What is Inside Sales? Business vs Commercial Technique

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The world of Sales is changing rapidly: in-person customer meetings are much less necessary than before. Selling a product or service worth several hundred thousand euros can now be done online and remotely, without difficulty. This is the role of Inside Sales, a function that many Akimbers join after their Bootcamp.

What is Inside Sales? Definition

How do I translate Inside Sales into French?

The term Inside Sales has a double meaning within an organization. It refers to:

• one strategy, or sales technique remotely;
• the commercial profession within an organization that uses this sales technique.

On the one hand, Inside Sales means “sedentary sale”, on the other hand “sedentary commercial”.

Several job titles exist, such as Inside Sales Representative, Inside Sales Specialist or Inside Sales Executive to reflect the level of seniority.

Inside Sales as a sales technique

Inside Sales, or sedentary selling, is a popular sales technique among B2B or B2C SaaS Business Developers and startups. It consists of sell a product or service remotely rather than meeting prospects or customers physically.

Inside Sales is the art of connecting with prospects or customers by phone, email and using social networks as a sales tool (with LinkedIn in first place). Thanks to numerous technological tools, namely CRM and videoconferences, the salesperson gains in efficiency, in flexibility And in agility. It can therefore meet higher ROI requirements by reducing the cost of customer acquisition.

This sales technique is part of a logic of productivity, in line with a rapidly changing world. Technological turmoil with the flourishing of prospecting tools of all kinds and the development of the Internet play a major role in the evolution of these professions.

Inside Sales: a fully-fledged sales role

Inside Sales (or sedentary salesperson) Does his commercial activity by selling at a distance, without being in physical contact with the prospect. He is sometimes opposed toOutside Sales, which translates as commercial terrain or itinerant. Inside Sales uses online channels (telephone, emails, marketing,...) to manage and conclude commercial deals.

Most of the time he is responsible for the entire sales cycle (from prospecting to closing). However, he sometimes focuses only on prospecting (in larger companies).

An Inside Sales may have to work in the company's offices, or from the comfort of their home to do their job. The vast majority of its role and missions takes place remotely. Very rarely, Inside Sales can meet major customers in person, to pitch on the product or service, to carry out presentations and demonstrations.

In this article, we will focus on Inside Sales as commercial sales technique.

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Boost your business thanks to Inside Sales best practices

Inside Sales is an efficient and relevant commercial sales technique that adapts to the requirements of B2B and B2C customers. It is a powerful weapon to boost your business and generate numerous business opportunities. In this part, we will discuss various strategies and tips for your Inside Sales in order to sell effectively and have a positive impact on your business:

• Use Templates

You clearly don't want to waste time typing the same email over and over again. The idea is to create custom models. Discussions between prospects and salespeople are similar. To save time and energy, it is useful to have an email template with an attractive and well-thought-out commercial proposal. However, be careful not to appear too generic.

• Use time wisely with automations

Instead of manually adding data to the CRM, use smart integrations that bring your data into the tool automatically. For example, synchronize your emails, Google applications, Slack, Slack, your calendar, etc. By doing this, you no longer need to go back and forth to search for information. A significant gain in time and energy.

• Leave a message on the answering machine

Most Inside Sales forgets to leave a message when the lead is busy. And that clearly gives you a disadvantage compared to a competitor who will. Keep the habit of leaving a message, to make sure that your prospect is available again, you will have a better chance of being contacted again. This message should include the name of your business, yours, and the purpose of your call.

• Don't try to sell on the first call

Even though Inside Sales's job is to sell, selling on the first call is not a good practice. Instead, try to establish a relationship with the interlocutor. When you start your first call, or email, you can use a Icebreaker to relax your prospect and put them in a good position. Understand their business challenges and determine if your product can really solve their problems. Since the primary objective is to help the prospect, the conversation should be centered on them.

• Dig deeper into your knowledge of the prospect

Doing more in-depth research on your prospect gives you a better chance of winning the Deal compared to your competitors: company, sector of activity, successes, fundraising, news, etc. This valuable information will also allow you to understand the problems they encounter and to share your expertise in the field so that your product or service is relevant to the prospect.

• Maintaining connections

In many cases, when you try to reach a decision maker, you end up connecting with managers or senior managers. Some interlocutors will certainly not have the power to buy your product or service, but may have an influence on decision makers. So don't give up if you're not talking to the right person, try to connect with them instead. That way, you'll stay in their minds until the day your solution becomes relevant.

These best practices remain among the most used and recommended by Inside Sales to sell optimally, even remotely.

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How does Inside Sales work?

When it comes to Inside Sales, it is interesting to determine the different sales roles within Inside Sales itself. Sales is constantly evolving and different jobs are emerging so that Inside Sales becomes more and more specialized. The main roles to know are Sales Development Representative (SDR or Inbound Inside Sales), Business Development Representative (BDR or Outbound Inside Sales), Account Manager and Account Executive. These positions represent the various divisions of an Inside Sales team.

