Inside Sales, success in remote sales
Posted: Tue Dec 03, 2024 6:17 am
Being able to carry out sales processes in the industrial sector remotely, whether by cold-calling or within a more optimized process, by applying an appropriate sales argument, focusing on the target buyer persona and defining a good customer journey, is key to achieving a company's sales objectives.
What is Inside Sales?
The figure of Inside Sales may have certain similarities with the Sales Rep and even with a Business Rep, figures to which we have dedicated a detailed analysis in a previous article, however, although conceptually the difference between these elements necessary for a B2B sales process is subtle, we can find aspects that define a clear border.
The differentiating element of an Inside Sales person is that they do not move from their workplace , either from the office, from their remote work location or from a support office to other company locations. A Sales Rep or a Business Rep , although they carry out a good part of their commercial activities remotely, do not necessarily always have to be in a remote model, something that does occur with an Inside Sales person.
This characteristic of Inside Sales implies a work methodology adapted to a very specific way of dealing with commercial activity and which has a key role in a business decision. If the Inside Sales model has been established exclusively to reduce the costs associated with travel and the lower productivity implied by a Sales Rep with eventual face-to-face visits, we are faced with a limited Inside Sales model.
However, if what is proposed is a commercial process where this figure works to generate efficiencies as part of a larger team where the focus is fundamentally on obtaining opportunities that evolve through all stages of the funnel, from the most basic leads to obtaining those BANT Leads , then we would be talking about an advanced Inside Sales model.
What is the activity of an Inside Sales?
Unlike other sales process figures, we are not limited to outbound or inbound activities when working with this model. Depending on the lead generation activity, depending on whether we are dealing vp security email lists with very receptive or proactive models, or even if we think of advanced Account Based Marketing models, Inside Sales will have a greater orientation towards proactive activities, where they will have to contact the Ideal Customer Profiles (ICPs) of the target key accounts, through calls, sending emails, contacts via LinkedIn, etc., or on the contrary, if the company has built a sales funnel where the respective activity is more natural, we will be dealing with a more inbound activity where Inside Sales will try to give the best answer to the questions posed.
In any case, all actions and efforts must be directed towards correctly qualifying leads that meet the BANT criteria (B: budgeted; A: authority; N: Need Based; T: Timescale). In other words, all Inside Sales actions must lead that lead, through the B2B funnel, to identify whether we are dealing with an opportunity that meets the established budget objectives , to obtain as much information as possible about that opportunity (name, contact details, position, company, sector, geographic area, technological maturity, level of competition, etc.), to identify the needs and requirements of each opportunity and, finally, to establish a specific score that allows the quality of the lead to be assessed in terms of opportunity cost and momentum .
In more detail, the person occupying an Inside Sales position must have a correct fit within the organization of the commercial process, whether that person is responsible for the entire process or is part of a team where activities and responsibilities are shared. It could be understood that the most typical model of internal sales and remote or telematics could be telemarketing or Contact Center activity. It is true that it is the model that has had the most press and that it generally deals with B2C commercial processes. However, in B2B Sales, it has not always been possible to efficiently take advantage of a correct organization between internal and external activities.
Either because the size of the organization is small and does not allow for a high degree of specialization (with people dedicated to inside sales, others to outside sales, others in the role of key account manager, etc.) or because larger organizations have not taken advantage of technology, have not established a structured sales process or have not known or been able to build a hybrid model of functions and responsibilities between their marketing and sales teams.
Inside Sales vs OutSide Sales, which is the best alternative?
At this point, it is clear that the internal sales team, in practice, is the one that sells from within the organization and, generally, does so to other organizations when we talk about B2B sales. To do so, it uses different channels and technological solutions: telephone, email, LinkedIn, Twitter or Instagram in certain cases more oriented to marketing activity, WhatsApp, Livechat, video conferencing tools (Zoom, Teams, Skype, etc.), and maintains that physical distance with the potential client.
Outside Sales or Field Sales are field representatives, often known as the sales force or commercial network. The definitions and scope of each of them will depend on the type of organization, the sector and even the geographic area. And the models of connection with the organization of these teams may vary from people hired directly by the company in an employment relationship, commercial relationship models or activity outsourced entirely or on an interim basis. But, in any case, the figure of Outside Sales puts the focus and effort of their activity on achieving formal face-to-face meetings where this physical presence with the potential client must provide a differential value to the commercial process.
