Tag: inside sales

Inside sales vs. Outside sales: Your questions answered

Posted on by vishal arora

On the surface, inside sales and outside sales seem to follow similar principles. Both need a motivated, driven salesperson that can interact with customers over the phone or by email.

However, there are some key differences between inside and outside sales. Understanding these distinctions can help you make better decisions that’ll benefit your business in the long term. 

Read on to find out more…

What is inside sales?

Inside sales is selling a product or a service through digital means from the office or at home through an email or over the phone, etc.  There’s no face-to-face interaction with the potential customer.

 An inside sales rep uses multiple communication tools to engage with prospects, such as:

Inside sales communication tools
Source

Several industries, like tech products, or SaaS use inside sales as their primary sales model. For example, you can explain prospecting software or any SaaS product via video conferencing. 

Inside sales reps for SaaS products can use Zoom and other tech-savvy tools to prospect, close, and follow-up. SaaS clients can test drive the software by signing up for a free trial. Alternatively, they can watch a tutorial.

What is outside sales?

Outside sales is selling products or services in person. It’s also called field sales because the outside sales rep interacts with potential buyers at their offices or homes.

The sales model is primarily off-site as reps need to travel. A good example is a real estate agent who needs to view or show their buyers property for sale.

Such reps heavily rely on field trips to market their business.

However, they can also use email, social media, or the phone to schedule appointments.  Outside sales reps can also attend industry events, trade shows, or conferences to meet up with prospective clients.

What are the key differences between inside sales and outside sales? 

Inside vs. Outside sales

Specific industries seem to favor inside sales. As Zippia.com notes, “46% of fast-growing tech companies use inside sales and 21% use outside sales.”

Now, let’s explore the key responsibilities of inside and outside sales reps.  

Inside sales and outside reps: What kind of work do they do?

Inside rep’s responsibilities

Inside sales reps work alongside sales teams. They handle everything from cold calling to emailing, building rapport with potential leads and scheduling online meetings. 

Here are more tasks:

  • They’re also responsible for generating new leads, qualifying them, and following up with them when they’re ready to buy. 
  • Inside sales reps manage the relationship between their company and the customer during the sale process.
  • They also focus on generating revenue from existing customers and winning new business, as well as closing deals.
  • Inside salespeople help improve the bottom line by growing the number of clients that they work with. 
  • As part of their responsibilities, they help manage client relationships and coordinate all account-related activities.

One of the biggest challenges is converting  leads into sales. Inside sales reps need to learn how to engage with prospects to show value that’ll make them buy. 

To achieve that, you need to zero in on the buyer’s pain points and know your product inside and out. And you should also empathize with your customers at every step of the process.

What are the inside sales rep’s vital skills?

Here are some of the skills your inside sales reps need to have. They must be able to:

  • Build trust with prospects.
  • Craft compelling sales pitches and remote presentations via video.
  • Communicate product benefits clearly and confidently.
  • Demonstrate empathy for customers’ needs and challenges.
  • Create reports on sales data.

Bonus: An Amazon Inside Sales Representative is responsible for:

  • “Exercising large account management and acquisition skills in a remote sales motion.
  • Helping to grow consumption of current and new AWS services across priority prospects and customers.”

Outside sales rep’s activities

Field sales reps focus more on traveling to meet up with their potential buyers. 

  • They prospect, follow-up, and nurture customer relationships to close more deals.
  • Outside reps visit conferences, industry events, and trade shows to scout for prospects, generate leads, or even sell their products.
  • In addition, they can use CRM software, social media etc., to build and manage relations with their customers. 

Zippia.com says outside sales reps sell remotely 89% more than they did in 2013.  It shows that field sellers now use more digital tools than before.

What are the outside sales rep’s critical skills?

Selling face-to-face needs an individual who’s good at managing their schedules. You’re in charge of the whole sales process. Other relevant skills include:

  • Time management
  • Communication
  • Interpersonal
  • Digital
  • Customer service
  • Negotiation

How to structure your sales team: Inside sales vs. Outside sales

Inside vs. Outside sales team structure

Let’s explore how you can organize your teams for each sales model.