The first 3 positions are generally the ones you will be most exposed to as an entry-level salesperson.

Inbound Inside Sales

Inbound Inside Sales corresponds to the work of Sales Development Representative (SDR). An SDR is above all an Inside Sales that is focused only on inbound prospecting, with the aim of generating a sales pipeline for the rest of the team. This role is generally considered to be an entry-level position and is considered a good way to get started in sales.

For most businesses, SDR takes care of incoming leads, who have already expressed interest, whether by participating in a webinar, by filling out a form, by downloading content, or via Landing pages or marketing ads. Its role is then to qualify the prospect (identification of needs, presentation of the company and the solution, demo, etc.) compared to the solution put on sale during a first customer appointment. Once qualified, it is transformed into a business opportunity. It is then the Account Executive who leads the negotiations and in the end, Closer the Deal. Once done, the Account Manager takes over to take care of the new customer portfolio.

Outbound Inside Sales

Outbound Inside Sales corresponds to the Business Development Representative (BDR) division. Unlike SDR, BDR intervenes only on outgoing prospecting, that is to say by looking for commercial opportunities with prospects who have never shown interest. The BDR then seeks to get in touch with them, in particular via cold calling or email (also called Cold Calling and Cold emailing) or through prospecting by exploiting the resources at its disposal (social selling, database, etc.). In short, it identifies new relevant prospects to contact and at the same time, detect new business opportunities.

The importance of marketing in your strategy

The Marketing team works closely with the Inside Sales team. In fact, the two teams are getting closer to the vision of Inbound. Especially for the Sales Development Representative (SDR) division, which is involved in the qualification of prospects who have shown interest thanks to the marketing efforts made: organization of webinars, marketing emails, content download, landing pages, Call-To-Action buttons on the website, etc.

These Marketing practices make it possible to generate potential business opportunities, and vary acquisition channels. Marketing campaigns are aimed at a targeted audience that corresponds as much as possible to the buyer personas identified in advance. Integrating marketing into your commercial strategy is therefore important, in order toattract potential prospects and reduce holes in the racket.

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The characteristics of Inside Sales

Inside Sales is known to be the most effective sales technique, and it has its own characteristics.

A technique focused on productivity and ROI

Working remotely means using a certain number of technological and digital tools that make it possible to gain efficiency, whether in terms of eliminating travel expenses (as opposed to sedentary salespeople) or reducing the acquisition cost per customer. This gain in efficiency, made possible by the integration of numerous digital tools and platforms, is accompanied by gains in productivity and time.

Gain agility and adaptation

Itinerant salespeople don't have as much flexibility as sedentary salespeople. Managing a team of'Outside Sales, travel and expenses offer them little leeway. Something that Inside Sales is correcting by offering more flexibility at the heart of its concept. A sedentary lifestyle allows better responsiveness to thus cope with multiple changes and fluctuations in the market, while adapting to customer requirements.

A new way of prospecting

Inside Sales brings a new way of prospecting, by making it less intrusive. Based on social selling practices, Inside Sales uses LinkedIn as a way to communicate with potential prospects while being an ambassador for their company.

An optimized presence at each stage of the sales cycle

As mentioned earlier, Inside Sales brings together several divisions within the same team, where each is responsible for one or more stages of the sales cycle. From prospecting to closing, Inside Sales is present in order to optimize the chances of converting a commercial opportunity into a customer as much as possible, and follows the customer throughout the cycle. This offers a more global vision of customer support in the sales funnel.

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The benefits of Inside Sales

1. Effectiveness in entering the markets of SMEs and medium-sized enterprises.
2. Increase in activity levels (call volumes, sales time, etc.)
3. Increased sales productivity - no driving time or travel time is needed to get from one meeting to another.
4. Flexibility to quickly and cost-effectively increase or reduce the size of the sales team based on changing market conditions or business strategy.
5. Save time and money thanks to the integration of technology.
6. Better predictability and revenue forecasting.
7. Flexibility to work at different hours and adapt to customer schedules.
8. Have relevant data and analyses.
9. Improving the customer experience.

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The 7 steps of Inside Sales

The concept of Inside Sales is based on 7 stages, corresponding to the buying journey that the latter goes through. They are clearly different from each other., and each time require the intervention of one or more Inside Sales divisions.

Step 1: Prospecting

During this stage, an Inside Sales prospects and contacts potential customers who match a buyer persona. It attracts the attention of the prospect by recognizing a challenge they are facing in an eye-catching email or during a cold call. He assures that he has done the research before pressing the send button or making a call.

Step 2: Qualification

Qualifying a lead is about understanding if the prospect needs your product and how they can use it. Among the various qualification techniques available, such as CHAMP, MEDDIC, GPCT, etc., Inside Sales chooses the framework that best suits its customer journey. The framework most commonly used by businesses to identify and qualify a lead is the BANT, based on budget, authority, need, and time frame.

