There isn’t a universal sales strategy. Sometimes, sales reps should meet prospects in person; for some businesses, doing sales remotely is more effective.
That’s why understanding the differences between inside and outside sales is essential to the efficiency of every sales process. Both have the same goal but use widely different strategies.
Comprehending the nuances between inside and outside sales empowers your business with flexibility, cost-effectiveness, and enhanced sales team performance.
By the end of this article, you’ll learn how to identify if inside or outside sales fits your business best. But first, let’s start with the basics.
What is Inside Sales?
Inside sales means selling to prospects remotely. You don’t have to go out, wear a suit, and visit company after company. The entire sales process can be done in your office or at home.
Leads are sourced from inbound marketing efforts, social selling, or lead finder tools. If you know how to find someone's email or phone number, you have a lead!
Outreach is mostly done through cold email or cold calling. However, cold email has the advantage since it can be automated and personalized at scale.
Sales decks are presented through virtual, interactive demos. A sale is finalized through electronic contract signing, and nurturing is done through automated onboarding.
In a nutshell, inside sales are convenient, can be automated, and are easily scaled with the proper tools. However, some sales reps or companies prefer selling in person.
What is Outside Sales?
Outside sales are front-facing. Think of a door-to-door salesman. For some, the human element that comes with outside sales makes a world of difference.
Subtle body language, how you talk to prospects, and how you carry yourself are big factors in securing a sale. But how do outside sales reps find prospects in the first place?
Prospecting for outside sales is similar to inside sales. Sales teams can use the same tools to find leads. The biggest difference is that sales reps have to meet prospects in person.
It could be in a trade show, networking event, or during scheduled appointments. The sales cadence can involve cold calling first, scheduling an appointment, and then in-person visits.
What Businesses Benefit Most From Inside Sales?
One of the biggest differences between inside and outside sales is scalability. That’s why B2B service providers and SaaS have an advantage with inside sales.
Both can leverage automated cold email outreach to scale prospecting without geographical restrictions. As long as their prospects can benefit from their products or services, they can sell.
Businesses with long sales cycles, local service providers, or high-end consumer products benefit more from outside sales. These could be telecom, enterprise companies, construction, or repair services.
Their prospects need in-depth, personalized information. Nurturing may take longer. A lot of vetting is involved. What’s important here is fostering genuine, long-term relationships.
Tools and Strategies Required for Inside and Outside Sales
Although there is some overlap in the tools and strategies used in inside and outside sales, however, there are fundamental differences we need to consider, such as the following:
Prospecting and Lead Generation
Inside sales can use lead finder tools and email checkers to streamline prospecting and validation. Sales reps should also qualify, and segment leads to facilitate personalization.
Outside sales lead generation requires tools and strategies for maximizing sales routes. They must discover new leads in their sales territories and prep for each prospect interaction.
For example, if you’re selling equipment to hospitals or clinics, you need a tool to help you filter out business categories within the area that belongs in medicine.
Outreach
Email marketing is the primary outreach vehicle for inside sales that should be an integral part of your go-to-market strategy. Sales reps can automate cold emails, follow-ups, and nurturing with tools like Instantly.
Instantly can also help personalize at scale by integrating lead intelligence data into your sales email copy. Even sending a cold email will feel relevant and tailored to your prospect’s needs.
Meanwhile, outreach for outside sales requires a combination of travel arrangements and access to an information rolodex while traveling. Travel expenses should also be considered. Reps should be reimbursed for in-person networking, client dinners, or entertainment expenses.
CRM
Inside sales need a sales lead management tool or CRM to track leads as they travel down your sales pipelines. With Instantly, you don’t have to pay extra for another CRM tool.
You can use Instantly’s Dealflow CRM to track leads. The best part is that it's fully integrated into your outreach campaigns, helping streamline the sales process.
Meanwhile, outside sales require “field sales CRMs.” These are tools designed to integrate mapping tools and CRMs.
Nurturing
Inside sales nurture prospects by providing tailored content depending on where they are in the sales pipelines. For example, you can send top-funnel leads educational blog posts or infographics to build awareness.
Bottom-funnel leads might receive case studies or be invited to product demos to help them purchase. You can also automate onboarding and post-sale nurturing through email marketing.
Outside sales require deeper connections and the most post-sales care. Sales reps need to build trust and genuine relationships.
While there is a human element in meeting prospects face-to-face, being too transactional and “salesly” will appear insincere.
Nurturing for outside sales can take the form of in-person product demos, gift baskets, or even taking prospects out for lunch to understand their specific needs further.
How to Leverage Email Marketing for Inside and Outside Sales
Email marketing is a strategy that perfectly fits inside and outside sales. From prospecting to closing sales, reps will still need to use email as the primary form of business communication.
Businesses that use a hybrid sales strategy (inside + outside sales) also benefit the most from email marketing. Here are actionable tips on how to leverage email marketing for both inside and outside sales:
Personalized Sales Emails
Personalization is still crucial to making a good first impression, whether you’re doing inside or outside sales. Sales emails must be relevant and tailored to a specific lead segment.
Tools like Instantly use {{merge tags}} to insert custom variables in the sales email copy, allowing you to personalize emails for each prospect.
Let’s say you’re doing outside sales and want to schedule appointments with decision-makers in your sales territory. Cold calling would take hours, but sending personalized cold emails only takes a few minutes.
Appointment Setting
You’d still need to schedule an appointment if you're doing outside sales. You can’t just barge in. If you manage to get the phone numbers of certain companies, chances are you’ll be redirected to a secretary or somebody on the front desk specifically tasked to decline sales calls.
But you can easily find the email addresses of decision-makers with lead finder tools like Instantly B2B Lead Finder and then send a hyper-personalized cold email asking for an appointment. Inside sales follow the same idea, except the meeting is virtual.
Follow-up Campaigns
For most inside sales, it takes several touchpoints before prospects agree to a meeting, so it's important to follow up. With email marketing, non-responsive leads can be added to sales follow-up campaigns for nurturing.
Outside sales reps who met prospects at conferences, tradeshows, or networking events should also send follow-up emails. Mention specific conversations, inside jokes, or any information that could help keep you top-of-mind.
Content Sharing
In today’s market, customers want to make informed decisions before purchasing. That’s why it's essential to share content that can help them make those informed decisions.
Content sharing can also show your authority in your industry. You can share blogs, case studies, or infographics. But remember to keep content relevant and valuable.
Event Invitations
One surefire way of warming up prospects is through event invitations, especially if they're free. This works for both inside and outside sales.
Outside sales reps can organize workshops and training sessions related to your products or services or host mixer events.
Sales reps can then send prospects email invitations to these events, where prospects can learn more about your products or services.
Key Takeaways
Understanding the subtleties between inside and outside sales can help your business implement the right strategies to ensure high conversion rates. To recap, here are the key differences between the two:
- Inside sales are done remotely. Sales reps leverage automation tools to streamline and optimize the sales process.
- Outside sales are done in person. Sales teams are assigned territories and rely on field sales CRMs to track and manage leads.
- Inside and outside sales can leverage email marketing to reach prospects, nurture leads, and maintain relationships.
If you want a tool that can help you automate email marketing for inside or outside sales? Look no further than Instantly! Try it out today!