Inside sales team

Typically, the inside sales team concentrates on lead gen, nurturing, and closing deals. Here’s the inside sales team structure:

Sales development rep (SDR): They generate, qualify, and even disqualify leads. Before they pursue prospects, SDRs need to determine if they fit their customer profile. 

Account executive: They deal with the vetted or qualified leads to build rapport, warm the prospect, engage them, and make a sale.

Account manager: Working together with the account exec, they’re in charge of customer relationships. They ensure the company satisfies the buyer’s needs.

Customer service manager: They make sure the customer has a good experience with your product or service. And they respond to their questions, offer support, show buyers how to use your solution, etc. 

Outside sales team

You can categorize outside sales reps according to territory, and the outside sales team could look like this:

Field sales reps: Outside sales reps travel to interact with their potential customers in person and attend events. Also, the prospect, close deals, and nurture customer relations. They develop robust relationships with buyers, unlike inside reps.

Sales manager: They’re in charge of supervising a group of outside salespeople in a specific territory. And they can attend demo meetings to support their reps. Also, they’re accountable to senior management on sales performance.

Sales support staff: They play a supportive role to the sales team. Some of their activities include managing orders, responding to customer queries, etc.

Inside sales vs. Outside sales: How to structure your quota attainment

Outside account executives achieve quota at a rate of 65%, 10% more than inside representatives – Zippia.com.

Your business growth hinges on your sales team crushing their goals. And you can achieve this by setting data-driven goals. For example, you can use past performance or industry benchmarks to create goals for your team to be realistic.

Also, you can rely on the overall business objectives to develop specific, measurable, and attainable inside sales goals. What’s your company’s monthly, quarterly, or yearly sales goal?

Based on that number, you can set a revenue goal for each inside sales rep. For example, an average inside salesperson has a quota of $985,000 – Zippia.com.

Establishing a quota for the outside salespeople could be challenging. That’s because sales territories have different deal sizes, etc. Some field sales reps could have higher targets in specific regions.

Zippia.com also says: “The average yearly quota for an outside sales rep is $2.7 million.”

Inside sales vs. Outside sales: What are the salary structures? 

According to indeed.com, the average salary of an inside sales representative in the United States is $62,056 per year. And they could get $12000 as annual commission.

Salary.com reports that field sales reps earn an average salary of $61,032. But it can range between $52,228 and $70,570. It says factors, such as experience, education, skills, etc., can influence how much you get.

Another fascinating stat is that outside sales pros make an average of 14% more than inside sales pros.

Inside sales vs. Outside sales: Is the sales cycle different?

Selling products or services via inside sales has a shorter sales cycle compared to outside sales. While both approaches use the same sales process, an inside sales rep can conclude a sale within a few hours.

That’s because inside selling deals with less expensive products/services than field sales. Customers don’t take longer to decide to buy or subscribe to a service. 

As a result, inside sales tends to focus more on volume to make up for the slim profit margin.

But outside sales take a longer sales cycle because buyers have to consider several factors, including cost. So the annual contract value (ACV) is higher.

Also, because of travel expenses, the customer acquisition value ( CAC) tends to be higher for outside salespeople. 

For example, the cost of an outside sales call is $308, while the cost of an inside sales call is $50.

Typically, you can expect between 6 and 9 months to close a sale in outside sales if you’re dealing with enormous deals. Nearly three months or less could be enough to close a deal in inside sales.

However, the type of the customer, deal size, what you’re offering, etc., determine your sales cycle. 

Pros of inside sales

Enhances teamwork: Inside sales reps can collaborate to win customers. For example, the SDR can specialize in qualifying or disqualifying prospects. The account executive can take over after the vetting process.

Outside sales heavily relies on a single individual to do everything from prospecting to closing deals.

Versatility: It’s easy to switch the roles or activities in inside sales because it doesn’t need territorial attachment. On the other hand, moving field sales from one region to another could be an issue for some salespeople.

They can develop personal relations with some customers. So adjusting their regions poses a challenge.

More selling time: Reps can concentrate more on prospecting and concluding deals because they don’t travel.

Slashes costs: Sending emails or conducting discovery calls is cheaper compared to meeting customers in person. “Inside sales teams pay 40%–90% less to acquire new customers.,”- Zippia.com

Lightning-fast response time: An inside sales rep can use digital methods to respond to customers faster. But an outside salesperson like a real estate agent needs to travel to view or showcase property.

