Inside sales account executive vs outside sales

The differences between inside sales account executives and outside sales can be seen in a few details. Each job has different responsibilities and duties. It typically takes 2-4 years to become both an inside sales account executive and an outside sales. Additionally, an outside sales has an average salary of $77,292, which is higher than the $63,049 average annual salary of an inside sales account executive.

The top three skills for an inside sales account executive include strong work ethic, customer service and CRM. The most important skills for an outside sales are customer service, product knowledge, and ongoing support.

Inside sales account executive vs outside sales overview

	Inside Sales Account Executive	Outside Sales
Yearly salary	$63,049	$77,292
Hourly rate	$30.31	$37.16
Growth rate	4%	4%
Number of jobs	262,582	333,400
Job satisfaction	-	-
Most common degree	Bachelor's Degree, 77%	Bachelor's Degree, 60%
Average age	47	47
Years of experience	4	4

What does an inside sales account executive do?

An inside sales account executive is responsible for handling the sales performance of multiple client accounts, ensuring that the project management processes reach target sales goals and business objectives. Inside sales account executives work with the sales and marketing team to develop effective marketing strategies and promotional techniques to boost brand awareness to the market and target audience. They also analyze the current industry trends, identifying business opportunities to generate resources for revenues, and improve project plans according to clients' specifications and budget limitations.

What does an outside sales do?

An outside sales representative is responsible for generating the company's sales and revenues by offering goods and services to existing and potential clients, responding to the customers' inquiries and concerns about the products, and researching on possible leads. Outside sales representatives monitor the current industry trends to identify new business opportunities that would help the business adjust to market changes to achieve profitability goals. An outside sales representative must have excellent communication and customer service skills, immediately resolving complaints and assisting on marketing promotions to gain sales prospects.

Inside sales account executive vs outside sales salary

Inside sales account executives and outside sales have different pay scales, as shown below.

	Inside Sales Account Executive	Outside Sales
Average salary	$63,049	$77,292
Salary range	Between $37,000 And $104,000	Between $56,000 And $104,000
Highest paying City	San Francisco, CA	Arlington, VA
Highest paying state	California	New Hampshire
Best paying company	Google	Morgan Stanley
Best paying industry	Technology	Manufacturing

Differences between inside sales account executive and outside sales education

There are a few differences between an inside sales account executive and an outside sales in terms of educational background:

	Inside Sales Account Executive	Outside Sales
Most common degree	Bachelor's Degree, 77%	Bachelor's Degree, 60%
Most common major	Business	Business
Most common college	University of Pennsylvania	SUNY College of Technology at Alfred

Inside sales account executive vs outside sales demographics

Here are the differences between inside sales account executives' and outside sales' demographics:

	Inside Sales Account Executive	Outside Sales
Average age	47	47
Gender ratio	Male, 59.4% Female, 40.6%	Male, 78.3% Female, 21.7%
Race ratio	Black or African American, 3.9% Unknown, 3.7% Hispanic or Latino, 14.5% Asian, 5.2% White, 72.4% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.2%	Black or African American, 3.8% Unknown, 3.7% Hispanic or Latino, 14.3% Asian, 5.2% White, 72.8% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.2%
LGBT Percentage	6%	6%

Differences between inside sales account executive and outside sales duties and responsibilities

Inside sales account executive example responsibilities.

Manage CRM and POS software as well as proficient in various product software.
Operate Salesforce and manage opportunities accordingly.
Ensure all target prospect/client contacts and engagement opportunities are record in the ZOHO CRM.
Execute daily customer meetings via phone, WebEx and coordinate onsite meetings with outside counterpart.
Qualify new business opportunities and set WebEx meetings for review and demonstration of products and services.
Facilitate broker training utilizing PowerPoint.

Outside sales example responsibilities.

Plan logistical outside sales route, planned/schedule sales calls with web-base CRM program, manage various sales cycles.
Manage and create all content distribute via various social media outlets: Facebook, twitter, feedback blogs, etc.
Perfect the craft of upselling customers.
Prepare material estimates/bids for houses, windows, doors, trusses, etc.
Increase existing customer base and generate new dealer and customer relationships within the HVAC equipment and sales.
Estimate, price, bid and follow up to all mechanical HVAC and plumbing plan and spec projects.

Inside sales account executive vs outside sales skills

Common inside sales account executive skills

Strong Work Ethic, 13%
Customer Service, 8%
CRM, 7%
Inbound Calls, 7%
Salesforce, 6%
Outbound Calls, 4%

Common outside sales skills

Customer Service, 30%
Product Knowledge, 9%
Ongoing Support, 4%
Work Ethic, 4%
CRM, 4%
Flyers, 4%

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Inside Sales Account Executive
Inside Sales Account Executive vs Outside Sales

Updated January 8, 2025

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