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The 2015 Guide to Inside Selling

The Future of Inside Sales
In todays digital world, prospects are more educated about our products and services than ever
before. According to SiriusDecisions1, 67% of the buyers journey is now done digitally, which
means that almost 70% of the purchase decision is made before prospects even initiate contact
with a sales rep. As a result, prospects want to see more educational resources from sales.
Instead of just focusing on selling, sales representatives need to also be consultants in order to
close the deal.
Inside sales is quickly evolving based on prospect behavior, and sales representatives need to
adapt in order to win. Heres a look at how inside sales is changing and how you can adjust to
succeed.

Sales 1.0: What Sales Used to Be

The old sales model consisted of three main strategies: cold calling, sales demos and qualifying
leads.4 One of the most popular methods of selling was pitching sales in-person or going doorto-door, and understanding the customers needs at the utmost basic level led to closed win
deals. Traditional selling is still being used, but the new era of technology offers more effective
ways to communicate with customers:
About 67% of customers provide their email addresses to companies to receive
information.3
According to a recent study by InsideView, over 90% of CEOs said they NEVER
respond to cold emails or calls. The return on cold calling is drastically decreasing.4
Email messaging is still one of the most popular methods for directly reaching out
to prospects. Automation and customization tools have made email easier to tailor those
messages and reach out to the prospect effectively.
Why It Isnt Working Anymore:
According to Forrester Research, the average buyer has completed between 68
and 90% of their decision-making process before engaging a sales professional.4
Prospects are now educating themselves before they engage with
sales representatives. Outbound sales is not as effective because prospects are
looking for education and value as opposed to a proposal during their first few
conversations with prospects.
According to the inbound marketing leader HubSpot, the average cost per
inbound lead is 61 percent lower than an outbound lead.5
Outbound leads are costing companies more and more because
of the resources and effort it takes to close them.

The Current State of Inside Sales

With the advent of content marketing and the digital revolution, companies are now investing in
inside sales teams to convert prospects. In fact:
Inside sales is growing 300% faster than outside sales.6
As the behavior of consumers has shifted, so has the sales landscape. In fact,
according to Salesforce, 40% of large tech companies plan to increase their inside sales
headcount by 2016.2
The number of inside sales departments is projected to grow from 800,000 in
2009 to over 2M this year.4
With the evolution of inside sales comes the strategy of social selling, where salespeople can
hypertarget viable prospects to educate and engage via social media:
61% of B2B marketers use social media channels, such as LinkedIn to increase
lead generation.4
According to Forrester Research, 43% of users ages 24 to 32 use social
networks as their primary resource for brand and product information.4
77% of B2C companies have acquired customers through Facebook.3
Studies show that simply mentioning the word video in an email subject line can
drastically improve open and click-through rates, and 59% of senior executives prefer
watching online video to reading text.3
75% of B2B purchases are influenced by social media.4

The Future of Inside Sales

Inside sales will continue to adapt and change over time. Here are some predictions for the
future of inside sales:

Social selling will become commonplace.

Using social channels to sell gives you a closer look at what the
prospect or customer needs and provides information that would not be available
with traditional methods. Everyone is on social media and you want to be where
your customers are to alleviate pain, solve problems and provide value.
Education will continue to be the most important selling tactic.
Customers are changing how they want to buy, so your sales
organization should be changing with them. Instead of starting with the pitch,
begin with a conversation that provides them with information and value about a
current problem theyre facing. Provide value, then sell.
Cross-channel and multi-channel selling will continue to grow.
Not every prospect wants to be contacted the same way.
Promoting messages across channels and via different channels will increase
your chances of connecting with prospects the way they want to be contacted.

How You Can Succeed at Inside Sales

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have based on business on developing the ultimate sales automation solution. Our Math of
SalesTM solution organizes, measures and guides sales activities to successful outcomes, all the
while giving you, real-time, quantitative insight into every phase of your sales cycle so you can
see whats working and whats not.
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1. https://www.siriusdecisions.com/Blog/2013/Jul/Three-Myths-of-the-67-PercentStatistic.aspx
2. https://www.salesforce.com/blog/2015/02/outside-in-rise-inside-sales-team-gp.html
3. http://velocify.com/blog/infographic-mad-men-era/)
4. LinkedIn, PGI - Evolution of Sales: The Survival Guide 2013
5. Miller, M. Inbound Leads Cost 61% Less Than Outbound [New Data] (2012) Retrieved at
http://blog.hubspot.com/blog/tabid/6307/bid/31555/Inbound-Leads-Cost-61-Less- ThanOutbound-New-Data.aspx
6. Elkington, D. Inside Sales Market Update as quoted on InsideSales.com (2013)
Retrieved at http://www.insidesales.com/insider/sales-metrics/16-sales-statistics/