Sales and marketing outsourcing 'can minimise costs'

Sales and marketing outsourcing is primarily used by companies to ensure a reduction in costs, it has been claimed.Firms that outsource their sales and marketing functions do so because it can lead to the minimisation of costs, it has been suggested.

According to researchers Jackson Obia and Christian Llido of the Institute for Development and Econometric Analysis, companies are using outsourcing for a range of business processes, BusinessWorld Online reports.

"Profit is the primary driver for outsourcing. Firms outsource business processes to reduce costs," the pair noted, adding that "ultimately … the decision to outsource is one borne out of minimising" these expenses.

The global increase in enterprises looking to outsource has been facilitated mainly through the "impressive advances" in information technology, they added, with developments in this area leading to a drop in the price of doing business outside of the confines of the organisation.

Sales and marketing is just one of a range of popularly outsourced modules, the researchers explained, with other functions including business administration and customer care services.

Although it is possible to contract out a number of roles, they concluded, it is important to remember that not everything can be outsourced as it "creates a cost in and of itself".

In recent news, industry expert Jack Morkel advised that business process outsourcing can lead to organisations increasing their sales efficiency.