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Inside sales executive skills for your resume and career

Updated January 8, 2025

6 min read

Quoted experts

Jonathan Byers,

Kaustav Misra Ph.D.

Below we've compiled a list of the most critical inside sales executive skills. We ranked the top skills for inside sales executives based on the percentage of resumes they appeared on. For example, 11.9% of inside sales executive resumes contained customer service as a skill. Continue reading to find out what skills an inside sales executive needs to be successful in the workplace.

15 inside sales executive skills for your resume and career

1. Customer Service

Customer service is the process of offering assistance to all the current and potential customers -- answering questions, fixing problems, and providing excellent service. The main goal of customer service is to build a strong relationship with the customers so that they keep coming back for more business.

Here's how inside sales executives use customer service:

Established dollar value customer groups through one-on-one customer service emphasizing aggressive sales initiatives and execution of VIP contract strategy within SalesForce.
Collaborated with multiple finance and operational teams to ensure accurate and proper customer service and program execution.

2. Outbound Sales

Here's how inside sales executives use outbound sales:

Implemented consistently successful outbound sales development campaigns for technology clients including Adobe, KANA, YouSendIt.
Make outbound sales calls, as well as taking inbound calls and walk-ins or by appointments.

3. Healthcare

Healthcare is the maintenance or improvement of a person's health by the diagnosis and treatment of a person's injury, illness, or any other disease. Healthcare is a basic necessity of human life and is the responsibility of the country's government to ensure that each person gets healthcare. Providing healthcare is the job of certified health professionals that includes doctors, surgeons, nurses, and other physicians. Pharmaceutical companies, hospitals, dentistry, therapy, and health training all come under healthcare. Healthcare plays a vital role in the country's economy and its development.

Here's how inside sales executives use healthcare:

Create and identify Leads for BI services* focused on HealthCare - through Phone (Cold Calling) and Email.
Engaged with the heads of Biotechnology, CRO and CMO organizations to demonstrate the benefits of Informa Healthcare resources.

4. Outbound Calls

An outbound call is made by the call center representative to the customers on behalf of the company. Such calls help increase sales and generate revenue for the organization.

Here's how inside sales executives use outbound calls:

Make outbound calls to prospecting and existing customers to see if they would be interested in a business to business directory.
Maintained a consistent 45 outbound calls a day as well as handling the inbound sales line.

5. Digital Marketing

Here's how inside sales executives use digital marketing:

Collaborated with local businesses to establish brand awareness and generate ROI through digital marketing campaigns.
Conducted telephone and in-person meetings with CMO's, Digital Marketing Directors and SEM Analysts.

6. Lead Generation

Here's how inside sales executives use lead generation:

Supported Account Executives through lead generation and uncovered new opportunities nationally.
Lead generation, qualification, prospecting, telephone marketing, online presentations and product demonstrations via go to meeting.

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7. Sales Process

Here's how inside sales executives use sales process:

Applied leasing, financing and contracting options to customers to provide flexibility during the Sales process.
Execute effective sales processes and account management plans to develop new business and retain existing customers.

8. Business Development

Business development is the ideas or initiatives that work to make business work better. Selling, advertising, product development, supply chain management, and vendor management are only a few of the divisions involved with it. There is still a lot of networking, negotiating, forming alliances, and trying to save money. The goals set for business development guide and coordinate with all of these various operations and sectors.

Here's how inside sales executives use business development:

Managed new business development and specialized in auctions and online resale.
Spearheaded new business development through aggressive prospecting strategies.

9. Cold Calls

Cold calling is a kind of business solicitation from customers who didn't express interest in their product and services before. In this technique, a salesman conducts a call with potential customers with whom they haven't had a prior interaction. Cold calling can include phone calls or telemarketing. However, in-person visits like door-to-door marketing are also a type of cold calling

Here's how inside sales executives use cold calls:

Developed self-initiated sales opportunities via telephone/cold calling and outreach.
Worked with outside sales force to increase assigned western territory and created new revenue by 30 percent through cold calling.

10. Account Management

The process of strengthening the relationship between a company and client is called account management. Effective account management has two key objectives, one is to retain loyal customers and the second one is to help the company grow by creating connections with new customers.

Here's how inside sales executives use account management:

Performed general administrative functions, including data entry, document preparation and account management.
Advised account management, marketing, and finance departments to ensure revenue and customer satisfaction goals were met.

11. Customer Issues

Here's how inside sales executives use customer issues:

Interact and communicate effectively cross-functionally and with various levels of the organization is required to research customer issues as described
Insure superior customer experience by managing a variety of customer service and administrative tasks to resolve customer issues quickly and efficiently.

12. Inbound Calls

Here's how inside sales executives use inbound calls:

Qualified and follow up with warm sales leads via outbound, inbound calls and email.
Maintain 60+ inbound calls with an average handle time of 6 minutes per call.

13. Cloud

Cloud is a server that is accessed over the internet. There are different programs and software that also run on these servers. These clouds can be accessed from anywhere in the world as they are not present in your computer storage, but have their online servers. Cloud consists of data centers all across the world.

