Doctor Heal Thyself – Why Outsourced Manufacturers Should Outsource

Although the electronics manufacturing services (EMS) market in the United States is seeing some encouraging signs of growth, there remains a significant need for business owners to facilitate that growth while continuing to manage costs. Many owners of small businesses feel stretched between running a profitable business, delighting customers, coaching a winning sales team, and leading growth initiatives. One common way to alleviate the pressures that a business owner experiences from “wearing too many hats” is to partner with an Outsourced or Fractional Sales Leader who will manage the sales team and grow revenue.

The value of outsourcing is clear!  However, it is ironic that in the EMS market, which is founded on the benefits of leveraging assets, experience and people, there is a much lower adoption rate.  Let’s explore the four main reasons why EMS companies (and other similar businesses) should consider the Outsourced Sales Leadership solution.

1.  Need for efficient, professional, effective sales processes:
One of the most common challenges is that salespeople, processes and messages do not align with the business owner’s goals. Therefore, the sales function becomes a “black box” process that gets mismanaged. Unfortunately, this leads to success or a restart only after an extended period of time and significant investment. By bringing in an experienced Outsourced Sales Leader, business goals and sales are immediately aligned, progress is measurable and therefore visible, and sales growth becomes predictable.

2.  Need to run a business:
The skillset to deliver on the above may not exist in the business’s current sales leadership and, if it is not available, it typically is the business owner who needs to step in. This diverts the owner’s attention from working on the business and strategically preparing the organization for growth. There are efficient uses of the business owner in sales leadership (discussing value with a customer, customizing solutions) and there are inefficient uses of their time (designing appropriate sales processes, CRM implementation and reporting). An Outsourced Sales Leader frees the business owner to focus on the business and the customer experience.

3.  Need to ramp up sales quickly:
It is true that time is money, and sales resources definitely are an investment in time, money and effort with a potential for future return. Expediting this return on investment is critical to the business owner. By bringing on a seasoned professional who has actively led successful sales teams, goals can be accomplished much more quickly and efficiently (sales strategy development, process improvements, personnel assessments, etc.). Additionally, the Outsourced Sales Leader can align the business’s goals with the business plan, which is constructed to persevere when the partnership is no longer needed.

4.  Need to control costs:
The primary challenge that an EMS business owner faces is to make appropriate investments, while successfully maintaining market cost effectiveness. This is the greatest advantage of the Outsourced Sales Leadership model. With a proven sales executive molding the sales team and processes on a fractional or part-time basis, the upfront costs to the business are reduced dramatically, with long-term costs even lower, as a typical Outsourced Sales Leadership engagement runs for 12-15 months.  Likewise, if a business owner anticipates a future financial event (such as exit planning or business reinvestment), a predictable and sustainable increase in sales has a multiplicative impact on the business’s value and unlocks investment potential.

The above benefits are not very different from the recommendation (or prescription) that most EMS companies provide to their customers on an outsourced basis. It’s time for “Doctor, heal thyself,” and for business owners to consider the merits of a Fractional or Outsourced Sales Leadership model.

To find out more about this leadership model and how it can help your business, contact:
Karl Berger, President, Fractal Sales Solutions
kberger@salesxceleration.com, or http://www.linkedin.com/in/karl-berger-0152062.
Fractal Sales Solutions supports small- and medium-sized companies, helping them to achieve their growth potential