What is Inside Sales, and is it Right for You?

Author:

Aoife Daly

What is Inside Sales, and is it Right for You?

Author:

Reading Time: 4 minutes

What is Inside Sales, and is it Right for You?

aoife

Aoife Daly

Content Marketing Manager, Operatix

If you’re in the SaaS and technology industry, you’ve likely come across the term ‘inside sales’ before – but what does it mean? Understanding the term is essential in utilizing the many benefits this method of sales can bring to the tables, as well as ensuring you’re getting the very best out of your inside sales reps.


If you’re unsure as to what the difference between inside sales vs outside sales is, then keep reading. Our easy guide to this popular sales technique will help you understand exactly what an inside sales rep does, as well as the benefits of outsourcing.


What is inside sales?


Inside sales is a prominent sales method in the SaaS industry. In short, it’s where a salesperson pitches to prospects via remote methods such as phone calls, email, and social media channels rather than a face-to-face meeting. This sales model differs from the traditional method of pursuing prospective clients in person, which is known to outside sales.


What does an inside sales rep do?


An SDR that specializes in inside sales will usually require a different skillset and toolkit compared to one that centres around outside sales. An inside sales rep communicates primarily using technology, with phone calls being their main point of contact. 


So, what does an inside sales rep do? Here are some of the responsibilities of an SDR:

  • Following up on inbound leads, which come from the likes of social media, blogs, and website downloads.
  • Finding prospects on platforms like LinkedIn, ensuring they have the best possible point of contact
  • Cold calling
  • Lead nurturing and building rapport with clients 


Both types of SDR will require great communication skills, charisma, and resilience against rejection, although those with a focus on inside sales may need to be more tech-savvy. 


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Benefits of inside sales vs outside sales

Inside sales vs outside sales


Inside sales has become increasingly popular in the B2B software industry; given the many benefits, this should come as no surprise. The main perks of utilizing an inside sales model include:


  • Faster response time – while meeting face-to-face with clients has a multitude of benefits, lead generation via inside sales is much more efficient. A phone call or email requires less organization and preparation than a meeting, not to mention the travel time and costs that come with the latter. This ensures leads are nurtured before they go cold. 
  • Focus on sellingResearch shows that SDRs who focus on inside sides spend more time selling than outside sales representatives, likely due to the latter having to travel back and forth to clients. 
  • Remote working – outside sales can often be location-specific, as you’ll need reps to be within commuting distance from your main client base. Inside reps, on the other hand, can work from anywhere – even if their market is another region altogether. The multilingual team at Operatix, for example, can sell in 109 countries and three continents while being based in the UK and US.


However, when comparing inside sales vs outside sales, it’s important to consider the benefits of the latter: 


  • Strong customer relationships – while it goes without saying that customer relationships can be built over the phone, it can be trickier to make a solid connection over email and social media channels. Meeting someone in person 
  • Communication – meeting face-to-face allows for improved communication and for the salesperson to read the prospect’s body language when pitching. This will allow the salesperson to adjust the conversation based on body language, e.g. if they react positively to part of the pitch, they can pursue that area of the product. 
  • Product demonstrations – it’s much easier to show off what the product your salesperson is pitching in person, allowing for demos.


All things considered, a hybrid approach that utilizes both types of selling can be highly effective in both generating and securing leads. However, inside sales representatives have more reach and are more efficient in their methods, as well as being more cost-effective.


Inside sales


Should I outsource my inside sales?


Outsourcing inside sales is a great way of generating and securing leads, as well as branching into different markets. For example, your in-house sales team is unlikely to be able to reach different continents without there being a great cost to the company. 


Here at Operatix, we can take on your inside sales and further your reach. With knowledge of cultural differences and policies, our team speaks over 17 languages, allowing them to sell in over 109 countries. 


Not only can you enter new markets by outsourcing your inside sales, but you don’t have to worry about the cost of building a new team. Recruitment, training, and building the necessary tech stack is not only costly but can take a lot of time. By outsourcing, you benefit from an experienced team of SDRs who are ready and raring to go.


