Sales & Marketing: Facts and Figures

 

Two thirds, or 67 percent, of respondents have encountered lower turnover from direct hire sales reps as opposed to CSO reps, according to a recent survey of executives by Best Practices LLC. The same percentage said direct hire reps show an advantage in competency, and 56 percent believe that direct hires show the best performance in the field. However, 67 percent of respondents said there was no difference between direct hires and CSOs in physician access, and 56 percent gave contract reps the advantage in flexibility. Also, 67 percent of respondents said contract reps offered a lower cost per rep, and 56 percent said contract reps can be trained more quickly. And 44 percent of respondents believed that contract reps provide higher call volume, with the other 56 percent saying there was no difference in call volume between direct hires and contract reps.

Regarding the management of CSO reps, 44 percent of respondents say their contract reps are managed by internal front-line managers, with another 44 percent saying their CSOs are managed by a mix of internal and contract managers and 11 percent saying their CSOs are entirely managed by other CSOs. Among those who said their CSOs are managed by a mix, the split was reported to be heavily in favor of CSOs managing other CSOs (82.5 percent) as compared with direct hires managing CSOs (17.5 percent).

 

Source: “Assessing the use of CSOs vs. internal hires,” Best Practices LLC