It is uncertain, partial, and difficult for its small players— the SMBs. It traps small businesses in the dilemmas of people, products, and profits and confines them into their boundaries.
Virtual RTMs are here to change the game.
Consider the following example. A small company aspiring to invade new markets builds an army of salespeople and deploys them across the territories.
It aspires, like every SMB, to shoot up its sales, make more profits and pay off its expenses proportionately. However, the dreams are soon shattered, and resources are exhausted.
The equation of income and expenses didn’t work as it assumed; it didn’t turn out to be Fair and Proportionate.
The company soon realizes that although the revenue has increased, it hasn’t increased proportionally. The costs have risen way higher than the revenue.
The company has been paying its salespeople, who can distribute multiple products without any efficiency drop, full salaries to distribute a SINGLE product.
It discovers that the Profit-Per-Product(PPP) is at its lowest due to the skyrocketing salary costs. The accountants soon run an evaluation and find out that the company is bleeding its resources and endangering its survival.
Hereafter, they are left with only two options:
First, to give up on the dream of gaining more markets. (Which is heartbreaking)
And second, to introduce the new SKUs and bump up the PPP (which is impossible to do in the short run).
They are now trapped in ‘The Great SMB dilemma’.
What is the SMB Dilemma?
The SMB Dilemma is a situation where the high distribution costs leave SMEs with two choices in hand— either to add new products or to limit their distribution to specific geography.
Distributing multiple products will help them reduce their costs per SKU, and limiting the distribution will help them stop bleeding resources.
However, the problem is that both options eventually limit the company’s growth.
To solve this dilemma and give SMBs a third option, Business Process Management(BPM) firms have come up with a solution—A virtual Sales Workforce.
What Is a Virtual Sales Workforce?
Managed by a BPM firm, a Virtual Sales Workforce helps low-SKU companies to distribute their products without spending a fortune on it. It costs a fraction of what it costs to hire, mobilize, and pay a sales team.
Rather than pay for the salaries of the sales team, companies here pay for the value they get from distribution.
It is similar to moving from an industrial machine to a cloud-based software where you only pay for the features you need.
The main goal is to create a win-win-win situation for all the parties. SMBs, with a virtual sales workforce, can keep their Profits-Per-Product stable.
BPMs, charging from multiple companies, can earn decent revenue.
And finally, Salespeople, doing their job at full efficiency, get the salaries they deserve
Benefits of a Virtual Sales Workforce
1)Cost Savings
A Virtual Workforce costs a fraction of an actual sales team. It helps small businesses expand freely without disproportioning their revenues and expenses.
Working with multiple businesses helps BPM firms achieve something like ‘economies of scale in the distribution process and reduce costs for everyone.
2)Easier Market Invasion
The virtual sales workforce helps businesses break out of the SMB Dilemma and invade new markets freely. The sales team comes with pre-existing retail relationships and networks. It makes expansion smooth and resistance-free.
3)Advanced BI Integrations
Many solution providers like GrowmaxBI offer both Business Process Management and Business Intelligence services.
SMBs, with such partners, can integrate Business Intelligence tools into their distribution and benefit from features like real-time tracking, forecasting, reports, etc.
These integrations open up new doors of opportunities for businesses. They can craft near-perfect strategies, get real-time feedback, and improve them to dominate the market.
End thoughts
The new Virtual RTMs or Virtual Sales Workforce solutions are promising solution to the SMB dilemma. The value proposition is simple, straight, and practical.
However, the lack of evidence on its efficacy raises a few questions, the answers to which will have to wait for the future.
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