There are many models where both figures coexist naturally . And many others where the same Sales Rep must perform both functions and activities. The objections that are usually put to these hybrid models are, generally, related to organizational and productive issues. From my perspective, a good Sales Rep must be able to perform Inside Sales activities and be able to address those of Outside Sales. However, it is no less true that people, in general, tend to feel more comfortable with one activity or another (very transversal profiles are not usually easy to find or replicate). And in this case, it is no different. There are people who feel much more comfortable in a pure Inside Sales model, where all their activity is carried out remotely, highly structured and with very complete control and monitoring of their activity, while others, on the contrary, fit better in models where field activity is the strongest aspect.
Generally, there is a false belief associated with greater freedom and autonomy for field teams. However, in modern commercial processes, where methodology, process and technology are key factors, the highest possible degree of efficiency is sought. For a long time, the inefficiency of some field commercial processes has been associated with this belief of freedom or difficulty in “controlling” members of the sales force. In many cases, the root of the problem must be sought not so much in the type of activity but in the model of our main sales line, in the work of the sales leader, in the contractual relationship models, in remuneration, in the establishment of commercial objectives, in the correct organization of the agenda and, fundamentally, in “shooting at everything” without establishing, from a higher hierarchical level, a correct model of attacking accounts and potential clients with meaning.
Cold calling
Cold calling or first contacts are usually one of the most maligned parts of the sales process. To a greater extent, this cold calling has always had a -deserved- bad press due to the abusive practices of many companies with aggressive telemarketing campaigns where "anything goes." It is also true that there are very successful outbound campaigns and activities that have been sustainable for many years. It is also true that this way of selling has been giving way to much more advanced models where the cold calling or door is nothing more than a touchpoint of the entire journey that we are going to build with the client.
The objective of an Inside Sales team, and of any sales force in general, is to contact and close deals with as many potential clients as possible without excessively modifying the economic conditions of the standard commercial proposal, provided that we want to keep that team with a high degree of responsibility over the commercial process. When we are faced with more complex B2B sales processes, where it is usual to adjust the proposal to the client's needs, adapt the scope and budgetary conditions, more teamwork is needed between Marketing and Sales.
What is Inside Sales?
The figure of Inside Sales may have certain similarities with the Sales Rep and even with a Business Rep, figures to which we have dedicated a detailed analysis in a previous article, however, although conceptually the difference between these elements necessary for a B2B sales process is subtle, we can find aspects that define a clear border.
The differentiating element of an Inside Sales person is that they do not move from their workplace , either from the office, from their remote work location or from a support office to other company locations. A Sales Rep or a Business Rep , although they carry out a good part of their commercial activities remotely, do not necessarily always have to be in a remote model, something that does occur with an Inside Sales person.
This characteristic of Inside Sales implies a work methodology adapted to a very specific way of dealing with commercial activity and which has a key role in a business decision. If the Inside Sales model has been established exclusively to reduce the costs associated with travel and the lower productivity implied by a Sales Rep with eventual face-to-face visits, we are faced with a limited Inside Sales model.
However, if what is proposed is a commercial process where this figure works to generate efficiencies as part of a larger team where the focus is fundamentally on obtaining opportunities that evolve through all stages of the funnel, from the most basic leads to obtaining those BANT Leads , then we would be talking about an advanced Inside Sales model.
What is the activity of an Inside Sales?
Unlike other sales process figures, we are not limited to outbound or inbound activities when working with this model. Depending on the lead generation activity, depending on whether we are dealing vp security email lists with very receptive or proactive models, or even if we think of advanced Account Based Marketing models, Inside Sales will have a greater orientation towards proactive activities, where they will have to contact the Ideal Customer Profiles (ICPs) of the target key accounts, through calls, sending emails, contacts via LinkedIn, etc., or on the contrary, if the company has built a sales funnel where the respective activity is more natural, we will be dealing with a more inbound activity where Inside Sales will try to give the best answer to the questions posed.
