Inside sales has long been an essential and integral part of a successful sales team. The last five years or so have shown us that the need and demand for inside sales is increasing, with recent reports showing that inside sales growth has been consistently outpacing that of outside sales.
There are several reasons why this shift is thought to have come about.
A few reasons that are often discussed in the industry are: prospects have less time and prefer fewer face-to-face commitments, remote communication is easier, and technology has changed the way people approach prospect for B2B lead generation.
This recent rise in inside sales has brought a couple of things to light.
First, that customers are more educated, savvy, and demanding than before.
Second, inside sales reps must be highly skilled and experienced in order to be successful in an increasingly competitive field.
Changing Customers
Customers are no longer waiting to get their information from a sales representative. They have access to tools that didn’t exist even ten years ago and they are using them.
Website blogs, social networks, online white papers, and customer reviews are at their fingertips so when they reach out, or are approached by a sales rep, their needs are different than in the past.
Making today’s customer happy requires an inside sales team that is equipped to handle having real conversations with educated prospects and listening with the intent to understand and solve business problems.
An Inside Sales Model that is Competitive
With customers demanding more, it’s extremely important that their first experience with a sales rep from your company is excellent.
An entry-level caller that cannot offer any more information than what can be found on a company’s website is just going to be a waste of valuable time.
An experienced inside sales rep will be capable of creating and nurturing a relationship of trust with a client. They can provide clients with guidance as well as encouragement to commit to what can be a significant investment of time and money.
It’s also important to remember that a successful inside sales rep must do all of this remotely, most often over the phone. It is a specific skill set, different than that of outside reps who are accustomed to having conversations in-person.
Finding Success with Outsourced Inside Sales
With a trend towards inside sales and a demanding customer base, many companies are struggling to find experienced callers to fill the pipeline and generate qualified leads.
According to a 2016 research paper from InsideSales, sales leadership sees training and development as the biggest obstacle they must overcome.
Outsourcing is a viable solution to the need to quickly build a strong inside sales team.
Hiring an outsourced lead generation firm allows you to quickly assemble a team that has the proficiency and time to consistently make the calls and multiple touches necessary to reach key decision makers and engage in the conversations necessary to qualify them.
Outsourcing can provide a short-term solution while building up your own internal team, or a long-term solution for those who want to avoid the overhead, training, and commitment required of an in-house team.
Outsourcing can also add scalability to an existing inside sales staff, augmenting their efforts.
Inside sales is a significant aspect of any B2B sales strategy. Whether you choose to invest in your own sales team, outsource to a B2B lead generation firm, or do both; staying updated on how inside sales is changing and keeping up with customer trends is absolutely necessary to achieve success.
Jim
