What does an inside sales specialist do?
An inside sales specialist is primarily responsible for securing sales by reaching out to clients to sell products and services. They may communicate with customers through calls and correspondence or personally recommend products in a retail store setting. Moreover, they are also responsible for responding to inquiries or concerns, identifying the customers' needs, devising strategies to find sales opportunities, and discussing products to customers. An inside sales specialist is often required to meet sales goals and report to managers should there be any issues or problems.
Inside sales specialist responsibilities
Here are examples of responsibilities from real inside sales specialist resumes:
- 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.
- Act as a liaison between regional sales representatives and customers to help troubleshoot and resolve any problems with their IVR system.
- Utilize POS system to make sales to both retail customers and bulk customers.
- Assist marketing on promotional launches, shipping POS, merchandising plans, online promotions, and go-to market strategies.
- Educate and help troubleshoot customer's defective electronics.
- Store and retrieve customer documentation using SharePoint.
- Work with quality department to perform audits of processes & documents to meet requirements for ISO certification.
- Redesign and maintain division's SharePoint content management site.
- Assign territory includes both international and domestic OEM accounts and distribution.
Inside sales specialist skills and personality traits
We calculated that 13% of Inside Sales Specialists are proficient in Customer Service, CRM, and Sales Process. They’re also known for soft skills such as Customer-service skills, Interpersonal skills, and Physical stamina.
We break down the percentage of Inside Sales Specialists that have these skills listed on their resume here:
- Customer Service, 13%
Collaborated with technical service engineers and customer field installers to leverage internal resources for streamlined implementations and superior customer service.
- CRM, 7%
Revised and updated CRM database to ensure accurate customer information.
- Sales Process, 5%
Demonstrated the ability to manage prospects, evaluate, follow up, and close the deal all throughout the sales process.
- Work Ethic, 5%
Allowed to work remotely because of consistent results and work ethic.
- Product Knowledge, 5%
Provided customers with comprehensive product knowledge in order to bring about total customer satisfaction.
- Outbound Calls, 4%
Provided outside sales representatives with qualified customer lead/contact information generated from outbound calls.
Common skills that an inside sales specialist uses to do their job include "customer service," "crm," and "sales process." You can find details on the most important inside sales specialist responsibilities below.
Customer-service skills. To carry out their duties, the most important skill for an inside sales specialist to have is customer-service skills. Their role and responsibilities require that "wholesale and manufacturing sales representatives must be able to listen to the customer’s needs and concerns before and after the sale." Inside sales specialists often use customer-service skills in their day-to-day job, as shown by this real resume: "leveraged relationships with sales engineering, marketing and customer support through internal training programs. "
Interpersonal skills. Another essential skill to perform inside sales specialist duties is interpersonal skills. Inside sales specialists responsibilities require that "wholesale and manufacturing sales representatives must be able to work well with many types of people." Inside sales specialists also use interpersonal skills in their role according to a real resume snippet: "exercised excellent interpersonal and communication skills to interface with customers and meet their demands. "
Physical stamina. This is an important skill for inside sales specialists to perform their duties. For an example of how inside sales specialist responsibilities depend on this skill, consider that "wholesale and manufacturing sales representatives are often on their feet for a long time and may carry heavy sample products." This excerpt from a resume also shows how vital it is to everyday roles and responsibilities of an inside sales specialist: "helped with physical implementation of the systems, and maintain customer satisfaction during the implementation process. ".
Self-confidence. For certain inside sales specialist responsibilities to be completed, the job requires competence in "self-confidence." The day-to-day duties of an inside sales specialist rely on this skill, as "wholesale and manufacturing sales representatives must be confident and persuasive when making sales presentations." For example, this snippet was taken directly from a resume about how this skill applies to what inside sales specialists do: "resolve any product issues, customer complaints or billing discrepancies with urgency to solidify customer confidence. "
The three companies that hire the most inside sales specialists are:
- Advance Auto Parts116 inside sales specialists jobs
- Iron Mountain96 inside sales specialists jobs
- LaserAway91 inside sales specialists jobs
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Compare different inside sales specialists
Inside sales specialist vs. 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. They develop sales strategies to attract buyers or solicit potential customers. They need to build relationships with their customers to determine their needs and qualify the viability of interests to drive sales. Also, they collaborate with the sales executives making certain that corporate targets and goals are met.
These skill sets are where the common ground ends though. The responsibilities of an inside sales specialist are more likely to require skills like "crm," "work ethic," "strong work ethic," and "salesforce." On the other hand, a job as a sales development representative requires skills like "sdr," "account executives," "linkedin," and "saas." As you can see, what employees do in each career varies considerably.
Sales development representatives earn the highest salaries when working in the start-up industry, with an average yearly salary of $54,512. On the other hand, inside sales specialists are paid more in the real estate industry with an average salary of $63,848.sales development representatives tend to reach similar levels of education than inside sales specialists. In fact, sales development representatives are 1.6% less likely to graduate with a Master's Degree and 0.1% more likely to have a Doctoral Degree.Inside sales specialist vs. 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. A sales representative should have exceptional communication skills and extensive knowledge of the sales industry to deliver sales pitches and negotiate pricing offers with the clients. Sales representatives must also keep themselves updated with the current market trends to provide service recommendations, improving their sales to increase revenues.
While some skills are similar in these professions, other skills aren't so similar. For example, resumes show us that inside sales specialist responsibilities requires skills like "crm," "strong work ethic," "salesforce," and "healthcare." But a sales agent might use other skills in their typical duties, such as, "life insurance," "insurance products," "business relationships," and "develop leads."
Sales agents earn similar levels of education than inside sales specialists in general. They're 1.3% less likely to graduate with a Master's Degree and 0.1% more likely to earn a Doctoral Degree.Inside sales specialist vs. Commercial sales associate
A commercial sales associate specializes in representing a company to offer products and services to businesses and organizations, ensuring efficiency and client satisfaction. Their responsibilities include performing research and analysis to identify business and client opportunities, pursuing leads, reaching out through calls and correspondence, arranging appointments, explaining or demonstrating products, and negotiating contracts. Aside from securing sales with businesses, a commercial sales associate must also perform clerical tasks such as producing progress reports and presentations, arranging schedules, and maintaining records of all transactions, all while adhering to the company's policies and regulations.
There are many key differences between these two careers, including some of the skills required to perform responsibilities within each role. For example, an inside sales specialist is likely to be skilled in "crm," "sales process," "work ethic," and "outbound calls," while a typical commercial sales associate is skilled in "cash handling," "financial statements," "treasury," and "real estate."
Commercial sales associates typically earn similar educational levels compared to inside sales specialists. Specifically, they're 0.5% less likely to graduate with a Master's Degree, and 6.1% less likely to earn a Doctoral Degree.Inside sales specialist vs. Field sales representative
A field sales representative is an employee who is employed by business-to-business (B2B) and wholesale organizations to visit leads and sell products or services to their customers in person. Field sales representatives must attract new customers and win new accounts so that they can maximize profitability within their territory. They travel around their assigned territory and visit their customers regularly to educate them on how their products can benefit them. Field sales representatives must also maintain records of all sales leads and monitor the organization's competitor, new products, and market conditions.
Types of inside sales specialist
Updated January 8, 2025
