Types of sales force : should it be automated or outsourced?

There are different types of sales force, and here, it’s the team that leads the company to success. 🏆
However, its definition and composition sometimes remain a mystery to some. 👀

If you want to know whether to automate or outsource it, or how to animate your teams, you’ve come to the right place.

Enough chit-chat, let’s get down to the nitty-gritty. (Reading time, about 4 minutes). 📖

Sales force structure : definition

In a nutshell, this is the team that transforms a company’s sales strategies into concrete actions (results). It includes all profiles dedicated to sales, from field sales representatives to growth hackers and sales managers.

Think of the sales force as a bridge between the company and the market. It’s the voice that embodies the company’s values, meets customers’ expectations and translates their needs into solutions. 👀

Okay, let’s take an example, a company launching management software. Its sales force might include:

• Field sales people who meet potential customers for live demonstrations.
• A telemarketer who qualifies prospects over the phone and schedules appointments.
• A key account manager who manages strategic customers to maximize the value of contracts.

Why is it important?

First of all, it has a direct impact on sales by generating sales, whether through prospecting, converting leads into customers, or retaining existing customers. 🫱🏽‍🫲🏼

Secondly, it’s the one who listens to customers’ needs and expectations, as it gathers important information, including trends, expectations and even dissatisfaction.

What’s next? Well, it allows the company to adapt and improve its offerings. 🤩

Finally, salespeople don’t just sell, they develop relationships of trust with customers, which strengthens the company’s credibility and reputation. 😇

What are the different types of sales force in marketing?

If you didn’t know, there are different types of sales force, and each has different benefits. 👀

Don’t panic, we’ll explain their specifics and discover which sales force can bring unique value and enhance your growth! 📈

1) Automate your internal sales force

This refers to a sales team employed directly by the company to sell its products or services. This includes: 👇🏼

• Sales representatives.
• Telemarketers.
• Managers.
• Managers.
• Anyone else involved in the sales cycle.

The internal sales force is particularly advantageous, as it enables the company to train its teams directly in-house and pass on a vision, values and sales methods aligned with its objectives. 🦋

However, selling can sometimes take up a considerable amount of everyone’s time, no matter how many people you have on your team.

That’s why we recommend using digital tools, especially automation tools, to make the lead generation and lead follow-up process easier for you. 🔨

We’ve got one up our sleeve that I think may be of interest to you. 👀

We’re talking about Waalaxy, a prospecting and automation tool on LinkedIn and Inmail, which will enable you to contact more than 800 people a month in 10 minutes a day, amazing isn’t it? 🤩

Quickly, Waalaxy is:

• 🟣 AI assistant for writing and adding leads.
• 🔵 Automation of multichannel sequences.
• 🟣 LinkedIn messaging, but better.
• 🔵 Message personalization.
• 🟣 Email enrichment.
• 🔵 CRM integration.

For example, a salesperson can program personalized message sequences to reach 🎯 as many prospects as possible, without having to do it manually, freeing up time for other exchanges.

And then, inevitably, you’ll have better visibility of interactions with your prospects, allowing you to focus on the most promising leads. 🔥

If you want to give it a try and find prospects fast, it’s at Waalaxy. 👇🏼

2) Outsourced sales force

This involves sales people who are not directly part of the company, but who sell products or services via partnerships, distributors or independent agents.

I’m thinking in particular of :

• Freelance sales representatives.
• Specialized sales agencies.
• Third-party distributors.

In fact, you’ll be able to concentrate on other aspects, such as research, development and production, while leaving external salespeople autonomous, as they know the terrain, customers and market peculiarities inside out. 👀

For example, if you want to set up in another country, in time team up with local salespeople, as they already know the market and surely have an existing network of contacts! 🌎

However, as a disclaimer, this can be a limiting practice, since control is limited. You need to establish a relationship of trust with your partners and make sure they respect your brand values and quality standards. 📇

3) Supplementary force

Finally, the back-up sales force is a temporary or complementary sales team, mobilized for specific needs or limited periods.

Remember the high school teacher who came in a few times a year as a substitute? It’s the same thing (sorry for the Proust’s Madeleine). 😇

This technique is often used to manage certain cases, such as :

• 📈 Activity peaks.
• 🚀 Launching a new product.
• 🏪Covering a market on a one-off basis.

