Short answer: Inside sales sells remotely, by phone, email, video and LinkedIn. Outside sales, also called field sales, sells in person, at the buyer’s office or at events. Inside sales runs more deals per rep at a lower cost per deal; outside sales spends more time and money on fewer, larger deals. Most B2B SaaS companies should build inside sales first and add field sellers only for accounts big enough that being in the room changes the result.
Inside sales vs outside sales at a glance
| Inside sales | Outside sales (field sales) | |
|---|---|---|
| Where the rep works | Office or home | On the road, in a territory |
| How they sell | Phone, email, video calls, LinkedIn, product demos on screen | Meetings at the buyer’s office or site, events, workshops, dinners |
| Deals per rep at a time | Many | Few |
| Typical deal | Smaller to mid-sized, shorter cycle | Large, complex, many stakeholders |
| Costs beyond pay | Software: CRM, dialer, sequencing, video | Software plus travel, hotels, meals and event costs |
| Common SaaS titles | SDR, BDR, inside account executive | Field account executive, enterprise account executive, regional sales manager |
| What they are measured on | Activity, meetings, pipeline, closed revenue | Closed revenue, deal size, account growth in the territory |
| Main risk | Buyers ignore yet another email or call | High cost per deal; time lost to travel |
The US Bureau of Labor Statistics describes the split in its occupational guide for sales representatives: inside sales representatives “work mostly in offices,” while some representatives “have large territories and travel considerably.”
What does an inside sales rep do?
An inside rep runs the sale without leaving their desk. In a B2B SaaS team, the job usually splits in two:
- SDRs and BDRs start conversations. SDRs often qualify inbound leads, and BDRs prospect outbound. Our SDR guide covers the role, pay and ramp.
- Inside account executives run discovery calls, screen-share demos, send proposals and close, usually by video and email.
The model fits SaaS because the product can be shown on a screen and bought online. A rep can hold several calls a day, and a buyer in another time zone costs the same to reach as one across the street.
What does an outside sales rep do?
An outside rep owns a territory or a list of large accounts and meets them in person. A typical week mixes travel to client offices, workshops with buying committees, executive dinners and trade shows, with the paperwork done from hotels and airports.
In SaaS, outside sales usually appears as the enterprise or field account executive. These reps still do most of their work by video and email. They travel for the moments that matter most in a big deal: the first meeting with an executive sponsor, a workshop with the full buying group, and the final negotiation.
How do pay and costs compare?
Public US data does not split pay by inside and outside. The closest benchmarks:
| Role | Median pay | Source |
|---|---|---|
| Wholesale and manufacturing sales representatives, all | $76,460 a year (May 2025) | BLS |
| Same, technical and scientific products | $104,920 a year (May 2025) | BLS |
| SDRs in B2B companies | $80,000 on-target earnings, about $55,000 base and $25,000 variable | Bridge Group 2025 |
The Bridge Group’s 2025 report also puts average SDR ramp at 3.0 months, so a new inside hire needs a quarter before they produce at full speed.
Pay is only part of the cost. Field reps add travel, hotels, meals, event passes and the hours spent in transit, none of which an inside rep incurs. That is why field sales only pays when the deal is large: the same travel bill is a big share of a small contract and a rounding error on a large one.
The same deal, two ways
Illustrative, not a benchmark. The company and every cost below are made up to show the math.
Corvane, a fictional SaaS company that sells compliance software, is choosing how to run deals with mid-sized and large customers.
| Mid-sized deal | Large deal | |
|---|---|---|
| Annual contract value | $24,000 | $240,000 |
| Inside: four video meetings | No travel cost | No travel cost |
| Field: two on-site visits plus video | Two trips at $1,500 each = $3,000 | Two trips at $1,500 each = $3,000 |
| Travel as a share of first-year contract | 12.5% | 1.25% |
On the mid-sized deal, two trips eat an eighth of the first year’s revenue, and the visit rarely changes the outcome. On the large deal, the same trips cost about one percent and buy face time with a buying committee. Corvane runs mid-sized deals inside and sends a field rep to large accounts at the executive meeting and the negotiation.
