The difference used to be easy to describe: outside sales involved face-to-face interaction with clients and inside sales referred to telephone-based sales. But the distinction between the two approaches is blurring these days…and so are the skills needed to succeed at each.
If you are in charge of inside sales training, you had better fully understand what type of inside sales your business success relies on and what specific sales skills and competencies are needed to successfully execute your sales strategy. You need to know how your inside sales team typically interacts with customers. And you need to be clear on what your inside team is selling, how they sell, and who is buying.
As best you can, fit your team into one of the following three categories. From there you can determine what inside sales skills, knowledge and behaviors will be most relevant to meet your sales targets.
1. Outbound Door Openers
These inside sales reps make numerous outbound calls per day looking to get meetings with target buyers. Door opening inside sales teams make the initial contact and then hand off to a teammate with a different skill set to handle the next stage in the selling cycle. Successful door openers are typically friendly, courteous and helpful. They leave a good impression of themselves and the company no matter the outcome of the call. The best have an innate ability to catch a prospect’s interest in 30 seconds or less. Their success is typically measured by the number of calls made, contacts reached, appointments made, appointments kept and deals closed.
2. Inbound Call Takers
These inside sales reps answer incoming calls from potential buyers. Most often, they manage simple purchase transactions and answer straightforward questions. Your inbound sales team should handle calls with the same polite and helpful manner as your prospectors, but they should also be efficient, equipped to handle any customer service needs, and prepped to ask the questions that could potentially lead to up- and cross-selling opportunities.
3. Hybrid
These inside sales reps handle whatever combination of inbound, outbound, simple and complex sales that make sense. For example, some inside sales teams can handle average complex deals with short to medium sales cycles. This typically requires both inbound and outbound skills combined with a proficiency at identifying what the customer truly wants and needs. Then, depending upon your sales structure, they often must be adept at providing a compelling solution and then either following the deal through to its conclusion or passing it along to the right person in a way that keeps the customer happy.
Depending on the type of sale, from the more complex to the relatively simple, you can determine what level of skill is needed. But all your salespeople, regardless of the buyers they talk to and their role, need to be well schooled in how to listen, understand and effectively communicate value.
Is your sales strategy clear enough to win? Download sales strategy whitepaper now.
For more information about inside sales training best practices, please visit: http://www.lsaglobal.com/inside-sales-training-coaching/
