Hiring new employees can be a costly and time-consuming proposition for businesses even during the best of economic times. Recruitment, onboarding and training, and miscellaneous expenses all contribute to the cost of a new hire—not to mention salary and benefits!
Obviously, the exact cost of bringing on a new employee varies widely, based on the position and the company. But various studies over the past few years put the average cost of a new hire at somewhere between $4,000 and $7,600.
Data analysis from Zippia reveals that:
- It takes 36 to 42 days to fill the average position in the United States
- 15% of Human Resource expenses are allocated toward recruitment efforts
- It takes, on average, 3 to 8 months for a new hire to be fully productive at work
Given the current economic climate, it’s no surprise that so many companies have recently implemented hiring freezes, while also enduring layoffs and budget cuts. According to a survey conducted by ResumeBuilder.com last December, 61% of business leaders were anticipating layoffs at their company in 2023, while 70% were expecting hiring freezes.
No wonder “Doing More with Less” has become an all-too-familiar refrain. But is it really possible to achieve all of your business goals under those circumstances, at least without stretching your existing workforce too thin? How do you maintain the same level of production without risking employee burnout?
For B2B companies that have been forced to eliminate sales and marketing positions, the answer may lie in eliciting outside assistance. Maybe your inside sales team isn’t as large as it once was, but what if you could support your team with additional personnel without having to recruit, hire, train, administer, and supervise them yourself?
What if you had access to an experienced Program Manager and dedicated team of Business Development Representatives to help generate and nurture leads on your company’s behalf?
Such is the advantage of partnering with an outside firm for your lead generation needs. VSA has been supporting businesses of all sizes and types for 22 years. We do this not just by assisting your inside sales team, but by becoming your team.
Whether you hand over these duties on a full-time basis or treat them as an extension of your own outreach efforts, there are multiple benefits to working with an outside partner. Here are five of them:
1. Scalability
We all know that some times of year are busier than others (yes, summer slumps can be an unfortunate reality). For businesses looking to navigate these fluctuating trends, it can be a treacherous path. Do you lay off employees during the slow times and risk being understaffed when things pick back up? And what happens if you’re forced to scale up in a hurry and need to adapt your management structure to match your growth?
With the right outsider partner providing the personnel, scaling up or down is as easy as making a quick phone call. VSA can adjust our program hours on a weekly basis, and can adapt the size of your BDR team to match your needs at any time.
2. Off-hour staffing
Finding employees willing to work evenings or weekends can be a challenge. Even if they agree to those hours, there’s a good chance they’re not happy about it, which could affect morale and, ultimately, performance. And if you do limit your hours to 9 to 5, you’re likely missing out on lead gen opportunities in other time zones.
VSA’s team-based calling model eliminates that dilemma by providing reps during whatever hours make the most sense for your campaign. Our inbound services are available 24/7, while many of our outbound programs involve night and weekend calling. You also never have to worry about leaving yourself short-staffed while employees are out sick or on vacation.
3. Management
Of course, scheduling and juggling vacations and sick days is just one of many time-consuming administrative burdens. Managing an inside sales team is a lengthy and never-ending process, from training to evaluating performances to coaching to dealing with unexpected crises.
An outsourced sales partner alleviates those headaches, while providing the people and resources to do the jobs you and your team might not have time for. Imagine having a team of BDRs focused on cold calling new leads, following up with warm leads, touching base with existing clients, gaining market intelligence, or whatever else your needs might be—without having to manage any of them yourself.
4. Data, data, and more data
Even when a business is at full strength, it can be challenging to collect, organize, and analyze calling data in a manner that maximizes productivity. From compiling the initial target list to determining the best points of contact to optimizing calling times to A-B testing the messaging to monitoring conversion rates, a lead generation campaign is a constant learning process. Over the years, many of VSA’s clients acknowledged their internal cold calling efforts were unsuccessful, in large part because they lacked the bandwidth to fully absorb and analyze the data on their own.
VSA is a data-driven organization. We’re never locked into the same calling schedule, messaging, or list strategy for the length of a campaign. But we’re also not impulsive or alarmist; adjustments are strategic and based on a wealth of research and best practices.
5. Predictable costs
Sure, there’s still a cost when you partner with an outsourced lead generation firm, but unlike when you begin the process of hiring internally, you know beforehand exactly what the cost will be. With VSA, there’s an onboarding fee and a flat hourly rate, but you never have to worry about the unexpected costs that can occur while hiring and managing your own team.
There’s also no long-term financial commitment to outsourcing your lead gen needs. Many of VSA’s clients remain with us far beyond their initial contracts because of the ROI the partnership delivers, and we pride ourselves on client retention. But we also understand that not all campaigns are going to meet expectations, and nothing lasts forever. Ending a relationship with an outside partner is a lot less stressful and complicated than severing ties with in-house employees.
Conclusion
In a perfect world, every company would be able to hire and manage however many people it needs to achieve and surpass its sales goals, and layoffs would never be necessary. Of course, that’s not reality, but that doesn’t mean there aren’t other options for growing your business.
One of those options is an outsourced lead generation partner like VSA. If you’re looking to expand your sales and marketing efforts but aren’t in a position to add new staff right now, give us a call. Our team is always ready to become part of your team.