Sales techniques have come a long way since the days of cold calling and door-to-door sales. Inbound vs outbound sales is a debate that has been around for awhile, but there’s no clear consensus on which one is more effective. Personally, I’ve found that a combination of both outbound and inbound sales techniques works best for me.

But your mileage may vary – it all depends on what you’re selling and who your target market is. This article compares inbound vs outbound sales giving the significance of each in sales organizations.

What Is Inbound Sales?

Inbound selling is a technique that encourages customers to contact you. These are considered “gentler” than “outgoing” or “cold” approaches.

You’re no average ice-cream man.

Your customers include local stores, restaurants and businesses who want to treat their customers to an ice cream party. You provide the treats needed to make their events successful.

Wow, selling icecream to businesses is an admirable profession.

Next, you need a good strategy for not ending up with unsold inventory in the back of your delivery truck.

There’s nothing more disappointing than when your ice cream melts before you have a chance to eat it.

How will you approach sales? Will you reach out to them, or will you wait for them to call you?

That sums up the difference between inbound marketing and outbound marketing.

Inbound and Outbound sales methods are essential to any businesses success. 

Inbound Sales: How It Works

The goal of inbound marketing is to draw in potential customers that are in need of a solution. Think of it as a magnetic force: you’re not actively seeking out clients—they come to you when they feel they’re close enough to you.

Inbound marketing strategies includes techniques such as SEO, content creation, and online education.

In inbound marketing, it isn’t just about getting traffic. The strategy helps you attract the right type of customer.

Inbound Sales: Pros and Cons

Inbound sales are a solid investment, as once you’ve established a proper system, your customers should find gathering with very little extra effort.

Updating your web content regularly is important, but such maintenance is minor.

Our ice-cream delivery company could create a web series called “The Top Five Ice Cream Flavors”. This would help attract customers by associating our brand name with something they really enjoy.

While there is no sales pitch, content marketing creates brand awareness and a positive association with your company.

This sales video will never go stale, and you can use it for as long as you like.

One of the major advantages of inbound marketing is that it’s relatively inexpensive. Creating content and optimizing it doesn’t require a huge budget, which is ideal for new businesses or those with a limited budget.

But, like anything, there are pros and cons to using inbound marketing. One of the downsides is the higher rate of failure.

If our ice-cream business only provides boring, bland, and uninteresting resources, then no one will share them, and our customers won’t ever know about us.

Poorly executed outbound marketing tactics could not only cost you a potential lead—they could turn them off.

If our videos aren’t high quality, it might make customers think we’re less professional. Bad lighting and bad scripts could lead people to think we’re not very professional.

No one likes to do business with a company who isn’t professional.

In inbound marketing, it’s all about building up your reputation as a reliable business. Use these techniques to show people that you’re worth doing business with.

Inbound Sales Techniques

Inbound marketing is all about identifying your ideal customer, creating content that appeals to them, and providing them with a place to meet. Once you have identified your audience, you can attract them using search engine optimization. You can also offer valuable, free education through things like podcasts and webinars that are hosted by you.

If you want to be successful in inbound sales, always remember to provide value. By doing this, you will capture the attention of potential customers and build trust with them, which will eventually lead to sales.

What Is Outbound Sales?

Outbound sales are about going to your customers instead of waiting for them to come to you.

How does it work?

Outbound sales teams can either be internal to the company, or they can be outsourced to an outside company.

A sales representative contacts a lead, typically via phone, email, or text message. The term “cold” comes from the lead not knowing the representative.

If we contacted local business owners and offered to sell them our delicious frozen treats, that would be an example of an outgoing sale.

Outbound Sales: Pros and Cons

Outbound sales work. Companies know this, which is why they invest in them.

Having a dedicated sales team can be an incredibly profitable venture.

Outbound sales team has the advantage of being able to target their approach more specifically. This can lead to a higher rate of success in qualifying leads and making sales to customers who are ready to buy. Inbound sales may be more general, making it difficult to identify serious buyers from those who are just beginning their research.

Outbound sales is a great way to focus your selling efforts.

One of the downsides of in-house salespeople is the cost. If you hire too many or don’t properly estimate demand, this can become an issue. Be sure to carefully plan your hiring and scaling strategy.

Make sure to scale up your operations as you grow.

Outbound Sales Techniques

Most businesses depend on some form of Outbound Marketing to generate leads. For instance, an Ice Cream Outbound Team might start by making phone calls to local businesses, offering them free samples of their product.

