WHEN

Using an external consultant in the sales organisation is not such a common practise. Yet the mindsets are changing as  bringing an external resource can be very useful in specific cases.
Here are some examples of when an external consultant can be of help, precisely because there is no need for a full-time position.


Country opening

You’re ready to start selling into Europe, we can offer you the flexibility you need at this stage:

  • part-time / FTE senior resource  for 6 – 12 months.

  • strong local market knowledge / network.

  • ability to document local requirements back to your product team to your product team (not common for sales reps).


Acquisition

Whether your company is up for sale or has just been acquired, you will need external services:

  • a full sales audit will help you identify potential issues that a buyer would discover through his due diligence. Being prepared will help you get a better price.

  • adding a newly acquired company to your group will trigger significant changes in order to align it with your standars. Relying fully on the existing team may not always be the best approach.


Interim management

Things do not always go as planned, this is exactly when you may need interim management: someone available on short notice, with plenty of experience to facilitate the transition to your long term solution.

Several roles can be offered:

  • sales manager (from team leader to CRO)

  • sales operations manager

  • revenue operations manager


Coaching

If someone on your team is new to the job, you may prefer to provide some initial coaching in order to guarantee a smooth start.

Coaching can be offered to several roles:

  • sales manager (from team leader to CRO)

  • sales operations manager

  • revenue operations manager


Sales audit

A sales audit can be useful throughout the life of a company:

  • CEO wants to check sales follow the highest standards

  • New CRO needs a status on internal processes (can he trust the reporting)
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  • Forecast / reporting are not reliable

  • Win ratio is below industry standard
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  • Sales are plummetting
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Product launch

Launching a new product, especially if very different from your existing products, may require external help:

  • the workload to create collaterals and coordinate the teams may not be compatible with the sales team’s agenda.
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  • when a product targets a new market, the team may simply not have the expertise to launch it (i.e: a team selling into HR may not be able to sell into Finance…)
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