Step 3: Product Pitch, Presentation, and Demonstration

This decisive step makes it possible to present the solution to the prospect's problem, in this case the product or service marketed. It is also during this stage that Inside Sales explains the functionalities of the product, answers questions, offers a demo, follows up on technical questions and objectives, etc.

Step 4: Handling objections

Objections are inevitable, and the Inside Sales team is learning how to best manage and respond to them. Some of the most common objections concern the price of the product, which can become a real barrier to closing for a prospect interested in your solution.

Step 5: Negotiation

It's probably the longest step. Indeed, there may be rounds of negotiations around features and price. An Inside Sales knows how to deal with requests: agreeing on the price, preparing legal documents, setting purchase and implementation dates, etc.

Step 6: Closing

Negotiations were in full swing and reached a mutually agreed conclusion. The prospect then becomes a customer, and the contracts are now signed.

Step 7: Nurturing

This is the step to set up Follow-ups. That is, staying in contact with the customer to find out how the product works for them and identify possible bottlenecks. When done well, the Nurturing contributes to strengthening customer loyalty. By maintaining a good relationship with him, an Inside Sales can keep up to date with new products or services and thus encourage the customer to make new sales.

All of these steps, as well as the best tools, methods and processes are an integral part of the training programs at Humind School. If you want to become a Business Developer, SDR/BDR or Account Manager.

The Bootcamp Full time (9 weeks) is a training course for individuals wishing to train in Sales & Business Development jobs. At the end of this training, the candidates come out 100% operational by having acquired all skills and knowledge necessary for the exercise of these jobs.

Ce Bootcamp in a few words:

• A training based on a follow-up of commercial action on thethe entire sales cycle. Ranging from go-to-market to cold calling and complex selling. This training makes it possible to be operational on all fronts;
• The lessons are carried out by Sales Coaches Owning more than one ten years of startup experience;
• Oriented training practice : Sales Coaches, ensuring a good understanding of everyone. The last weeks of training are carried out at Station F, the Huminders are put in a situation on behalf of real startups, it's a leap into the big picture;
• These courses are both accessible in person and remotely;
• Bootcamps are recommended by 98% of our Alumni ;
• Today, we have trained more than 250 Alumni ;

To find out more, discover the Full Time Bootcamp.

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The 4 key skills to achieve Inside Sales

An important ability to listen

To get the most out of all of their interactions, sedentary salespeople need to learn to listen. Customers often reveal their wants and expectations if you let them talk long enough. To listen attentively, you also need to encourage conversation. This means they can respond in a meaningful way that makes the customer feel heard.

A strong ability to create relationships

When sedentary salespeople focus only on making a sale, they ignore the human element of the interaction. The prospect then feels alienated or ignored. An Inside Sales team should strive to build a relationship with each and every customer they interact with. A strong relationship is linked to a high degree of trust.

The more a customer trusts a business, the more often they come back. In addition, he will listen to recommendations and put your company's word before the competition. An Inside Sales knows customers on a more personal level.

Stick to an organized strategy

For the team to function as a unit, each member must stick to the script. When a salesperson tries to venture into unfamiliar territory, they risk stepping on the feet of another representative. It also means that he is neglecting the responsibilities he has indicated, which hampers the process.

Thinking outside the box can lead to big breakthroughs and innovations. However, sedentary salespeople are able to follow instructions and complete the tasks assigned to them. Especially in an Inside Sales team, each member has a specific role and the team relies on them to fulfill that role.

Reliability

Each member of an Inside Sales team helps to move the process forward smoothly. If one of them takes an apathetic attitude, they can ruin the sale. It ruins the efforts of all the other members trying to close a deal.

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How to become a sedentary salesperson - Inside Sales?

Becoming an Inside Sales Representative

To join the Inside Sales team in a startup, it is quite simple, starting with positions such as SDR/BDR or Account Manager at the beginning of a career.

The people most likely to become Inside Sales are those with an academic background up to bac +5 in business school or engineering school. The alternative is to follow intensive courses such as those offered by Humind School.

You can also find profiles in retraining. from diverse and varied backgrounds, with a Background sales consultant, event/marketing project manager, advertising manager. At the margin, we observe people with one or more experiences as a salesperson, negotiator, business engineer, prospecting, etc.

What is the salary for this position?

As for a large majority of Sales & Business Development jobs, the salary respects a package system, including a fixed share and a variable portion.

On average, according to Data Recruitment, the weight of the variable is 20% of the total package.

The average salary for an Inside Sales is between €35k and €42k gross per year.

For a profile Inside Sales Junior, at the beginning of his career, the package is fixed at €31k gross per year.

For a profile Inside Sales Senior, after several years of experience, he can hope to be paid up to 48 k€ gross per year.

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