Outsourced Telesales Team?
• Industries & Professions that can Benefit from Sales Business Process Outsourcing

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