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About This Episode
It’s a different world we’re living in now.
In this world, outsourcing your talent doesn’t have to mean overseas.
The time is ripe for a blended workforce full of local talent.
I had a chance to speak with Jordan Lewis, Cofounder and CEO of Stable.work, about the gig economy in sales.
“There’s an endless supply of companies looking for flexible work options, especially when it comes to selling, especially in times like we’re in now,” Jordan said.
He cofounded his company as a marketplace for sales professionals, a platform that specializes in the gig economy.
A new category of work
In Canada, the workforce is about 18% gig workers.
In the States, it’s probably closer to 35%.
Right now, tons of companies are looking for sales professionals that are available part-time. “You can build your portfolio as an independent consultant,” Jordan said. “Now’s the best time to go down that road and explore the opportunities.”
He said that working from home is a huge win for reps. (The average income of workers on his site is $42 per hour.)
It’s a huge win for companies, too.
The term gig platforms, contract labor, and freelancing — it’s becoming a new platform of work called the blended workforce.
Especially for experienced sales reps who might have just 10 hours a week available while sheltering in place and unexpectedly out of work, this scenario is ideal.
Granted, it’s fantastic when we’re outside of a pandemic, too.
Benefits of a blended workforce
The company benefits of embracing the blended workforce are many.
For one, so many will have to rehire after the peak point of the COVID-19 pandemic has passed by.
- Quality of freelancers
Jordan explained that the typical freelance sales professional or consultant has 5-10 years of experience. Freelancers with 20 years of executive experience aren’t unheard of, either.
“From a business standpoint, it’s, firsthand, the high quality reps you get,” Jordan said.
- Flexible scheduling
You can leverage remote workers as needed.
There is such a thing as call windows, after all. Instead of having a full time worker sit there all day, you can activate a remote worker for the optimal 4 hours.
- Goodbye, overhead
Remember when you had to physically house a sales team at a given location? There’s a high chance we’re never going back to that.
“Being able to have a team that works remote is a huge win for businesses,” Jordan said.
- Data analysis
Jordan explained that his platform monitors and analyzes all the work activity that is conducted.
“It’s redeploying shifts to hotspots or ideal call windows so it’s an automated headless management of your workforce,” he said.
Another note: Freelance professionals aren’t just becoming prevalent in sales. It’s a multi-industry trend for people with well-defined, hard-to-find skills.
Outsourcing = local
Outsourcing your work doesn’t have to mean going overseas.
“As the onshore talent starts to evolve, sales professionals are looking for more flexibility,” Jordan said.
You might have a sales team in India doing dials for you — and that might work in some industries with some products.
“But we’re selling B2B,” he added. “You want somebody who knows the community, understands the social norms, and can build rapport.”
So many business professionals in local markets throughout North America are ready to work right now.
Suppose you’re a business in Vancouver with a new product that you want to launch in Toronto. You actually have the ability to hit a button, launch a Toronto team, and scale it up or back as needed.
“A team that understands the market can build rapport. That’s one of the biggest aspects of selling,” he said.
A word about sales reps losing their jobs to AI. It won’t happen.
See, exceptional salespeople have an insanely high emotional intelligence.
Reading a person’s situation, background, tone, body language, and needs is such a unique thing.
A computer can’t do this job at all, which means that the specialist sales rep is once again the hero of the sales story.
The future of work will look like this:
You have a few full time people in house, but to find your specialized workers, you’ve tapped into the freelance independent contractor consulting market.
“We see blended workforces in the future, for sure,” Jordan said.
He added this encouragement to individuals who haven’t freelanced before…
Jordan’s 3 takeaways
- The future of work is bright, especially when you look at professional services.
- Onshore is the new flavor of freelance gig platforms.
- Put yourself out there. Right now is the best time to build your skills, look for opportunities, and just crush it in this world we live in now.
For more engaging sales conversations, subscribe to The Sales Engagement Podcast on Apple Podcasts, on Spotify, or on our website.
About The Podcast
The Sales Engagement podcast is the #1 podcast focused on engaging your customers and prospects in the modern sales era. This show features real-life stories and best practices from revenue leaders doing the job day in and day out, in a casual, radio-like talk show.
Each episode features modern tactics, strategies, hacks, and tips to get the most out of your sales engagement strategy and help you navigate the next generation of sales. You’ll find energetic talks that will provide you with real actionable value around building meaningful connections and creating a better selling experience through authentic conversations that you can measure.
The Sales Engagement podcast is here to help B2B sales leaders, customer success leaders, and marketing leaders innovate and usher in the next era of modern sales by building pipeline, up-selling customers, and ultimately generating more revenue with more efficiency.
Hosted by Joe Vignolo, Senior Content Managing Editor at Outreach, and Mark Kosoglow, Vice President of Sales at Outreach.
