If you have already started working in the field of B2B sales, you have probably encountered the concepts of inside and outside sales. These concepts may seem very similar because they are called similar, but let’s still understand the difference in these processes, and we will share with you some tips for successful sales.
What is B2B outside sales?
Usually, outside sales means that all sales, transactions, and recommendations are subject to live communication. In B2B, it is usually a round table between two companies, as in scenes from movies, or it is a representative who literally goes to all the companies for a personal conversation.
Despite the great advantage of inside sales, b2b outside sales still occupy a large share of the market due to the fact that they can apply tactics that are not possible through email correspondence or online shopping.
There are different types of such sales:
- networking in general;
- work at exhibitions and events;
- work in the office as a worker to share experiences;
- directly with a potential client.
Such sales are highly dependent on the experience of the seller who is negotiating with potential partners. It is a sales enablement manager that should appeal to customers and successfully and efficiently present you as a brand. Most of the responsibility is on this person, and therefore, success or even failure depends on them.
B2B outside sales tips & techniques
You definitely need practice and experience for this method, but these two basic principles will help you get started. This is the foundation of your brand in outside sales:
- Personal approach to B2B leads for Belkins. Because of the huge number of products and content on the market, people need something special and something that others do not have. That’s how NFT was created. An outside sales method allows you to create a personal approach to each potential partner. This will create exclusivity in the agreement between you and will bring quality cooperation and product advertising like nothing else on the market.
- Choose a good candidate. Successful communication in B2B outside sales requires an ideal representative. Maybe it’s not even you. It can be an individual with the right set of skills, cognitive and communication skills, inclusive. Choose a person and you can choose the next business partner!
Inside B2B sales tips & strategies
- Use technology. During the pandemic, business developed in a different way. We had to adjust and use new ways to communicate with B2B leads than before covid, and therefore more zoom calls and online communication, so the need for physical presence decreases with each day of using our webcam. There are many software innovations that can bring you new potential buyers through an unusual approach to communication!
- Invest in your sales. You need the right and reliable software for this method. Spend the amount on a permanent, reliable connection and servers, buy the right CRM system, and for more B2B leads finance the training of your employees. The main things are quality and speed in this case.
Where B2B inside sales is most effective
Inside sales are much less time consuming. This greatly helps the buyer to reduce the time of the buying process and the seller to sell more in less time. This method is typical for sales to business leads in small and medium-sized businesses where the product is sold at retail and the range is very wide. To avoid spending most of the time on small orders, use CRM systems to improve all related processes.
This type of sale also includes phone calls, email campaigns in which an email checker really helps, as well as chats on social networks and pop-up chats on your site. The advantage is that your representative does not need to go to personal meetings on another continent, and your call center can be located anywhere in the world remotely, which has recently become extremely important in a pandemic.
The call center will be able to process many more b2b lead generation than your physical representative. The buyer goes to the site, makes a purchase, and asks additional questions if any.
If your flow of customers is too large, you will not be able to physically communicate in person, and even more so, sometimes personal communication may not be necessary. In addition, the volume of your potential leads is much larger than that of outside sellers.
Outside and Inside sales advantages for B2B Leads
Due to the fact that the processes and strategies of work in these two ways are quite different, they have their own advantages.
The inside approach to sales has many advantages, such as:
- Increased sales efficiency;
- An ability to analyze the market as a whole using CRM systems;
- The sales process is significantly accelerated, which reduces the sales cycle and increases your lead research quality;
- The number of such sales occupies a much larger market share and therefore can bring more profit;
- This is a much more convenient and faster opportunity to build relationships with more people, thus increasing brand awareness;
- The human factor is reduced to a minimum (to the sales department in rare cases when the buyer needs support).
The outside approach, on the other hand, has many other advantages, such as:
- Building relationships between business leads and companies is deeper and based on personal relationships and live communication;
- All agreements are discussed in person and transparently, which allows you to control all the details of the agreement and cooperation;
- If you have an experienced specialist, you have a better chance of closing the deal successfully;
- Live chat is much harder to avoid than pop-up advertising on a website.
Conclusion
In both cases, the B2B sales and the B2B sales were created differently. Different structures of departments, speed of purchase, sales strategies, and different approaches to building relationships with customers.
Both types of sales are extremely important for modern B2B companies. It takes a lot of time and experience to analyze which way you need more or in which you need to invest more money.
The success of your sales directly depends on your representatives. Do your business leads work in different time zones? Do they need to go to your city to meet? Each brand has its own way of doing things. The main thing is to understand which one it is.
Try to combine both strategies and create something average that will suit your goals. If you set up these processes in the company, you will be able to put certain processes “on autopilot” and spend more time on lead generation b2b, developing the company, and creating new products or strategies for both inside and outside sales.
