Are you ready to grow your company?
Stuck in a rut?
Not sure if you should focus on inside or outside sales?
Maybe you should focus on inside sales and outside sales together?
Feeling confused about inside versus outside sales completely?
If so, perhaps it’s time to quit altogether.
We joke, of course.
Maybe inside sales, completed from a remote office, is the best fit for your business model. Or, maybe outside sales, conducted by individual sales reps focused on making sales through connection, is the best fix.
Keep reading to find out all you need to know about the difference between inside and outside sales, pros, cons, who it's best for, etc.
What’s the difference between inside and outside sales?
Inside sales are inside.
Outside sales are outside.
It’s a bit more complicated than that, but not much.
Inside sales are sales made remotely from an office (think call center type). This type of selling consists of a team of SDRs who focus on warm leads and initiating contact.
Inside sales teams are high volume and high touch sales. These teams can cover large territories since most of the selling goes through digital channels from a central office. These are the types of sales most often used in SaaS and B2C markets.
Because inside sales can cover large territories using tools like automated outbound calling, sales cycles and cadences can stay the same (with tweaks, of course). The ability to have predictable cycles and cadences allows the processes to be replicated and can make profit projections more accurate.
Since business expenses are limited to software tools and the bulk of the work is completed in-house, the associated costs with inside sales are 40-90% lower than outside sales.
On the other hand…
Outside sales are exactly what they sound like–sales completed in person.
Inside sales didn’t become popular until the last few years. Because of this, you might remember sitting through an in-home sales demonstration for vacuum cleaners or books.
With outside sales, SDRs are pounding the pavement and knocking on doors at times. Besides location, the difference between inside and outside sales is that outside sales reps sell to a specific audience.
These sales happen through face-to-face contact and sales pitches. For example, tactics include capturing leads or making sales at a conference/expo and door-to-door selling.
Outside sales are often used for high-value sales because they depend on the face-to-face element. Outside sales reps have a 40% higher close rate than inside sales, but the costs associated can be higher since expenses can include travel reimbursement.
While the primary difference between inside and outside sales boils down to location, other differences are that the sales cycles and cadences for outside sales usually can’t be replicated since they depend on face-to-face interaction to close a deal.
Oh, look! A handy chart, see?
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The term sales is a bit of an umbrella term with a lot of nuances underneath. Because of this, other types of sales fall into inside vs. outside sales categories.
Other types include:
This kind of selling is the oldest sales tactic in the book.
A field sales vs inside sales rep’s day will differ in a few ways. A field sales rep has a lot of autonomy over their flexible (sometimes unpredictable) schedule. They are responsible for initiating contact, setting up meetings, and often travel frequently.
Field sales include pharmaceutical companies, food service, or manufacturing industries. SDRs in field sales have a complex sales cycle and lower close rate, but the sales they close are often higher value, longer-term customers.
Door-to-door sales (or D2D) don't exactly go like Adele and the otter here, but almost.
D2D sales is a canvassing technique where sales reps sell to potential customers in their own homes. Tactics for D2D sales use things like product demonstrations to sell, build trust, and gain customers.
D2D sales are considered one of the most lucrative outside sales strategies because they are scalable, provide market research, and a personal connection, and there are no ads for a potential customer to get distracted or frustrated.
Outbound sales focus on outbound channels. Sounds a bit cliche, we know.
Tactics for outbound sales include cold calling, cold emailing, and social media marketing.
Other outbound sales tactics are viewed as invasive and a bit aggressive since they include paid email list building and one-way communication.
The big takeaway for outbound sales is this: outbound sales find customers and in inbound sales, customers find you.
Remember when your mom would drag you to a Home Interior or Tupperware party? Or worse, host one?
Yeah, us too.
In short, that’s direct sales–often associated with multi-level or network marketing and parties like that.
The real definition of direct sales is selling a product (or service) in a non-retail setting.
Direct sales are still a lucrative selling tactic for industries like B2B despite the semi-negative connotation. Because it removes the intermediaries like wholesalers and distribution centers, product prices can be lower than other sales types.
A product goes from manufacturer to the company, to the sales rep, and straight to the consumer with direct sales.
