What is Inside Sales?
Inside sales is the dominant sales model for reps in B2B, tech, SaaS, and a variety of B2C industries selling high-ticket items. Put simply, inside sales is a way of handling sales remotely.
The job of an inside sales rep requires them to sell an organisation’s products or services via phone, email or other online channels.
How does inside sales work?
There are typically two divisions within the inside sales department: Sales Development Reps (SDRs) and Business Development Reps (BDRs). SDRs focus on inbound sales like warm leads from potential clients who have performed an action on the website — downloaded content, requested a demo, utilised live chat, or attended a webinar.
These warm leads are typically from small businesses and commercial industries. SDRs make contact with these leads, and log information into a CRM platform where a more senior sales person, called an Account Executive (AE), will begin nurturing these opportunities in the sales pipeline.
Business Development Reps are the cold callers. These outbound sales reps focus on higher-end commercial and enterprise opportunities. Once a lead is qualified, it is sent to an Account Executive.
These sales process stages allow SDRs and BDRs to provide a constant influx of leads from two different market segments: small business/small commercial and large commercial/enterprise. Account Executives follow these opportunities through the sales pipeline.
Inside Sales vs Outside Sales
Modern salespeople will be familiar with the growing need for a connected customer experience that segues neatly into the first personal contact. As a result, many organisations are re-examining the advantages and disadvantages of traditional sales in the field and how well it serves the needs of a customer in the twenty-first century.
After many years of inside sales reps playing backup to their higher-paid counterparts in the outside sales field, the internet has caused a shift in the way that buyers and sellers interact, meaning that many organisations are shifting their focus to keep up.
This is not to say that outside sales has no advantages. Some argue that an imbalance towards inside sales fails to exploit the value of face-to-face conversations – and certainly, an interaction in person does add value to a transaction. When a salesperson travels to meet a client at their premises, it is often easier for them to build trust and articulate exactly how the product would resolve the client’s pain.
That’s why, for most organisations, outside sales still forms at least part of the strategy. But with businesses now seeking ways to grow conversations at all stages of their sales funnel, the establishment of a skilled inside sales team is a logical way to compete for their share of ever-shrinking buyer attention.
What are the benefits of inside sales?
- Leveraging technological opportunities to increase cost efficiency
- More time for ancillary tasks
- Revenue predictability
- Opportunity for specialised roles
- Better opportunities for collaboration and coaching
- Greater scalability
- Ability to adapt to a changing buyer demographic
1. Leveraging technological opportunities to increase cost efficiency
2. More time for ancillary tasks
3. Revenue predictability
4. Opportunity for specialised roles
5. Better opportunities for collaboration and coaching
6. Greater scalability
7. Ability to adapt to a changing buyer demographic
5 Steps to Successful Inside Sales
Sophisticated customer requirements call for a properly nurtured team and a well-honed approach. Here are a few points to consider when you’re putting together your plan:
1. The right software for successful inside sales
2. Sales and Marketing alignment
3. Well thought-out inside sales organisation
4. A motivated team
5. A skilled team supported by ongoing training
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4 Essential Inside Sales Skills
Whether in the cloud or in the field: twenty-first-century salespeople require a wide range of knowledge and skills to succeed. Salespeople need to be good administrators (logging results and obtaining approvals), prospectors (deciding who to contact and how) and closers (creating proposals and dealing with objections).
But what about the skills that are particular to inside sales?
The Upshot of Inside Sales
The Harvard Business Review reports that when utilised effectively, inside sales can shave 40-90% off the cost of sales while maintaining or even increasing revenue.
But these outcomes require a certain level of investment in inside sales skills; as well as in the right software and ongoing training. It also means organisations must understand and exploit the role of their inside sales team at the intersection between sales and marketing and, where necessary, align these departments effectively.
If you’re prepared to take the necessary measures, you’ll reap the rewards: more contacts for the same cost, faster response times for customers, better scalability and more. The benefits are vast - and the number of online B2B customers is only continuing to grow. While there’s no doubt that outside sales still fulfils a necessary function, the time for relying solely on field reps is very much in the past.
That’s a lot of info!
Here’s what you should take away from this article:
- What is inside sales? Inside sales is the process of selling from an office via phone, email or online, rather than traveling to meet clients.
- How does inside sales work? Inside sales reps work in an office selling products by phone, email or online, either by following leads or cold calling.
- What’s the difference between inside sales and outside sales? Inside sales reps work in an office environment while outside sales reps meet in person at their clients’ businesses.
- What are the benefits of inside sales? Benefits of inside sales include increased cost efficiency, revenue predictability, greater scalability and specialized sales roles.
- What are some steps for maximising inside sales? Steps for maximising inside sales include utlising the right software, building a motivated team with defined roles, aligning sales and marketing, and building a well-thought-out sales organization.
- What are some essential skills for inside sales? Essential skills for inside sales include listening, reliability, building a rapport and sticking to a well thought-out strategy.