Sales Prospecting Perspectives

4 Reasons to Switch to an Inside Sales Model

  

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Sales Prospecting Perspectives is pleased to bring you a guest post from Howard Brown, Founder and CEO of RingDNA.

There was a time not so long ago when your average B2B salesperson spent more time on the road than a major league baseball team. But now, more and more companies are hiring remote reps, also known as inside sales. These reps possess many of the same sales skills as field sales reps. They close high-ticket deals and build long-lasting customer relationships, all while racking up far fewer frequent-flyer miles. They also typically carry increasingly large quotas. According to the Bridge Group, the average inside sales rep’s quota in 2013 was $985,000.

While in-person meetings will never fully go away, the trend toward a remote selling model is undeniable. According to research from MIT, as many as 15 inside sales reps are being hired for every traditional rep. My company, RingDNA, builds sales acceleration solutions for inside sales teams. I often speak first-hand with executives at companies that have recently migrated from a traditional sales model to an inside sales model. Here are some of the top reasons I’m seeing more and more businesses switch to an inside sales model.

Inside Sales Reps Can Reach More Prospects

Travel expenses aside, it’s easier and more productive for reps to get key stakeholders on the phone than it is to schedule and attend onsite appointments. Even your average inside sales rep can dial 50 prospects in a single day, and that number goes way higher after implementing autodialers and other sales enablement software. This is important because, more often than not, greater reach brings bigger rewards. The more your reps step up to the plate, the more opportunities they have to hit home runs.

Sales Technology Makes it Easier to Close Deals

Another reason companies are switching to a remote model is because advances in technology enable reps to create stronger relationships with clients. This is because of the advantage they can get from accessing real-time data from various platforms.

Imagine a field rep -- we’ll call him Michael -- is talking to a key decision maker at an in-person meeting. Michael would never look at his prospect’s communications history in Salesforce during the meeting; it would be considered rude. So if the prospect mentions the name of another key decision maker, Michael can’t quickly look her up on LinkedIn. In person, Michael also can’t view sales scripts featuring key statistics and proven closing language.

But an inside sales rep, selling remotely, can do all of these things. This clear advantage enables them to have far more intelligent sales conversations, and to close more deals as a result.

An Inside Sales Model is Easier to Scale

Field sales reps often demand higher salaries and more training than inside sales reps. It’s also harder to recruit field reps, which means that it’s more cost-inducing and time-intensive to scale your sales organization. Several of our customers have cited that switching to an inside sales model has made it far easier to scale. By tracking call metrics and listening to call recordings, managers have an easier time ramping up new reps and coaching them to success.

Once a company has already switched to an inside sales model and identified best practices, it’s also possible to outsource those efforts to an external sales team like AG Salesworks.

Customers Actually Prefer an Inside Sales Model

A sales model should always suit buyers’ preferences. Not only are inside sales reps more cost-effective and able to leverage technology to have smarter conversations, buyers themselves prefer the inside sales model. According to Sales Benchmark Index, 75% of buyers would rather not have a face-to-face meeting with a sales rep. These days, it’s common for a prospective buyer to research a brand in Internet forums, read a company’s blog and download marketing content before ever hearing a human voice. Frequently, the brunt of a buyer’s journey occurs prior to their first conversation with sales. And today’s sales conversations rarely require the high-pressure tactics that lend themselves to in-person appointments. More often than not, today’s reps are qualifying leads and facilitating deals, two tasks that lend themselves perfectly to an inside sales model.