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In today's post, let's talk true cost of hiring a sales team. Yes, it costs you more than you think when you are trying to sell a product even as small as $3/month.

No Country for Salesmen

Many buyers ignore RoST - The return on the stress taken. The heartburn each time a buyer walks out the last minute on a deal, a long wait that the seller endures - probably months, probably few years, waiting to heart that 1 word "YES" - holding his inventory and burning cash on marketing. We talked in depth about the hidden costs of customer acqusition in our earlier posts, and we hope you liked reading them.

True Cost of Discounting

Do you find a reason why you feel over-priced by brands all-along the year, except on BlackFridays? Tempting isn't to plan an entire purchase for an year that one day? Impulse buying however seeming profitable to the buyer, in reality is win-win model. More sales, more clearance!

Building an Inside Sales Team

An ideal sales team must deliver the lowest possible cost of sales, predictable pipeline dealflow, payments & happy customers. Sucks to be on receiving end but most in the "inside sales" are typically told to not give up until 8+ “touches”. It takes an average 7 to 13+ touches to make a qualified lead. Sales is more about creating lasting first impressions on the end-user.

Big requirem is a motivated sales team. However hard you try to hammer a slack team, they never work. Without incentives and perks, you can't expect sales to grow. Cost of sales can decrease dramatically with making your customer take more decision with data. Educating your customer is not #1 priority. Making them take decisions based on data, trends, and budgeting is far bigger a challenge. Data = better products.

ROI on Sales Hires

Having an established sales process can help reduce the cost of sales and help a team work effectively. Everyone is on the same page. Don't keep blaming lack of adoption as an excuse to not using good software, start using it yourselves, and educate how simple sales can work out for them. Leadership is not pacing a scaffold when using a bullwhip. Learning has to be part of a sales manager's life.

As the new replaces the old, figure out what is costing your sales more - people management or software adoption. Plan, delegate, control budgets and let things work out for itself. Give ample time to pivot your sales stragegy towards "consistency". Its simply put a sales manager can help better by commanding the respect of your sales team, and not instilling fear. Again, its best to stop paying a premium on what's not working, and start something new.

Hiring SDRs is no easy task!

Is your marketing digging a moneypit? Inside sales actually have the highest cost per engagement rate, compared to outsourced way. Wonder why? If you thought hiring a sales manager is going to cost you approx "$25k per year" in salaries, think twice. Think all about the bonus, incentives, and money spent on travel. Nothing works better as a motivation than money. It’s human nature to want to feel validated for our hard work. Next, rentention is a costly affair, and not excluding the cash burn on recruitment, hiring, and training! It may seem like letting your sales team run itself saves money, but the lost revenue might be far greater than the savings. Scripted sales-blown calls will cost you atleast 5 figures.

Relentless misery of working in sales is if your staff costs are taking up 60% of sales, the company would be at loss. Everyone we meet is fighting a battle we know nothing about! Let us be kind. Emotions are at the heart of every interaction. Little acts can change the end of every story. Logic makes people think, emotions make them act! If you want to change someone, talk to them with both! Even in sales, “It’s not a secret that people buy based on emotions and then use logic and reasons to justify. People do not buy a product, they buy a feeling.

Ending notes - Hiring an inside sales can be challenging. Develop lead generation through balanced prospecting, develop sales drive, improve basic sales competencies and emotional intelligence for sales success. If you are starting out, outsourcing your sales is a big move to cut expenses. If you have sales challenges do contact us! And, don’t lose any more sales by not taking the big choice. First come, first served.