Did you know that 90% of startups fail? Many do so because they can’t attract enough customers to support their operating costs in the early stages of growth. This is why many new companies (and plenty of larger ones) choose outsourcing customer experience over in-house operations.

Outsourcing can help your startup bring down its costs to get the runway you need to bring your business to a firmer footing.

But what part of your workforce should you outsource? Will it be more beneficial to outsource customer experience or sales? What about both?

We’ll answer all of those questions and more in this article. Keep reading to learn whether your startup should outsource customer experience or sales; and how to take the first steps toward doing so.

Why Outsourcing Makes Sense for Startups

As much as 68% of large consumer product companies in America have outsourced a portion of their workforce. They do so to save money, improve customer experience, and propel the company to greater heights.

But startups may be able to benefit even more from outsourcing than larger companies. This is because startups tend to have much lower operating budgets, fewer customers, and less financial flexibility.

That’s one of the most challenging parts of running a startup. You often have to deliver an experience that’s better for customers than established competitors on a lower budget than what they use.

Outsourcing can cut labor costs by as much as 90%. That can open up a massive amount of additional income for your new business to allocate elsewhere. It could literally be the difference between having enough to achieve your growth goals or not.

Also, outsourcing makes it much easier to scale. Instead of having to hire a new full-time employee when you grow, you’ll be able to simply increase the size of your outsourced team.

This gives you more precision over the pace of your growth to ensure that you’re always finding the right balance between supporting your customers and maintaining the appropriate budget.

Outsourcing Customer Experience vs. Outsourcing Sales

Alright. Now that we know why outsourcing can be so beneficial to startups let’s consider which portion of your company you should consider outsourcing.

There are two main options: customer experience and sales. Both have advantages and disadvantages. We’ll do a deep dive into each type of outsourcing in the following sections.

Outsourcing Customer Experience

Customer experience outsourcing involves hiring a remote team to engage with your customers when they have complaints, questions, and other problems with your company or its products.

Outsourcing your customer experience team can be beneficial for a few different reasons, in addition to cost savings.

For example, with an outsourced customer service team, it’s much easier to provide multilingual support. You won’t have to have someone on your staff who can speak all of the different languages you want to engage customers in.

Also, outsourcing your customer experience team tends to make it easier to provide after-hours support. This can be a huge point of differentiation, which could help you win more customers.

Many outsourcing firms also provide multi-channel customer support. This allows you to engage customers on the phone, via live chat, and even through social media without having to hire people for all of those positions.

The bottom line is that outsourcing your customer experience team allows you to provide more diverse and expansive support options for customers at a much lower price point than what you’d pay to build the same level of functionality in-house.

Outsourcing Sales

Outsourcing your sales team is another great option if you’re looking to save money. But there are additional benefits to building an off-site sales team as well.

For example, outsourced sales teams are much easier to scale. When you have a new product or start getting more customers, you’ll be able to immediately bring more people onto your team without even having to train them.

Speaking of training, outsourced sales teams are already experts at what they do. It can take months to train a new salesperson from the ground up. This kind of training doesn’t just delay your growth plans. It’s also a significant amount of money coming out of your pocket for work that doesn’t bring maximum value back to your company.

If you’re thinking about expanding into new markets, then that’s another great reason to consider outsourcing your sales team. You can typically hire teams that are already extremely knowledgeable about the region you want to expand into. That way, you don’t have to waste time and money generating that knowledge yourself.

It’s also worth keeping in mind that outsourced sales teams carry much lower levels of risk than in-house employees. You can expand or contract your outsourced sales team as needed without facing any repercussions. It’s a lot more difficult and costly to hire and lay off sales employees as your needs change.

Questions to Ask While Deciding

Which area do you need the most control over?

One of the biggest potential drawbacks to outsourcing is the loss of control you get over the daily operations of the department. You won’t be able to watch the team in action and provide them with on-the-fly instructions for adjustment when you notice opportunities for improvement.

That’s why one question you should ask yourself is whether you prefer to have more control over customer experience or sales. You might find that customer experience is easier to manage remotely, or it could be the opposite.

It might just come down to the type of business you have.

How much are you spending on each department now?

It’s also worth making an honest assessment of how much you’re spending on both customer experience and sales today.

Are your expenses for one department significantly more than the other? If so, that can point you in the direction that will provide the most cost savings for your company.

The ability to save more money by outsourcing one department over the other may have a big impact on your decision. But it’s not necessarily the only thing that matters. Be sure to consider other factors before making a final call.

Which department will be easier to scale in-house?

You may also want to ask yourself whether it will be easier to scale your customer support team or sales team as your company grows.

Outsourced teams are very easy to scale. So it could make sense to outsource one department over another if you’re unsure about scaling one of those departments in-house.

For example, maybe you’re confident in your ability to add new salespeople to your staff as your company grows. Or, perhaps you’d rather focus on bringing on new customer support employees.

Factors like this can also impact the type of outsourcing that’s best for you.

What are your pricing options for each type of outsourcing?

Finally, it’s worth taking a look at the different pricing options and packages that are available for each kind of outsourcing. You may find that one option is better for your startup’s needs and budget than another.

The Cattalyst can help you make this decision. If you get in touch, we’ll be happy to walk you through your options and tell you whether outsourced customer experience or sales may be a better fit for your business.

Potential Drawbacks of Outsourcing to Be Aware Of

There are a lot of great reasons to outsource customer experience, sales, or both. But there are also some potential drawbacks of outsourcing that you should at least be aware of before committing.

For example, when you outsource, you lose some control over quality since you won’t be able to engage with the department on a daily basis or watch them work.

Also, outsourcing does pose some data confidentiality and protection risks. You need to be absolutely sure that you’re working with professionals who hold themselves to the highest standards before sharing any confidential data with an outsourced team.

These kinds of downsides can absolutely be managed – especially if you choose the right partner. It’s just important that you understand them before going into the outsourcing process so that you can limit how they impact your startup.

The Cattalyst Can Help You Make the Best Decision for Your Startup

The bottom line is that your startup could likely benefit from outsourcing both customer experience and sales. But if you have to choose one over the other, then the answer will come down to your company’s unique situation and its goals for the future.

Whether you need help making this decision or you’re ready to get started with outsourcing today, The Cattalyst is here to help.

You can get in touch today to set up a free consultation and learn more about how outsourcing can help your company. We’ve got decades of experience in this industry and are happy to leverage it to help your startup thrive.

We hope to hear from you soon.