Insights

News and advice for job seekers and talent managers.

Making The Shift From Outside Sales to Inside Sales

Even before social distancing measures were enacted in 2020, companies across the country were making a shift away from outside sales and towards inside sales. With this explosion in popularity comes a sea of new job opportunities. But making the switch from territory-based and face-to-face outside sales in favor of stationary inside sales can be jarring for people who are used to going on the “hunt.” Leverage these strategies to effectively transition from an outside sales rep to an inside sales rep.

Prepare For A Shorter Sales Cycle

According to Velocify, the most frequent outside sales cycle is around nine months while 70% of inside sales teams report a cycle of two months or less. This is good for the bottom line, but it can be a difficult adjustment for new inside reps.

Learn The Ins And Outs of Your Tools

Technology is your most important aid in inside sales so learn how to use every tool as efficiently and effectively as possible. You can learn time-saving tips and tricks from coworkers or by Googling shortcuts and hacks for the technology you use.

Make Friends With Your Marketing Team

As an outside rep, you were a bit of a lone wolf. Inside reps, however, have to rely on marketing teams for leads. While this saves you time, you have to be mindful of the fact that you need to be a team player. In fact, the more friendly you are with marketing, the more you may find that colleagues will go out of their way to assist you when you need something.

Rethink The Way You Read and Write

While outside sales certainly involves its share of emailing and phone calls, inside sales relies solely on digital tools and phone calls. You no longer have body language cues to draw from when talking to a prospect. You must make sure your written communication is clear but concise and that you can pick up on cues in emails and text-based conversation.

Change the Way You Listen

As an outside rep, you understood the importance of listening to your prospects and clients but listening will be even more important as an inside rep. Face-to-face, you have body language and other nonverbal cues to help you out. As an inside rep, all you have are their words so you will need to be tuned into vocal fluctuations, volume changes, tone shifts, the nature of pauses, and more.

Are You Ready To Make A Change In Your Sales Career?

Making the switch from traveling and meeting people face to face to sitting behind a computer all day can be an adjustment. It can present new challenges and may require building new skills. However, it also keeps your sales career fresh and it can be an extremely rewarding choice.

If you are interested in inside sales roles in the exciting field of industrial safety equipment and PPE, contact the expert recruiters at The Charis Group today.

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