The topic of a recent piece I wrote for BTS, reflects the fact that the division of labor, specialization and ops research is making its way to sales–a function often enthrall of itself as more art than science.
Firms are shifting to inside sales because their customers want it—many buyers prefer to communicate over the phone and email, are used to handling meaningful business virtually, and don’t want the interruption of a sales rep coming to their workplace.
On the organizational side, through specialization and lack of unnecessary travel time, sales organizations see big productivity gains. Inside sales reps are able to spend a higher percentage of their time having meaningful selling conversations with customers, and any field reps that remain can focus on those buyers and deals that really do require face to face interactions and skip those that are unwarranted (or even unwanted).
Read the whole thing if you wonder how it’s different than the traditional inside/outside split, want to know what will happen to field reps, or want to do this for your own organization.