What is an inside sales agent? When you become an inside sales agent, you’re either self-employed or work for a sales agency. You’ll also either be a captive agent, working for a single company, or an independent agent, representing several companies in a given territory and earning a commission based on your sales numbers. Like any other […]
What is an inside sales agent?
When you become an inside sales agent, you’re either self-employed or work for a sales agency. You’ll also either be a captive agent, working for a single company, or an independent agent, representing several companies in a given territory and earning a commission based on your sales numbers.
Like any other business owner, you’re responsible for all your own day-to-day expenses, e.g. sales enablement software, transportation, office equipment, business licenses, and fees. You’ll need to earn enough money to cover all of this plus save up for a vacation, retirement, insurance, and taxes.
As an inside sales agent, you’ll sign a contract that specifies the territory you’re allowed to work in. A territory can be both a geographical region and an industry (ex: organic food suppliers with less than 50 employees based in Houston, Texas). You’ll also typically sign a clause that prevents you from selling the products or services of competitors within the same territory.
Sales agent vs. sales representative
A sales rep works directly for a company and focuses solely on them, while a sales agent is an independent contractor and often represents multiple clients.
If you’re a sales rep, you work at the office of the company you represent. Being on-site ensures you always have direct access to managers and you’ll often be involved in decisions that affect the sales strategy. If you’re a sales agent, however, you’re not confined to any company’s property and instead get to work from home or your own paid office space. The downside is that as an independent contractor, you may be last to learn about changes in the strategy especially if the manager forgets to keep you informed, which could negatively impact your work.
What’s a typical day like for a sales agent?
Since you’re self-employed, your day looks a lot different from that of other sales personnel. But working from home doesn’t mean you get to sleep in every day; business owners wake up early and often have another couple hours of work to do once the rest of the family’s gone to bed.
Just ask your uber driver; anyone who’s self-employed knows it takes blood, sweat, and tears to run a business. Sometimes you end up putting in so much time that you forget to take care of yourself. That’s why a morning routine is essential.
Give yourself time to eat a healthy breakfast, work out, pray or meditate, and mentally prepare yourself for the day; this time is for you, not your clients. After that, you’ll go to your home office or co-working space and log into your computer. Agents need to make their own motivation, so you might begin by reading a motivational piece from Selling Power magazine, an article on Hubspot’s sales blog, or listening to a podcast like to get the latest advice and a winning mindset.
Client communication is a huge part of running a business; you want to make sure you understand your sales quota and prospecting strategy and are prepared with all the latest product information. It’s also a good idea to make sure all your key apps and devices are running smoothly and are updated before you begin.
IT issues (along with admin work) are one of the biggest time vampires for small business owners, and troubleshooting them yourself can quickly derail your productivity. There’s nothing more annoying than logging into a Google Hangout for an important meeting only to have your sloth of a computer tell you it needs to restart. Do yourself a favor: update your technology long before you need to use it.
Technology all ready to go, you’ll take a good look at your pipeline. If it needs fattening up, you’ll start making cold calls in your territory. Contact lists empty? Reach out to your agent friends and ask if they have any referrals or places you can find more opportunities. This is where being a sales agent really gets stressful.
Without leads, you don’t just fail to hit sales quota; you lose your ability to cover basic living expenses and build your emergency fund. Because, unlike a salaried employee, you won’t be able to fall back on unemployment benefits if you get sick or injured. But enough doom and gloom; when you factor these costs into your overall revenue goal and make a step-by-step plan to get there, you’ll find you can really run a successful business.
At the day’s end, you’ll review your numbers—how many calls, emails, and appointments you’ve made and how many deals you’ve closed. You’ll likely dedicate the final hour to your business, looking over your QuickBooks accounting app, CRM platform, updating your schedule, cleaning up your inbox and unnecessary files and making notes for tomorrow.
What makes a great sales agent?
A great sales agent has discipline. Since there’s no boss looking over your shoulders, you have to stay focused. Business coach, speaker, and sales trainer Brian Tracy writes that every successful business owner needs these 5 disciplines:
1. Market analysis: Surround yourself with industry experts and look for “negative thinkers”—people who see the flaws in your business plan and help you spot problems before you begin.
2. Business planning: You must complete each section of a business plan so every step is clear along the way, it shouldn’t be half-hearted. If necessary, hire a business plan research and writing service to help you with the document.
3. Money management: If you’re thinking of becoming a sales agent, you’ll first need six full months of operating costs in the bank. Once you start, you’ll need to continually track and monitor your expenses and know where and when to cut costs.
4. Negotiation: Study how to negotiate, then practice, practice, practice. An inside sales agent will definitely have times when they need to secure a bigger contract from prospects or even for themselves as business owners.
5. Resilience: Finally, you need the ability to bounce back from setbacks and disappointments that will come at you every day when building your business.
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