Distributors rely too often on reactive sales activities, which results in blended inside sales teams performing very little outbound calling or lead generation activities, according to the 2015 State of Distribution Inside Sales: Strive to be Proactive.

At the same time, distributors say they want to increase proactive sales activities. A joint MDM-Real Results Marketing survey found that inside sales teams struggle to balance proactive and reactive sales activities, primarily because the skill sets needed for these two functions are entirely different.

The majority of survey respondents’ inside sales teams perform various presale activities, including quoting and order entry, as well as after-sale support activities, all of which are primarily reactive functions – the purview of customer service representatives rather than lead-generating salespeople.

While an excellent customer experience may sustain wallet share, it won’t always help to grow incremental sales. This typically requires a more proactive approach. However, distributors can exploit inbound transactions by training these individuals on cross-selling.

Read more about shifting an inside sales team's mindset in 2015 State of Distribution Inside Sales: Strive to be Proactive.