Businesses must grow to survive, and sales remain the most critical determinant of the growth and survival of any business. If nobody buys your products or services, your business will not generate any revenue. Without revenue, a business can neither fulfil its obligations to employees, stakeholders and clients nor continue to exist.
Therefore, it stands to reason that increasing revenue is the number one priority of any business organisation, and to increase revenue for any business means to increase sales, especially at the lowest cost possible.
While some companies generate high revenues, most generate far lower. Revenue growth helps to define what direction a business is moving in; if your revenue remains on a positive track at a low cost of acquisition, your business is on the right track. With different strategies executed and changed quickly to see what works, many executives and business owners frequently hit gridlocks with their revenue growth plans.
If you are experiencing challenges with growing revenue for your business, this article is for you! We will be highlighting the factors and the significant sales roles that are required to drive revenue growth. If you want to increase revenue for your business, you should focus on the following areas:
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Well Known Methods to Drive Revenue Growth
Increase the Number of Customers
The ability of a business to attract new customers is a critical factor that drives business growth. This strategy is relatively straightforward; more customers mean more money. Customer acquisition and lead generation can be expensive, this is why an increasing number of businesses are outsourcing this process to experts; they can reduce customer acquisition costs, and take advantage of an expert partner’s specialised knowledge.
Increasing Average Transactions Size per Customer
This involves getting each existing customer to purchase more. This is typically done through the processes of upselling and cross-selling. You may choose to upsell by offering a premium version of a particular item to your customers.
Offering them other products or services from your organisation other than the one they purchased is referred to as cross-selling. Using either of these approaches usually leads to increased revenues when your customers buy more from you.
Retaining your Existing Customers
The difference between companies that grow and those that don’t is customer retention. The more customers that you can keep and continue to sell to, the more likely you are to achieve your business goals.
A common pitfall for businesses around the world is that they think if they have a great product or service, then customer retention will follow automatically. The truth is, it’s only a short term strategy because once you stop trying, your customers start feeling neglected.
Getting your existing customers to purchase from you more frequently is a very cost-effective way to drive revenue growth because selling to an existing customer is 6-7 times cheaper.
Reviewing your Pricing Strategy
Pricing is a crucial revenue driver; it is the fastest way to sell more of whatever it is your company sells profitably. However, most companies get it wrong. They set prices based on costs or competitor benchmarks. Both of these should influence pricing, but they should not be top of the list. Pricing should be based primarily on customer value.
Research over the last few years shows that value-based pricing is the only pricing approach that leads to higher profits (Liozu and Hinterhuber, 2013). Be sure that your prices capture the value of your products and services.
All these methods by which you can drive revenue for your business require the expertise of a sales team to be carried out efficiently; expertise that members of your current team might not possess. This is why outsourcing is critical in driving revenue growth.
The activity of the sales team is directly linked to business revenue; companies realise this, and that is why they choose to outsource their sales team; they can gain access to experts.
Outsourcing Specific Sales Roles
Many organisations struggle with low conversion rates of qualified leads, and long sales cycles, along with a lack of industry expertise within the sales department of their organisation. Consider that nearly two out of five (37 per cent) sales reps fail to make their quotas, according to CSO Insights.
Today, companies increasingly realise that outsourcing specific sales roles can be game-changing for their business; doing so gives them access to professionals that can add more value to their company.
Selecting the right talent for your sales team can be a challenge. It is essential to note that all sales team roles are different; your sales department should consist of a diverse range of human resources. While they broadly share the same goals, they do not all share the same responsibilities.
When done right, outsourcing specific sales roles will not only benefit your day to day operations but will also help you acquire new customers faster while ensuring you deliver 5-star services to them that will make them loyal to your organisation. We have highlighted below, some specific sales roles you need on your team to be successful.
Major Sales Roles that are Required to Drive Revenue Growth
Account Executives
Account executives are your traditional sales representatives. They are primarily responsible for closing deals; they are the direct drivers of revenue. They usually work with pre-qualified prospects that have shown interest in your company’s products or services.
Given their responsibilities, account executives have a significant impact on the outcome of a deal compared to other members of the sales team.
Sales Development Representatives
Sales development representatives create customer awareness of companies’ products and services. They are primarily responsible for bringing in new business; they are not as closely involved with closing a final deal.