If you’re a Saas and you have a major event during the year (Black Friday, for example), you’re bound to need a back-up team to boost your sales. 💸

But it’s not all plain sailing, as you need a great deal of supervision to maintain consistency in your approach. 👀

As you can see, the advantages are simple: flexibility and speed are the watchwords, as they will enable you to optimize your costs while being directly invested in a permanent in-house team for other matters. 😇

What does the sales force consist of?

As you can see, to build a successful sales force, you’ll need a number of different professions, each more useful and unique than the last!

Let’s take a quick look at each of these roles. 👇🏼

1) Field sales

The field salesperson is responsible for meeting potential customers directly in the field. 🏕️ They physically represent the company, negotiate contracts and build relationships based on trust. To do this, they need to know their sector and their customers inside out, so they can adapt their sales pitch and offers to meet their customers’ needs. 👀

However, he may face time constraints, as travel is often long and costly, not to mention cancelled appointments.
Roughly speaking, he is often dependent on his customers’ availability to be able to advance his objectives. 🎯

2) Sedentary salesperson

Unlike the first, the sedentary salesperson works from the office. 🪑 He manages remote prospecting via telephone calls, e-mails and online meetings. He also often deals with leads and customers who prefer remote contact.

One small problem: they’re very dependent on digital tools, so if they live in the countryside and don’t have an Internet connection, well, they can’t do their job. 🤷🏻‍♀️

3) Telemarketer

The telemarketer is often the first point of contact for prospects. He or she is responsible for qualifying leads, filtering interested contacts and scheduling appointments for sales reps, or passing on qualified leads. 👀

However, repeated calls 📞 and a high rate of rejection or reluctance can cause motivation to wane… so this one needs to show resilience and telephone fluency.

4) Key account manager

The Key Account Manager manages relationships with strategic customers of high value to the company. Basically, he/she must establish lasting relationships based on trust, anticipate customer needs and, above all, ensure that they are satisfied to guarantee ongoing collaboration. 🫱🏽‍🫲🏼

However, this type of business often works under high pressure, as it has to meet the high demands of its customers, not forgetting to complete 🎯 ambitious targets.

5) Technical support

The role of technical support is to respond to specific questions from customers and sales staff, providing solutions and technical advice on various products and services. 🖥️

However, technical products are often complex, and you need to be fully conversant with their specifics and regular updates. Not to mention the number of times he or she is called upon without warning, which can be difficult to manage in terms of organization and availability. 📆

6) Growth hacker

He uses different types of techniques to generate leads and increase 📈 the prospect base, quickly and efficiently. To do this, he works with automation tools (like Waalaxy 👽), and digital campaigns.

However, he needs to be an ace 🃏 at adapting, as he has to constantly work with new methods and digital tools. And I’m not even telling you about the crazy pressure he has to get results fast.

7) Sales manager

The Sales Engineer is a technical expert involved in the sale of complex products. He or she usually works alongside the sales team, providing insight 👁️ and answering questions.

To achieve this, the sales manager must have enhanced knowledge of techniques and be able to communicate in a clear and accessible way. 💭

How to lead and optimize a sales force?

Well, now that you’ve got the hang of it, all that’s left for you to do is increase sales. 🚀

However, a great sage once said “There’s no point in running; you have to start on time”. 💭
So, if we can give you one piece of advice, it’s to think ahead about what kind of sales force you want to put in place before wasting your time and money. 💰

We advise you to use a digital sales force, as it’s a fast, cost-effective model that automates many tasks, such as prospecting and customer follow-up. Waalaxy, for example, facilitates these steps and helps optimize interactions and conversions on LinkedIn, for example. 🛸

However, it’s not suitable for all sectors. In certain industries where human relations and physical contact are paramount, the presence of a salesperson in the field remains indispensable.

Now, on to our 5 key tips! It’s a gift. 🎁

1) Define a prospecting strategy

The aim here is to guide all research actions to find new customers. 🔎

Because yes, without customers, no sales, thanks Sherlock! 🕵🏼‍♂️

This means :

• 🥇 Setting clear objectives (number of prospects to be reached, sectors to be targeted…).
• 🥈 Selecting the most appropriate prospecting channels (LinkedIn, Emails, phone calls…).
• 🥉 Design a relevant and attractive sales pitch.

2) Personalize your approach to prospects

Instead of using a single message for everyone (we’ve had enough of copy-pasting, #rebellion), we recommend tailoring your message to each interaction, based on the needs, preferences and behaviors of each prospect. 👀

To do this, you first need to have a good understanding of each prospect’s profile. But you already know that if you’ve researched their activities and interests beforehand 😉

With Waalaxy, you’ll be able to segment and personalize messages to reach 🎯 prospects more effectively.

