Glossary › Selling & Business › Sales outsourcing
🤝 Selling & Business term
Sales outsourcing
Hiring an outside company to run part of your sales process, such as finding prospects, contacting them and booking meetings. It is mostly used for business-to-business (B2B) sales, with teams of SDRs, or sales development representatives.
Common questions
What is an SDR?
A sales development representative researches potential business clients and contacts them by phone, email or LinkedIn to see if they are interested, before handing promising leads to a salesperson.
What is appointment setting?
Booking sales meetings between interested prospects and your own sales team. It is often sold together with lead generation.
Is sales outsourcing right for a consumer business?
Usually not. Cold calling and appointment setting suit high-value B2B sales. Businesses selling cakes, beauty treatments or gifts to the public do better by reaching shoppers where they browse and search.
Why it matters
Outsourcing can give a B2B company a sales team quickly, without hiring, but it costs a monthly fee whether or not deals close.
🇸🇬 In Singapore
Outsourced sales teams in Singapore mostly serve tech, professional services and corporate suppliers. Telemarketing to consumers must also respect the PDPA’s Do Not Call rules, which is another reason consumer businesses rarely use cold calling.
Tips
- Ask what results past clients actually got.
- Agree how leads are qualified and reported.
- Start with a short contract.