In the constantly evolving business landscape of the 21st century, business leaders should note one undeniable trend: For each outside salesperson being hired, 10 inside sales positions are being filled.
More companies are investing in the growing field of inside sales for a number of reasons. A major factor is the improvement of technology during the past 10 years. Innovations such as autodialing software, call recording capabilities, productivity tracking, and data analytics tools are just a few examples. These tools are at the disposal of the sales leaders, and inside sales teams simply can be more productive than can outside teams.
MarketSource has determined that, in a given week, an inside salesperson can make six to seven times as many client contacts as can an outside sale representative. Inside teams also can offer consistent and faster response time for clients, which can increase customer satisfaction. In addition, the buying patterns of your customer base should not be overlooked. Based on a 2012 study by Sales Benchmark Index, 75 percent of customers prefer to engage over the phone or via digital connections, rather than participate in face-to-face interactions. We simply can’t ignore the impact of technology on the way we interact.
Let’s face it, companies make strategic decisions, and investments all boil down to achieving increased revenue, decreased cost/risk, or both.
If you are considering adding to your sales team, below are some of the benefits that will come from implementing an inside sales model.
Top Line Revenue Growth
Adopting an inside sales model does not necessarily mean you are replacing an existing field team. In truth, outside or customer-facing sales will never go away completely. However, if you are looking to supplement your sales with incremental revenue, then an inside sales model should be of interest.
Most of us are familiar with the 80/20 Rule. What if you were able to devote resources to the untapped 80 percent of your customer base without taking time away from your most important, top-tier customers? This is where inside sales can help, boosting revenue by focusing time on the part of your portfolio that is naturally lower on the priority list.
An Inside Sales model even allows you to specialize by industry or customer segment, without the natural constraints of a physical territory. In a study conducted by Harvard Business Review, 76 percent of responders acknowledged that inside sales provide a better strategy to penetrate small businesses and mid-markets. And, as mentioned previously, an inside sales model is appealing to the 75 percent of customers who do not prefer a face-to-face meeting.
Moving toward a model that combines existing field teams and inside sales teams can significantly increase top line revenue with customers whom you already target, simply by dedicating a team of resources to the growth of those customers.
Improving your Bottom Line
Although incremental headcount sounds like increased cost to those of us in the finance department, your bottom line also can benefit from incorporating inside sales into your business. MarketSource has found that outside salespeople are paid 15 percent to 18 percent more than are inside salespeople. In addition to a higher salary, the travel expenditures associated with an outside team are dramatically higher than those associated with inside sales.
All of this is to say that the return on investment and customer acquisition cost associated with an inside sales team can be appealing financially. In addition to maintaining and even growing revenue, an inside sales team actually can reduce the cost of sales by 40 percent to 90 percent, according to Harvard Business Review.
MarketSource has identified six ways that you can grow your revenue with an inside dedicated sales team.
We can help you achieve your goals, and it starts with an assessment for your company. MarketSource’s sales experts will work with you to define your challenges and design a turnkey solution that produces results in the area of gaining new customers, launching new products, growing market share, optimizing sales expense, or maximizing a mature product.
Our sales teams deliver more than $6 billion in revenue for many of the most well-respected brands in the world and a diverse mix of forward-thinking small- and medium-sized businesses. You can learn more about this topic and MarketSource’s proprietary process, empowered people, and proven performance, by contacting us today.