How to hire an inside sales specialist

How to hire an inside sales specialist, step by step

Here's a step-by-step inside sales specialist hiring guide:

• Step 1: Identify your hiring needs
• Step 2: Create an ideal candidate profile
• Step 3: Make a budget
• Step 4: Write an inside sales specialist job description
• Step 5: Post your job
• Step 6: Interview candidates
• Step 7: Send a job offer and onboard your new inside sales specialist
• Step 8: Go through the hiring process checklist

What does an inside sales specialist do?

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1. Identify your hiring needs

   Before you post your inside sales specialist job, you should take the time to determine what type of worker your business needs. While certain jobs definitely require a full-time employee, it's sometimes better to find an inside sales specialist for hire on a part-time basis or as a contractor.

   Determine employee vs contractor status

   Is the person you're thinking of hiring a US citizen or green card holder?

   Yes

   No

   You should also consider the ideal background you'd like them an inside sales specialist to have before you start to hire. For example, what industry or field would you like them to have experience in, what level of seniority or education does the job require, and how much it'll cost to hire an inside sales specialist that fits the bill.

   This list shows salaries for various types of inside sales specialists.

   Type of Inside Sales Specialist	Description	Hourly rate
   Inside Sales Specialist	Wholesale and manufacturing sales representatives sell goods for wholesalers or manufacturers to businesses, government agencies, and other organizations. They contact customers, explain product features, answer any questions that their customers may have, and negotiate prices.	$16-36
   Sales Development Representative	A sales development representative qualifies leads at the sales funnel's initial stages. Sales development representatives need to conduct research for prospective clients and qualify the leads before handing them to the sales team... Show more	$16-37
   Sales Agent	A sales representative is responsible for offering goods and services to potential and existing clients. Sales representatives must display a strong knowledge of the company's products to assist customers with their inquiries and concerns... Show more	$10-45

   Show more

2. Create an ideal candidate profile

   Common skills:

   • Customer Service
   • CRM
   • Sales Process
   • Work Ethic
   • Product Knowledge
   • Outbound Calls
   • Customer Satisfaction
   • Strong Work Ethic
   • Salesforce
   • Cold Calls
   • Healthcare
   • Business Development
   • Digital Marketing
   • Phone Calls

   Check all skills

   Responsibilities:

   • Manage individual sales activities by developing highly effective, communications focuse relationship with multiple sales channels.
   • Present presentations to potential clients through Microsoft PowerPoint.
   • Maintain and update assigned territory through SalesLogix CRM program.
   • Revise and update CRM database to ensure accurate customer information.
   • Operate as inside sales consultant, primarily in areas of customer relations, sales/service support, coordinating production and transportation scheduling
   • Call on corporate counsel, c-level executives and law firms to sell solutions with traditional litigation support.

   More inside sales specialist duties

3. Make a budget

   Including a salary range in the inside sales specialist job description is a good way to get more applicants. An inside sales specialist salary can be affected by several factors, such as the location of the job, the level of experience, education, certifications, and the employer's prestige.

   For example, the average salary for an inside sales specialist in Alabama may be lower than in Washington, and an entry-level engineer typically earns less than a senior-level inside sales specialist. Additionally, an inside sales specialist with lots of experience in the field may command a higher salary as a result.

   Average inside sales specialist salary

   $50,944yearly

   $24.49 hourly rate

   ---

   Entry-level inside sales specialist salary

   $34,000 yearly salary

   Updated January 20, 2026

   Average inside sales specialist salary by state

   Rank	State	Avg. salary	Hourly rate
   1	Washington	$75,751	$36
   2	Massachusetts	$68,161	$33
   3	California	$66,697	$32
   4	New York	$65,177	$31
   5	Michigan	$59,749	$29
   6	Nevada	$57,559	$28
   7	Arizona	$57,522	$28
   8	Maryland	$56,316	$27
   9	District of Columbia	$55,430	$27
   10	Nebraska	$53,705	$26
   11	Colorado	$53,092	$26
   12	Minnesota	$53,030	$26
   13	Pennsylvania	$52,972	$25
   14	Wisconsin	$52,320	$25
   15	North Carolina	$52,037	$25
   16	Utah	$51,695	$25
   17	Arkansas	$50,817	$24
   18	Texas	$50,804	$24
   19	Illinois	$49,539	$24
   20	Florida	$47,851	$23

   Average inside sales specialist salary by company

   Company

   Rank	Company	Average salary	Hourly rate	Job openings
   1	Keller Williams Greater Seattle	$89,015	$42.80	7
   2	Keller Williams Capital Properties	$86,132	$41.41	4
   3	PayPal	$77,514	$37.27	27
   4	FUJIFILM Diosynth Biotechnologies	$76,584	$36.82	2
   5	Curtiss-Wright	$75,480	$36.29	14
   6	IBM	$71,252	$34.26	46
   7	Adobe	$69,594	$33.46	42
   8	McNichols	$69,503	$33.41	8
   9	Teva Pharmaceuticals	$69,377	$33.35	43
   10	Softpath System	$69,126	$33.23	6
   11	Hoffmann-LA Roche Inc	$67,986	$32.69	26
   12	General Electric	$65,596	$31.54	19
   13	Lucid Motors	$65,371	$31.43	6
   14	Leviton	$64,630	$31.07	4
   15	Autocar Truck	$64,298	$30.91
   16	Eastman	$64,197	$30.86
   17	Philips	$64,020	$30.78	25
   18	Johnson Controls	$63,179	$30.37	210
   19	MTS Systems	$62,382	$29.99
   20	Roquette America	$62,087	$29.85

