Career as an inside sales representative; skills, responsibilities and differences

An inside sales representative is responsible for selling products and services to the final target audience be it in an office environment or retail store. In a typical office environment they are responsible for primarily serving the walk-in customers or take active part in selling via emails, cold calls, or even follow-up calls in that regard.

Inside sales representatives sell products and services to both businesses and target audiences. They are also responsible for finding new customers, understanding their needs, and pitching effectively.

Responsibilities of an inside sales person

Finding new pitches: While some inside sales representatives manage and take note of incoming sales calls, numerous are also looking for new customers. Furthermore, they are also responsible for mailing lists, managing trade shows and other business directories, in order to identify opportunities and thereafter acquire new customers.

Taking effective decisions: An effective decision making is a crucial part of an inside sales representative’s day to day duty where they not only research and reach out to potential customers but also work on determining the consumer’s annual revenue, business needs, or their current prospects before determining or establishing a long term contact with the prospect.

Negotiating terms: Inside sales employees often are responsible for negotiating on the different packages set up by the team with their customers. These packages may include different products and services that the company engages in producing. Before coming to the final stage of agreement they may also discuss with the customer about the different attributes of product quantities, prices, or even its terms of service.

Collaboration: Inside sales representatives are one of the crucial members of the sales team. They are often tasked to handle simple sales and negotiations, however, for the larger accounts and more complex contracts, they work in close cooperation with a sales manager.

Differences between an inside and outside sales representatives

The major difference between inside sales and outside sales representatives depends upon how the product is sold to the final target audience. In the contemporary era, a particular product can be either sold via technology or through direct words of mouth contact. A crucial part of inside sales is also selling products and services remotely. As a fresher in the field the same can be done utilising a variety of methods which also includes emails, phone calls, and video conferencing.

Field sales representatives may even choose to sell their products and services directly via face-to-face conferences and other traditional media and events.

All the same, inside sales are more common in organisations that stress on cutting-edge products such as technology, whereas the traditional hardware product sales particularly rely and depend upon the external sales methods. Nevertheless, there will always be exceptions to this theory. An organisation has to take careful calls as to what works the best for them and their products.

Skills required

Successful inside sales representatives need a variety of skills to excel in their career front. The more skills they can master and demonstrate in the workplace, the better their chances are to generate sales as an employee. Here are examples of a few skills that an inside sales representatives needs to have:

Knowledge of CRM

An inside sales representative needs to have minute knowledge of the customer relationship management (CRM) system they utilise on a day to day basis. Knowing how to utilise it correctly will not only improve your work but also your sales thereby making your work easier.

Researching skills

As a fresher in the field of inside sales, you must be a good researcher to be able to gather correct and valid information about the market trends, competitors, current vendors, and various other aspects. These details will help you make better decisions when selling the organisation’s different products.​​

Critical thinking and problem solving skills

Using critical thinking and problem-solving skills is a crucial part of an inside sales representative’s day to day role. As a fresher in the field you will need to be able to adapt to different situations and issues as they arise and assure to not to hamper the quality of your work.

Inside salespeople are the most crucial point of contact between an organisation and its target audiences. They ensure that the current target audiences get hold of the right products and services. They are in every way the face of the organisation, who not only maintain good customer relationships but also pursue new sales opportunities.