Inside sales consultant vs outside sales

The differences between inside sales consultants 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 consultant and an outside sales. Additionally, an outside sales has an average salary of $77,292, which is higher than the $55,517 average annual salary of an inside sales consultant.

The top three skills for an inside sales consultant include CRM, salesforce and outbound calls. The most important skills for an outside sales are customer service, product knowledge, and ongoing support.

Inside sales consultant vs outside sales overview

	Inside Sales Consultant	Outside Sales
Yearly salary	$55,517	$77,292
Hourly rate	$26.69	$37.16
Growth rate	4%	4%
Number of jobs	189,389	333,400
Job satisfaction	-	-
Most common degree	Bachelor's Degree, 71%	Bachelor's Degree, 60%
Average age	47	47
Years of experience	4	4

What does an inside sales consultant do?

An inside sales consultant is responsible for selling goods and services of the company to the business customers and clients. Inside sales consultants assist the marketing and sales team in strategizing techniques to promote the products and attract consumers, generating more revenue resources for the business. They also handle client accounts and resolve sales discrepancies. An inside sales consultant respond to customers' inquiries and concerns about the services of the company, facilitating sales distribution and handling complaints accordingly.

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 consultant vs outside sales salary

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

	Inside Sales Consultant	Outside Sales
Average salary	$55,517	$77,292
Salary range	Between $34,000 And $88,000	Between $56,000 And $104,000
Highest paying City	Phoenix, AZ	Arlington, VA
Highest paying state	Alaska	New Hampshire
Best paying company	PayPal	Morgan Stanley
Best paying industry	Media	Manufacturing

Differences between inside sales consultant and outside sales education

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

	Inside Sales Consultant	Outside Sales
Most common degree	Bachelor's Degree, 71%	Bachelor's Degree, 60%
Most common major	Business	Business
Most common college	University of Pennsylvania	SUNY College of Technology at Alfred

Inside sales consultant vs outside sales demographics

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

	Inside Sales Consultant	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, 3.8% Unknown, 3.7% Hispanic or Latino, 14.2% Asian, 5.1% White, 72.9% 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 consultant and outside sales duties and responsibilities

Inside sales consultant example responsibilities.

Manage individual sales activities by developing highly effective, communications focuse relationship with multiple sales channels.
Operate as inside sales consultant, primarily in areas of customer relations, sales/service support, coordinating production and transportation scheduling
Present ADT security systems presentations to those businesses by reviewing their needs for security.

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 consultant vs outside sales skills

Common inside sales consultant skills

CRM, 10%
Salesforce, 6%
Outbound Calls, 6%
Telemarketing, 5%
Customer Orders, 5%
Product Knowledge, 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 Consultant
Inside Sales Consultant vs Outside Sales

Updated January 8, 2025

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