Should Services Companies Outsource Sales Development?

We handle large parts of the early funnel development process for several services company customers at RevBoss.  It is admittedly the more difficult to create great outcomes for services companies than it is for product companies.

So here are few thoughts on outsourcing sales development for services companies:

1. Outsourced sales development works really well if your service is “productized” — either in its packaging or its delivery. The more you can make your service look and feel like a product, the more likely you’ll be able to generate curiosity and conversations.  Products are easier to evaluate and easier to buy, so do yourself a favor and figure out how to frame your service as a product before you even start.
2. Outsourced sales development works well for services companies if you have a well-defined target customer and great customer stories in this segment. Taking a “we’ll build a website for any company in any industry with a budget” approach is a recipe for disaster. If you have a handful of customers in the education space and can tell a great story about your work, learnings, and outcomes in that industry, then you’re likely to have some success if you focus on taking that detailed story to prospects that look exactly like your current customers.
3. Outsourced sales development works well for services companies that have a size-able target customer segment. Whereas product companies can generally churn up conversations with “right company, right person” targets, services companies have to manage a 3rd variable and hit “right company, right person, right time” targets. In other words, you might be a great services company, but I’m just not in the market for a new website right now. A big market makes it possible to turn over more rocks in search of the right fit.

3 out of 3 here is great but you can make it work with 2 out of 3.