The type of business you have, your customer type, and the business location are among the major determinants of the best sales team structure to employ. Inside sales structures are rapidly growing compared to outside sales because more time is spent maximizing sales in inside sales, while more time is taken to travel for outside sales. However, both structures are important and offer a variety of benefits.
If you are looking to grow your company and are wondering whether to use inside sales vs. outside sales, read on to see more the different benefits of each structure to use them more effectively.
Inside sales
Refer to the process of selling to customers remotely from the office environment. This practice has become popular, especially since the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic, which led to movement restrictions.
Benefits of inside sales
Hiring an inside sales team ensures there is an immediate response to queries about the products or services. This allows for a quick response when customers require help, unlike in outside sales, where personnel have to travel to the lead’s location to provide assistance.
Inside sales help in reducing the sales cost compared to outside sales. This is because the team needs to make calls or send emails to leads; hence, no transport cost is needed.
Inside sales are most preferred because of time optimization. More time is spent on checking on leads and persuading them to buy products and services. However, the outside sales team will lose more time moving from one lead to another when meeting potential customers.
It is much easier to scale an inside sales team than an outside sales team. This is because, for an inside salesperson, you can easily evaluate their customer relations and the time taken to get a lead to purchase products. However, the difference in working locations for outside sales teams makes it harder to evaluate performance and hire new reps and replacements.
There is more teamwork and encouraged collaboration for inside sales. The personnel can divide their work to maximize the outcome. On the other hand, outside sales are more independent, and the personnel has to learn to manage the selling process and the leads on their own.
Outside sales
Are the sale of products and services by company sales personnel through physically meeting with customers and clients in the field. The sales personnel meet with potential customers in locations that are comfortable and more convenient for them.
Benefits of outside sales
Outside sales will help you develop a strong relationship with your clients. When potential customers trust your personnel, they offer better feedback; hence, you can better tailor your products or services to suit their specific needs.
Face-to-face meetings are more influential in most cases. If you are looking to convince potentially large clients, a physical meeting may be more appropriate than calling or sending an email. This allows for proper discussion and a better understanding of products and services and increases the rate of conversion of prospects.
Commissions offered to the outside sales team are a great motivating factor. This means that the team will work more and focus on closing deals with all qualified leads.
Conclusively, you can have both teams efficiently structured to ensure you have an excellent sales team for your organization now that you know their benefits.
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