Field (or outdoor) sales are among the most challenging of all sales roles. This kind of sales strategy deals with reps coming face to face with their prospective clients and target audience. In most cases, field reps are found spending a major part of their work time traveling from one place to another in the sales territory allocated to them. In the paras that follow, you’ll get a fair idea about the role and responsibilities of successful outdoor sales reps and why they’re becoming indispensable for businesses globally.
Outside Sales Reps – Who Are They?
Field salespeople are responsible for managing the existing and new customers belonging to the sales territory assigned to them. Unlike the inside sales personnel, who are responsible for managing customer relationships in-house, these salespeople travel to meet their prospects in person. Generally, the meetings with prospects are held in their offices. Occasionally, the meetings may be organized at conferences, trade shows, as well as other types of industry-specific events.
Skills of Outside Sales Personnel
According to recent surveys and research reports, there are certain common skills found in most field sales people. These include and are not restricted to new business development, customer relations, account sales, account management, and so forth. If the sales rep is technically sound and possesses industry-specific skills, then his or her salary can increase to an appreciable extent. On the other hand, knowledge of strategic selling skills and business development can convert to an earnings boost of 10-24%.
How Do Field Sales Apps Help?
The inside sales reps are responsible for selling products that have shorter and simpler life cycles. In general, they have to deal with voluminous transactions that are of a fairly large scale. On the other hand, the field sales reps go through more complex and longer sales processes. While the inside salespeople have tools like email, phone, and virtual meetings to rely upon in their interactions with customers and buyers, outside reps rely on apps such as the one featured on https://www.salesrabbit.com/features/lead-tracker to drive their sales. These sales reps are found using phone and email for setting up appointments as well as in-person meetings. Such apps come in handy and help them qualify, present value, identify needs, and negotiate with the prospects they meet face-to-face.
Outside and Inside Sales Act Together
There’s a very fine line between outside and inside sales. They are rarely mutually exclusive. You’ll find quite a few companies adopting a mixed approach when it comes to inside and outside sales. The inside sales personnel team prospect the leads and qualify them. The prospects that fit the bill are handed over to the outside sales representatives who take over the deal to the finishing line.
Must Read: How To Speed Up Your Sales Cycle
Get a Field Sales App
If you’re looking for more effective ways of handling your field sales then it would help to get an app to convert your leads into customers. Scour the features and benefits of the apps that relate well to your line of business before taking a call. Gear up to take your sales to the next levels, right away.