Inside vs Outside sales benefits

Pros of outside sales

Establishes robust and long-term relations: Face-to-face meetings with clients can develop win-win relationships. Reps can provide tailor-made solutions.

Improves closing ratio: Research says outside sales pros close 40% more deals than inside sales pros.It means this sales methodology is perfect if you’re dealing with gigantic deals that take a longer time to close.

Boosts morale: Field sales reps receive a commission in addition to their base salary. So a commission-based payment structure can motivate them to work harder to achieve their goals.

Inside sales vs. Outside sales: How are the sales models different?

Here’s what you should expect if you choose either inside sales or outside sales.

Inside sales model

Check out the following essential features of this sales approach:

  • Reps use digital communication tools to engage with potential customers.
  • It zeros in on lead gen and volume of sales.
  • The sales method has a shorter sales cycle (less than 3 months).
  • CAC is lower compared to field sales.
  • Popular with SaaS and tech companies or businesses selling least expensive products or services.

Also read: Upgrade your virtual selling strategy with these 7 practical tips

Outside sales model

Here are the distinctive features of this sales method:

  • It relies on face-to-face interactions as the reps have to travel to meet up with clients. But field reps also use digital channels.
  • Rep is in control of the entire sales process.
  • Its sales cycle is longer – over three months to close a deal.
  • It’s most appropriate for premium products or services due to high CAC.

Over to you: How can inside sales and outside sales work together?

It’s easy to see why many companies employ inside sales reps. They can respond to customers faster over the phone or via email. So a swift lead response time wins more buyers and boosts sales.

Outside sales reps are more flexible to meet up with potential customers. That’s because they don’t have restrictions like mandatory hours or days off. 

You can benefit from having a remote inside sales team and an outside sales team – a hybrid system. Both teams have different skills and target different types of buyers. 

It’s crucial to remember that inside and outside sales reps need to engage their prospects with the right sales tools. And the type of business, products, customers, and your needs determine which sales model is perfect for you.

Also read: Inside sales strategies for beginners

Inside sales strategies for beginners

Posted on by vishal arora

Inside sales is proving to be a game-changer for many companies, according to Spotio.com. Nearly 37 percent of companies use Inside sales as their primary sales strategy. Automation tools help these businesses conduct inside sales because  AI-powered CRM systems can handle customer inquiries and lead generation. 

Inside sales is not just an opportunity for companies with offices in another country or state. It also benefits businesses that want to grow without investing in new office space or hiring new staff members. Inside sales are an opportunity for all firms, no matter their size or location.

Find out how your company can take advantage of Inside sales. 

The definition of inside sales

B2B inside sales is a process by which a company sells its products and services to other companies over the phone or through video conferencing. The firm needs to know its clients’ business objectives before making any offers.

Salespersons usually have a database of contacts with an established relationship. They also know about the customer’s industry and product offerings. The seller will then reach out to the connections and offer them their product or service.

Also, B2B inside sales is a form of lead generation that focuses on the needs of businesses. The goal is to generate a qualified lead by selling to companies through phone calls and emails inside an office or home. Inside sales reps also use virtual meetings, videos, and CRM tools to engage prospects.

Inside sales vs. Outside sales

inside vs outside sales

Inside sales is a sales process where your salesperson works from an office and contacts potential customers by phone, email, or video conferencing. Your company’s employees or a third-party business can conduct inside sales.

Outside sales are those that salespeople do in person. These include visits to clients, in-person presentations, and demonstrations of products and services.

The main difference between outside and inside sales is that outside sales involve face-to-face meetings with prospects, whereas inside sales lack in-person contact.

Let’s now jump into what an inside sales rep does.

Inside sales representative’s duties

inside sales rep's duties

How to create an inside sales team

inside sales team structure

Here is the structure of an inside sales team.

Sales Development Representative (SDR): They’re involved in lead qualification.

Account Executive (AE): The AE is responsible for closing sales.

Account Manager (AM): They concentrate on nurturing customer relationships.

Customer Success Manager (CSM): The CSM ensures customers get all the support they need. 

