Telemarketing Software Featured Article

Outsourcing is one of those words that carries a lot of weight with it. It's been a blessing and a curse alike, and as with so many other business tactics, it comes with benefits and risks that need to be considered before embarking on such a path. Recently, Business 2 Community took a look at the benefits of such a plan, and offered up a set of reasons why outsourcing telesales in particular can be a great idea, or a terrible idea, depending on a variety of factors.

Certainly, there's a lot to like about the idea of outsourcing a telesales operation. With outsourcing, companies get access to scalability; outsourcing doesn't have to be the only tool in terms of telesales operations. It can run parallel to an in-house operation, which means it can be increased or decreased as opportunity and resources demand. If times are slow, cut back on the outsourced operation, and do the opposite when times are flush. Better yet, outsourcing allows for ultra-specific tailoring; when a team of experts is needed for short-term operations, said experts can be had in rapid fashion then dismissed when no longer needed.

Additionally, an outsourced telesales team likely has a handle on current issues and operations, so getting said team ready for action can take as little as 30 days or even less depending on the exact circumstances of the operation. If the team can be ready to go in so little time, that's a lot less expense put out to get said team trained and hired, which means the team is generating revenue faster than the alternative would have been. Plus, for those who use outsourcing as a means to augment a current in-house team, that's an ability to bring in more revenue for just one flat fee; the investments required to bring in in-house personnel are substantially lowered. There's even savings at the management level; the outsourced sales team is managed by someone else, therefore, there's no need for things like sales force automation tools and the various other points of spending that go into such an operation.

But there are also risks afoot. An outsourced telesales team is not comprised of the business' employees; therefore there may be issues of loyalty at play. There's also a risk of decreased expertise, in terms of product knowledge and company knowledge, as that team may have worked in a completely different industry before arriving at a particular business. A business may not want former cosmetics sales reps handling sales for heavy industrial equipment. What's more, businesses that have a cultural problem with telecommuting will have a major problem with an outsourced telesales staff, as these people will never be physically seen in the office. Finally, for those businesses that do no other outsourcing, the sales function may not be the best place to start doing so.

It's clear that there are advantages and disadvantages involved in outsourcing staff, and these can change depending on to what extent the outsourcing is actually done. If used in concert with current operations, the negative impact can be lessened if never really removed. If relied on in whole, there can be serious drawbacks to the concept. So therefore, it's worth careful consideration when the next move is to bring in an outsourced operation, as it may be a move that doesn't ultimately make sense for the company.