How Shared Services Models Work for Retailers and Brands
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Retail businesses include many moving parts that must work together to meet customer demand and execute the duties of the business on a daily basis. While every business department faces its own share of unique challenges, the sales department has a direct impact on the bottom line every day.
Businesses can approach their sales departments in a couple of different ways. One method is becoming increasingly popular among brands that place their products in several different retail arenas: sales outsourcing with shared services.
Outsourcing sales companies like The Retail Outsource offer a significant, bottom line driving service to retail brands. These companies use industry knowledge and training programs to place sales representatives on the floor of big box stores. The sales representative wears multiple hats and may appear to the consumer as a general store clerk but actually has the training to push certain products or services on the floor.
There are many benefits to retailers who invest in this form of sales outsourcing shared services:
Cost effective. One sales representative shared across brands costs less to employ than a company employed sales person. Two retail brands can share the costs of the sales professional, who will be trained to promote both brands on the floor, creating a streamlined sales process. Developing a highly skilled sales team internally means investing in expert infrastructure to meet and exceed business objectives. By investing in an outsourcing solution, companies can bypass that costly investment completely.
External management. The sales service is outsourced, so individual retail companies do not have to manage the representative at a micro-level. Instead, they will interface with a representative from the outsourcing company who will provide relevant sales information and project management for their end client company. Outsourcing companies can also provide consultation and make recommendations regarding a sales environment. They are experts in sales who specialize in promoting growth and increasing revenue for their clients.
Efficiency/Timeliness. When a company reaches out to an outsourcing agency that manages shared services programs, they no longer have to worry about the recruiting or training process. The entire sales process is left in the hands of the outsourcing company with the retailer providing insight as needed to personalize a sales program. Turnkey services mean retailers will enjoy the benefits of the shared services model in far less time than traditional recruiting and training processes would take.
Expertise. Sales outsourcing companies start every relationship by understanding a retail company inside and out. They use their sales expertise to create strategies that make sense to drive sales and promote growth.
Meaningful data analysis. In today’s market, it is nearly impossible for companies to maintain a steady growth pattern without meaningful data analysis. Evaluating data allows companies to remove strategies that are not providing results in favor of effective strategies. Outsourcing companies that employ shared services representatives can help retailers target solutions that work strategically to improve those processes over time.
For many retail companies, the shared services solution can decrease overhead while maximizing sales. This resource effectively allows companies to enter more markets without the costs associated with traditional sales models. Also check out our page on omnipresent marketing to learn how to boot your marketing presence.