| Everything they don't tell you when you're

deciding to invest.

Inside sales is generally confused with telemarketing. But why did this confusion

emerge?

Let’s try to make both of these concepts clear and define their characteristic

features. Both rely on the telephone to connect with prospects instead of face-to-

face meetings. And… that’s where the similarities end.

These are two different entities with different goals, KPI’s, targets, people and

approaches when it comes to dealing with prospects. This misbelief often weakens

the significance of inside sales and the efforts put in when generating opportunities.

Selling over the telephone from remote locations is nothing new.

Telemarketing is believed to have begun in the 50’s by Dial America Marketing Inc.,

the first company dedicated to telephone sales and services. By 1970, telemarketing

had become a common phrase used to describe the process of selling “over the

phone”. Finally, by the late 1990’s, the term Inside Sales was introduced to

differentiate from Outside sales.

Companies found this new channel very effective, but they often didn’t know how

to resolve the conflict between this younger and more disruptive approach and the

powerful, older membership who were slightly weary of this innovation.

For many years, inside sales has been relegated to generating leads for the more

senior outside sales reps or for smaller accounts. This is now no longer the case:

many companies are already using a hybrid form or a pure inside sales model.

International Venture Consultants www.ivc.es

Telemarketing uses a unique call-script, usually offering a small-ticket B2C product

(such as extended warranties and insurance policies). It almost never involves

multiple interactions : each call is live-or-die. As they dispose of large demographic

lists of names, a deal is quickly closed or lost, and then the agent moves on to the

next lead.

Have you ever experienced any unwanted sales calls to your home, maybe during

dinner or when you’re trying to relax? Well, I have.

Inside sales is the dominant sales model in B2B, High-Tech, SaaS, and a variety of

B2C industries selling high-ticket items. It means sales that are handled remotely.

Inside sales reps might use campaign-specific talking points, but they don’t rely on a

scripted chart. It involves multiple calls or interactions over the phone, email or

Internet.

International Venture Consultants www.ivc.es

PEOPLE

Inside sales reps are highly trained, skilled and can give presentations, conduct

demos and perform most of the functions traditionally handled by field reps. They

need continuous training to survive.

Contrary to inside sales, telemarketers require a minimum training and their level of

knowledge is limited to the product they are selling.

TARGET & KPI’s

A telemarketer is a person who makes X calls per day and their main KPI is the

number of positive responses they are able to achieve in a day. Their target

segment is vast, since they deal with B2C products or services and the ticket

amount is usually small.

An inside sales professional's performance is measured by several factors: number

of appointments held, demos carried out, leads generated and sales opportunities

according to a criteria to be defined through BANT – the well-known Business,

Authority, Need and Time. Their target is defined and limited in accordance with a

specific product. They often have to contact the highest levels within the company,

the real decision-makers. The deal-size could be enormous.

APPROACH

Before making a call, a telemarketer will often not carry out any research on the

prospect, as all they need to know is about the product they are selling. They make

shots in the dark without educating the customer before interacting with them.

International Venture Consultants www.ivc.es

International Venture Consultants www.ivc.es

With a certain amount of luck, the time taken to close a deal may be one or two

calls.

An Inside seller investigates the target market, the industry vertical, its needs and

pains, and that’s when the engagement begins. Even when leads have been

reached, many will not express initial interest. We've seen hundreds of prospects

come back to us after several months due to an effective nurturing strategy. It takes

more effort and patience to close a deal over the phone rather than a face-to-face

engagement, it could take up to 2 years!

TOOLS

What tools are really required in a telemarketing job? Well, I won’t say “just a

phone” but a call-center software, an old-school predictive dialer efficient enough

to make calls.

The inside sales industry uses various technologies, CRM, big data, predictive

analytics, web conferencing, email and engagement tracking, predictive lead sorting

and scoring, sales forecasting, pipeline management and more.

High levels of motivation and an aptitude for high-tech is fundamental.

Inside sales prevails in the B2B landscape. If you meet these criteria, you should

choose a strategy of inside sales instead of telemarketing:

Sales Cycle Complexity – depending on the complexity of the specific solution and its

deal size, it can influence the return on your investment. Generally cloud-based

solutions, SaaS, software, some e-commerce platforms and complex enterprise

solutions with medium-large sales cycles are the best target for launching an inside

sales strategy effort.

Value Proposal Complexity – if you have a strong value proposition that speaks

directly to the target audience and tells them exactly why they should purchase, the

inside sales approach could fit very well, as it will help push diffusion through the

market, and aligning with your brand-awareness.

The challenge here is clear, the bigger the complexity of the value you provide the

easier it will be to express your message into an easy-to-remember phrase by phone

and the better your results will be.

International Venture Consultants www.ivc.es

Organization's Sales Stage – early stage businesses would be more likely to scale

up their sales presence in order to compete against larger competitors. This often

requires a large remote sales team.

Sales Rep’s Perception of Inside Sales Effectiveness – companies may be

reluctant to adopt a new sales model, as it would be significantly different from

working with the traditional outside sales representatives who travel a lot and

are responsible for making and keeping their own appointments. You should

evaluate and convince them of the time savings, cost effectiveness and flexibility

of an inside sales choice.

Senior sales leaders found that businesses tend to rely on inside sales teams for

creating opportunities and outside sales reps for maintaining partnerships,

strengthening relationships and closing high-ticket deals in person. But

remember: even the largest deals that are eventually signed in person often

begin with prospecting from an inside sales rep!

International Venture Consultants www.ivc.es

International Venture Consultants www.ivc.es

The inside sales industry is growing 300 percent faster than traditional outside

sales, according to the 2013 Inside Sales Market Size Survey.

Big multinationals who want to expand internationally, enter new markets or

increase sales of existing products, have the ability to reach more prospects and it is

commonly more cost effective than paying each visit to outside sales.

Sometimes the lack of face-to-face contact, means the use specific sales techniques

to ensure the message gets to the customers in the best, most appropriate way.

IVC suggests a strategic and personalized approach with a consulting component:

Do your homework before making a call, that doesn't mean just calling a broad

demographic of prospects who may or may not be interested in what you are

selling. Target qualified prospects, with identified needs and pain points, and a

willingness to engage.

| Everything they don't tell you when

you're deciding to invest.

Arbea Campus Empresarial. Edificio 2. Ctra. Fuencarral a Alcobendas, km 3.8

28108 Alcobendas - Madrid T. (+34) 91.334.60.00

Edificio NN Tarragona, Planta 14.

C/ Tarragona, 149 – 157 08014 - Barcelona

T. (+34) 93.341.60.60

www.ivc.es

Finally, try to build relationships based on credibility and trust, listening and

understanding first and asking sales questions later, as well as carrying out sales

over a number of calls and “touch points” if the interlocutor requests it.

Will inside sales continue to evolve? Absolutely. Be prepared to add value in

different ways and create new opportunities and sales!

Marta Frenna

B2B Development Consultant