In part I of this series, Rick Pizzoli, Principal of Sales Force Europe, stated that Sales Force Europe (SFE) is an Outsourced Technical Sales Team enabling US technology companies to rapidly and efficiently penetrate the European market place. We have senior sales resources in every European country available on a shared resource basis. The benefit to US companies is immediate market penetration without the delays, risks, costs and time required to build a direct sales force. For the price of one fulltime UK based employee, we can provide 4 in-country sales personnel.

And so SFE is quite literally bringing VoIP to Europe through marketing and business developments, opportunity analysis and recruitment and team development with lead customers such as Epygi, EBI and InfiNet Wireless.

Companies need to recognize the importance of investment into new markets by assessing risks, opportunities and building the proper foundation for teamwork. Networking via trade shows poses as a possible gateway for entering into a new market, however the risks and delays involved could be costly.

Enter SFE, who extends US sales and marketing with two strategies that work in conjunction with the needed European resources.

SFE offers in-country technical sales, business development and marketing, market entry research and recruit and transition to teams. European sales directors are responsible for all European financial targets by putting a point-of-contact upfront for US sales and by pre-planning monthly action plans and end of month reviews while in-country technical sales executives assist in local markets with language, culture and contacts. All technical sales executives are trained in their clients technologies and have a minimum of 8 years in European High Tech Sales experience.

Said Pizzoli, Its expensive for US companies because it takes 6-12 months for managers to hire a strong team to develop these channels and Service Providers in new markets. That time is revenue lost, and due to strict European labor laws, if the wrong team is hired in the wrong market, you are stuck. Hiring SFE also eliminates the need to rent costly office space and be locked into a lease, as well as all of the logistical costs that factor into setting up an office.

SFE started two years ago and now has 8 partners in Europe with a team of 25 in-country sales resources. This team of partners makes sure the sales personnel are top-notch people the best in sales and best in engineering. When SFE is hired by a new client, a brief market opportunity analysis is performed, an outsourced team is developed that matches the clients skill set requirements in their target countries, revenue objectives are agreed to, the team is trained and engages the marketall in under a month.

For example, SFE offers regional Epygi experts who work closely with the Resellers (in their local language) and with their end customers. This is critical to success for a new market opportunity such as VoIP. By calling directly on regional VoIP Service Providers, SFE helps create market demand further benefiting their clients and channels.

For the price of one full time UK employee, SFE can provide 4 in-country people 2 days/week for US as well International companies. These are people are used to managing a large portfolio of products, thus introducing 2-3 new clients into their personal network of contacts and channels can be very effective. SFE has also developed a buyers database of over 500 contacts. Consequently, this provides immediate presence in these markets and representation of these US companies business cards and all.

SFE provides a formula with high ROI. With in-country technical sales resource, targeted campaigns, market analysis and targeted recruitment, transition is seamless.

Concluded Pizzoli, Companies spend 25-30% on general administration and legal fees. Its simply not needed. I think this is the way that sales are going in the future

Sales Force Europe
www.SalesForceEurope.com