4. Writing an inside sales specialist job description

   A good inside sales specialist job description should include a few things:

   • Summary of the role
   • List of responsibilities
   • Required skills and experience

   Including a salary range and the first name of the hiring manager is also appreciated by candidates. Here's an example of an inside sales specialist job description:

   Inside sales specialist job description example

   Are you looking to work for a company that values its employees and treats them like family? Do you enjoy working in a fast-paced, rewarding environment? If so, you are going to love working for McAneny Brothers. By joining our team, you are choosing to become part of a growing wholesale distributor serving customers in PA, OH, MD, WV and NY. We're known for competitive prices and exceptional customer service.
   
   We offer a competitive wage with bonus potential as well as full range of benefits including Medical, Vision and Dental insurance, a 401-K and employee discounts
   
   The purpose of this job is to service existing accounts by growing and maintaining existing sales as well as obtaining new account business in the Produce Departments. Additionally, this job is to build and maintain customer relationships as well as provide ongoing support.
   Essential Functions of the Job :
   •Provide customer service to existing client - answering phone calls, responding to customer inquiries, orders, product returns and issues on a daily, weekly, or monthly basis as needed.
   •Secure ad information from customers and capture all sales related ad items.
   •Place calls to customers in existing client base on assigned call sheets to inquire and determine order needs.
   •Train customers in effective retail pricing and use of products.
   •Utilize discretion while managing pricing and growing chain business.
   •Solicit additional sales with suggestive selling of daily products, deal information and daily, weekly, or monthly specials with a target list of vendors or items.
   •Develop a travel schedule and visit key accounts to assist in customer business needs if requested.
   Work Environment :
   You will spend majority of your day in a general office environment utilizing a directly interfacing computer screen and telephone with immediate and direct customer contact. Other Considerations :
   Must be able to work effectively in a team environment and interact professionally with internal and external customers.

   Copy this example

   

5. Post your job

   There are various strategies that you can use to find the right inside sales specialist for your business:

   • Consider promoting from within or recruiting from your existing workforce.
   • Ask for referrals from friends, family members, and current employees.
   • Attend job fairs at local colleges to find candidates who meet your education requirements.
   • Use social media platforms like LinkedIn, Facebook, and Twitter to reach potential job candidates.

   Post your job online:

   • Post your inside sales specialist job on Zippia to find and attract quality inside sales specialist candidates.
   • Use niche websites such as salesjobs, salesheads, allretailjobs.com, sales trax.
   • Post a job on free websites.

6. Interview candidates

   Your first interview with inside sales specialist candidates should focus on their interest in the role and background experience. As the hiring process goes on, you can learn more about how they'd fit into the company culture in later rounds of interviews.

   It's also good to ask about candidates' unique skills and talents. You can move on to the technical interview if a candidate is good enough for the next step.

   The right interview questions can help you assess a candidate's hard skills, behavioral intelligence, and soft skills.

7. Send a job offer and onboard your new inside sales specialist

   Once you've found the inside sales specialist candidate you'd like to hire, it's time to write an offer letter. This should include an explicit job offer that includes the salary and the details of any other perks. Qualified candidates might be looking at multiple positions, so your offer must be competitive if you like the candidate. Also, be prepared for a negotiation stage, as candidates may way want to tweak the details of your initial offer. Once you've settled on these details, you can draft a contract to formalize your agreement.

   It's equally important to follow up with applicants who don't get the job with an email letting them know that the position has been filled.

   Once that's done, you can draft an onboarding schedule for the new inside sales specialist. Human Resources should complete Employee Action Forms and ensure that onboarding paperwork is completed, including I-9s, benefits enrollment, federal and state tax forms, etc. They should also ensure that new employee files are created for internal recordkeeping.

8. Go through the hiring process checklist

   • Determine employee type (full-time, part-time, contractor, etc.)
   • Submit a job requisition form to the HR department
   • Define job responsibilities and requirements
   • Establish budget and timeline
   • Determine hiring decision makers for the role
   • Write job description
   • Post job on job boards, company website, etc.
   • Promote the job internally
   • Process applications through applicant tracking system
   • Review resumes and cover letters
   • Shortlist candidates for screening
   • Hold phone/virtual interview screening with first round of candidates
   • Conduct in-person interviews with top candidates from first round
   • Score candidates based on weighted criteria (e.g., experience, education, background, cultural fit, skill set, etc.)
   • Conduct background checks on top candidates
   • Check references of top candidates
   • Consult with HR and hiring decision makers on job offer specifics
   • Extend offer to top candidate(s)
   • Receive formal job offer acceptance and signed employment contract
   • Inform other candidates that the position has been filled
   • Set and communicate onboarding schedule to new hire(s)
   • Complete new hire paperwork (i9, benefits enrollment, tax forms, etc.)

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How much does it cost to hire an inside sales specialist?