They find qualified new leads for account executives to track and are usually the first point of contact that a new lead has with your organisation. Sales Development Reps uncover leads from a variety of sources, building contact lists, and then reaching out to contacts to gauge their interest.
Sales Specialists
The sales specialists typically don’t close deals, but they play an essential part in the sales process. They are responsible for demonstrating the companies’ products and services to potential customers.
Sales specialists support sales by developing proposals and presenting demos. The more complex the deal, the more crucial it is to have a sales specialist present that will handle any in-depth industry-specific questions and challenges that may arise.
Customer Success Professionals
Once a sale is made, the Customer Success Professional focuses on increasing the average transaction size of that customer and the frequency of that sale through up-selling and cross-selling with different add-ons and product offerings. Your customer success team guarantees that you aren’t losing on-going revenue by tending to your existing customers and reducing their churn rate.
Telesales Representatives/Contact Center Agents
Also known as a Telemarketer, Call Center Representative, or Telephone Sales Representative, a Telesales Representative is a customer service or sales professionals that handle phone calls, emails, live chat messages, SMS texts, and support tickets for organisations.
The nature of the calls and messages they handle can vary from simple bill payments and order inquiries to complex support questions and complaints. They are typically responsible for handling a large number of inquiries each day.
A Telesales Representative also contacts businesses and private individuals and reads from a predetermined script to solicit sales or donations. A successful Telesales Representative has excellent communication skills as well as sales ability. They are meticulous in keeping records and able to handle all aspects of making a sale.
Virtual Sales Representatives
A virtual sales representative is in charge of marketing a product or service through online channels. Their primary responsibilities are to sell your product or service to new and returning customers and provide any assistance upon them purchasing it online.
They also follow up with prospects, call potential customers, contact previous buyers to follow up on their purchases, schedule appointments through emails or phone, and answer any customer questions. A virtual sales representative can work in a variety of industries and may work from home or a company location, depending on the employer and duties.
Sales Managers
Every sales team needs a leader; the best sales teams rely on sales managers to keep them focused on the deals that matter. A large portion of a sales manager’s responsibility lies in monitoring team success. In addition to monitoring team performance, coaching is a critical responsibility for sales managers.
An example of a company that outsources a large volume of their sales roles is Google. Google is one company that sets a good example of excellent business practices and scaling successfully.
Google has been outsourcing some of its employees for years and getting excellent benefits. They outsource everything from email support for AdWords to virtual assistants, IT roles, development, and more. Back in 2011, Google had over 1,000 outsourced reps from 60 different countries, and these reps were handling over 10,000 calls a week.
Several other successful companies also adopt the outsourcing model to drive business performance. You need to determine the right balance for your business.
Let the Experts Deal with It
Selecting the right talent for your sales team requires more than just hiring individuals to fill the roles. It is crucial to consider the specifics of each person’s tasks, how those responsibilities move the team towards the given goal, and how to appropriately reward each member for doing so. Some of the benefits of outsourcing specific roles for your sales team include:
- Expertise: You get access to talent with the experience and knowledge to generate sales and increase revenue for your business.
- Save Resources: Outsourcing firms usually have the right pool of qualified, and they can deploy sales staff to you immediately. You don’t have to waste time and money on trying to find the right candidates yourself; you have more time to focus on other aspects of your business.
Sometimes, it is easy to focus completely on the expansion of your business, without thinking through each process strategically. Whether through customer expansion or offering new products and services, diving into any of these without careful consideration, and trying to do everything independently may not be the best decision for your business.
Outsourcing some of the sales roles we have highlighted above will ensure you have the required expertise needed to help you generate leads and maximise your business potential.
At the end of the day…
Driving revenue growth is the motive behind your sales campaign. And what is the driving force in sales? Experience. Trying to utilise inexperienced salespeople is like running in the same spot. You are doing a lot of work, but you are simply not going to get anywhere. So if you are ready to drive revenue growth, give outsourcing some serious consideration.
Outsourcing gives companies a huge competitive advantage because if done right, it allows them to scale successfully. By hiring the right people for your sales team with a partner that is laser-focused on driving business growth, you add new capabilities, skill sets, and specialised expertise to your team.
From small businesses to medium or large organisations, our sales professionals have the knowledge and experience to deliver and execute a vast array of sales initiatives to drive revenue growth for your business. Reach out to us here to find out how we can help you achieve your desired business results.
