Torchora
Back to Home

Key Responsibilities and Required Skills for Inside Sales Representative

💰 $45,000 - $70,000

SalesInside SalesB2BSaaS

🎯 Role Definition

The Inside Sales Representative is a quota-driven sales professional responsible for driving new business and revenue growth through inbound lead qualification, proactive outbound prospecting, product discovery conversations, and closing smaller or mid-market accounts remotely. This role requires excellent verbal and written communication, strong CRM discipline, consultative selling techniques, and the ability to move opportunities through each stage of the sales cycle quickly and predictably. Inside Sales Representatives collaborate closely with Marketing, Account Executives, Customer Success, and Product teams to convert leads into customers, grow account value, and deliver measurable pipeline impact.

📈 Career Progression

Typical Career Path

Entry Point From:

  • Sales Development Representative (SDR) or Business Development Representative (BDR)
  • Customer Service or Inside Customer Success Representative
  • Retail or Field Sales Representative transitioning to remote sales

Advancement To:

  • Senior Inside Sales Representative / Senior Account Executive
  • Outside/Field Account Executive or Enterprise Account Executive
  • Sales Manager / Team Lead / Regional Sales Manager

Lateral Moves:

  • Account Management / Customer Success Manager
  • Revenue Operations or Sales Enablement Specialist
  • Marketing (Demand Generation / Product Marketing)

Core Responsibilities

Primary Functions

  • Qualify inbound marketing-generated leads and respond to web inquiries and referrals promptly, using a consultative discovery approach to assess fit, budget, timing, and decision-making authority.
  • Execute proactive outbound prospecting across target accounts and verticals via cold calls, personalized email sequences, social outreach (LinkedIn), and multi-touch cadences to create sales-ready opportunities.
  • Conduct structured discovery calls and web demos to uncover business problems, map use cases to product capabilities, articulate value propositions, and position solutions tailored to the prospect's needs.
  • Manage a high-velocity sales pipeline within the CRM, maintaining accurate opportunity stage progression, next steps, activity logs, and forecasting information to ensure predictable revenue outcomes.
  • Achieve or exceed assigned monthly and quarterly revenue quotas and key performance indicators (KPIs) such as meetings scheduled, demos completed, proposals sent, and conversion rates.
  • Prepare and deliver pricing proposals, quotes, and contract terms for small to mid-market deals, coordinating with Sales Operations and Legal as needed to ensure timely close.
  • Negotiate deal terms within approved limits, handling objections, counteroffers, and scope clarifications while protecting margin and company policy.
  • Execute upsell and cross-sell campaigns within assigned accounts or new customers to expand product footprint and increase annual recurring revenue (ARR).
  • Collaborate with Marketing to follow up on marketing-qualified leads (MQLs), provide feedback on campaign quality, and help iterate lead scoring and routing rules for better conversion.
  • Work closely with Account Executives and Field Sales to transition qualified opportunities and coordinate account coverage, handoffs, and joint selling activities for larger deals.
  • Deliver persuasive product demonstrations tailored to buyer personas and stakeholder groups, highlighting ROI, integrations, and differentiation from competitors.
  • Build and maintain strong relationships with key stakeholders in target accounts, including procurement, IT, finance, and end users, to accelerate decision-making and renewals.
  • Maintain up-to-date knowledge of product releases, roadmap, pricing changes, and industry trends to communicate product value effectively and handle technical or competitive questions.
  • Monitor and report on pipeline metrics, sales velocity, win/loss analysis, and forecast accuracy to Sales Leadership and Revenue Operations.
  • Use sales enablement tools, playbooks, and objection-handling frameworks to shorten sales cycles and increase conversion rates across stages.
  • Participate in regular sales training, role-plays, and coaching sessions to improve messaging, demo skills, negotiation techniques, and objection management.
  • Perform account research and qualification including company size, org chart mapping, pain points, recent news, and tech stack to personalize outreach and increase engagement.
  • Coordinate with Customer Success and Onboarding teams to ensure smooth implementation and early value delivery for newly closed customers, reducing churn risk.
  • Ensure CRM hygiene and data quality by logging every customer interaction, updating contact records, and cleaning stale leads to support reliable reporting and automation.
  • Prepare and send timely follow-up emails, case studies, and personalized collateral to nurture prospects and move them to the next stage of the buying process.
  • Participate in product beta programs and feature feedback sessions, representing customer needs and commercial requirements to Product and Engineering teams.
  • Maintain a strong pipeline of qualified opportunities through consistent prospecting, follow-up, and re-engagement strategies to hit stretch targets.

