Sales Outsourcing and Decentralized Command (Guest Post)

Decentralized command is the keyword in today’s complex business world and especially when it comes to sales outsourcing companies.

In our company, Vparagon, I found out that the more projects we are engaging, the less possible it is going to be for me, the managing director of this company to get involved personaly in all those projects. I would even say that after a certain number of projects, the complexity of the issues and challenges to be solved are going to make my involvement an obstacle and not a solution.

There comes a point when you grow a business, where you have to let go. You must assign to your trusted salespeople and business partners, assignments to carry on and the ability to take decisions on key points of the sales processes and the projects. You must decentralize command. Anyway, in sales there are only 2 outcomes, won or lost, any option that does not drive to a closed sale, is a lost opportunity. So …. You must act, if you don’t no deal is going to be closed.

By decentralizing command, your sales outsourcing activities are going to be faster and better. The project managers engaged on each project are going to know exactly what is going on, know exactly where they stand, and they are going to be able to take the right decisions the right moment. They are the ones that are going to decide which sales agent to hire, how to train them and how to organize the effective operational part of the project. When an urgent decision needs to be made, they are going to be there to make this decision.

You as the business owner of the sales outsourcing company at the other hand, you are going to have only one person of reference (your project manager), you are going to be able to control your business more effectively and concentrate on what is important, working on your business and not working in your business. 

By decentralizing you are also going to be able to see which one of your project managers and salespeople is performing good, is reliable and result oriented, someone that adds value to your organization. By doing so, soon you are going to make better choices and optimize your business and your staff.

The natural tendency of self-made businessmen is to try control everything, as they consider them selves experts on the field, is very hard for them to let other people operate freely in the organization, or to have substantial decision making power. Unfortunately, as difficult as it is, is the only way to grow a business and at the end of the day to add value to an organization.

The more decentralized an organization is and the more real decision-making power its members have the more effective it is. The IDF (Israeli Defence Forces) is an excellent example of effectiveness, achieved due to excellent trained members taking critical decisions on a non-centre driven organization. 

Alex Valassidis is an expert sales consultant, managing director of Vparagon, the uncompromised sales outsourcing company.