Personal Selling in Outsourcing

Industry Background
An organization entering into a contract with another organization to operate
and manage one or more of its business processes

 BPO Vs KPO

 Type of Process to be outsourced (Transactional or Contextual)

 Process Impact to Business Impact

 Specialized skill set

 Differentiators

 HR Practices

 Technology

 Type of services (IT support, HR –Payroll, F&A, high end Analytics, telemarketing, 3 rd Party collections,
insurance underwriting, Legal processing, Online research, Data entry, Scanning/Indexing)

 Depth of Services
 Stages of Sales Decision Making

Information Search Evaluation of Alternatives

Need Recognition

Existing Suppliers RFP/RFI

Sales reps aligned to
Industries/Geographies References Proposals from prospects
Consultants
BPO Forums

Port Purchase Evaluation Purchase decision

Service Levels Short listing, Solution

Presentation reviews and
Adherance to contractual
Legal Contract Award
commitments
B2B Selling

 New customer – Sales Meetings followed by RFP/RFI

 Existing Customers - Account Mining

 Cross Selling

 Increased Penetration (FTEs, Processes, Upstream-Downstream view)

 Reference Sales
Customer-Acquisition
Know Your Customer
 Understand the industry, competitive environment, socio-economic factors, business levers and financial health

 How do they want to derive business benefits

 Are they looking to:

 Boost margins --- Cost Arbitrage by reducing cost

 Boost revenues --- Productivity benefits by improving Processes

 Retain customers – Improve customer service

 Increase cash

 Improve their cost structure

 Enter new markets

 In what priority

 Discern and distill their key objectives for outsourcing (lower cost, more capability, or process excellence).

 Understand what they are looking for in business partner.

Listen to Customers and be Responsive and Flexible

 Hear what they say – Shut up and Sell !!

 Discuss topics that are important and relevant to them – Mindset of a Doctor

 Note the areas where they ask a lot of questions.

 Highlight your strengths in those areas clearly.

 Answer the questions they ask.

 Be specific in your interactions.

 Tailor the solutions and presentations based on their known needs – Focus on Solution and
deal would be done.

 Call them back if there are follow-up action steps.

 Be flexible (within defined limits) in handling processes, contracts, terms and conditions.

 Push Back if required but know your limits

Be Consistent in your Communication

 Obtain detailed customer information from available sources before customer meetings and

prepare accordingly.

 Present a unified picture to customers – in meetings, during visits, through e-mails and during

floor walks.

 Emphasize the same points (which they value) through all customer touch points.
Seek Opportunities to Target Needs That may not be
Expressed Explicitly

 Customers need to understand a lot of things.

 Explain your value proposition & recommendations clearly.

 What they are asking for maybe just the tip of the iceberg.

 We may be able to sell them a lot more once we dig deeper to understand where they’re looking

for impact – near-term, mid-term, and long-term.

 Develop a dialogue and strategic relationship with your customers.

Negotiating a Contract

 Know who you’re negotiating with. - Understand who has the power and how you’ll counter it.

 Know your Limits and Aim High

 Do your Homework – know your subject well

 Keep communicating to advance relationships and the negotiation objectives.

 Avoid confrontation. Never allow the negotiations to become personal.

 Give some on time – Think and Plan Long Term

 Know when to leave comments alone (the use of silence).

 Maximize the value of your concessions.

 Expect the unexpected and rehearse.

 End negotiations positively. Think how to make the outcome a bigger win for both sides.