Inside sales executive vs outside sales

The differences between inside sales 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 executive and an outside sales. Additionally, an inside sales executive has an average salary of $77,590, which is higher than the $77,292 average annual salary of an outside sales.

The top three skills for an inside sales executive include customer service, outbound sales and healthcare. The most important skills for an outside sales are customer service, product knowledge, and ongoing support.

Inside sales executive vs outside sales overview

	Inside Sales Executive	Outside Sales
Yearly salary	$77,590	$77,292
Hourly rate	$37.30	$37.16
Growth rate	4%	4%
Number of jobs	248,123	333,400
Job satisfaction	-	-
Most common degree	Bachelor's Degree, 76%	Bachelor's Degree, 60%
Average age	47	47
Years of experience	4	4

What does an inside sales executive do?

An inside sales executive is responsible for reaching out to potential and existing customers to sell goods and services offered by the company. Inside sales executives should have excellent sales capabilities and pitches to persuade the customers in purchasing the products upon demonstrating its features and usage. They also respond to the inquiries and concerns the customers may have before proceeding with their orders and payment details. An inside sales executive supports the sales team in reaching sales targets by identifying business opportunities that would generate more revenues and profits for the company.

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 executive vs outside sales salary

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

	Inside Sales Executive	Outside Sales
Average salary	$77,590	$77,292
Salary range	Between $51,000 And $117,000	Between $56,000 And $104,000
Highest paying City	Annapolis, MD	Arlington, VA
Highest paying state	New Jersey	New Hampshire
Best paying company	Amd	Morgan Stanley
Best paying industry	Professional	Manufacturing

Differences between inside sales executive and outside sales education

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

	Inside Sales Executive	Outside Sales
Most common degree	Bachelor's Degree, 76%	Bachelor's Degree, 60%
Most common major	Business	Business
Most common college	University of Pennsylvania	SUNY College of Technology at Alfred

Inside sales executive vs outside sales demographics

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

	Inside Sales Executive	Outside Sales
Average age	47	47
Gender ratio	Male, 61.2% Female, 38.8%	Male, 78.3% Female, 21.7%
Race ratio	Black or African American, 3.8% Unknown, 3.7% Hispanic or Latino, 14.0% Asian, 5.1% White, 73.2% 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 executive and outside sales duties and responsibilities

Inside sales executive 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
Train new hire on SFDC and help him with messaging and solution description.
Master and utilize all sales relate tools including SFDC, SalesLoft, ZoomInfo, InsideView, and Engagio.
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 executive vs outside sales skills

Common inside sales executive skills

Customer Service, 12%
Outbound Sales, 8%
Healthcare, 6%
Outbound Calls, 6%
Digital Marketing, 5%
Lead Generation, 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 Executive
Inside Sales Executive vs Outside Sales

Updated January 8, 2025

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