Blog | Staffing

How to Outsource Sales Support to Drive Revenue

By Sofia Arriola | Updated: 09 Sep, 2024

Your sales team is a group of talented sharpshooters, each one a bullseye champion. But instead of lining up their million-dollar shots, they're drowning in a sea of spreadsheets, emails, and calendar Tetris. Sound familiar? You're not alone. Even top sales performers often get bogged down by the very tasks meant to support their success.  

Enter outsourced sales support. Outsourcing is much more than a cost-cutting measure; it’s a revenue-driver.  

Picture this: Virtual assistants managing your pipelines with the precision of a Swiss watchmaker, personalizing your emails like a thoughtful best friend who never forgets a birthday, and keeping your CRM so spotless it would make Marie Kondo weep with joy. This isn't a far-off dream—it's the reality of well-implemented outsourced sales support.

Table of Contents

What the data says 

Sales representatives spend only about 30% of their time actually selling. The remaining 70%? Consumed by non-revenue-generating admin work, like prospecting, email outreach, scheduling meetings, and reporting. 

But that doesn’t have to be the case. When sales teams have adequate support, sales productivity and revenue skyrocket. A study by McKinsey found that the highest-performing sales teams had a 1:2 ratio of support staff to salespeople, resulting in a 200% higher ROI. That’s right—spending extra on support doesn’t just save money; it boosts profit margins. 

Why does this work so well? It's simple. When you outsource those administrative tasks to support staff like virtual assistants, you're freeing your sales team from the time suck of admin work so they can focus on the real revenue-driving activities: building relationships and closing deals. More time selling = more revenue—it's sales math at its finest. 

What outsourced sales support can do 

Outsourcing sales support is more than just delegating tasks—it’s about strategically enhancing your team’s capabilities to drive more revenue. Here are some ways that virtual sales assistants can take on routine admin work, freeing up your sales teams to focus on big picture goals. 

Manage pipelines 

Virtual sales assistants keep your pipeline organized and up-to-date. They can: 

  • Input and update lead information in your CRM system 
  • Track deal progress and flag stagnant opportunities 
  • Generate pipeline reports for sales managers 
  • Identify bottlenecks in the sales processes they manage 
  • Double check for proper lead segmentation and prioritization

By offloading these tedious tasks to sales support, you can help your sales team focus on nurturing leads and closing deals. 

Personalize emails 

In today’s saturated market, 71% of customers expect companies to deliver personalized experiences to try and stand out. However, personalization at scale is time-consuming and difficult to implement.  

Outsourced sales aupport can help your team: 

  • Create and maintain a library of email templates for different stages of the sales process 
  • Research prospects to gather relevant information for personalization 
  • Customize templates with prospect-specific details 
  • A/B test different email approaches and track results 
  • Add leads to follow-up sequences for timely communication 

This breadth and depth of personalization can significantly improve your lead response rates and move prospects through the sales funnel more effectively.

Appointment setting & communications 

Email tag back and forth to align on the best time for everyone, juggling conflicting meeting times — sound familiar? We’ve been there, and calendar management can be so much simpler when outsourced to a dedicated professional. 

Outsourced sales assistants can:  

  • Schedule and confirm appointments with prospects and clients 
  • Manage sales reps' calendars to optimize their time 
  • Send meeting reminders and follow-up emails 
  • Handle routine client communications 
  • Coordinate internal team meetings and sales huddles 

Your sales team can spend less time scheduling appointments and more time actually holding those meetings and making the most of each face-to-face interaction with prospects. 

Document preparation 

There’s a fair amount of documentation involved in sales work — notes to be taken and contracts to be sent. Instead of drowning in paperwork, your sales teams can pass on these tasks to virtual assistants.   

Sales support outsourcing can streamline document preparation by helping: 

  • Prepare sales proposals and quotes 
  • Draft, review, and send contracts 
  • Take detailed notes during sales calls and meetings 
  • Update sales presentations 
  • Generate reports for clients and internal stakeholders 

All the necessary documentation is still handled professionally and properly, but the difference is that your sales team no longer has to spend their precious workhours on this admin work.

Engage in social selling 

Social selling is increasingly important, but it requires consistent effort to maintain an active presence.  

Outsourced sales VAs can take on tasks like: 

  • Researching prospects on social media platforms 
  • Identifying common connections and potential introduction opportunities 
  • Curating relevant content for sales reps to share 
  • Monitoring industry trends and competitor activities 
  • Managing and updating sales reps' professional profiles 

These activities keep your sales team informed and help them leverage social networks effectively for relationship-building and prospecting. 

