Need to hire a sales force? Boulder company allows you to outsource its team

BOULDER — Sales Partnerships’ revenues grew from $119,000 in 2001 to $278,000 in 2002, a 133.6 percent gain, making it No. 5 on The Business Report’s Mercury 100 list of fastest-growing companies.

The Boulder-based company provides contract sales and marketing services for the business-to-business market. Sales Partnerships can provide services to either grow sales volume for companies with existing sales forces, or can serve as the contract sales force for companies that don’t have the time or capital necessary to develop their own.

Co-owners Fred Kessler and Aaron Kullman, president and vice president of operations respectively, founded the company in 1997 as a telemarketing and telesales business. But they soon decided to refocus their efforts, and fill a void many businesses struggle with. ?A lot of companies will talk about how they outsource accounting or other functions,? Kessler said. ?We provide outsourced sales services.?

Sales Partnerships offers three distinct services.

* Direct outside sales. Sales Partnerships can provide sales reps that become the customer’s sales force for both telephone work and face-to-face work necessary to close sales.

* Sales support. Sales Partnerships can provide pre-sale and lead qualification services before handing the lead over to the customer’s sales force for final negotiations or deal making.

* Consulting. Sales Partnerships can provide sales training, sales management and sales team development.

Clients typically pay on a fee plus commission basis, Kessler said.

During the past two years, Kessler said, Sales Partnerships has begun to fill a niche, ?helping companies that have a product ready for market and no idea how to get it there.?

Kessler cited Flight Trak Inc. The Broomfield-based, woman-owned company had created scheduling and dispatch software for corporate aviation departments. ?Through a conversation we learned they had a completed product, six customers, but no sales documents, no sales system, no sales manager,? Kessler said. ?We came in and developed everything necessary to provide sales and put our sales force in doing sales for them.?

As is typical with its clients, Sales Partnerships still provides Flight Trak’s sales. ?Often clients don’t see a reason to take over sales,? Kessler said. ?They don’t need the expertise, the administration, the recruiting.?

Recruiting is often the biggest challenge, Kessler said, and it’s expensive. Hiring a sales representative can cost $30,000 to $40,000, he said. Kessler said Sales Partnerships ?can put people on a project within 30 days that will succeed for the client.?

Sales Partnerships also guarantees redundancy, he said. If someone needs to take time off for any reason, another salesperson replaces her immediately.

The key to Sales Partnerships’ success is its people. The company recruits continuously and is very selective. ?We hire 2 to 5 percent of people interviewed,? Kessler said. ?Our reps benefit from great deal of flexibility. They choose their schedules and projects.?

According to Kessler, Sales Partnerships pays its 15-member staff better than the customer would pay them. The company also provides professional development through advanced training in sales and handling complex selling in dynamic purchasing environments.

The company also has endeavored to create a team-based, as opposed to competitive, approach to sales.

All of this attention to employees has paid off in terms of loyalty. ?We decided to invest everything in our reps so they have cream of the crop skills and a great environment where people don’t want to leave,? he said.

Because of corporate growth, the company is looking to hire two more salespeople, Kessler said.

Right now Kessler is satisfied to take a small percentage of profit for himself because his goal is growth for the company. ?I’ll make my money five years from now when we’re at 500 employees and $100 million in sales.?Contact Caron Schwartz Ellis at (303) 440-4950 or e-mail csellis@bcbr.com

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