No business with something to sell is complete without an outbound sales team. These groups play an essential role in driving customer acquisition and revenue for companies by finding and creating opportunities they wouldn’t have had otherwise.

In this article, we’ll explain outbound sales teams, what they do, the work that goes into building them, and how an outbound sales platform can take their performance to the next level. 

What Is An Outbound Sales Team?

An outbound sales team is a group of salespeople who serve the primary function of reaching out to potential customers and generating business. They are responsible for identifying and qualifying leads, pitching products, and closing deals, and using various communication channels such as phone calls, emails, social media, and other marketing techniques to get their job done. Outbound sales teams typically work in a dynamic and fast-paced environment, with specific targets and quotas to achieve. 

Outbound sales teams differ from regular sales teams in that they solely focus on reaching out to prospects with whom the company has not interacted before. Rather than wait for potential customers to come to them via channels like marketing, these individuals take the initiative to make first contact with a direct phone call or email. Outbound is often seen as a more upfront form of sales, but is nonetheless effective when it comes to growing pools of leads and increasing customer acquisition. 

What Does An Outbound Sales Team Do?

Beyond the broad description given in the first two words of its name, an outbound sales team’s workload can be described in many different ways. Here are some of the main tasks these individuals undertake. 

Prospecting and Lead Generation

Outbound sales teams identify potential clients or customers and generate leads. They research industries and companies and use methods like cold-calling and email outreach campaigns to pitch their products or services. 

Closing Deals

Outbound sales teams work hard to sell products or services to customers. They present information, answer questions, and negotiate to close deals. Clear communication and persistence are key, as well as an understanding of the customer’s needs. 

Analyzing Data

Outbound sales teams analyze sales data to identify patterns and opportunities for improvement. They look at metrics like lead conversion rates, customer acquisition costs, and customer retention rates to determine how effective their sales strategies are and identify areas for improvement. 

Building Relationships

Outbound sales teams work to build relationships with clients and customers. This can include following up with contacts, responding to queries, and providing excellent customer service. The goal is to establish trust and familiarity, which increases the likelihood of future business. 

Collaborating with Other Teams

Sales teams may work with marketing and product development departments to ensure that their efforts are aligned with the company’s overall business goals. Their collaboration often involves sharing customer feedback and insights or coordinating related campaigns. 

How To Build An Outbound Sales Team

Sold on the value and convinced that your organization is ready for an outbound sales team? Great – now it’s time to build one. Outbound sales teams are usually created in one of two ways: in-house resources or outsourcing. This section will review each option in further detail.

Creating An Outbound Sales Team In-House

In-house outbound sales teams are the preferred choice for businesses that want granular control and oversight over their sales processes. This option requires invested time, resources, and staff to build an operational outbound department from the ground up.

Here is a breakdown of what the process involves:

1. Determine your sales goals: Begin with strategy; what are your sales targets? Revenue goals? Key measures of performance? Having the answers to these questions will guide the entire process to follow. 
2. Hire outbound sales reps: Actively seek out and hire sales representatives with experience in outbound sales. You’ll need to provide them with training to ensure they understand the value proposition, product or service, and a target market that they’ll be working with. 
3. Establish a sales process: Design a sales process to dictate how reps will engage with leads, qualify them, and close deals. Also, take time to define what tools and software staff will use to track this work.
4. Develop a lead generation strategy: Next, select what channels you’d like reps to use in the lead generation process. This could be anything from targeted email campaigns and social media messages to cold calls. Whatever you choose, ensure that it aligns with the specific customer market and goals you identified in Step 1.

5. Implement a CRM: Every outbound sales team, big or small, should have access to customer relationship management (CRM) software. This tool tracks interactions between salespeople and customers to provide real-time visibility into customer interactions.
6. Monitor and measure performance: Use the CRM tool to track performance metrics like call volume, conversion rates, and customer acquisition costs. This data can be used to identify areas for improvement, fine-tune sales strategies and ensure that your team is meeting pre-defined business objectives on an ongoing basis.

Creating An Outbound Sales Team Through Outsourcing

In-house outbound sales teams can be effective but are ultimately only ever as valuable as they are properly implemented and managed. Outsourcing is a great option for organizations without the resources to do so, offering a sort of ‘plug and play’ system that handles extra work on the company’s behalf.

Here’s an overview of how outsourced outbound sales teams work:

1. Choose a third-party agency: Conduct research to find a reputable third-party company that offers outsourced outbound sales services. Ideally, this provider will have multiple years of experience in your given market or niche. 
2. Provide guidance: Provide the third-party company with detailed information about your company, products or services, and target audience. This will help them create a strategy that will be in line with your specific goals and objectives.
3. Train: While most professional agencies can handle this on their own, it may be necessary to provide some form of training or initiation to familiarize the outsourced team with your company’s unique approach, values, and desired communication style.
4. Collaborate: Maintain strong lines of communication between the outsourced outbound sales team and your in-house staff to ensure that everyone is aligned and working in sync towards the same targets.
5. Performance monitoring: Monitor performance metrics such as conversion rate and response time, making adjustments as necessary, to improve the outsourced team’s performance and effectiveness.

What Is An Outbound Sales Platform?

Outbound sales platforms are tools designed to simplify and streamline the outbound sales process. They use features like automation, data analytics, email templates, call scripts, and lead-generation tools to assist sales agents in identifying and targeting potential customers.

Outbound sales platforms can also track and monitor the progress of interactions between sales staff and leads, providing valuable insights into the effectiveness of specific marketing tactics and allowing teams to optimize their strategies accordingly.

Growbots offers an advanced outbound sales platform fit with an array of features to take advantage of. Learn more today.