A customer calls inside sales with a question about a quote. Inside sales does not know what the account manager agreed and promises to call back. The account manager is on the road and only sees the message in the evening. The next day the customer calls again, now a little less friendly. Everyone did their best. It just was not clear who does what. In this article you read how to make the division of tasks between inside sales and field sales clear, and how to prevent the customer from falling through the cracks.
Why the division of roles between inside sales and field sales often stays vague
In many SMBs, inside sales grew out of order processing. The tasks came along by themselves: typing quotes, calling customers back, checking deliveries. Field sales did the rest. As long as the team is small, that works. When it grows, gaps and double work appear.
You see the result at the customer. He does not know who to call, hears two different answers, or has to tell his story twice.
It also starts to grate within the team. Inside sales sometimes feels like the secretariat of field sales. Field sales has the feeling that its customers are being called behind its back. Mostly it is not about the people. It is about agreements that were never made.
Describe roles, not people
Do not start with who is on the team, but with which roles you need. A role is a set of responsibilities. One person can hold two roles, and two people can share the same role. Per role you capture three things:
- The goal. In one sentence: what is this role for? For example: "Inside sales makes sure every customer question is answered within one working day."
- The target groups. For which customers or prospects is this role the first point of contact?
- The phases. In which phases of the sales process does this role take the lead?
A division of tasks that often works
There is no division that is right for everyone. An example that is a good start for many B2B companies:
- Field sales. First point of contact for A customers and A prospects. Leads in the phases analyze, proposal and decision. Visits, advises and negotiates.
- Inside sales. First point of contact for C customers and for open orders of everyone. Writes standard quotes, follows them up and schedules appointments for field sales.
- B customers. Shared, with a fixed agreement: inside sales calls according to the contact cadence, field sales comes in for an opportunity or a complaint.
The most important thing is not which division you choose, but that there is one that everyone knows, including the customer.
Inside sales as a commercial role
I come across this often: inside sales is seen as support. They do what is left over. That leaves a lot on the table. Inside sales often speaks to customers more than field sales does. They hear what is going on, what is going wrong and where a customer is hesitating.
So you can give inside sales a commercial goal of its own. Think of calling C customers on a fixed cadence, following up standard quotes, or calling back lost prospects after a few months. Then also capture when inside sales passes an opportunity to field sales. For example: "A request above a certain amount, or a question about a new product group, goes to the account manager within a day."
The handover is where it goes wrong
Every place where a customer moves from one role to another is a handover. That is where information gets lost. Capture per handover what has to be passed on at minimum. An example for the handover from field sales to inside sales after a visit:
- Agreements. What was discussed and promised?
- Expectation. When does the customer expect something from us, and what?
- Contacts. Who decides at the customer, and who is the day-to-day contact?
Keep it short. Three questions that are always answered are worth more than a two-page form that is half filled in.
A fictional example
A wholesaler in building materials has two account managers and three people in inside sales. For a week, the team keeps track of every phone call: who should have picked this up?
The picture: many questions about open orders went to the account managers, because customers had their mobile numbers. At the same time, inside sales sometimes called A customers about an offer, without knowing that the account manager had just had a conversation about it.
They make three agreements. Questions about open orders always go to inside sales, and the account manager kindly refers customers there. A customers are only called by inside sales after a heads-up from the account manager. And after every visit, the account manager puts the three handover points in the CRM the same day. After a few weeks, inside sales calls back less often with "let me look into that".
Common mistakes
Agreeing the division only internally. If the customer does not know who his contact is, he calls the person he knows. Tell the customer, and put it in the order confirmation or the email signature.
Writing roles around the current people. Then it holds until someone leaves or goes on holiday. Write the role, and then look at who fills it.
No agreement about the boundary. "Inside sales does small quotes" cannot be carried out. What is small? Set an amount, a product group or a customer class.
No goals of their own for inside sales. Whoever has no goal becomes the safety net for everything. That is not fair to inside sales, and it wastes what they can do.
Deciding together
Do not write the division of roles alone at your desk. Put inside sales and field sales around the table for an hour and walk through three recent customer situations. Where did it go well, where did something fall between two stools? What surfaces there is the input for the role description.
Then ask three questions per role: what do you do, who do you do it for, and when do you pass it on? Write the answers on one sheet of paper. Hang it next to the phone, discuss it again after a month and adjust what does not work.
Frequently asked questions
What is the difference between inside sales and field sales?
Field sales visits customers and prospects and holds the conversations that much depends on. Inside sales works from the office: quotes, orders, follow-up by phone and often a group of customers of its own. The exact boundary differs per company, and you set it yourself.
Which customers do you give to inside sales?
Often the C customers, and the open orders of all customers. B customers can be shared with a fixed agreement about who calls when. Use your account matrix as the basis, and nobody has to hesitate per customer.
How do you improve the cooperation between inside sales and field sales?
Start with three things: a clear role description, fixed handover moments with a few fixed questions, and a short weekly meeting where both roles sit at the table. Discuss situations, not people.
Capturing it
Capture the roles in the building block Roles of building layer 5, with the goal, the target groups and the phases for each role. The tasks and competencies per role belong in Job profiles; how to build those from your own method is explained at creating a job profile for sales. The handovers themselves go in Handovers of building layer 2, and who calls which customers in Contact cadence of building layer 4. Change a role, and you see which activities, meetings and KPIs need another look.