Should you use a third-party service provider for inside sales? Read on.

Benefits & challenges of inside sales outsourcing

Benefit: Least-expensive

Inhouse salespeople are costly to hire because your business covers many expenses. But when you outsource inside sales, you can save on these overheads. It’s a huge advantage for small businesses or new start-ups that want to keep as much cash as possible.

Challenge: Lack of oversight

Outsourcing leads to losing control of the sales process and customer relationships. As a result, you can’t closely monitor performance. But you can lessen this challenge by insisting on specific deliverables over a period, e.g., monthly. 

Benefit: Dealing with experts and well-defined systems

A third-party business has well-developed processes, infrastructure, and marketing specialists to help you scale up in no time. However, creating these systems is challenging, pretty expensive, and time-consuming. You would do well to take advantage of already existing sales methodologies.

Related: “9 Sales methodologies: How to win buyers and influence sales.”

Challenge: Loss of critical information

One risk of inside sales outsourcing some businesses fear is losing confidential details about prospects. The third-party company generates vital info about leads through its CRM system. But you can miss this sales data if there’s no written agreement to access it. 

Benefit: Creates more time.

Managing an in-house team requires plenty of time and resources. You can free up time and space by outsourcing selling activities. Instead of admin and routine tasks, you can concentrate on strategic decisions.

Challenge: Hidden costs

Some outsourced inside sales firms can sweet-talk you into signing lengthy contracts with hidden costs. Because of this, you could end up paying more than your budgeted funds. Pay attention to the finer details of the agreement to avoid this problem. 

Benefit: No need for inside sales training

Outsourcing inside sales takes away the responsibility of training your team. You don’t have to worry about evaluating salespeople to design coaching programs.  

Challenge: Lack of personal collaboration

Another weakness of a third-party marketing company is the lack of unique collaboration between teams. It could become challenging to align goals and activities. However, reps can easily engage and work together in an in-house sales organization. You can use collaborative tools like Slack to keep the communication lines open between your company and the outsourced business.

Verdict

Outsourcing inside sales has brilliant advantages that can help you scale up quickly. But you can stick to an in-house model if your business has vital financial, human, and physical resources. Also, it depends on whether you want to maintain control of the entire sales process or not. 

Want to up your game in inside sales? Check out the following actionable tips. 

9 Inside sales strategies

inside sales strategies

1. Understand the customer’s needs

Your proposed solution should match the buyer’s needs to avoid a disconnect between your product and their pain points.  You can find out about the customer’s challenges through research. It uncovers potential gaps and preferences that offer you opportunities. 

You can differentiate yourself from your competitors by responding to what buyers want due to the information y0u collected.  And customers can relate to details about your solution because it speaks their language. But avoid overwhelming clients with too much info. “Volume doesn’t necessarily equal value”-Richardson Sales Performance. 

2. Provide a context for your sales pitch

Potential customers can quickly disengage while the seller chats with them on the phone if the sales pitch lacks context. Grab the buyer’s attention and keep them glued by offering a powerful value statement. It must specifically touch on what’s crucial for the customer, how your product can help, and what success looks like. 

Also, the value statement should be concise since customers are busy and the salesperson needs to make many calls.

3. Ask questions to learn

Sometimes salespeople think they know what the customer’s industry wants. As a result, they offer solutions that have nothing to do with clients’ challenges. Instead, inside sales reps should ask open-ended questions to learn more about the buyer’s needs.

But questions need to be meaningful to make sense to the customer. You can achieve this by listening intently to the responses and asking follow-up questions.  Before proceeding to the next question, always acknowledge what the prospect said.

4. Phrase questions properly

Psychology has a concept called ‘the framing effect.’ It means that you can make two different options regarding something depending on how someone presents it to you. The Journal of General Internal Medicine’s study tested this principle by offering some patients specific medication with benefits relative to another treatment. It presented the same treatment with its pros to another group but without comparison to another alternative.

The research discovered that the first group with two choices experienced greater freedom and motivation in deciding the better medication. Salespeople can use the framing effect by providing the potential customer with the product’s benefits relative to another solution. Let the prospect see the pros of two packages or solutions. 

Example: Price/Product comparison.