This type of selling centers around piquing customer curiosity.
Consultative sales aren’t focused on the transaction, like with the other types of sales here.
A consultative sales rep will ask thought-provoking questions designed to lead a customer to decide to purchase.
This type of selling is largely part of an outbound sales strategy and combines D2D and field sales techniques that rely heavily on empathy and connection.
So what’s the big difference anyway? We thought you might ask so let’s get into it.
The biggest difference between inside and outside sales is location.
Inside sales are sales made from a set location like a remote office. They handle all inbound channels and leads.
Inside sales cover large territories and high quantities of sales.
This is an advantage to consider since 80% of sales require 5 follow-up calls and inside sales reps are well equipped for multiple sales touches per day.
Outside sales are sales made to a specific audience outside of an office setting. They handle some inbound channel leads but mostly focus on outbound outreach and selling.
The difference between inside sales vs field sales also boils down to location.
As field sales reps sell in the field of business projected customer territory (like a neighborhood, for example), inside sales reps do their selling from the remote office.
Field sales are outside sales, in a nutshell.
It can be easy to confuse the two since both often use software like call monitoring services to make and take incoming calls. Plus, there is some overlap since some customer service reps do need to be familiar with business aspects like prices of products, etc.
Inside sales vs customer service differ in the most obvious way:
Despite the difference, inside sales and customer service teams work in tandem to keep new sales flowing through the pipeline; and after a purchase, to turn existing customers into retained customers.
The difference between the two is who initiates the sale: the sales rep or the potential customer?
It’s sort of which came first, chicken or egg.
With inside sales, the prospect initiates the sale, while in outbound sales, the rep is the one who initiates.
Now that you know the difference between inside and outside sales, it’s clear that both types of sales have one thing in common:
They’re both looking for leads and sales. Here are the strategies.
What is considered inside sales strategies?
Social selling uses businesses' social media channels to connect with prospects' networks. LinkedIn Sales Navigator is one of the most popular tools for social selling since they use metrics like the social selling index (SSI).
This inside sales strategy is profitable since 78% of salespeople who use social selling outsell their peers who don’t.
Automated calling is one of the key parts of the difference between inside and outside sales. Both types of selling utilize automated calling tools (often through VOIP), but they do it differently (more on the difference with outside sales below).
Inside sales strategies use automated calling to call a list of pre-qualified leads and existing prospects. Automated calling allows inside sales to happen in rapid succession, with some automatic dialers allowing for up to 880 calls per day.
Email marketing is the use of emails to sell a product or service. Email marketing is considered one of the best sales strategies because of its high ROI. For every $1 spent, you can net an average return of $42.
For an inside sales representative vs an outside rep, emailing as a sales strategy usually includes the use of targeted drip campaigns.
Since the pandemic, everyone is familiar with virtual meetings. (Hello Zoom fatigue, eh?)
As an inside sales strategy, hosting sales calls in virtual spaces is a great way to market to new and existing prospects. Virtual meetings have little associated costs and allow for a blend of outside sales tactics like product demonstration to showcase a business.
Examples of using inside sales like this are things like webinars.
An outside sales rep vs inside is like Lionel says…
Outside sales reps can see it in your eyes, see it in your smile.
Strategies for outside sales include:
As we said above, inside and outside sales rely on making calls. While inside sales boast a high volume of calls, completed using well-designed call scripts, outside sales rely on cold calls.
Since the key to making outside sales hinges on connecting and building relationships, cold calls are an opportunity for a rep to make an excellent first impression, build rapport, and establish trust between the business and the prospect.
While inside sales use the call scripts, the difference between inside and outside sales is that the scripts for inside sales calls are replicated. With outside sales, cold calling scripts can rarely be reused because they are situation-dependent.
Another difference between outside sales and inside sales is the face-to-face meeting aspect.
Outside sales reps depend on making the connection in person. This allows those reps to evaluate social cues and body language that inside sales reps often can’t do.
Thanks to technology and the pandemic, the line is starting to blur since outside sales reps can also host virtual meetings.
Another outside sales strategy is the dependence on building and maintaining relationships. Because outside sales are often high-value sales, it’s critical to nurture the relationship between the sales rep and the customer(s).
