When considering whether to outsource your sales and lead development activities to a reputable agency (i.e. TeleNet) or staff internally, consider the pros and cons. Some of the benefits of outsourcing include…
An all-inclusive, predictable cost.
Allows all aspects of staffing and training to be offloaded.
Provides flexibility to ramp up or downsize as needs dictate.
Consistent productivity without added overhead or downtime.
Aligns expertise.
You may initially think that an internal team is less expensive. However, many hidden costs will typically add up to be larger than the obvious costs. Some of the expenses and accounting allocations that need to be considered in evaluating in-house vs. outsourced sales development operations include:
Sales Development Representatives
- Attract, recruit & hire qualified candidates
- Benefits, taxes, workers comp, etc.
- Incentive/quota plan
- Ongoing attrition and/or open requisitions due to internal career pathing
Program Manager, Supervisor, and Trainer
- Creation/execution of new-hire SDR skills training
- Training curriculum for ongoing development and expansion of SDR skills
- Daily management, monitoring, motivating, and coaching SDRs
Telephony & Systems
- VoIP, Call routing, IVR, Inbound lines
- SDR prospecting software and sequence management tools
- CRM integration
- Digital Recording software
- Nurturing or marketing automation platform
Facilities and Remote Management
- Physical space, design, infrastructure
- Physical security
- Generator(s) to ensure uptime
- Network, Security and Identity Access management
- Equipment and devices
- Overhead allocation
- Additional remote workforce considerations:
- Application accessibility
- BCP to cover employee power, Internet, and phone outages
- VPN access and support
- Training resources and methods
- Remote monitoring software
Reporting & Analytics
- SDR Productivity
- Campaign Productivity
- KPI Analysis
- Source Tracking
- Competitive and Market Trends
Process Development & Management
- Development of SDR materials including sequence, call guides, templates, etc.
- Process creation and information flow
- Institute and monitor SDR time management
Quality Assurance
- People, system. and process flow
- Accountability management
Capacity planning and scheduling
- SDR workload management
- Campaign scheduling
- Volume change management
- Back-up Coverage for PTO and attrition
Data Management
- Data quantity and quality to fuel SDR initiatives
- Third-party data integration
Legal
- Compliance with outbound prospecting regulations
- Compliance with individual state recording laws
Ownership
- Executive management time investment
In addition to the above list of tangible cost considerations, you must also consider the impact on your focus. Will any responsibilities need to be placed on the “back-burner” to allow the necessary time and personnel to successfully launch internally? Building and managing a sales or lead development team is likely a deviation from your core competencies, and therefore, you must also consider its impact to your core charter.
TeleNet offers additional blog resources to assist, or you can contact our account executive team for a personalized analysis.