Secondary Functions

  • Support cross-functional initiatives such as ABM (account-based marketing) campaigns by providing account intelligence and outreach suggestions.
  • Contribute to the development and refinement of the sales playbook, value messaging, and competitive battle cards.
  • Assist Sales Operations with data cleansing, lead routing rules, and automation testing to improve funnel efficiency.
  • Provide ad-hoc reporting and analysis to leadership on win/loss trends, objection themes, and competitive activity.
  • Mentor and train new inside sales hires on systems, processes, and best practices as the team scales.
  • Participate in customer reference calls and case study collection to support marketing and product marketing content.
  • Attend industry webinars, conferences, and trade shows as needed to represent the company and generate pipeline.
  • Participate in product feedback loops and escalate feature requests that could impact retention or close rates.
  • Coordinate with finance and legal to resolve billing, contract, or order issues that block deal closure.
  • Support demand generation efforts by testing new outreach scripts, channels, and messaging and reporting results.

Required Skills & Competencies

Hard Skills (Technical)

  • CRM proficiency: Salesforce, HubSpot, Microsoft Dynamics experience for pipeline management and reporting.
  • Proven experience with sales engagement platforms and sequences (e.g., Outreach, SalesLoft, Reply).
  • Strong phone selling and virtual demo skills; comfortable conducting discovery and closing via Zoom/Webex/Teams.
  • Lead qualification and pipeline management techniques (BANT, MEDDIC-lite, CHAMP).
  • Sales forecasting and territory management experience with demonstrated accuracy.
  • Experience preparing quotes and using CPQ or quoting tools; familiarity with contract basics and e-signature platforms (DocuSign, HelloSign).
  • Basic data analysis and reporting skills (Excel, Google Sheets, simple pivot tables) for monitoring KPIs.
  • Familiarity with marketing automation and lead scoring systems (Marketo, Pardot) and integration points with CRM.
  • Experience selling SaaS, technology, or complex B2B solutions preferred.
  • Competence with presentation tools (PowerPoint, Google Slides) and creating tailored sales collateral.

Soft Skills

  • Exceptional verbal and written communication with the ability to tailor messaging to diverse buyer personas.
  • Strong active listening and consultative questioning skills to uncover needs and influence outcomes.
  • Resilience and persistence in follow-up, with a hunter mentality and a positive attitude toward rejection.
  • Excellent time management, prioritization, and organizational capabilities in a fast-paced environment.
  • Coachability and a growth mindset—open to feedback, willing to iterate on approach and tactics.
  • Empathy and relationship-building to create trust with prospects and internal stakeholders.
  • Problem-solving orientation and ability to escalate and troubleshoot cross-functional blockers.
  • Competitive drive with a results-oriented focus and consistent bias for action.
  • Attention to detail for accurate data entry, contract review, and handoffs.
  • Collaboration and teamwork to partner effectively with Marketing, Product, Customer Success, and Operations.

Education & Experience

Educational Background

Minimum Education:

  • High school diploma or GED required.

Preferred Education:

  • Bachelor's degree in Business, Marketing, Communications, Finance, or related field preferred.

Relevant Fields of Study:

  • Business Administration
  • Marketing
  • Communications
  • Finance
  • Information Systems / Technology (for technical sales)
  • Economics

Experience Requirements

Typical Experience Range: 1–4 years of inside sales, BDR/SDR, or customer-facing sales experience.

Preferred: 2–5+ years selling B2B SaaS or technology solutions with demonstrated quota attainment, experience using Salesforce/HubSpot, and a track record of closing deals and driving pipeline.

Explore More Careers