Prevent leads from slipping through the cracks 

Lost leads mean lost revenue. Outsourced sales support plays a crucial role in preventing leads from falling by the wayside. They can help: 

  • Implement and manage a lead scoring system 
  • Set up automated alerts for neglected leads 
  • Conduct regular pipeline reviews to identify at-risk opportunities according to predetermined criteria 
  • Perform timely follow-ups with leads at various stages 
  • Manage nurture campaigns for long-term prospects 

This proactive approach gives every lead the attention it deserves, maximizing the chances of converting leads into customers. 

Maintain CRM cleanliness 

A clean, up-to-date CRM is essential for effective sales operations, but it requires ongoing maintenance. Outsourced sales support can take on the role of CRM owners, keeping your CRM’s data accurate, current, and organized. They can: 

  • Regularly audit and clean up CRM data 
  • Remove duplicates and update contact information 
  • Standardize data entry processes across the team 
  • Enter custom fields and tags 
  • Generate accurate reports for sales forecasting and analysis 

With a pristine CRM, your sales team can trust the data they're working with, making more informed decisions and better targeted sales efforts. 

Benefits of outsourced sales support 

Outsourcing sales support isn't just about offloading tasks; it's about transforming your sales operations into a lean, mean, revenue-generating machine. By leveraging outsourced talent for administrative and support functions, sales teams can more directly and effectively impact their bottom line.  

Here are some sales support outsourcing benefits that make it a no-brainer for forward-thinking businesses: 

  • Increase sales productivity: Sales teams can focus on selling and closing.  
  • Focus on high-value deals: With the small stuff handled, your top performers can focus on reeling in those whale-sized deals 
  • Cut costs: Get access to skilled professionals without the overhead of salaries, benefits, and office space. 
  • Streamline sales operations: Outsourced teams bring efficiency and best practices, reducing bottlenecks. 
  • Scale with your team and needs:  Scale support up or down as needed. No growing pains, no layoff headaches. 
  • Enhance reporting and analysis: Get detailed reports and analysis to make smarter decisions and stay ahead of the curve. 
  • Reduce turnaround time: Slash turnaround times on follow-ups, prep work, and scheduling. Watch those sales cycles shrink! 
  • Improve accuracy: Say goodbye to costly mistakes. These pros handle your data and docs with laser precision. 
  • Extend operational hours: Keep your pipeline humming round the clock. Because opportunities don't sleep, and neither should your sales process. 
  • Minimize administrative bottlenecks: No more delays or disorganized pipelines. Keep your sales machine well-oiled and running at full throttle. 

By embracing outsourced sales support, you're not just freeing up time – you're unleashing the full potential of your sales team. Outsourcing allows your organization to become more efficient, more responsive, and ultimately, more profitable. 

How sales teams are utilizing CRM sales assistants 

Sales teams thrive when they can focus on what they do best—building relationships and closing deals. But the reality is, a huge chunk of their time gets eaten up by managing CRMs, following up on leads, and organizing data.  

That's where CRM sales assistants come in. These specialized assistants handle the heavy lifting—data entry, lead tracking, reporting—so sales reps can stay laser-focused on selling.  

In the examples ahead, we’ll see how real companies have used Prialto’s CRM sales assistants to cut down on admin work, boost productivity, and ultimately, close more deals. 

Ascendant 

Rob Graham, Vice President of Enterprise Solutions at Ascendant, saw firsthand how tasks like data analysis, email outreach, scheduling, and reporting hindered the sales team’s productivity. "These tasks are an important part of the sales process but can be tedious and time-consuming," Rob explained. Instead of hiring and managing new staff, which would add more strain on HR and management, Ascendant turned to Prialto for a solution. 

Prialto provided Productivity Assistants (PAs) who seamlessly took over these administrative burdens. After starting with a small pilot, Ascendant saw the value and quickly expanded their relationship with Prialto, now leveraging 12 PAs across their sales team.  

From prospecting to reporting, Prialto’s PAs handle essential yet time-consuming tasks, allowing Ascendant’s sales executives to zero in on top-line revenue.  

"They do such a fantastic job finding qualified prospects. We can track the number of closed opportunities to the PAs’ prospecting," said Rob. "Best of all, they don’t require any hand-holding by me or anyone else. We just tell them what we need, and they get it done," Rob shared.  

The result? Ascendant is now saving 660 hours of administrative work every month. 

Woodruff Sawyer 

Woodruff Sawyer, a leading insurance brokerage, faced a challenge with its top producers and executives being overwhelmed by administrative tasks like scheduling, expense reporting, CRM updates, and making travel arrangements. To boost efficiency, the company turned to Prialto’s PAs. Starting with a small pilot, Woodruff Sawyer quickly scaled to using 19 assistants, now saving over 1,000 hours of productive time each month. 

