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Technology companies are familiar with the idea of outsourcing aspects of their business. There are many Business Process Outsourcing (BPO) companies that provide back-office functions like HR, accounting and finance, as well as front-office functions like customer service. The benefits of Business Development Representative (BDR) Outsourcing are also well documented, as companies can leverage experts who have built businesses around these specific processes (and who can often provide them at lower costs), allowing them to focus on improving what makes your business great.
Although the idea of Outsourcing is not new, many companies are reluctant to hire third-party sales providers, especially in Business Development. There are many reasons for this, however, companies could be missing out on a great opportunity.
Brand Reputation
A sales development representative is often the first point of human interaction a prospect will have with your brand, and the importance of representing your brand in the right way is paramount. For this reason, it’s understandable that companies might be a little hesitant about entrusting such an important role to a third party. As we said above, one bad interaction with a BDR and the credibility you’ve worked so hard to build can crumble.
That said, many of the same companies are comfortable working with creative marketing agencies or public relations (PR) firms to help define and represent their brand. These agencies draw on decades of experience and are experts in designing and executing your brand strategy. This partnership also allows companies to leverage larger teams on demand rather than maintaining large numbers of employees in the creative department.
The same can be true with the right Sales Development partner. Experts in the Sales Development space draw on years of experience building and managing teams in many different markets. As a result, guidance on how to represent your brand and the appropriate channels to do so comes from a wealth of knowledge that may not exist internally.
Security and control
One of the reasons a technology company might think twice about outsourcing its SDR function is security concerns and a lack of overall control. Why would you give a third party access and control over extremely sensitive customer and prospect data? This seems like a huge risk, which leads many companies to keep the function in-house and their data under their supervision.
That said, companies are now so accustomed to the SaaS model and its benefits that it’s hard to imagine doing business any other way. Imagine maintaining infrastructure, software updates, and huge IT closets full of servers. So 1990!
The flexibility and scalability of the SaaS model far outweigh any perceived security-related risks.
The same is true when working with a quality outsourced service provider. With a proper contract structure, the security risks of working with an outsourced vendor will generally be minimal compared to an in-house team.
Cost-Benefits of Business Development Outsourcing
When you hear about a company outsourcing a function like a call center or IT development, it usually evokes two assumptions: it will cost less and the quality will be lower than an in-house team. And that may still be true – it all depends on the company you end up working with and the expectations you have regarding the cost you pay.
With the right company, outsourcing a BDR team will cost less than building it in-house (as shown above), and quality can really increase with the right training and experience. These are all things you can (and should) discuss with a company before entering into any type of contract. Transparency around pricing and expectations will eliminate any gray areas around the assembled team.
It’s time to abandon the stigma associated with outsourcing your sales development team and start realizing the many benefits that business development outsourcing offers.
Finally, yours is a technology company, not a new business development company – BDR. Leave new business development to the experts.