What do B2B buyers prefer now?
Buyers want less seller contact. A Gartner survey of 632 B2B buyers, published in June 2025, found:
- 61% prefer a rep-free buying experience overall.
- 73% actively avoid suppliers who send irrelevant outreach.
- Gartner advises sellers to stop repeating generic information buyers can find elsewhere and to act as a sounding board with guidance specific to the buyer.
For sales team design, this means fewer, better-timed conversations. Inside reps handle the remote research-led buyer well. Field reps earn their cost at the points where a buyer needs a person: a complex evaluation, a committee that must agree, or a large contract.
Which should a SaaS company build first?
Start with inside sales if:
- Your annual contract value is in the low five figures or below.
- Buyers can see the product in a screen-share demo or a free trial.
- Your buyers are spread across many cities or countries.
- You are hiring your first sellers and need many conversations to learn the market.
Add outside sales if:
- A single deal is worth enough that travel is a small share of it.
- Deals involve a buying committee, security reviews and procurement.
- Your largest customers cluster in a few cities you can cover.
- You lose late-stage deals to competitors who show up in person.
Run a hybrid if you sell to both mid-market and enterprise. The common setup: SDRs and inside account executives for most accounts, and a small team of field account executives for the largest ones, supported by the same SDRs.
Whatever the model, outbound starts the same way: choose accounts, research them and reach out. Our guide to outbound sales covers that process, and what is B2B sales covers the roles and stages around it.
Where Growigami fits
We do not provide sales reps, inside or outside. Our ABM and outbound service researches your target accounts each week and drafts the message for each contact, your sellers review and send it, and replies go to them the same day. It works for inside teams that need more meetings, and for field reps who want their visits booked with the right people before they travel. For a comparison of hiring SDRs, outsourcing them or using AI-run outbound, see outsourced SDR vs in-house SDR.
Frequently asked
What is the difference between inside sales and outside sales?
Inside sales reps sell remotely, by phone, email, video calls and LinkedIn, from an office or from home. Outside sales reps, also called field sales, meet buyers in person: at their offices, sites or events, usually across a territory. Inside sales handles more deals at a time; outside sales spends more time on fewer, larger or more complex deals.
Which pays more, inside or outside sales?
Outside roles usually pay more, because they tend to carry larger deals and require travel. US government data does not split pay by inside and outside, but the Bureau of Labor Statistics put median pay for wholesale and manufacturing sales representatives at $76,460 in May 2025, and $104,920 for those selling technical and scientific products. Commission plans differ widely by company.
What is the difference between inside sales and outbound sales?
Inside sales describes where the seller works: remotely. Outbound sales describes who starts the conversation: the seller. An inside sales rep can work inbound leads (people who asked for a demo) or outbound prospects (people who never asked). An outside rep can do both too, for example by visiting accounts in their territory without an appointment.
Is inside sales cold calling?
Sometimes, but not only. Cold calling is one outbound tactic inside reps use. Many inside sales roles are mostly inbound: qualifying demo requests, running video demos and closing deals by email. In SaaS, the SDR or BDR does most of the cold outreach, and the inside account executive runs the deal once a meeting is booked.
Is outside sales still relevant for SaaS?
For large and complex deals, yes. Gartner's survey of 632 B2B buyers found 61% prefer a rep-free buying experience overall, and Gartner's advice to sellers is to act as a sounding board with guidance buyers cannot find on their own. An in-person workshop with a buying committee, a site visit or a dinner at a conference can move a six-figure deal in a way a video call does not.
What is a hybrid sales model?
A team that mixes both: inside reps handle smaller accounts and the early stages of large ones, and field reps meet the largest accounts in person at key moments, such as the first executive meeting or the final negotiation. Most B2B SaaS companies that sell to enterprises end up with some version of this.
