Inside vs Outside Sales
Sales are the process of providing goods and services in return for a monetary rectification or compensation. It can be indirect such as the case in mail order sales which involve human mediation but the contact is indirect. It can also be direct such as those that involve person-to-person contact.
A sale also involves sales agents such as brokers, seller agents, and salesmen, or salespeople. They are the providers that complete the sale when both the buyer and the seller have agreed upon the price, and the buyer pays for the item or the service.
A sales agent has two choices; to work in inside sales or to work in outside sales. The most common form of sales is the inside sale. Buyers often go to the place of business to get what they need; they are the ones who do the traveling instead of the sales agent.
Inside sales usually have fixed working hours. Businesses open and close at very specific periods of time, and sales agents are required to come before opening time and can leave only after the business has closed. The only time that they can leave during business hours is at their lunch break.
The transactions are most often done without appointments as long as the buyers come during business hours. Sales agents are paid a fixed hourly wage depending on their positions in the company.
In outside sales, agents need to get appointments with buyers or customers before they go to their house or place of business. He or she sees customers only during the time that they feel is convenient. Outside sales agents go wherever the customers are no matter how far they are located.
Sales agents that work in outside sales have flexible hours. They do not have fixed schedules even if their main offices do. They only get to work according to their appointments with customers so they are free to allocate their time to other matters when there is little work to do.
In terms of salary and compensation, outside sales agents have an unpredictable level of income because they are paid on a commission basis. Their income depends on the amount of sales that they have completed. A hardworking outside sales agent will have a chance to earn more than his inside sales counterpart who has a fixed salary, or he can earn less if he does not put extra effort in to make a sale.
Summary:
1.Inside sales are done at the seller’s place of business while outside sales are done at the customer’s house or place of business.
2.Inside sales agents only travel from home to work and back while outside sales agents often travel to different places.
3.Insides sales agents have fixed working hours and schedules while outside sales agents have flexible working hours.
4.In outside sales, business is done by appointment and at the convenience of the customer while in inside sales, the customers can come to the business establishment any time during business hours.
5.Inside sales agents have a fixed and stable salary or income while outside sales agents are paid on a commission basis.