Inside Sales vs. Outside Sales: Defining Your Optimal Sales Structure

In the early 1990s, when I was an “outside sales” rookie, every morning I joined a legion of peers roaring through the tolls on the Massachusetts Turnpike armed with large coffees in our cup holders and a veritable small office packed into the trunks of our company-issued sedans. The day would likely entail three or four meetings – one or two with a prospect, lunch with a loyal client, and perhaps a workshop-style planning meeting for a returning client with a new RFP (request for proposal). After jotting down call notes and organizing my expense reports in the evening, I’d prep for the next day’s meetings. I relished the independence, the variety, and the people I encountered.

Two decades later, the business of sales is dramatically different. Many sellers who would have been considered outside salespeople then, rarely leave their desks today. But sales teams that generate business without visiting prospects and customers have been traditionally referred to as inside sales. What happened?

What’s Changed About Insides Sales vs. Outside Sales?

The popularity of an increasingly “inside” sales structure for all types of selling has grown quickly in recent years, fueled by two phenomena:

• Customers’ growing preference for digital communications.
• The rise of powerful online selling tools. 

Business-to-business (B2B) buyers’ preference for digital communications was cited in a 2021 survey of 3,500 B2B purchase decision makers by McKinsey and Company. McKinsey found that two out of three B2B buyers interviewed preferred remote human interactions or digital self-service (such as a company website, e-commerce, chatbot, or internet search) over in-person meetings. This is true even for high-ticket purchases, with 35% of buyers willing to spend $500,000 or more in a single transaction through remote or online channels.

Sales technology, meanwhile, is becoming broader and more sophisticated in empowering remote and digital sales. Think video conferencing, chatbots, AI-driven conversational intelligence, and “buyer intent” tools that tap multiple information sources to identify behaviors that signal a buyer’s readiness to purchase.

How Your Customers Want to Buy

While modern selling is increasingly defined by activities mediated by computer screens, the face-to-face dynamic of outside sales (often referred to as field sales) is desirable in many circumstances and, in some cases, indispensable. For example, customers in health care settings, factories, or retail stores may be most accustomed to meeting with salespeople onsite. Thus, the inside vs. outside sales dynamic has not died off, and the number one rule for determining any particular company’s sales structure is to focus on how your customers want to buy.

To determine their optimal sales structure, Rene Zamora, author of Part-Time Sales Management and founder of Sales Manager Now, a fractional sales management firm, coaches small-business owners to document and define their sales process, starting with how prospects typically find them. From there, he encourages them to write down the next steps that usually follow, which may include requests for product demonstrations, calculating estimated returns, a price quote, etc.

This exercise helps you think about customers’ buying journey, the contact points that make the most sense, and where you need the most support. Perhaps you need help sourcing new prospects or qualifying inbound inquiries quickly, both of which are early-funnel activities. Or, you may need more expertise to close complex deals with multiple stakeholders. It’s possible, of course, for all these activities to be accomplished by a single salesperson. But many companies do better by matching sellers to subsets of the sales process, with one type of seller focusing on prospecting, lead qualification, and appointment setting, and another focusing on demonstrating value, closing, and expanding existing customer investments. Early-funnel activities are particularly well suited to inside sales roles.

What Is Inside Sales vs. Outside Sales?

Inside sales roles typically fall into one of two categories: full cycle sellers, accountable for prospecting, closing deals, and account management/expansion; and early-funnel sellers, accountable for qualifying leads and generating interest. The latter are often called sales development reps (SDRs). SDRs can be further defined by whether they are mostly or exclusively assigned to inbound leads (coming from email, phone, and web capture forms) or outbound prospecting (aka cold calling, now a task more commonly done via email and social media channels).

Understanding the difference between inside and outside sales is instrumental for your business, but it’s very likely any business’s optimal sales structure will incorporate aspects of both inside sales and outside sales.

SDRs will nurture a prospect up to a specific step – commonly, a scheduled meeting. Then, the opportunity is passed off to another sales professional (common titles include account executive and account manager) for the presentation, demo (if applicable), proposal, and, ultimately, closing the sale. In some businesses, an inside seller referred to as a business development manager (BDM) carries the sale through to close and the account manager takes on implementation, support, renewals, and upsells. Each of these so-called “hunter/farmer” models can be powerfully effective, honing sellers’ skills by focusing them on a smaller range of activities.

A caveat to this approach is the potential for disruption as customers are “handed off” in the middle of the buying process. And, as Zamora points out in his book, small businesses need to consider whether they can support a hunter/farmer model, given the requirement to fill multiple positions. Commonly, he notes, sellers collaborate, blurring the lines between their prescribed roles.

Inside Sales Is ‘Junior’ No More

As you consider your preferred fuel mix between inside and outside selling activities, think about the skills you have in-house and those you might need to hire. In general, inside sales is characterized by repetitive activities and high call and email volume. Those who excel at it tend to be comfortable with technology and thrive in structured environments. Outside sales reps often have more experience within the industry they serve and thrive in self-directed environments. Zamora cautions against typecasting inside sales as a more junior role, emphasizing that inside sales is no longer simply a launching ground to outside sales, but has evolved into its own career path.

Inside Sales vs. Outside Sales: Not an Either/Or Strategy

Understanding the difference between inside and outside sales is instrumental for your business, but it’s very likely any business’s optimal sales structure will incorporate aspects of both inside sales and outside sales. After all, pragmatism carries the day – and a rigid structure usually isn’t feasible for rapidly growing businesses. You might determine that an inside sales team is the right approach most of the time and rely on industry events to meet with prospects and customers in person. Hosting a booth at a trade show can be a particularly efficient way to meet with new prospects and existing customers. Another effective strategy is to hold quarterly or semi-annual meetings with customers, using a strategic agenda that incorporates client success metrics and a roadmap, sharing your business’s plans for product enhancements or business expansion with preferred customers.

Building some agility around inside sales vs. outside sales into your sales structure is a smart way to leverage your team’s skillsets and always be ready to adapt to changing buyer behaviors.

Photo: Getty Images