Will Covid-19 Lead to the Demise of Expensive Field Sales Teams?

With lock down and the inability to make field sales visits for the past 3 months, senior management in large organisations have had the time to consider the future. It remains to be seen whether there will be a wave of across the board redundancies once lock down is lifted and government support is removed. Every company is in the process of evaluating whether it can afford to bring staff back based on current and likely levels of revenue and profitability.

Reassessing Resourcing

Inevitably, there will be pressure on costs. It has already started. And, in most businesses, the primary cost is staffing. Furthermore, one of the most expensive areas of expenditure within the majority of businesses sits firmly in the area of sales. Whether commission is included or not, salespeople are the ones who usually earn the big bucks since, traditionally, they’re the ones that pull in the sales.

Approaches are Changing

However, with content strategies and inbound marketing on the rise along with a renewed focus on account based marketing, organisations are beginning to reassess. They’re looking at the increased ability to utilise Zoom, Skype, Microsoft Teams and other conferencing software as the conduit for sales enablement. And, they may be coming to the conclusion that much more business can and will be done remotely compared to the past..

The Rebirth of the Phone

Perhaps not as exciting as social media, the phone has perhaps taken a back seat over the past few years. However, with renewed interest in the need for accurate data through data profiling and data building, and the push for account based marketing and pre-qualification there has been a strong move back to using telemarketing as a discipline. Reports suggest that there will be a significant growth in its use. 

Does Telemarketing Replace Field Sales?

But, can telemarketing ‘replace’ field sales? With the increased reliance on telemarketing to accurately research and profile prospects, there must be a question as to how far businesses can take the sales process using this route. We’ve been forced to stay home. We can’t visit customers like we could before. Businesses and individuals have been getting used to doing business at arm's length. Could this be the future?

Lower Costs of Acquisition

Of course, not every scenario will suit a remote model. There will be the need for site visits for some aspects of selling. For example, for complex sales and where technical evaluation is required on site, there will probably still be a need. However, certainly within larger organisations, procurement is heavily involved in the buying process. Hence, it may be entirely feasible to split the process into technical evaluation on site and the sales process being carried out via email, phone and conferencing.

Will Outsourcing Fill the Internal Gap?

With increased pressure on headcount and a need for flexibility, it’s possible that we will see a move towards outsourcing. That is sometimes inevitable when the luxury of internal staffing is not available. The flexibility and specialisation of telemarketing outsource which offers high quality and call rates, experienced callers and dedicated project management may just fit the bill.

What about Product Knowledge?

Perhaps an argument to counter the above is the need for product knowledge. Good sales people are hard to find. And, with higher value sales, peer to peer, face to face, dealings have historically been key. However, if the sales process does fragment further between profiling and segmentation, pre-sales engagement, technical specification, proposal development and procurement, one wonders whether there is still a role for high-cost, traditional sales teams that can’t or won;t adapt to the new way of operating.

Different Skill Sets

Another consideration here is the different roles and skills that sales people have. In our experience, field sales teams do not ‘enjoy’ the disciplines and rigours involved when it comes presales contact by phone. That’s especially the case when it comes to identification, data building, profiling and cold prospect calling. This is the grunt work required to identify and qualify suspects into prospects that are ultimately sales-ready. This can be a lengthy and frustrating process. 

Most sales people I’ve ever encountered rely on internal and external sources to generate fresh leads that they pick up and run with. If the sales person has built a bank of customers and a pipeline of prospects over time, and where lead-times are long, that’s perhaps the exception. But, for shorter timescales and less complex and involved projects, this may not be the case.

Horses for Courses

The reality is that many field sales people do not like cold calling. They do not enjoy the pre-work that goes into establishing a lead. Arguably, they view their time as more valuable and see these tasks sitting either with marketing or a pre-sales team. Typically, these roles are also lower cost to the organisation. But, that time may be past and the luxury of being able to avoid the grind that’s associated with lead generation may be over. If salespeople can’t adapt, it’s conceivable that their time may be over. 

Is This The New Normal?

This has perhaps already become an overused term. But, things will need to change. Margins are under pressure. Competition will be aggressive. Taxation is likely to rise. Consumer spending will fall and the necessity to shore up margins will be intense. That could perhaps shine a light on those areas where lower cost resourcing can provide impetus. Of course, this assessment may be an oversimplification. Good salespeople are worth their weight in gold. And, this new fragmented approach does not suit every scenario. Many organisations will continue to deploy sales teams. Yet, most commentators suggest that Covid-19 will hasten change. New ways of working will need to be devised. And, expensive resources are in the spotlight. Telemarketing may just fill the gap.