Inbound vs outbound sales tactics

Maximizing the conversions out of your available and potential pool of leads is never easy. Despite all the efforts, some companies are still in a dilemma about which sales tactics are better. The problem is, choosing the right approach is not necessarily a matter of inbound vs outbound sales tactics. It’s a matter of finding the right balance and making both sides collaborate. With a smart allocation of resources and time, the chance for success in closing sales will greatly increase. Basically, when you want your business to flourish, knowing the differences and benefits of both tactics is fundamental.

Pros and cons of inbound vs outbound sales tactics

Sales representatives are spending the majority of their time actively searching for prospects. And, approximately, only one-third of the actual time is spent on active conversations and selling. While the numbers might slightly differ, depending on your sales tactics, this seems not effective enough. Many use the brute-force approach and increase the number of outbound calls per day. But that does not always give the desired nor proper results. On the other side, you can use smart tools like the ConvertMore widget to better utilize your inbound tactics. As many times proved, marketing automation can significantly increase the number of quality leads.

However, to help you better understand the differences and decide what to prefer, we’ll explain some of the pros and cons of both sales tactics.

What are Inbound Sales?

In essence, the result of inbound sales is that potential customers are reaching out to you. Simply put, when people find a product or service they are interested in, they call you. This can be an exceptionally good direction to follow since customers are ready to listen to your sales pitch. It’s a modern and technologically advanced sales tactic to boost web lead conversion, among others. Most of all, because it’s nonintrusive and provides a better chance to build quality connections with your prospects.

The most common channels used in inbound sales are:

• SEO strategizing
• Social Media advertising
• Content creation
• Email marketing
• Paid ads

Considering the time we live in, everything has to be visible online. So, it’s no wonder that inbound sales focus on online marketing channels. You create quality content, present your offer, and work on improvements while attracting potential customers along the way.

Pros of inbound sales tactics

• Increases your online visibility – since it focuses on online marketing, inbound marketing boosts your brand awareness. People who want to get in touch to talk about your services, won’t find it hard to share a positive word online when they are satisfied. Just make sure you offer a solid customer experience since it can go in the other direction as well.
• Generates more quality leads – All leads are different. However, inbound sales don’t dwell in assumptions. With prospects contacting you, you are already one step ahead of cold contacting outbound sales use. With this in mind, the percentage of quality leads you are acquiring from inbound sales tactics are of higher quality.
• Earns your business higher engagement – by default, inbound sales have high customer engagement. No wonder since, for the most part, it’s utilizing personalized content. The type of content your callers want to talk about.
• Helps you build lasting relationships – with proper content, you can focus on offering solutions to your customers’ needs. In addition to products or services you offer, this may include instructions, guidelines, and similarly oriented content. This way, people will be more inclined to choose your business in the future. Plus, it can also help you increase the percentage of retaining customers.

Cons of inbound sales tactics

While inbound tactics are great for gathering a pool of loyal customers, there are a few eventual cons. One of the most common is its dependency on quality content. If for any reason, you are not offering good enough content, the initial number of calls will be below expectations.

Another problem is when both inbound and outbound sales teams are following their own agenda. If they are not properly synchronized, your overall sales will suffer. Finally, it’s not always easy to hit the right time to get back in touch with your prospects. Even though they contact you initially, you may miss the window of opportunity to get back to them when it suits them. Fortunately, you can choose some of the conversion rate optimization software to make schedules and appointments at the right time.

What are Outbound Sales?

Almost everyone has been in a situation to answer the unexpected call with the random seller on the other side. This, typically regarded as the “Cold contacts”, is one of the most traditional sales strategies. In other words, the outbound sales tactic includes calling potential customers even though they are not previously showing interest.

For years, this has been one of the major sales strategies. Just remember those door-to-door salesmen. At least, before the internet. And since it has strong roots in the past, many companies are still blindly reaching out to people up to this day. However, not only it hasn’t changed much today, it’s only expanding on other channels, like:

• Online calls
• Phone calls
• Cold mailing
• Social Media advertising
• Television, newspapers, and other media

Frankly, surprisingly or not, it still has its use in the sales process. By adjusting to modern times and various channels, it can still get a satisfying number of quality leads. However, it’s often not so consistent as it used to be.

Pros of outbound sales tactics

• Helps you target new prospects – while in most cases it’s either hit or miss, outbound sales are a good way to get people who are not aware of your existence. Demographically, there are still groups that don’t closely follow “modern” media and rely on traditional advertising.
• Simple to implement – it’s one of the easiest tactics to implement for your sales. It only requires a list of potential prospects, and representatives may start reaching out. Also, you don’t have to only call people, you can send them mail, or reach them through other means.
• Effective where it counts – while the percentage of sales this way is not high, they are quite fast and provide almost immediate results.

Cons of outbound sales tactics

If you think traditional sales tactics will work for you, get familiar with some of its downsides.

First, outbound sales tactics can be counter-productive. There is a thin line between tolerance and annoyance when you call your prospects out of the blue. Many people will be fine with one call, or two, but if you push it aggressively, it will easily irritate those prospects. Consequently, this may affect your reputation. Especially if you are over-reaching your online potential. People may block you, ignore your brand entirely, or even share their negative experiences with others.

Another drawback is that outbound sales tactics are far from being a sustainable source of conversions. There is no guarantee you will close the deal, no matter how many outreaches you do. Especially if you haven’t invested additional efforts in the proper training of your representatives.

Finally, technological advancement favors inbound tactics. With so many CRM systems and creative software solutions, inbound sales are clearly an advantage. There are little to no similar solutions for outbound teams.

The final verdict

While inbound sales tactics have considerable advantages, it doesn’t mean outbound is deemed to failure. When wondering about Inbound vs outbound sales tactics, probably the best option is to utilize them both. However, you will have to make sure to establish clear goals for both sides; Have them work closely on key points of interest; Assign them with proper roles, and synchronize their work. By aligning their goals and with the implementation of proper tools, you will be able to close more deals in the future.