You have a great product. With the right salespeople, your product will likely succeed in the marketplace. But do you hire inside sales staff who traditionally use phone and virtual methods to sell products with little customer “face-time”, or should you hire an outside sales force that primarily focuses on meeting with prospective and loyal customers to create relationships and larger sales? Which sales force is right for you?

If your business relies on customers walking in your door and purchasing items on the spot, then you need inside sales reps, period. Your customers call, walk in, or log onto your website with a specific need in mind. Inside salespeople will provide the customer with fast, efficient service that is focused on a shorter turnaround time. They will also market and cross-sell to prospective customers via the telephone and internet without being offended by rejection.

Outside salespeople are from a more traditional model of sales when high-speed communications were less prevalent. They will travel to make sales, they enjoy meeting new people, and they prefer the freedom that outside sales provides. The sales process itself may take longer, but because of the extensive relationship building that occurs with outside sales, the accounts created will often be more profitable and susceptible to cross-sales.

The role of the outside salesperson has evolved in the past generation. Customers don’t want to spend hours or days in the buying process and they appreciate being able to shop from home or the office. More and more customers prefer to be in charge of the sales experience: logging in, picking up the phone, or walking into the store on their own time.

That said, a proficient outside salesperson is yet unmatched in their ability to create new, stable accounts and foster long-term relationships. If you are a wholesale vendor, the outside salesperson will likely be your biggest producer of new business. If your focus is retail sales, you may still decide that a few outside salespeople would be a good fit for your product. Outside sales will create a large expense, however, so be cautious. They will also be much more difficult to manage as they don’t check into the office everyday.

Above all, observe industry trends and listen to your customers. In some businesses, customers expect to meet someone in person. Hire one or two outside salespeople to test this idea. Or try going yourself to meet with new and prospective clients.

If you own a small business, you are probably your chief salesperson. However, at some point, your growth will be hindered unless you can develop the right saleforce. Finding the right combination of inside or outside salespeople for your business will have huge, positive impact.
 

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