Crunch causes VARs to outsource sales

More channel firms are attracted to the idea of third party help

Whole wide world: More firms are outsourcing their sales cycle

Outsourced sales and marketing provider PinPoint Associates claims the economic climate has prompted more resellers to outsource their entire sales cycle.

PinPoint’s team, which has doubled to 26 over the past six months, includes former Intel, HP, Cisco, Oracle and Gartner staff.

Formed in January 2008, the firm has expanded from providing outsourced lead generation services to lending a helping hand throughout the whole sales cycle.

Graham Fell, EMEA managing director of PinPoint Associates, said VARs are increasingly looking for a partner that could take control of all services from putting the channel in touch with the right people to attending meetings and closing the deal.

“We have found ourselves moving in a different direction due to market conditions,” he said. “The channel wants more than just lead generation and we train the staff to go in and achieve that.”

Keith Humphreys, managing consultant at analyst EuroLAN, said with an increasing amount of staff layoffs and new business startups the model would help those that can not manage all aspects of the sales cycle in one go.

“This type of model is great news for startups in particular, that can outsource to keep their costs down.”