Inside sales
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Sales conducted remotely through phone, email, and video calls rather than in-person meetings.
Inside sales means selling remotely. The sales team works from an office (or home) and engages prospects through phone, email, video calls, and screen shares. No travel. No in-person meetings.
Inside sales became the dominant model for SaaS companies because the economics work. An inside sales rep can handle more accounts than a field rep because they spend zero time traveling. The cost per rep is lower. The sales cycle is shorter. The feedback loop is faster.
Most SaaS companies with deal sizes under $100k use inside sales exclusively. Above $100k, companies often blend inside and field sales. The initial discovery and demo happen remotely (inside sales). The final negotiation and closing happen in person (field sales) for the largest deals. This is a core motion in direct sales organizations.
Examples
An inside sales team runs a high-velocity model.
Each rep handles 100+ accounts. They conduct 5-8 demos per week via Zoom. Average deal size is $25k. Sales cycle is 30 days. The team closes 15 deals per month per rep.
A company shifts from field sales to inside sales.
Post-2020, the company realizes 80% of deals can close without an in-person meeting. They restructure: field reps become inside reps for standard deals. In-person meetings are reserved for deals above $250k. Travel budget drops 70%.
An inside sales rep uses multi-channel outreach.
The rep combines LinkedIn messages, personalized emails, and phone calls in a sequence. Day 1: LinkedIn connection request with a note. Day 3: email with a relevant case study. Day 5: phone call. The multi-channel approach gets a 12% meeting rate.
In practice
Read more on the blog
Frequently asked questions
What deal sizes work for inside sales?
Inside sales works well for deals up to $100k ACV. Some companies close $250k+ deals entirely through inside sales. The ceiling depends on the product complexity, buyer expectations, and competitive landscape.
What tools do inside sales teams use?
CRM (Salesforce or HubSpot), sales engagement platform (Outreach or SalesLoft), video conferencing (Zoom), conversational intelligence (Gong or Chorus), and LinkedIn Sales Navigator for prospecting.
Related terms
Sales conducted through in-person meetings, often involving travel to the customer's location for demos, negotiations, and relationship building.
Selling products directly from the company to end customers without intermediary partners or resellers.
A go-to-market strategy where the sales team drives customer acquisition through outbound prospecting, demos, and direct engagement.
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