Inside Sales vs. Outside Sales: Empowering Your Team with the Right Sales Tools

With COVID-19 changing the landscape of remote work, the balance of inside sales vs. outside sales is more important than ever for sales reps to succeed. But first, you have to understand the difference between the two, and know how to deploy them the right way. At the moment, outside sales may not be the go-to choice when it comes to pushing your products and services, but that’s why inside sales representatives can continue to drive business, while still supporting your sales force as a whole.

In either case, you want to empower your team with the right sales tools and get your operations running at (or close to) full capacity. A healthy mix of Inside sales and outside sales can help get you there.

What are Inside Sales?

You can think of inside sales representatives as a team of sales reps that work online (using phone, email, SMS, or other online channels) to connect with leads and input their information into the CRM platform.

The Difference Between Sales Development Reps and Business Development Reps

Essentially, inside sales representatives are broken up into two parts: sales development reps (SDRs) and business development reps (BDRs). And each one focuses on a different set of customers, setting them up to be more likely to convert.

For example, SDRs pay attention to inbound sales, targeting warm leads who have already gone through some kind of funnel on the company’s website. Once a potential customer subscribes with their email or downloads a whitepaper, etc., the SDRs will reach out to these “warm leads,” punch their data into the CRM, and then someone higher on the sales chain—a senior sales manager or account executive—starts to nurture the warm lead further down the rabbit hole.

As for BDRs, this group of inside sales representatives is your main cold emailers and cold callers. BDRs go after enterprise and large-scale commercial clients (not small businesses or other mid-size commercial contacts). Then, once they get someone qualified on the hook, that info is also stored in the CRM and sent off to a senior salesman who can close the deal.

What are Outside Sales?

So with inside sales reps focusing on building qualified leads online, outside sales representatives are your face-to-face B2B salespeople that foster connections with clients in-person.

Now, with the effects of COVID-19 putting a damper on outside sales strategies, many sales teams may start to rethink the viability of outside sales, however, there can be a healthy balance of inside sales vs. outside sales that still positions sales forces to nurture leads and support customers with in-person contact when the time comes.

Specifically for outside sales reps, during the pandemic, their skills can be used to remedy situations and build meaningful customer relationships with clients that inside sales reps can’t offer. SDRs and BDRs may be able to get the fish on the line, but outside sales reps can be the ones who bring the net and scoop it out the water.

In 2020, and beyond, the best approach that sales teams can have is to design a holistic process that merges insides sales and outside sales into a single strategy. To do that, an ultra-reliable sales engagement platform (SEP) is the perfect solution to work alongside your CRM and identify clients who will benefit the most from certain kinds of interaction.

Combine Inside Sales and Outside with Kixie

Creating synergy within your sales team is the best way to use everyone’s talents and bring qualified leads closer to a conversion—Kixie is an ultra-reliable sales engagement platform that brings your strategy full circle.

With complete CRM integrations and other sales enablement tools to support your sales force, you’ll be able to combine inside sales and outside sales techniques to crush your quotas. To learn more about what Kixie can do for your team, click here to start your free trial.