Why Become an Inside Sales Rep? Insights from Inside Sales Experts

Dave Elkington, CEO and co-founder of XANT, recently predicted that outside sales is on its way out while inside sales, the up-and-coming sales method, is going nowhere but up.

“In five years, 10 years, outside sales won’t exist the way it exists today,” Dave said. “The boundaries of inside sales, I think, we haven’t even experienced. Its capabilities and the breadth that it does in an organization are going to go far beyond what we even understand.”

That’s quite the statement. Dave isn’t the only sales professional with this belief. Multiple industry leaders and research studies have predicted the same thing. With the change in economic climate, many companies have seen the value of giving their outside sales budget and giving it to their inside sales cousins. Why? Because inside sales provides the highest ROI of any sales method. Inside sales truly is a force to be reckoned with.

Because of this rapid growth, many young, fresh college grads are drawn to this industry because, unlike traditional remote sales, inside sales reps aren’t on the road all the time and are able to live normal lives. This is a criteria that many millennials are drawn to: the ability to have a work/life balance.

“[Inside sales reps] don’t have to spend the bulk of their time out on the road away from their family, away from their friends, and away from the activities that really make their life,” Art Sobczak, President of Business by Phone, Inc., said. “People are attracted to inside sales for that reason.”

Additionally, the type of lifestyle that inside sales reps are able to achieve is comparable to that of their outside rep counterparts. Inside sales reps can sell, make good money and lead a normal life. They aren’t out on the road three to four times per week.

“At the end of the day,” Dave said, “you’ve got an old school regime trying to justify why they’re being paid $300,000 per year when they’re counterpart on the inside sales are making $80,000 a year and hitting the same quotas. The outside sales people, I think they know. I don’t think there’s any secret going on. These guys get that they are getting outdated and becoming irrelevant.”

As inside sales continues to strengthen its strong hold on the sales industry, Bob Perkins, CEO of American Association of Inside Sales Professional, said it is slowing becoming the sales channel of choice. “There is less of a differentiation between outside sales and inside sales,” he said. “We’re leading the way and I think we’re going to continue to build the way.”

Inside sales, while originally the second class sales department, has grown into the preferred method of conducting professional sales. Be sure to watch the video in the upper right-hand corner to hear from more industry experts about the perks of working as an inside sales rep.

Have you considered a career in inside sales? What initially attracted you to the industry? Let us know in the comment box, below.

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