What Are Outside Sales?
Key takeaways
– Outside sales (a.k.a. field sales) are carried out by salespeople who meet prospects and customers face‑to‑face in the field rather than primarily working from an office.
– Outside sales generally require travel, flexible scheduling and strong relationship skills; they’re commonly used for complex or high‑value deals.
– Outside sales forces are more expensive to maintain (travel, lodging, entertainment, commissions) but often generate larger deals and historically earn more per rep than inside sales reps (Investopedia: outside sales out‑earn inside sales by roughly 12–18%).
– Many organizations now use hybrid models that combine inside and outside selling to reduce costs while preserving the benefits of in‑person interaction.
Source: Investopedia (https://www.investopedia.com/terms/o/outside-sales.asp)
1. Understanding outside sales
Outside sales are sales activities conducted primarily outside the employer’s office—meeting prospects and customers in person at their locations, at events, or in neutral settings. Field reps usually manage their own calendars and travel and must be prepared to adapt to schedule changes and to present professionally in any setting. Because outside sales emphasize in‑person relationship building, they are commonly used when selling complex solutions, high‑value products, or when buyer stakeholders require face‑to‑face meetings (for example, enterprise software, industrial equipment, or large B2B services).
2. Outside sales vs. inside sales
– Environment: Outside sales = fieldwork, varied schedule, travel. Inside sales = office or remote, scheduled hours, phone/email/video focused.
– Interaction depth: Outside sales = fewer interactions, deeper strategic conversations (often with C‑level/decision makers). Inside sales = higher volume of interactions, transactional or qualification oriented.
– Deal size and complexity: Outside sales typically handle larger, more complex deals; inside sales handle smaller or earlier‑stage opportunities.
– Cost and compensation: Field sales cost more (travel, housing, entertainment) and are often commission‑heavy; however, outside reps tend to earn more on average per rep.
– Trend: Many organizations are moving to hybrid models—using inside reps to qualify leads and outside reps for in‑person closing when necessary—to control costs while maintaining effectiveness.
3. When to use outside sales
– Deals are high‑value or complex and require in‑person negotiation, demos, or installations.
– Decision processes are strategic and involve senior executives.
– The industry norm expects face‑to‑face meetings (e.g., construction, medical devices, enterprise hardware).
– Relationship maintenance and local presence are important for retention or upsell.
4. Building and managing an outside sales team — practical steps for leaders
a) Define roles and coverage model
– Decide territory boundaries (geographic, vertical, account‑based).
– Clarify responsibilities for prospecting vs. account management; define how inside and outside teams will hand off leads.
b) Recruit and hire for field skills
– Prioritize relationship building, self‑management, travel tolerance, presentation skills, and strategic selling experience.
– Use role plays and scenario interviews to test in‑person selling aptitude.
c) Train and onboard
– Provide product/solution training, objection handling, negotiation practice, and customer‑site demo training.
– Train on expense policies, travel safety, CRM usage, and legal/compliance rules.
d) Equip and enable
– Provide a mobile CRM, calendar/route planning, digital proposal and demo tools, and remote demo hardware when needed.
– Offer expense card, travel booking support, and standardized presentation kits.
e) Travel and expense policy
– Create clear guidelines for reimbursement, per diems, allowable entertainment, and approval workflows to control costs.
f) Compensation and incentives
– Combine base salary with commissions tied to revenue, margin, or strategic KPIs (e.g., new logo acquisition). Consider accelerators for over‑achievement and territory performance bonuses. Ensure OTE (on‑target earnings) aligns to market and cost structure.
g) Performance measurement
– Track revenue per rep, average deal size, sales cycle length, win rate, pipeline coverage, CAC, and ROI of field activities. Use these metrics to reassess territory design and investment.
h) Safety, compliance and legal
– Maintain protocols for travel safety, data protection when working on client sites, and compliance with local labour and expense laws. Document everything.
5. Practical steps for an outside sales rep
– Plan territories and routes weekly to minimize travel time and maximize face time. Use calendar blocks for travel, meetings, and admin.
– Pre‑meeting preparation: research company and stakeholders, set meeting objectives, prepare customized materials and demos.
– Focus on value conversations: prioritize strategic issues, ROI, implementation concerns—be ready to speak with technical and executive stakeholders.
– Manage follow‑ups effectively: log interactions in CRM immediately, summarize next steps, and send meeting recaps with clear deliverables and timelines.
– Expense discipline: follow company policy, keep receipts and quick notes for each expense, and submit promptly.
– Network and prospect: combine account work with local networking (events, trade shows, referrals) to keep funnel healthy.
– Self‑care and time management: block time for admin tasks, rest, and training to avoid burnout from travel demands.
6. Technology and tools that help outside sales
– Mobile CRM (Salesforce, HubSpot mobile, etc.) for logging activity and pipeline management.
– Calendar and route optimization apps (Google Maps, Badger Maps, Route4Me).
– Presentation and demo tools (tablets with interactive decks, cloud demos, remote screen‑share backups).
– Expense/travel management tools (Concur, Expensify) for fast reimbursement.
– Communication tools for hybrid coordination (Slack, Teams, Zoom).
7. Measuring ROI and managing costs
– Compare total cost per rep (salary, benefits, travel, entertainment) to revenue and gross margin per rep.
– Monitor deal size and customer lifetime value (LTV) to justify higher field costs.
– Use hybrid models where inside reps handle qualification and lighter accounts while field reps focus on strategic, high‑value opportunities. This often optimizes cost without sacrificing large deals: Investopedia notes a trend to hire many more inside reps per outside rep (an estimate: ~10 inside for every 1 outside), reflecting cost‑efficiency of inside selling while preserving field capability for key opportunities.
8. Best practices and common pitfalls
Best practices:
– Align field activities to measurable business objectives (new revenue, renewals, enterprise deals).
– Use data to justify territories and travel budgets.
– Create tight handoffs between inside and outside teams.
– Standardize expense and travel policies to control costs.
Pitfalls:
– Overinvesting in field coverage for low‑value accounts.
– Poor CRM hygiene—loss of visibility into field activity hurts forecasting and scaling.
– Neglecting ongoing training and enablement (product or negotiation skills degrade over time).
9. Example checklist — launching an outside sales pilot
– Define target segments and ideal customer profile (ICP).
– Set measurable objectives (e.g., 20 enterprise deals in 12 months).
– Hire 1–3 experienced field reps and give them 90‑day ramp goals.
– Equip with CRM, travel expense tools, and standardized sales materials.
– Establish reporting cadence (weekly pipeline reviews, monthly KPI analysis).
– After 6–12 months, measure cost per closed deal, average deal size, win rate, and compare to inside/hybrid alternatives. Adjust model accordingly.
10. Final considerations
Outside sales remain essential where in‑person relationships drive trust, complex decision making, or large contract value. However, because they are costlier than inside sales, companies should intentionally design when and how field selling is used—often via hybrid strategies that use inside sellers to build pipeline and field sellers to close strategic opportunities. Measure costs and outcomes tightly so outside sales investments demonstrably move revenue and margin.
Source
Investopedia: “Outside Sales” — https://www.investopedia.com/terms/o/outside-sales.asp
Editor’s note: The following topics are reserved for upcoming updates and will be expanded with detailed examples and datasets.