Inside Sales Revolution: Is it Time to Bring the Outside in?

The Benefits of Inside Sales

Cost savings

Inside sales has significantly lower operational costs than outside sales, as it dispenses with the expensive outlays associated with travel in the field.

For example, according to the Harvard Business Review, it costs 40-90% less to bring in new customers using inside rather than outside sales teams.

As such, sales departments looking to cut costs and use their budgets more effectively often introduce an inside sales component to their operation.

Buyer preferences

Today’s buyers are growing more comfortable making purchases remotely. Many wouldn’t dream of investing in a product or service without first researching it online, and would prefer a quick phone call to a formal face-to-face meeting.

As a result, it’s good business sense to have inside sales reps ready to engage with customers on their terms, rather than only connecting with them later on in the buying journey.

Better technologies

As we all know, in today’s world there has been great advances in digital technologies such as videoconferencing, webinars and customer relationship management (CRM) systems.

This means inside sales reps are increasingly able to build the same sense of customer intimacy and rapport, which has long been exclusively associated with traditional sales, but at a fraction of the cost.

Work/life balance

Outside sales will often require a lot of travel, long hours and time spent away from home, which can make it unappealing to sales reps used to modern practices.

On the contrary, inside sales is the ideal way to attract talented sales reps who love selling but still want to achieve a work/life balance.

How to Bring the Benefits of Inside Sales to your Outside Sales Team

Recruit with flexibility in mind

Inside sales and outside sales have traditionally required different competencies and skill-sets, with inside sales reps utilizing the latest technologies to generate quality leads and outside sales reps using their strong interpersonal skills to close the deal.

Increasingly, however, sales reps of all stripes are being required to become proficient in all of the above.

For example, inside sales reps are using interactive multimedia technologies to demonstrate products to customers, while outside sales reps are spending less time in the field and more time warming up prospects remotely.

As such, it is essential that organizations recruit individuals with a wide range of skills and, perhaps even more importantly, an open, collaborative and flexible attitude.

Provide skills training to fill the gaps

As new technologies emerge and buying behaviors evolve, the roles of sales reps, both inside and out, is changing.

To help your sales reps master the array of administrative, prospecting and closing skills required of them, it is essential to invest in appropriate training and continuous professional development.

This is especially true if you want your outside sales reps to develop the skills traditionally required by inside sales reps or vice versa, as many of the most experienced sales professionals will have developed with expertise in silos.

Put clear processes in place

When a sales department contains a mixture of inside and outside sales teams, it is common for conflicts to arise, from clashes over commissions to disagreements over lead quality.

To avoid turf wars between the teams, it is best to set out well-defined roles and responsibilities beforehand, and also encourage close collaborative relationships between sales reps from both sides of the divide.

In this way, you can develop a sales team who view each other’s roles as complementary rather than competitive, and who can learn from one another.

Achieve the right balance

While the crucial role inside sales plays in many modern businesses is undeniable, this by no means sounds the death knell for outside sales.

Outside sales reps still have important contributions to make, and it is essential that they are not displaced in the name of ease or cost savings.

Rather, it’s the responsibility of the organization to ensure that all of its sales tasks are being achieved as efficiently and effectively as possible, and that the right balance is achieved between inside and outside sales.