Plenty of ridiculously talented coaches absolutely loathe doing their own sales. I actually enjoy promotion and sales myself, but I totally understand that it’s not for everyone! That delicate balance of persuasion and compassion, active pressure and passive encouragement is a tough one to strike. It comes naturally to some of us, but for others, it’s like pulling teeth.
Which means that when coaches contemplate outsourcing, sales often floats to the top of their wishlist. How fabulous would it be to focus on creating offerings and let someone else worry about racking up the sales?
I firmly believe that delegating workloads you hate (or just don’t excel at doing) is a crucial business-building, burnout-avoiding strategy…but here’s the thing:
Outsourcing sales activity must be done with care. Remove yourself from the equation without some key mechanisms in place, and it can all go wrong in a heartbeat.
So if you’re hoping to outsource your own sales efforts, here are 5 things that I STRONGLY recommend having in place first!
Before you outsource sales: Build a fantastic funnel
Yes, it’s true that some sales geniuses can help you generate leads … but if you haven’t been able to produce a handful on your own, it might be too early to hire sales support.
You must have enough leads coming in to justify a team or your brand new contractors may end up twiddling their thumbs! Before you outsource, create and test your sales funnel to ensure it works. Then once it’s in place, keep it humming along so your sales force can work their magic on potential clients and partners.
Before you outsource sales: Write and test your script
Without a proven script, you’re asking your sales team to fly blind. You must be able to consistently sell your offerings on your own before you can teach someone else how to do it.
And that means writing a script, testing it on your customer base, and making certain it hits the right notes to bring in a steady stream of business.
Before you outsource sales: Track your program results
Hard truth time: Tasking a freelancer with selling a brand new, totally untested product is a risky move. That person’s job is to persuade and convince new clients to buy, which will be far easier to do with the help of stats and validation from previous successful rounds.
If you want to outsource your sales, do so with with a program that gets measurable results and that a sales rep can get behind. Handle the newbies yourself until you’re sure they produce the outcomes you promise.
Before you outsource sales: Create a strong infrastructure
If you’ve been selling programs, products, and coaching services yourself already, you might have a few systems in place to keep everything flowing smoothly. Before you hire sales help, however, you need a totally solid infrastructure in place.
Build simple systems for appointment scheduling and feedback, create intake forms and call records, script out follow-up calls and create flowcharts. Make sure your freelance sales team has every tool they need to usher a new customer from initial purchase to glowing online review!
Before you outsource sales: Ensure you can scale
Another important reason to assign contract sales folks to proven products? You’re bringing them onto your team to help you build and scale. You want them amplifying and selling your strongest offerings, so you also need to ensure those offerings have the flexibility to grow. If your program is already at capacity, bringing on more sales staff is a needless expense. Simple as that.
Sales activities are definitely best left to people who excel at and enjoy them. If that’s not you, by all means delegate and outsource! But before you do, make sure your products and your entire business are ready for outside support. Doing so will help both you and your freelance sales team succeed.
