"Sell or be obselete"
Sounds like a no-brainer for any successful business, right? And yet, thousands of businesses operate in the comfort zone, settling for whatever business just happens to come their way.Then there are the business owners who realize that their companies have not yet reached their full potential, but do not actively seek additional sales due to lack of manpower or know-how. And their reasoning is valid and varied. Motivating and managing a high-powered sales team can be very challenging: personality clashes, territorial disputes, lack of follow-through, work effort … even basic sales funnel reporting often distract from the most important issue at hand: making sales. But it can be done.

Enter into the picture Extended Presence (EP), a Denver-based company that handles the day-to-day challenges of managing and motivating a high-performance sales team. Its approach to putting more money into clients’ pockets is accomplished through a two-pronged approach: the utilization of proprietary Sales Management Methodology (SMM) and the employment of sales professionals,‘outsourced’ to your business, who consistently deliver strong sales and marketing results.

Denton Crofts, one of four EP principals, explains that the ‘outsourcing’ of sales has been a developing market for several years, and has been a focal point for pharmaceutical and telecom companies for at least a decade.

“Outsourced sales for technology and small- to midsized firms is still an emerging market … there are multiple organizations throughout the U.S. that are focusing on different aspects and methodologies,” explains Crofts.“At Extended Presence, we have decided to focus on companies that need a direct sales presence -- either through dedicated telephone work that develops a new pipeline of opportunities or developing a direct sales team that closes new business with a ‘feet on the street’ sales model.

“This unique model of direct sales includes hiring and managing multiple virtual sales professionals on behalf of a client, which separates Extended Presence from its competition,” adds Crofts.

It also clearly identifies EP as a leader in the outsourced sales services industry. Consider that EP contracted its first client, a provider

of website design and development, in September 2002, and its second client, a provider of digital software to law firms, in December 2002. In August 2004, it proudly added IBM to its list of clientele. Just three months later, in November 2004, EP was able to boast of more than 50 clients … a growth of more than 300 percent (in comparison to 2003). And things only got better: In the first quarter of 2005, EP had already matched 50 percent of its 2004 revenue accomplishments. Its latest goal? To achieve consistent expansion of direct sales revenue, which would result in total revenues of approximately $8.7 million in its fifth year of operation.

“EP will continue to grow organically through the deliberate acquisition of clients, who are a fit for the model,” says Orlin Camerlo, one of four EP principals. “We will only add clients in correlation to the number of exceptional sales managers (who) we bring on to manage those clients.”

When it comes to the clients themselves, size doesn’t matter. EP enjoys a diverse client base, including multiple technology-oriented companies as well as firms that are developing new products and services, from Fortune 500 companies to small start-up organizations. Its expertise reaches into many markets and verticals, including financial, medical, biotech, information, technology and manufacturing.

The size of industry – overall and breakdown, by vertical – that focuses on IT, consists of two parts of the lowest common denominator:

1. Established firms that want to bring lagging or new products to market, without the headache and monetary commitment of hiring a traditional sales team, or without loading the new product on an existing sales team that is unqualified, too overwhelmed or has no incentive to sell.
2. Entrepreneurial ventures that need sales expertise as their products and services attempt to enter the market.

“The U.S. market offers multiple verticals and a constant creation of new companies that are potential outsourced sales prospects,” explains John Freshwater, EP principal. “These companies are looking to open new markets or bring new products or services to existing markets.With this constant development of entrepreneurs and new opportunities, the U.S. is an almost unlimited market opportunity that replenishes itself.”

In fact, so many products or services have price points, and are targeting specific markets “that the verticals within technology alone seem to be endless,” adds Freshwater.

He explains that Europe is another opportunity spurred by multiple outsourced sales companies in the United Kingdom, looking to partner with U.S. companies that want to enter European markets. In addition to increasing its clientele in major metropolitan areas of the U.S., EP will continue to develop potential strategic partnerships with an emerging firm in the United Kingdom to secure international business.

“As sales outsourcing becomes more prevalent and acceptable, larger firms and start-up firms alike become better customers,” says Freshwater.

The market, he says, has shown a few key needs: AND

successful life, EP admits to one mistake, that unsurprisingly, it has already overcome.

“EP’s biggest mistake has been in hiring too fast and firing too slow … we now take our time in bringing in new talent,” says Michael Godart, one of four EP principals. “Once we bring on new sales representatives or managers, we are adamant about their work ethic, their ability to be coached and their commitment to always doing the right thing for our clients.

“If our people waiver on these abilities, the probably won’t be here for long,” adds Godart. “On the other hand, for those salespeople who demonstrate exceptional skills, Extended Presence is a unique and diverse opportunity to grow into a more rounded and experienced executive.”

EP also continues to address what has been its biggest challenge all along:overcoming the perception within its prospect companies that sales can only be handled internally.

“Many of our best opportunities come from firms that have tried, and failed, at managing and retaining a sales team,” says Godart.“We would like to catch more companies prior to failing.”

So is ‘outsourcing’ the task of sales right for your company? Here are some of the perks regularly enjoyed by EP clients:

• The ability to focus on critical business commitments, other than sales.
• Contracting exactly as much additional sales help as needed.
• Enjoying a turnkey sales force, fast, and without the fixed overhead of permanent employees.
• Reducing fixed overhead expenses and eliminating fees associated with recruiting, benefits, payroll taxes, facilities, equipment and insurance.
• Maximizing revenues by selling to a larger geographic market.
• Quickly establishing a sales presence in remote and under-represented geographic markets.

What is most important to EP now? ‘Expansion,’ which means more internal sales managers along with better and more automated processes to help current and future clients achieve success.

Find out more at www.extendedpresence.com