Inside sales is sales handled remotely –wherein BD/sales professionals identify,
nurture and convert leads remotely. For inside sales, BD/Sales professionals contact
their leads through channels such as phone, VoIP solutions, video calls, and emails.
Inside sales have risen in popularity, owing to the growth in technology, new software
and the internet.
Inside Sales Model: Key Characteristics
● Remote Selling
● High-Touch Sales
● Highly Trained Reps
● Tech. Deployment
Inside Sales Vs. Telemarketing
Telemarketing typically involves phone-based selling of low-ticket items to B2C
customers. Reps usually use a well-defined sales script. It rarely has multiple touches
with customer. Prospecting usually involves purchasing contact lists.
Inside Sales focuses on high ticket items and is dominant in the B2B landscape. Reps
do not rely on full-on scripts. Employs highly skilled & knowledgeable sales reps.
Might need multiple contact with customers to reach closure. Technology (CRM, social
selling, intelligence tools, etc.) are used to build strong prospect list.
Key factors while deciding between an inside sales vs. outside sales model
Early stage businesses or development stage
Companies in development stages are often looking to scale up their sales presence
to compete against larger competitors. This is likely to drive them to build a large
remote sales team.
Sales Cycle Complexity
Businesses selling complex enterprise solutions that need large up-front capital
investments, buy-in from several executives and customisations, will benefit from
deployment of field sales reps. Businesses selling turn-key cloud-based solutions can
choose to use remote channels exclusively to handle sales.
Stakeholder perception of inside sales effectiveness
A survey by author Steve W. Martin found that businesses rely on inside sales teams
for creative opportunities and outside sales reps for maintaining partnerships,
strengthening relationships and closing high ticket deals.
Inside sales offers the following advantages over outside sales
● It is more cost effective.
● It enables better collaboration.
● Customers prefer inside sales.
● Enables increased productivity.
How can inside sales help organisations?
For complex and lengthy sales cycles, process-driven tasks such as prospecting and
qualification can be delegated to an inside lead development rep, who can support
three to five field reps. Companies can identify market segments, typically, high
volume transaction environments, where their product and/or solutions can be sold
remotely in sizeable quantities -inside sales reps have their own discreet sales
channel in such scenarios. Renewals will effectively a subset of inside sales revenue
generation and inside rep’s quota for the renewable revenue may or may not be
associated with a field or inside sales rep (account owner).
