What is Inbound Sales?
Posted: Tue Jan 28, 2025 8:37 am
With inbound sales, the prospect reads an article, attends a webinar, or downloads an ebook. With outbound, the salesperson is cold calling, cold emailing, or cold texting the prospect—or, the company is placing ads online.
The difference is in the direction of that first point of contact.
Subtle? Not really. It actually has a big impact on the type of customer the business engages with. Inbound prospects are typically more aware and engaged at the start—whereas outbound leads are less so, at least early on. Let’s get an overview:
Inbound Sales Outbound Sales
Prospect makes the first move. Sales rep contacts the prospect first.
Strategies rely on generating interest and pulling leads into the sales funnel. Techniques involve cold outreach and killer sales pitches.
Leads are warm by the time they reach sales. Leads are unaware of you (and often even your product) at first contact.
Highly scalable and cost-effective. Great for high-cost products, and precise lead targeting.
But let’s be clear: neither approach is inherently better. Both can be powerful engines for growth. The sales strategy you choose will depend on several variables, including your business type, your average deal size, and the awareness your customers have about your solution.
We’ll dive more into these factors, and help point you toward the strategy that will be best for your business. Ready? Let’s go.
How would your ideal customer organically find your sweden telegram data business? Would they search: “best CRMs for startup sales teams”, then read the first few articles, and buy one of the recommended software?
That’s one example of a path created by an inbound sales strategy.
Most inbound strategies involve creating content geared toward the interests of your ideal customers, and then putting that content where people can find it. It’s pretty simple: Show up in all the places your ideal prospects are searching, and you’ll build a well-oiled inbound sales machine.
The difference is in the direction of that first point of contact.
Subtle? Not really. It actually has a big impact on the type of customer the business engages with. Inbound prospects are typically more aware and engaged at the start—whereas outbound leads are less so, at least early on. Let’s get an overview:
Inbound Sales Outbound Sales
Prospect makes the first move. Sales rep contacts the prospect first.
Strategies rely on generating interest and pulling leads into the sales funnel. Techniques involve cold outreach and killer sales pitches.
Leads are warm by the time they reach sales. Leads are unaware of you (and often even your product) at first contact.
Highly scalable and cost-effective. Great for high-cost products, and precise lead targeting.
But let’s be clear: neither approach is inherently better. Both can be powerful engines for growth. The sales strategy you choose will depend on several variables, including your business type, your average deal size, and the awareness your customers have about your solution.
We’ll dive more into these factors, and help point you toward the strategy that will be best for your business. Ready? Let’s go.
How would your ideal customer organically find your sweden telegram data business? Would they search: “best CRMs for startup sales teams”, then read the first few articles, and buy one of the recommended software?
That’s one example of a path created by an inbound sales strategy.
Most inbound strategies involve creating content geared toward the interests of your ideal customers, and then putting that content where people can find it. It’s pretty simple: Show up in all the places your ideal prospects are searching, and you’ll build a well-oiled inbound sales machine.