Get in touch with Operatix to see how our knowledgeable team can help you with your inside sales.

About Operatix

Operatix is a Sales Acceleration company specialized in supporting B2B Software vendors to identify new revenue streams, increase qualified sales pipeline, and accelerate channel development across Europe and North America. Operatix has a wealth of experience in working with the biggest tech players worldwide as well as a multitude of emerging software vendors.

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Digital transformation is changing how companies buy and use business solutions, making vendors re-assess the capabilities of their channel ecosystem. With channel dynamics in constant flux, vendors need to be ready to cut ties with partners that don’t share their vision or have connections with the right B2B buyers.

 

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Our team will identify new sales opportunities within the strategic accounts that you haven’t been successful in penetrating through your sales & marketing efforts. By applying the ‘Challenger Sale’ methodology we use a tailored, multitouch approach to connect with prospects, generating qualified sales engagements for your team and ultimately increasing your pipeline.

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Outbound Sales Development

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Account-based Marketing

An Account-based Marketing strategy is only as successful as the revenue it generates. At Operatix we will support your 1:1, 1:few or 1:many approach to get your team in front of decision makers in the accounts that matter the most to you. 

Lead Qualification

If your marketing leads aren’t converting, it might be a lead qualification issue. Operatix can help sieve through leads that need further qualification, so they are ready for an AE or sales team member to engage with.

Account-based Selling

At Operatix we will support your 1:1, 1:few or 1:many approach to get your team in front of decision makers in the accounts that matter the most to you. 

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Generating Pipeline for our clients is our key-objective. And we do that by using a multi-touch, multi-channel approach to generate qualified sales engagements for our customers’ sales teams.   

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Understanding buying centres, hierarchies and relevant personas in strategic accounts is a fundamental step to increase conversion rates. By leveraging account intelligence in a sales conversation your team can tailor their message and provide value to their prospective customer. But sales & marketing teams often struggle to dedicate time and resources to do the deep research and this is where Operatix can help.

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Sales Playbook Development

Operatix can develop Sales Playbooks that enable teams to sell more effectively. Your Playbook will be fundamental to implementing the correct messaging, accurately position your solution against competitors, and adapting the communication of your value proposition to different buyer personas.

Lead Qualification

If your leads aren’t converting, it might be a lead qualification issue. Operatix can help filter through leads that need further qualification, ensuring that they’re ready for an AE or sales team member to engage with and progress through the funnel. 

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Vendors often spend thousands of dollars building multifunctional Partner Portals to help channel partners educate their teams, manage opportunities, and create marketing programs. Still, these portals are often underutilized due to lack of bandwidth and capacity from vendors to offer support in enabling their partner community. Operatix, through their Partner Development team, can support your partners to make the best use out of your partner portal, managing the relationship with your partners and helping them set up co-marketing campaigns to drive more revenue for both businesses. 

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Market Development Funds are an important component of any channel ecosystem, though vendors believe they are not maximizing the return on investment they should be getting from their MDF programs. At Operatix, we build scalable outbound sales development programs that will give you the visibility of return over the invested spend and will provide clear value for your channel partners.

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Whether your business decided for a Tier 1 or Tier 2 distribution model, Operatix can help your channel partners get to revenue quicker. By providing qualified sales engagements to your channel partners we can accelerate your route to market with tangible and easily measurable results.

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Sales Qualified Leads

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Increase Revenue & Decrease Cost

Building an internal sales development team comes with many additional costs and challenges that aren’t always taken into account: recruiting resources, training and enabling them etc. You also need to take into account the need for having the data and tools to make them successful, which in turn requires time, capital and effort. By outsourcing your sales development to Operatix you will see your revenue increasing, while decreasing costs and business risk.

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By outsourcing your sales development and partner programs to Operatix; we reduce headcount and the challenges that come with managing people, technologies, and processes. We take care of your sales development, so you can focus on what matters the most: growing your business.

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Operatix helps your business get to revenue quicker. By providing qualified sales engagements for your direct sales team (to kick-off new sales cycles), or by accelerating the growth of your channel partners, our focus remains on delivering tangible results for your business. 

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