Here's how inside sales executives use cloud:

Top ranking inside salesperson - Cloud (US) for 2012.
Developed strategies for go-to-market cloud companies in billing, invoicing, quoting, and pricing for subscription and recurring revenue businesses.

14. Sales Strategies

Here's how inside sales executives use sales strategies:

Identified and qualified customer needs, developed sales strategies and negotiated and closes profitable sales with a 95% success rate.
Developed and implemented new sales strategies managed and updated customer data base and monthly sales reporting.

15. Customer Relations

Here's how inside sales executives use customer relations:

Establish excellent customer relationships with internal and external clients and contacts.
Perform outbound customer relationship calls to existing customers.

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What skills help Inside Sales Executives find jobs?

Tell us what job you are looking for, we’ll show you what skills employers want.

What skills stand out on inside sales executive resumes?

Jonathan Byers

Assistant Director, Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University

- Professional skills related to career development competencies such as strong oral & written communication, teamwork & collaboration, leadership, problem-solving ability & creativity, and professional integrity, but we recommend that applicants do not just list these skills. They should provide evidence of how they have used them in their work experience, volunteer experience, academic experience, etc.
-The ability to use technology effectively to solve problems or improve collaboration; this could relate to social media management, computer hardware or software skills, proficiency with general programs like Microsoft Office Suite (also being able to demonstrate the use of these skills in various experiences).
-With diversity, equity, and inclusion becoming more important in 2020, the ability to appreciate different points of view, accept and appreciate different cultural backgrounds & types of identities, and increased awareness of one's own cultural biases and assumptions can also be important to market on a resume.

What inside sales executive skills would you recommend for someone trying to advance their career?

Kaustav Misra Ph.D.

Associate Dean, Central Connecticut State University

This pandemic taught us many things and one important thing that we have an efficiency gap.

The way of doing business will be much more technology orientated. Hence graduates should be ready to unskill and upskill their credentials. This time it is necessary to forget the old way of doing business and learn new skills to get a job or stay in a current job. Soft skills have become much more important than before, but a different soft skill set would be essential to interact with future market participants. Thus, a gap year should be utilized to unskill-upskill and enhance relevant credentials by getting into short-long term programs, training, and workshops would be highly recommended.

What type of skills will young inside sales executives need?

Dr. Vallari Chandna

Chair and Associate Professor, University of Wisconsin - Green Bay

Critically, for all graduates, expertise or interests, in sustainability will be important. The reason behind this is the shift in looking at sustainability holistically and not just as something one-person does. This would also give an edge to those with degrees, specifically in sustainability. Graduates with degrees related to sustainability will often be asked to oversee or manage these across-the-board sustainability endeavors. Also, soft skills are highly desired. The ability to be better at time management, work in teams, and have a strong work ethic, will be more desirable. These are all interconnected with remote work as well. Employees who "thrived" in the pandemic were those able to manage their work-life balance, work remotely in teams, all the while performing well. The skills are thus "transferable" to both modalities of work in this way.

What technical skills for an inside sales executive stand out to employers?

Dr. Matteo Cantarello Ph.D.

Visiting Assistant Professor of Hispanic Studies, William & Mary

Programming has become an asset within the humanities, too. Even though hires of digital humanists are still limited in number (at least within my discipline), they are probably destined to increase in the near future. Also, flexibility and versatility with respect to teaching are also highly marketable. Any candidate who has experience with in-person, hybrid, and online courses and who has degrees, titles, and certificates that demonstrate that is extremely appreciated on the academic job market.

What soft skills should all inside sales executives possess?

John Cicala Ph.D.

Associate Professor of Digital Marketing, University of North Alabama

The ability to write for reading and not to write as if they are simply transcribing an internal conversation with the paper or whatever media is being used to communicate. They should also possess the ability to interact and to converse with others in person and to actively listen.

Do you want to know more?

List of inside sales executive skills to add to your resume

The most important skills for an inside sales executive resume and required skills for an inside sales executive to have include:

Customer Service
Outbound Sales
Healthcare
Outbound Calls
Digital Marketing
Lead Generation
Sales Process
Business Development
Cold Calls
Account Management
Customer Issues
Inbound Calls
Cloud
Sales Strategies
Customer Relations
Customer Satisfaction

Salesforce CRM
Saas
Sales Pipeline
Sales Cycle
Phone Calls
Linkedin
Sales Targets
ISE
Value Proposition
Trade Shows
Client Relationships
Webinar
Sales Quota
Search Engine Marketing
Sales Techniques
SEO

Customer Accounts
Customer Inquiries
Real Estate
Local Businesses
Revenue Growth
Sales Reps
Product Knowledge
Medical Sales
Product Demonstrations
Customer Retention
Product Line
C-Level
Sales Reports
ERP
Sales Revenue
Sales Orders

Updated January 8, 2025

Zippia Team

Editorial Staff

The Zippia Research Team has spent countless hours reviewing resumes, job postings, and government data to determine what goes into getting a job in each phase of life. Professional writers and data scientists comprise the Zippia Research Team.

Updated January 8, 2025

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