Outsourcing in sales? Why now?

When I first started out in business development in the sales and marketing outsourcing space for MarketSource nearly 20 years ago, I focused on the value prop I could deliver to customers. Three simple but powerful elements:

• Speed.

• Flexibility.

• Expertise.

I didn’t focus on something that many think of when it comes to outsourcing, because it’s not always an automatic:

• Cost savings.

What all those add up to is a huge concern for every business today in our current crisis:

• De-risking.

All of these bullet points above are absolutely critical to sales and marketing leaders who need to drive revenue growth today through the current brutal and unparalleled economy.

That’s why we’re accelerating our focus on providing outsourcing in the sales space.

RocketPower started in 2016 as a human capital consulting company. We’ve since grown to provide outsourcing for a plethora of roles for our hyper-growth clients. Our employees provide outsourced services as Contract Recruiters, Software Operations Specialists, Data Operations Experts, Customer Success Representatives, Software Engineers, and Autonomous Vehicle Testers. In 2019 alone we hired and deployed over 250 outsourced staff for our clients’ needs, the vast majority of them here in the United States.

Outsourcing in the revenue world was already a planned expansion area this year. Myself, and staff I’ve brought on board, have extensive experience in outsourcing SDRs, AE’s, Channel Reps and Pre-Sales Engineers across the country and across the world for companies including Google, Cisco, NetApp, VMware, and many more.

But, the RocketPower way is not to provide the same services, nor to do things in the way that the “traditional” outsourcers of sales services do. We don’t promise a plethora of inflexible services that you may or may not need - that come along with a bloated price tag. You also need more than what a pure staffing company can provide. They don’t have the expertise. They’ll just throw bodies at you.

Our value prop is simple:

• RocketPower’s core is a world-class recruiting engine for hyper-growth companies. We find you the best people, period.

• We use our expertise to consult with you on how best to deploy them - wherever you need them according to your business needs.

• Then we execute rapidly in a flexible, adaptable style that meets the exact needs of your business.

• You pay far less while the outsourced members team actually make more than they would at a “traditional” outsourcer. How? We’re a scrappy, agile organization (that’s what landed us in Forbes Top 100 Startup Employers for 2020), and we have a pricing structure to match.

All of this adds up to reducing risk and creating value while you sell your way through the current crisis...and hopefully find great people that will become your own employees sooner rather than later (more on that below).

Windows, Hurdles, Targets.

I’ll never forget what I heard early in my career. People utilize services for three reasons:

To overcome a challenge. To hit a target. To exploit an opportunity.

Ever since I heard that I’ve always thought about Hurdles, Targets, and Windows.

As you drive towards your revenue goals despite the challenges of these times, what Hurdles, Targets, and Windows are you looking at right now? You should be considering outsourcing to get you over, to, and through:

1. Hurdle: Everyone you hire is going to be remote. What happens if the people you hired remote are not a fit once you are back in-house?

2. Target: You have to hit your sales goals. But how do you do it while also hitting your expense goals - which are getting tightened and scrutinized?

3. Window: All of your people are going to be hired remote and work remote right now. Can you take the opportunity to test hiring outside of your HQ metro? This is particularly critical on the coasts. If you’re hiring exclusively in NYC, how many of your SDRs are going to be working at 9PM Eastern at the end of your SF targets’ work days? If you’re only hiring in SF, how many of your SF SDRs will be working at 5am when your NYC targets start theirs?

In all of the above scenarios, you have the flexibility to change your course on a dime in an infinitely easier manner via outsourcing than if you hired people in-house.

Plus, we design the program from the start so that you can easily transition people to in-house employees when/if you want to do that. It’s what’s best for your business needs that we’re focused on - not extending our outsourcing engagements forever.

Learning from history:

In 2008, right as the wheels were coming off in our last major crisis, the New York Times put out a great article on outsourcing that touches on why outsourcing is important to you now.

Speed:

NYT: "A good outsourcing firm has the resources to start a project right away. Handling the same project in-house might involve taking weeks or months to hire the right people."

Flexibility:

NYT: "An outside provider's cost structure and economy of scale can give your firm an important competitive advantage."

Expertise:

NYT: "Every business has limited resources, and every manager has limited time and attention."

Savings:

NYT: "Cost-cutting may not be the only reason to outsource, but it's certainly a major factor. Outsourcing can also make your firm more attractive to investors...Hiring and training staff...can be very expensive...and don't always live up to your expectations."

De-risking:

NYT: "Every business investment carries a certain amount of risk. Markets, competition, government regulations, financial conditions, and technologies all change very quickly. Outsourcing providers assume and manage this risk for you, and they generally are much better at deciding how to avoid risk in their areas of expertise."

Helpful things to think about as we navigate a new and unique crisis.

If you want to chat about what you need to get over, to, or through, please reach out.