Inside sales team
The team that works inbound calls, web leads and text follow-up by phone, with the goal of setting appointments or closing the sale remotely.
Use this definition in team training or when clarifying a sales note.
Definition
An inside sales team works the phones, the web leads and the text threads rather than meeting customers in person. On some teams it is a separate group with its own manager. On others it is a role reps rotate through, or a few people who set appointments for the reps who run them.
Its manager owns the digital side of the sale: web inquiries, marketplace leads, chat and text follow-up, response time, message quality and the handoff to whoever runs the meeting. When the team sets appointments for others, it is usually measured on appointments set, confirmed and shown rather than on deals won, because the handoff happens before the sale does.
Why it matters
This team is where most paid leads are either turned into a conversation or quietly lost. Whether it is a department or a set of duties, someone has to own the answer rate, the ask, the follow-up and the speed and substance of the first reply to a web lead, or leads that cost real money go unworked while a competitor answers first.