Act as if you were sending the message for yourself. A personalized message inspires trust and improves response rates. 📈

3) Use the right tools

The right tools can simplify and automate certain tasks, speed up lead generation and improve customer service.

For example, a CRM centralizes information on customers and prospects, making it much easier to track interactions. 💻

With a prospecting tool, you’ll be able to easily manage your multichannel campaigns (on LinkedIn and In mail among others). 👀

4) Gamify sales

If you’re not too familiar 🐈 with the term “Gamify”, it’s about integrating playful, competitive elements into the sales process to motivate and engage the sales team. 💪🏼

Here are a few types of games you can incorporate:

• 🔵 Points.
• 🟣 Rewards.
• 🔵 Badges.
• 🟣 Rankings.

Salespeople feel more motivated to achieve their goals 🎯 and outperform.

For example, you can organize weekly challenges with rewards for those who generate the most qualified leads or close the most sales.

5) Analyze performance

Last but not least, analyze performance! 💪🏼

Here, we’re going to track and identify several key performance indicators (KPIs), such as :

• 🔄 Conversion rate.
• 🔢 Number of qualified leads.
• 💸 Sales generated by the salesperson.
• ⏱️ Average time to close a sale.

Thanks to this, you’ll have access to the strengths and weaknesses of each stage of the sales cycle. 👀

Thanks to prospecting and CRM tools, managers can pinpoint blocking points, adjust targets and offer constructive feedback to sales reps to improve their techniques. 💪🏼

How about a recap?

Every sales force is different, and I’d advise you to check your objectives, resources and company vision before making any decisions. 👀

To help you understand better, we’ve put together a little recap chart with some of the advantages and disadvantages. ⚖️

Type of sales force	Advantages	Disadvantages
Internal	– Direct control over sales strategy and actions. – In-depth knowledge of the company’s products and culture.	– High recruitment, training and salary costs. – Lack of flexibility to adapt headcount to peaks in demand.
External	– Rapid expansion into new markets or territories. – Local expertise facilitates conversions in target markets.	– Less control over actions and consistency with brand image. – Financial incentives are often needed to prioritize the company’s products.
Suppletive	– Flexibility to rapidly adapt staff to specific needs. – Reduce fixed costs by using temporary resources.	– Need for training and integration to guarantee sales quality. – Lack of follow-up and personalization, which can affect the customer experience.

What are the two systems of a sales force?

There are two different sales force systems: ⬇️

• Direct ⭢ direct interaction between company salespeople and customers. They sell products or services without intermediaries, allowing total control over strategy, offer presentation and customer relations.
• Indirect ⭢ the company sells products or services via distributors, resellers, agents or partners. Useful for reaching remote or hard-to-reach markets without recruiting a dedicated sales force.

How to calculate a company’s sales force?

There are 3 methods for calculating a company’s sales force, i.e. the optimum number of sales reps to achieve your objectives:

1️⃣ Empirical method ⭢ relies on historical data and company experience.

For example, if 10 salespeople generated a certain amount of sales last year, it’s possible to gauge 🌡️ the number of salespeople based on growth targets.

2️⃣ Efficiency method ⭢ calculating the ratio between target sales and a salesperson’s average productivity.

For example, if the target is one million euros and a salesperson sells for an average of 100,000 euros, it will take around 10 salespeople to reach this target.

3️⃣ Quota method ⭢ the company sets a sales quota per sales rep based on specific criteria (territory, customer portfolio, product complexity.)

By dividing the overall target by the individual sales quota, the company determines the number of salespeople required.

Of course, the success of a sales force also depends on the know-how and sales skills required! 👀

What makes a good salesperson?

The strength of a good salesperson lies in a gentle blend of interpersonal skills, product knowledge and strategic aptitudes that enable them to build a relationship 🫱🏽‍🫲🏼 of trust with their customers and effectively convert opportunities into sales.

Here are a few key elements 🔑 :

• 🔵 Empathy.
• 🟣 Active listening.
• 🔵 Perseverance.
• 🟣 Resilience.
• 🔵 In-depth product knowledge.
• 🟣 Ability to build trust.
• 🔵 Thinking through solutions and strategies.

Now you know all about the different types of sales force. See you soon! 🐉