There has been a change in tone to the word outsourcing. What was once considered a controversial way of doing business is now a seamless blend into the typical buildout of a successful company. The biggest reason? Outsourcing, particularly in relation to the sales process, allows companies to focus on what they do best, and leave the rest to a trusted  outsourced sales partner. 

The concept of outsourcing sales is not new. MarketStar has been around since 1988, and was a trailblazer for partnering with technology brands to increase their reach, and grow their revenue. Today, the most valuable brands are looking at, or continuing with, an outsourcing sales solution as an efficient and necessary way to scale and grow.

The Outsourcing Advantage

To remain agile and stay ahead of the competition, smart organizations are outsourcing all or part of their B2B sales processes and functions by engaging outsourced sales partners. The type of work that they outsource varies from a full sales cycle, to specialty roles, to lead generation.

To that end, in recent years, eighty-five percent of organizations said that lead generation is their most important goal. Outsourcing provides lead generation growth with more market agility, allowing expansion into new territories and the ability to test new markets without having to staff up.

Follow the Leaders— Leading Brands that Are Outsourcing Sales

Most of the market’s leading brands are using outsourcing today as an extension of their sales team. BrandZ™, which ranks brands by the amount of revenue each contributes to their parent organizations, has released its list of the Top 100 Most Valuable U.S. Brands for 2020. 

Among the top five most valuable brands, MarketStar has partnered with two to build out a results driven outsourced inside sales solutions, via its Sales as a Service® model, to assist in growing their business. 

Here are the top five most valuable U.S. brands listed by BrandZ,  highlights from their report, and how they are using outsourcing services, manufacturing, and solutions today to streamline their process:

1. Amazon - Leading the list is Amazon, with a global brand value of  $334 billion, and a nearly 20 percent increase in brand value. Amazon is going beyond the internet-retail based model branching into cloud infrastructure and the consumer electronics space. According to BrandZ, Amazon is the most valuable brand in the U.S. and in the world.
   
   Amazon depends on outsourcing to keep its inventory management efficient and running smooth. For customer service, Amazon outsources their call-center functions (which are different from a sales center), allowing their service to continue around the clock.
   
   
2.  Apple - Apple’s global shipments have declined, resulting in a 4 percent drop in brand value from the previous year, however, their brand value still comes in No.2 at just over $303 billion. The BrandZ report notes that Apple is known for innovation, and its big announcement last year wasn’t about a new technology, but a new cash-back credit card, which may partially account for the drop.
   
   Apple has long been known for outsourcing their manufacturing, an initiative led by Steve Jobs. Their supply chain is one of the most efficient in the world, and their size means they get to set their own terms to ensure high-quality products. More recently, Apple has upped its product service game by providing genuine Apple parts to independent Apple Authorized Service Providers.  This expansion of service, utilizing independent providers, is built on the aim of growing Apple's global network.
   
   
3. Google - Ranked No. 3 with a brand value that rivals Apple at $303 billion, Google saw a 4 percent decline over their brand value of 2019. According to the BrandZ report, most of the revenue that Google is seeing is coming from advertising. However, Google is also making waves in the consumer products arena.
   
   Google uses outsourcing in a variety of ways, including using inside sales reps to up-sell/cross-sell on their suite of cloud computing. “Outsourcing is not something that’s new to Google — it has always given out small amounts of work to third-party service providers. Now what has happened though is that Google sees greater value in outsourcing noncore parts of the business, as it is more cost effective,” said a top US-based executive at a multinational technology services firm, which currently manages software projects for Google.
   
   
4. Microsoft—Microsoft increased its value by more than 21 percent, with a brand value of $261 billion, including surpassing Amazon as the No. 1 provider of cloud hosting services with its Azure platform. Additionally, Microsoft is honored with being one of the top 10 fastest risers this year, and is in good company with eight other well-known technology brands (and one fast food chain).
   
   Microsoft is also no stranger to the outsourced and contracted workforce model, which they use to augment their 144K in-house employees in a variety of ways from inside sales, to field sales, to a variety of specialty roles and functions.
   
   
5. Visa—Thanks to an increase in demand for the convenience of electronic payments, Visa added nearly 15 percent to its value at about $188 billion. Visa continues to create a strong brand presence through sponsorships, including the NFL and the Olympics.
   
   Like other credit card companies, Visa relies solely on outsourced sales for consumer revenue. As a card association, Visa doesn’t issue cards directly to consumers or directly handle merchant payments. Instead, they outsource to a network or banks and financial service institutions that issue cards and handle transactions.

The MarketStar Difference

Depending on your B2B sales needs, you may want to work with a full-service Sales as a Service provider like MarketStar, which can provide end-to-end sales support from lead generation and nurturing to sales staffing and training. 

MarketStar understands that superior B2B Sales as a Service starts with superior staffing, which is why we hire the best sales talent available. To drive sales success, we have created a culture that sets high expectations and rewards achievement. 

Every decision is driven by data. Rather than using guesswork to achieve sales goals, we apply the latest technology to analyze historical data, psychographics, market conditions, and other factors, applying a sales stack that powers the end-to-end sales process. Performance metrics are used to provide the tools and techniques for ongoing sales coaching to ensure that our staff continues to deliver the best possible results.

We also know that most sales executives shop for outsourced sales services based on price, which is why we developed value metric pricing. We create customized programs scaled to meet your sales goals and budget, outlining the business drivers that set the fees. Our clients understand that the right question isn’t “What can I save?” but “How much more can I make?”

When shopping for a B2B sales partner, you want to find a supplier that offers truly full service, including business intelligence, talent acquisition, and training. Outsourcing sales is a collaborative process, and to stay ahead of the competition you need sales partners that are nimble and can adjust their strategy and resources to match changes in the market.