Another popular form of Outbound is email marketing, where sales reps send emails to prospective customers, promoting their product or service. Finally, many businesses utilize In-person (or face-to-face) interactions, such as at Trade Shows or Conferences, to show their products to potential consumers.

Inbound vs Outbound Sales: The Difference

Most salespeople start selling their product right away, but why do they do it?

While 50% of buyers prefer to be pitched by sellers, only 10% of sales people actually pitch their offerings to potential buyers.

So, there must be some difference between these two groups.

There are two kinds of people: those who are interested in what you’re offering, and those who are not. It’s important that you adjust your sales pitch to each person’s level of interest.

Let’s define the difference between these two terms.

In outbound selling, you reach out to potential customers who have not yet expressed an interest in your products or services. In inbound, you respond to people who have already shown interest in what you have to offer.

Here are some things to keep in mind for each: For Outbound: 1. Make sure your offering is strong enough that people will want to hear more. 2. Tailor your approach to each potential client, as generic pitches are more likely to fall flat. 3. Keep following up, as it can take multiple attempts to get a response.

For Inbound: 1. Be responsive to people who contact you. 2. Take time to build rapport with potential clients. 3. Make sure you’re providing something of value to your audience.

Outbound sales are when a salesperson reaches out to a prospect. Inbound is when a customer contacts you.

When you contact an interested lead, they are most likely already considering making a change in their current situation. You can take advantage of this by positioning your solution as the best one to meet their needs. If you do this effectively, you should be able to move to the next step, which is presenting a proposal.

Your job as an inbound marketing specialist is to show your prospects how your business has the best solution for their particular needs. By doing this, you can move onto proposal and, ideally, to a contract.

However, you contacted them. Since it was you who reached out, it’s your job to build trust and establish if there are needs for your product or service.

The first step in any outbound sales process is to establish trust with the prospect. This can be done by asking questions about their needs and challenges. Once you have established trust, you can then move on to demonstrating your products or services.

Rather than trying to sell a product, try to first uncover what the customer’s goals are, what their biggest pain points are, and consequences of failing to solve their problem. This will help you build motivation within the prospect to make a change.

To be successful sales professionals, you should avoid using “seller centric” techniques, such as pushing your product and its benefits. Rather, you should instead use “customer centric” techniques such as asking questions to uncover your buyer’s needs, goals and potential consequences. By understanding your buyers’ needs and how your solution can help, you’ll be able to better position your offering.

The best way to show that you’re interested in a prospect’s situation is by asking them questions. By asking these questions, you can better understand their needs and how your product or services can help.

How do you choose between Outbound and Inbound Sales?

We have learned the differences between Outbound and Inbound sales. Now we will look at how to choose the right strategy using the following pointers.

Know your Prospects Buyer Persona

Outbound and inbound sales have different buyer personas. Many people enjoy interacting with company personnel before purchasing a product. Others prefer to do their research on their own before purchasing.

If your prospects enjoy interacting with company associates then outbound sales tactics are best for them.

Analyze the digital knowledge of your Prospect

People love to read reviews and other specifications before purchasing anything online. Some people may not have the digital skills to consult an expert before purchasing anything.

These situations are where the salesperson can offer expert advice to sales prospects and close the deal. The inbound sales team is able to help with the latter type.

The purchase decision will be made for a period of time.

Outbound sales techniques are best if your product makes prospects think too hard before they buy.

If your product is of high value, the same thing happens. These cases can lead to confusion in buying decisions by the prospect and may bounce back to the inbound sales techniques.

Outbound sales representatives can then influence the customer by explaining the benefits and helping to make the right buying decision.

For example, outbound sales can be more effective than inbound for selling real estate properties. Inbound sales are also more effective when selling SaaS products.

Mix the right mix of outbound and inbound sales strategies

It is always a debate topic to discuss which strategy is best for your industry. Both are ineffective if they are not used together.

All small and medium-sized industries can use cold emails with an inbound sales strategy. It is a good idea to reach out directly to prospects and educate them about the problem.

A combination of both will eventually help you generate revenue and increase your brand awareness.

Summary

There’s no clear winner when it comes to inbound vs outbound sales. It all depends on what you’re selling and who your target market is. If you’re not sure which one will work better for you, try using a combination of both techniques and see what gets the best results. 

Inbound sales is the process of a company selling products or services to customers who come to the company on their own, without the company having to actively seek them out.

This might happen, for example, if a customer sees an ad for a product and then goes to the company’s website to buy it.

Outbound sales is the opposite: it’s when a company actively seeks out customers, usually through things like cold-calling or emailing lists of potential leads.