- Budget: First, you need to consider budget. An inside sales force requires less investment since there is little travel or entertainment expense involved compared to an outside sales force.
- Offering: The second major factor will be the kind of product or service you are selling. An inside sales force can be very effective at selling a simple low-cost, low-risk product. The face-to-face, personal relationship that an outside salesperson would need to develop to sell a more complex offering is not critical to the sale.
- Geography: A third factor is geography. An inside salesperson can reach across boundaries and time zones much more easily than an outside salesperson. Especially in today’s global economy, the connections made by phone, email or internet can work even better than personal visits at a customer site at a small percent of the cost.
Configuring Your Inside Sales Force
There are many factors to consider when determining whether an inside or outside sales force will be more effective. As a sales leader, it is up to you to configure a sales team that will bring in as much profitable revenue as possible. Here are three tips to achieve the optimum sales team configuration.