An outside sales rep may maintain existing relationships by making check-in calls. Asking how the customer is doing or offering additional help and support.
Regardless if you rely on inside versus outside sales, these four methods are a must-have for the sales team.
The whole sales team will benefit from a sales CRM that can automate processes, provide an overview of the pipeline, track customer data, and provide reports.
We’ve talked about personal connections in outside sales, but 80% of consumers are more likely to purchase if a business utilizes a personalized outreach process. Meaning, personalized outreach can be used by everyone.
Automated lead nurturing can be implemented through a sales CRM. Lead nurturing is often done through drip campaigns that feed leads digestible bits of information. Typically these are used to nudge (nurture) a lead through the pipeline.
Utilizing templates is more than just traditional scripts. Templates can be used for emails, SMS, or even sales cadences.
We’ve thrown a lot of information at you, so we’ll get right to the point. Here’s where you can find the software to support your inside and outside sales teams.
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$109/month |
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$25/user/month for Sales Essentials Edition package |
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$79/month for Lite package |
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$49/user/month for the Professional package |
(It’s us, btw.)
Ringy is an all-in-one, cloud-based CRM solution that offers tools no matter what type of sales works best for the team.
Added features of implementing Ringy include SMS and email automation, reporting and analytics, upline support for coaching sales agents in real-time, and progressive dialing solutions.
Because Ringy is cloud-based, it’s an excellent solution for outside sales reps because they can take all the lead data on the go or take calls from their cell phone, anywhere with a Wi-Fi connection.
We offer a free trial with the value of $109/month, an obvious choice for inside or outside sales.
One of the most popular choices for sales software.
It’s easy to see why, since this platform offers solutions for businesses of all sizes and types. In addition to automation, Salesforce includes a mobile application and customizable report generating.
While it does offer a two-week free trial and a $25 price, this package pricing is for teams of 5. An excellent choice for new businesses, but costs increase as the team grows.
Keap is a great choice for all team sizes (including solopreneurs).
With Keap, you’ll get an all-in-one CRM-focused scalability. So, you're covered if you have a large team of inside sales reps. You're still covered if you have a small group of outside reps.
Best features for sales include the ability to build and personalize emails with automated responses.
For higher-tiered packages, expect to pay between $170 and $200.
This sales software tool is perfect for new businesses or smaller teams.
Pipedrive shines with its ability to score and label leads automatically. Labeling allows hot leads to be followed up on and nurtured, allowing for better communication and an increased likelihood of closing the deal.
Pipedrive works well for inside or outside sales, but this software tool has a feature for managing territories for outside sales. Sales managers can assign outside sales reps to territories and automatically generate quota reports.
Aside from the $49/user/month package, Pipedrive offers three other packages: Essential (12.50/user/month with limited features), Advanced ($25/user/month), and Enterprise ($99/user/month).
Inside sales are sales made from an office setting remotely. These SDRs focus on warm leads, customer profile set-up, and guiding leads through the pipeline.
Inside sales reps make phone calls and utilize emails and other digital channels.
Outside sales are when SDRs meet with potential and existing customers in person.
These SDRs give presentations or product demonstrations and are focused on closing the deal through personal connections.
It depends on the industry and goals.
Inside sales can help focus on large, high-touch selling since SDRs can easily make multiple sales touches per day. Because everything can be replicated with inside sales, it’s easier to onboard new SDRs and grow the team.
But outside sales are equally valuable, depending on your industry. The face-to-face element allows outside sales reps to become familiar among networks and can capitalize on word of mouth tactics like referrals. While the sales volume is lower, the personal part works well for increasing high-value customer retention.
As we said, it depends.
By now you should be able to answer what’s the difference between inside and outside sales.
But there’s no test here.
Inside sales take place from a remote office and focus on inbound leads. They cover large territories and complete a high sales volume, though typically close fewer deals than outside sales.
Outside sales take place outside of an office and focus on outbound or cold leads. They cover smaller territories and complete a lower sales volume with a higher value.
No matter what type of sales works best for you, we’re here when you’re ready to level up your sales strategy. Call us for a demo or a free trial.