Outside sales vs inside sales specialist

The differences between outside sales and inside sales specialists 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 specialist. Additionally, an outside sales has an average salary of $77,292, which is higher than the $50,944 average annual salary of an inside sales specialist.

The top three skills for an outside sales include customer service, product knowledge and ongoing support. The most important skills for an inside sales specialist are customer service, CRM, and sales process.

Outside sales vs inside sales specialist overview

	Outside Sales	Inside Sales Specialist
Yearly salary	$77,292	$50,944
Hourly rate	$37.16	$24.49
Growth rate	4%	4%
Number of jobs	333,400	251,423
Job satisfaction	-	-
Most common degree	Bachelor's Degree, 60%	Bachelor's Degree, 69%
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 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.

Outside sales vs inside sales specialist salary

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

	Outside Sales	Inside Sales Specialist
Average salary	$77,292	$50,944
Salary range	Between $56,000 And $104,000	Between $34,000 And $75,000
Highest paying City	Arlington, VA	Seattle, WA
Highest paying state	New Hampshire	Washington
Best paying company	Morgan Stanley	Keller Williams Greater Seattle
Best paying industry	Manufacturing	Real Estate

Differences between outside sales and inside sales specialist education

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

	Outside Sales	Inside Sales Specialist
Most common degree	Bachelor's Degree, 60%	Bachelor's Degree, 69%
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 specialist demographics

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

	Outside Sales	Inside Sales Specialist
Average age	47	47
Gender ratio	Male, 78.3% Female, 21.7%	Male, 52.0% Female, 48.0%
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, 13.9% Asian, 5.1% White, 73.2% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.2%
LGBT Percentage	6%	6%

Differences between outside sales and inside sales specialist 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 specialist example 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.

Outside sales vs inside sales specialist skills

Common outside sales skills

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

Common inside sales specialist skills

Customer Service, 13%
CRM, 7%
Sales Process, 5%
Work Ethic, 5%
Product Knowledge, 5%
Outbound Calls, 4%

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Outside Sales
Outside Sales vs Inside Sales Specialist

Updated January 8, 2025

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