Prialto assistants now handle crucial tasks such as calendar management, expense reports, Salesforce management, and travel planning.  

"I used to spend days coordinating schedules, but now I let the Prialto assistants handle it all," said Clark Morton, a senior VP.  

The seamless support allows the sales team to focus on high-value work, maximizing their investment in Salesforce and dedicating more time to clients and prospects. 

Graham Company 

Graham Company, a top independent insurance brokerage, sought a cost-effective way to reduce the administrative burdens on their producers. With Prialto's help, they outsourced sales support for time-consuming tasks like Salesforce management, prospect research, and pre-meeting preparation.  

"The data in our CRM is much more up-to-date and accurate, which has improved the efficiency of my team," said Carl Bloomfield, a Graham executive. 

Prialto’s PAs began by cleaning up over 1,200 accounts in Salesforce within the first two months, freeing up producers to spend more time building relationships. Additionally, PAs now handle detailed prospect research, expense management, and document formatting. "By offloading our admin tasks, our producers are now able to spend more time in the field with prospects and clients," Carl noted.  

This support has streamlined Graham’s processes significantly, saving over 600 hours each month and improving team productivity across the organization

How to know if sales support outsourcing is right for you 

Outsourcing sales support can be a game-changer, but how do you know if it's the right move for your team? Here are a few scenarios where sales teams could significantly benefit from outsourced support: 

  • Your team is growing, but admin tasks are holding them back 
  • Your complex sales process is causing headaches and errors 
  • Your sales stars are drowning in paperwork instead of closing deals 
  • You need to cut costs without sacrificing quality 
  • Your CRM looks like a data tornado hit it, with duplicates, outdated info, and messy “customer notes” 
  • You want to personalize outreach, but can't find the time 
  • You're missing leads because you can't respond 24/7 

If any (or all) of these scenarios sound familiar, it’s time to seriously consider outsourcing your sales support. Remember, outsourcing is a strategic move to optimize your sales processes, giving your sales team the backup they need to knock those revenue goals out of the park. 

Your outsourcing options 

So, you've decided to outsource sales support. Bravo! But before you start dreaming of all the deals you'll close with your newfound time, let's talk about your options.  

When it comes to outsourcing your sales admin work, you're essentially looking at two main paths: hiring an individual freelancer virtual assistant or partnering with a managed service like Prialto.  

Let's break it down. 

Hiring an individual virtual assistant 

Pros 

  • Personalized attention: Your VA can become intimately familiar with your business and processes, as you build a one-on-one relationship with them. 
  • Direct communication: No middleman means you can directly convey your needs and expectations. 
  • Cost-effective: If you only need a few hours of support a week, hiring an individual VA can be more budget-friendly, especially for smaller teams or limited tasks. 

Cons 

  • Time-consuming management: You’ll be responsible for training, managing, and supervising the VA, which can take up valuable time. 
  • Backfill risks: If the VA becomes unavailable or leaves the position, you’ll need to find a replacement quickly, which can disrupt your operations. 
  • Jack of all trades, master of none: One person might not have competencies for all the varied tasks you need. 
  • Limited capacity: An individual VA may not be able to handle the demands of a growing team or take on multiple high-volume tasks at once. 

Hiring a managed VA service 

Pros 

  • Scalable support: Services like Prialto provide a team of trained assistants, allowing you to scale support as your business grows. 
  • No management required: Prialto handles training, managing, and even replacing assistants, meaning you won’t need to invest time in oversight. 
  • Consistent reliability: With a managed service, you’re guaranteed backup support, ensuring continuity even if one assistant becomes unavailable. 
  • Comprehensive services: Managed services often offer broader capabilities, such as reporting, CRM management, and lead generation, which are handled by specialists in each area. 

Cons 

  • Higher cost: Managed services tend to come with a higher price tag than hiring an individual VA, though this is often offset by the comprehensive support and reliability. 
  • Less direct control: You may have less direct interaction with the assistants, as tasks are managed through the service’s engagement team

Hiring Prialto for outsourced sales support 

Your sales team deserves the best support, and your business deserves to thrive. Prialto provides a proven, scalable solution for outsourced sales support. Our expertly trained Productivity Assistants handle everything from CRM management to lead follow-ups, freeing up your sales team to focus on what they do best—closing deals and driving revenue.  

Ready to explore how Prialto can enhance your sales team’s productivity? Schedule a 20-minute consultation today to find out if Prialto is the right fit for your business.