learning

Inside sales

Inside sales is the selling of products or services over the phone, email, chat, or another remote channel. An insides sales representative approaches warm leads—customers who have expressed interest in the company or product by clicking on an advertisement, asking a question in a chat, or signing up for newsletters and promotions, among other actions.

Insides sales is different from telemarketing, where salespeople cold-call potential customers from a register and read from a script. Though cold-calling might still be involved, inside sales typically requires creative and strategic approaches to selling to business-to-business (B2B) and business-to-consumer (B2C) clients.

• Building relationships with potential or existing customers to inform them about a product or service
• Qualifying potential customers, identifying their needs, and matching them with the right products or services
• Answering questions about the product or service
• Asking questions to understand the customer’s needs
• Recording and refreshing customer information in sales software
• Taking inbound calls from prospects or customers
• Making outbound telephone calls and following up on new leads
• Overcoming objections and closing sales

Outside sales

Outside sales refers to selling in a variety of locations, which requires sales development representatives to be agile and flexible. You’ll need to adapt your sales pitch to each situation since environments could range from trade shows and conventions, to field sales meetings, to door-to-door. Building relationships in person can be more effective for answering questions and closing sales.

• Developing and maintaining relationships with customers
• Understanding customer needs and providing solutions
• Generating new sales through prospecting and lead follow-up
• Managing a sales territory, assigned account base, or event-based sales pipeline
• Achieving monthly, quarterly, and annual sales targets
• Conversing with potential clients at conventions and events to close deals
• Demonstrating a strong understanding of your product or service, matching them to client needs
• In-person presentations and demonstrations for potential clients