Outside sales person vs inside sales specialist

The differences between outside sales people 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 person and an inside sales specialist. Additionally, an outside sales person has an average salary of $70,621, which is higher than the $50,944 average annual salary of an inside sales specialist.

The top three skills for an outside sales person include customer service, plumbing and sales orders. The most important skills for an inside sales specialist are customer service, CRM, and sales process.

Outside sales person vs inside sales specialist overview

	Outside Sales Person	Inside Sales Specialist
Yearly salary	$70,621	$50,944
Hourly rate	$33.95	$24.49
Growth rate	4%	4%
Number of jobs	145,342	251,423
Job satisfaction	-	-
Most common degree	Bachelor's Degree, 55%	Bachelor's Degree, 69%
Average age	47	47
Years of experience	4	4

Outside sales person vs inside sales specialist salary

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

	Outside Sales Person	Inside Sales Specialist
Average salary	$70,621	$50,944
Salary range	Between $43,000 And $113,000	Between $34,000 And $75,000
Highest paying City	-	Seattle, WA
Highest paying state	-	Washington
Best paying company	-	Keller Williams Greater Seattle
Best paying industry	-	Real Estate

Differences between outside sales person and inside sales specialist education

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

	Outside Sales Person	Inside Sales Specialist
Most common degree	Bachelor's Degree, 55%	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 person vs inside sales specialist demographics

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

	Outside Sales Person	Inside Sales Specialist
Average age	47	47
Gender ratio	Male, 89.6% Female, 10.4%	Male, 52.0% Female, 48.0%
Race ratio	Black or African American, 4.1% Unknown, 3.7% Hispanic or Latino, 14.1% Asian, 5.2% White, 72.6% 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 person and inside sales specialist duties and responsibilities

Outside sales person example responsibilities.

Manage and create all content distribute via various social media outlets: Facebook, twitter, feedback blogs, etc.
Perform inside sales, including telemarketing, prospecting, account penetration and product application, consulting and delivery of customer service.
Create a zip code analysis tool to identify Medicaid recipients' target areas for strategic marketing penetration.

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 person vs inside sales specialist skills

Common outside sales person skills

Customer Service, 31%
Plumbing, 10%
Sales Orders, 8%
Gross Profit, 7%
Product Knowledge, 7%
Product Line, 7%

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 Person
Outside Sales Person vs Inside Sales Specialist

Updated January 8, 2025

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