Source:
https://www.podbean.com/eau/pb-esqgp-156cc44

As a solo PR pro or small agency, is it ever a good idea to outsource your sales? It depends. In this episode we talk about how there is no right or wrong answer, only the answer that works for you and your business.
 
 Transcript
Michelle Kane (00:03):
Thank you for joining us for this episode of That Solo Life, the podcast for PR pros and marketers who work for themselves, people like me, Michelle Kane, with VoiceMatters and my wonderful co-host, Karen Swim of Solo PR Pro. How are you today, Karen?
Karen Swim, APR (00:18):
I am a little bit cold, a little bit sad because as we are recording this, we now know that the Detroit Lions will not be in the Super Bowl this year, but other than that, life is good. How are you?
Michelle Kane (00:35):
I'm good. I'm so sorry you can join. The ranks of the football season is over for us. It's never fun, especially the Lions had such a great run this year. My gosh, I was hoping they would get there. Just to shake things up a little bit.
Karen Swim, APR (00:53):
I had hope too, for the first time since I've lived in Michigan, I actually had hope that our football team would be in the Super Bowl. I'd never had hope before if I'm being completely honest, but
Michelle Kane (01:05):
Well,
Karen Swim, APR (01:05):
That doesn't, what are you going to do
Michelle Kane (01:07):
That makes it hurt a little more? So I get that. Totally get that. Anyway, but today we'll focus on bright, shiny new things. Actually, today we're going to talk about something that's been bopping around in our thoughts for a while. Should you outsource your sales for your solo business? Sometimes you think, huh, I'm a solo. What does that entail? Why would I want to do that? But at the same time, I don't know about you, but last time I had my resume, updated my resume like an overhaul. I had someone else do it, I hired it out. Sometimes talking about yourself and selling yourself is far more difficult than selling your clients. I remember getting the product, the resume back and reading it and thinking, who is this person? I did that,
Karen Swim, APR (02:02):
And I think that's why I can see the appeal of all of these new agencies that have popped up that want to do the sales process for you, because this is a very, very common pain point for solos. I mean, very common where everyone is like, how do I bring on business? And if you did not come from a traditional agency where business development is required as part of your role, then it can be very uncomfortable to figure this out. You don't really know how to sell and people equate sales with, here's what I see. I was in sales and I manage sales teams. So when you say the word sell to many people, they instantly think that it somehow means overcoming someone's will. So it feels like force process of overcoming someone's will to get what you want. That is not what sales is at all.
It really isn't. You're not forcing someone to choose you. You are talking to people who have problems and to gather you're collaboratively coming up with a solution. Sometimes that solution isn't you. That's a part of the sales process. Sometimes it is something that you actually can solve. And so the key is to find the people that have the problems that you actually can solve. So there's firms out there, and I get it. I get the appeal and I understand why there's so many firms that are now in this space. Part of it is because many people are trying to find other avenues for PR careers as they're transitioning out of PR because of the changing landscape. And some people are very good at the sales process, they're great at discovery, they're great at having these sales conversations, and for other people, it's not their natural talent. But is it a good idea? And if so, when is it a good idea?
Michelle Kane (04:08):
Yeah, I mean, even as you're giving all these pros and cons, I often, my first question would be, okay, so if I hire someone to do outsourcing my sales because I am a solo or even a smaller shop, even if it's a micro agency doing this, is the prospect going to feel like, well, this is a little top heavy. Is this going to affect your pricing? Is it going to feel like a bait and switch? I don't know. I think it would probably work best for a very specific business.
Karen Swim, APR (04:45):
Yeah, so here's where I land on it. When you think about the sales function within a large organization, typically the salespeople are employees of your company, so they are integrated into your brand. And so when they're selling, they're not selling something that's a part from them. This is a company that they have a connection with that they're a part of, so they're a part of your brand. I do think that there's this principle in sales that people buy from people that they know, like trust.
Michelle Kane (05:22):
Exactly.
Karen Swim, APR (05:23):
So when you bring in a third party company, they're trying to establish no and