SEO surfer
Source

Use open-ended questions to ask for feedback from the customer after explaining two alternatives. That’s because you need to know their insights to help you guide them in choosing the better option.

5. Develop and nurture trust

Ensure that you keep your word by delivering what you promised during the call. For example, you could have assured the customer that you’d send them a digital catalog, a sample, an email explaining more about the product, pricing, etc. Follow-up by sending the promised items on time to build credibility. 

Also, record and share the call with other relevant stakeholders to give the customer as much support as possible.

6. Deal with objections

Objections are likely to occur during the conversation due to cognitive dissonance. It refers to our habit of rejecting or dismissing new info because it’s new or disagrees with our beliefs. We may even oppose it. Cognitive dissonance leads to emotional discomfort and customers’ objections.

Salespeople also suffer from the same problem when they defend their opinions to deal with their emotional discomfort. As a result, the situation becomes tense and worse.

Sales managers should train inside sales reps to become less defensive and resolve objections. One straightforward way is to assure the buyer that you’ve heard their concerns and complaints. Empathize instead of defending your viewpoints. The prospect will feel respected even if you don’t resolve the challenge.

7. Pay attention to anchoring

Anchoring is when assumptions influence salespeople’s views- by the way, they occur naturally. For example, sellers may have particular beliefs about the prospect, which may be incorrect. The Entrepreneur magazine lists several false assumptions that salespeople make. One of them is that customers are a ‘blank canvas’-they know nothing. As a result, “poor alignment equals poor buying experience.”

The online publication says, “learn what they [customers] think they want” to avoid providing the wrong solution to them. Again, open-ended questions can help sales reps reveal their assumptions about the prospect. 

8. Practice active listening 

Remote selling requires inside sales teams to practice active listening. Listen for the buyer’s intonation, word choice, and inflection. Note their responses, too, to grasp their needs and help you offer what they want.

Related: “19 Best Sales Discovery Questions To Close More Deals.”

9. Use feedback to guide the sale process

Inside sales is a two-way street and consultative – inside sales professionals should get feedback from the potential customer. After presenting your offer, ask them what they think about it, whether it solves their pain points, etc. You can use the feedback to float other ideas or solutions. Asking questions shows the client that you’re collaborative and want to help them. 

In closing, here are the primary points about the consultative approach in inside sales.

To succeed in B2B inside sales, you need excellent communication and interpersonal skills. And you need to think creatively about how your product or service can solve your customer’s problems.

How to make inside sales thrive in your organization

steps for a successful inside sales team

Here are five steps to creating a successful inside sales team for your business.

1. Get the right tools for your inside sales reps

Lead generation software is a must-have for your salesforce to succeed in their efforts. Consider obtaining CRM databases, social media analytics tools, and web conferencing platforms.

2. Align sales and marketing

These two departments need to work together. It prevents salespeople from getting the wrong leads and the marketers from complaining about wasted opportunities. Inside sales sellers should inform the marketing personnel about their exact needs. And the staff in the marketing department need to involve reps in their campaigns. Let there be constant communication to avoid conflicts.

3. Develop a well-organized inside sales team

Each salesperson should be clear on their responsibilities to know what you expect of them. One way is to assign roles based on market segmentation, territory, product/service, the customer journey’s stages, etc. Use data to create a structure that’s perfect for your business.

4. Motivate your team

Your B2B inside sales team needs regular motivation because low sales, challenging prospects, stiff competition, etc., may discourage them. Motivation can be simple recognition,  verbal praise, cash incentives, etc. 

5. Invest in ongoing inside sales training

Inside sales training should focus on the art of persuasion to sell products or services to companies with a lot of success.  Also, coach your salesforce on using sales enablement technologies, sales pitches, and handling objections. 

Related: “How to win buyers and influence revenue with your sales pitch.”

Wrapping up

Remote sales is an excellent way for companies to increase their sales. It’s a cost-effective and time-efficient way for companies to have their sales teams work from anywhere in the world.

Some of the benefits of inside sales are:

-It provides flexibility for employees.

– It saves the money spent on in-person sales visits.

-It helps with increasing productivity.

Watch the following video that summarizes the key points about inside sales and its future.