Outside sales vs inside sales associate

The differences between outside sales and inside sales associates can be seen in a few details. Each job has different responsibilities and duties. It typically takes 2-4 years to become both an outside sales and an inside sales associate. Additionally, an outside sales has an average salary of $77,292, which is higher than the $40,687 average annual salary of an inside sales associate.

The top three skills for an outside sales include customer service, product knowledge and ongoing support. The most important skills for an inside sales associate are inside sales, sales associates, and strong customer service.

Outside sales vs inside sales associate overview

	Outside Sales	Inside Sales Associate
Yearly salary	$77,292	$40,687
Hourly rate	$37.16	$19.56
Growth rate	4%	4%
Number of jobs	333,400	320,863
Job satisfaction	-	-
Most common degree	Bachelor's Degree, 60%	Bachelor's Degree, 63%
Average age	47	47
Years of experience	4	4

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.

What does an inside sales associate do?

An inside sales associate is responsible for selling the company's goods and services through remote communication. Inside sales associates make calls to potential customers, demonstrate the products' features, take orders, process payments, and inform the customers of the delivery details. They strategize the most effective sales pitches to attract the customers on purchasing more services that would generate revenues and increase the company's profitability and brand image. An inside sales associate also supports the marketing team in developing marketing campaigns and promotional offers depending on customer demands and requests.

Outside sales vs inside sales associate salary

Outside sales and inside sales associates have different pay scales, as shown below.

	Outside Sales	Inside Sales Associate
Average salary	$77,292	$40,687
Salary range	Between $56,000 And $104,000	Between $30,000 And $54,000
Highest paying City	Arlington, VA	Seattle, WA
Highest paying state	New Hampshire	Washington
Best paying company	Morgan Stanley	MSCI
Best paying industry	Manufacturing	Health Care

Differences between outside sales and inside sales associate education

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

	Outside Sales	Inside Sales Associate
Most common degree	Bachelor's Degree, 60%	Bachelor's Degree, 63%
Most common major	Business	Business
Most common college	SUNY College of Technology at Alfred	SUNY College of Technology at Alfred

Outside sales vs inside sales associate demographics

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

	Outside Sales	Inside Sales Associate
Average age	47	47
Gender ratio	Male, 78.3% Female, 21.7%	Male, 57.3% Female, 42.7%
Race ratio	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%	Black or African American, 3.8% Unknown, 3.7% Hispanic or Latino, 14.0% Asian, 5.1% White, 73.1% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.2%
LGBT Percentage	6%	6%

Differences between outside sales and inside sales associate duties and responsibilities

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 associate example responsibilities.

Manage individual sales activities by developing highly effective, communications focuse relationship with multiple sales channels.
Provide awareness to customers of the benefits of moving to a cloud platform for intra/customer facing web applications.
Develop a standardize, customize CRM system to track sales and marketing ROI that link into operational and financial ERP systems.
Calculate roofing amounts/square footage etc.
Maintain cleanliness and organization of stockroom shelves.
Conduct effective outbound telemarketing calls to potential and existing clients.

Outside sales vs inside sales associate skills

Common outside sales skills

Customer Service, 30%
Product Knowledge, 9%
Ongoing Support, 4%
Work Ethic, 4%
CRM, 4%
Flyers, 4%

Common inside sales associate skills

Inside Sales, 13%
Sales Associates, 7%
Strong Customer Service, 6%
Sales Process, 5%
Customer Satisfaction, 5%
Sales Floor, 5%

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Zippia Careers
Sales Industry
Outside Sales
Outside Sales vs Inside Sales Associate

Updated January 8, 2025

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