In any case, all actions and efforts must be directed towards correctly qualifying leads that meet the BANT criteria (B: budgeted; A: authority; N: Need Based; T: Timescale). In other words, all Inside Sales actions must lead that lead, through the B2B funnel, to identify whether we are dealing with an opportunity that meets the established budget objectives , to obtain as much information as possible about that opportunity (name, contact details, position, company, sector, geographic area, technological maturity, level of competition, etc.), to identify the needs and requirements of each opportunity and, finally, to establish a specific score that allows the quality of the lead to be assessed in terms of opportunity cost and momentum .
In more detail, the person occupying an Inside Sales position must have a correct fit within the organization of the commercial process, whether that person is responsible for the entire process or is part of a team where activities and responsibilities are shared. It could be understood that the most typical model of internal sales and remote or telematics could be telemarketing or Contact Center activity. It is true that it is the model that has had the most press and that it generally deals with B2C commercial processes. However, in B2B Sales, it has not always been possible to efficiently take advantage of a correct organization between internal and external activities.
Either because the size of the organization is small and does not allow for a high degree of specialization (with people dedicated to inside sales, others to outside sales, others in the role of key account manager, etc.) or because larger organizations have not taken advantage of technology, have not established a structured sales process or have not known or been able to build a hybrid model of functions and responsibilities between their marketing and sales teams.
Inside Sales vs OutSide Sales, which is the best alternative?
At this point, it is clear that the internal sales team, in practice, is the one that sells from within the organization and, generally, does so to other organizations when we talk about B2B sales. To do so, it uses different channels and technological solutions: telephone, email, LinkedIn, Twitter or Instagram in certain cases more oriented to marketing activity, WhatsApp, Livechat, video conferencing tools (Zoom, Teams, Skype, etc.), and maintains that physical distance with the potential client.
Outside Sales or Field Sales are field representatives, often known as the sales force or commercial network. The definitions and scope of each of them will depend on the type of organization, the sector and even the geographic area. And the models of connection with the organization of these teams may vary from people hired directly by the company in an employment relationship, commercial relationship models or activity outsourced entirely or on an interim basis. But, in any case, the figure of Outside Sales puts the focus and effort of their activity on achieving formal face-to-face meetings where this physical presence with the potential client must provide a differential value to the commercial process.
There are many models where both figures coexist naturally . And many others where the same Sales Rep must perform both functions and activities. The objections that are usually put to these hybrid models are, generally, related to organizational and productive issues. From my perspective, a good Sales Rep must be able to perform Inside Sales activities and be able to address those of Outside Sales. However, it is no less true that people, in general, tend to feel more comfortable with one activity or another (very transversal profiles are not usually easy to find or replicate). And in this case, it is no different. There are people who feel much more comfortable in a pure Inside Sales model, where all their activity is carried out remotely, highly structured and with very complete control and monitoring of their activity, while others, on the contrary, fit better in models where field activity is the strongest aspect.
Generally, there is a false belief associated with greater freedom and autonomy for field teams. However, in modern commercial processes, where methodology, process and technology are key factors, the highest possible degree of efficiency is sought. For a long time, the inefficiency of some field commercial processes has been associated with this belief of freedom or difficulty in “controlling” members of the sales force. In many cases, the root of the problem must be sought not so much in the type of activity but in the model of our main sales line, in the work of the sales leader, in the contractual relationship models, in remuneration, in the establishment of commercial objectives, in the correct organization of the agenda and, fundamentally, in “shooting at everything” without establishing, from a higher hierarchical level, a correct model of attacking accounts and potential clients with meaning.
Cold calling
Cold calling or first contacts are usually one of the most maligned parts of the sales process. To a greater extent, this cold calling has always had a -deserved- bad press due to the abusive practices of many companies with aggressive telemarketing campaigns where "anything goes." It is also true that there are very successful outbound campaigns and activities that have been sustainable for many years. It is also true that this way of selling has been giving way to much more advanced models where the cold calling or door is nothing more than a touchpoint of the entire journey that we are going to build with the client.
The objective of an Inside Sales team, and of any sales force in general, is to contact and close deals with as many potential clients as possible without excessively modifying the economic conditions of the standard commercial proposal, provided that we want to keep that team with a high degree of responsibility over the commercial process. When we are faced with more complex B2B sales processes, where it is usual to adjust the proposal to the client's needs, adapt the scope and budgetary conditions, more teamwork is needed between Marketing and Sales.