There are two kinds of dancers: those that lean against the wall and watch the action, and those that start the conga line. Put those two references in any company's sales force, and you'll hear that the inside sales staff are the wallflowers, and the outside sales staff are the first to limbo under the limbo stick. That comparison may have been applicable a few years ago, but lately, these wallflowers have started to blossom, and are taking their place in the center of the ballroom floor, with their dance cards full.

Bring that example into a distributorship and you'll see that the inside salesperson no longer sits at a lonely desk, in a faraway cubicle, with nothing but a phone, catalog and order sheets in front of him. Inside salespeople are a front-line source of information for customers, with whom they develop relationships, offer products and services, and assist in problem solving.

"In today's environment, the inside salesperson is certainly the center of both the customer's and the company's universe," says Bob Summerlin, group vice president of Motion Industries in Birmingham, Ala. "As we continue to develop system interfaces with the customer base and our manufacturing partners, we are asking our inside salespeople to multitask both on the human contact side of the business, and also to become proficient in all aspects of how the customers' and manufacturers' systems work."

Barry Banther, CEO of Banther Consulting Services in Tarpon Springs, Fla., who spoke of inside sales at the Fluid Power Distributors Assn.'s annual meeting in March, says of today's inside salesman, "Their central role has changed; the way they interact with the customers has changed. The customer has gotten smarter, and they have higher expectations of their salesperson.

"The best inside salesperson thinks about the customer first. They are a problem solver, and flexible to the customer's issues. They should be an outsource of the customer's company. They are '911,' air traffic control and a help desk all rolled into one."

With their phones constantly ringing, and a complete working knowledge of everything the company has to offer a customer, inside salespeople are busier than ever. And with the increase in customer-based technology, including databases allowing a salesperson to keep a running log of conversations and their topics, the inside salesperson has more time to sell. Along with that comes more customer responsibility.

"The inside salesperson doesn't hand write orders anymore, giving them more time for selling and building relationships with the customers," says Phil Derrow, president of Ohio Transmission & Pump Co. headquartered in Columbus, Ohio.

Adds Summerlin, "The inside salesperson must be the focal point of information, and respond to the customer demand at a greater speed than ever before. Inside salespeople today have the responsibility for the total management of the customer needs, from order entry to payment. In the past, this was a very departmentalized effort."

For Banther, the inside salesperson should be considered a worker for the end user, and should be fully knowledgeable in the customer's business issues.

"They need to be intuitive and responsive," he says. "Today's inside salesperson knows the customer, and offers product options, freight options and purchasing options. They know what the customer wants, offer different options for similar needs, drive down cost by offering different options for shipping, and never have to say, 'I'll have to check on that.'"

Working more for the customer than for the management could be construed as a drastic change in priorities, but when the end result is a sale for the distributor and a satisfying solution for the customer, everyone wins.

"Today's inside sales associate has become an extension of the customer's purchasing department," says Jim Munyon, market sales manager for MSC, headquartered in Melville, N.Y. "We try to provide our customers with options that best suit their needs. Some customers just want to call, place their order, and quickly move on to their next task. Others are looking for more help and in-depth guidance, which the MSC associates are able to provide."

This kind of training isn't easy, and shouldn't be taken lightly. There is a real art to selling on the phone, and building a relationship with a customer. Sales calls last all of five minutes, and the inside salesperson must establish a rapport, build trust, instill confidence and, finally, sell. So little time, so much to do. With this much riding on his shoulders, the inside salesperson has become too important to set aside as the bastard younger brother of the outside salesperson.

"The skill set of the inside salesperson has changed considerably, in that today we need a trainable, intelligent individual accepting of business process change and technology," says Summerlin. "We teach the product knowledge and business functions necessary to be successful. Our inside salespeople must understand how the information is formatted, how to connect with the customer for a timely response, and how to use the technology hardware that is associated with their job responsibility. All of this is wrapped around a shortened demand cycle and a very competitive marketplace."

According to Banther, interpersonal communication is the key to a successful inside salesperson. Distributors need to train and develop someone who can create trust and empathy with a person on the phone, which is not easy. As a training method, trainers need to sit on the phone with the salesperson and help them in "real time."

"A 30-minute lecture about what they should have done is not any help," he says.

Derrow's Ohio Transmission & Pump has always considered its inside sales staff comparable to its outside sales staff.

"Here, the inside salesperson is organizationally equal to the outside salesperson, which is not where other companies put them," he says. "Just like technicians, and every other employee for that matter, they have different skill sets, but are of equal importance to the company.

"Our inside sales staff spends more time partnering with their customers," continues Derrow. "We encourage them to visit their customers. They see their operations, and therefore can better help select products that will be a benefit. We try to work beyond the basic purchase-and-pay relationship with a customer."

Says Munyon, "By developing a strong working relationship with the customer and helping them with their workload, we're able to build trust, gain confidence and develop a long-term relationship...By focusing on the types of associates we hire, providing on-going product training and enhancing our systems, we are able to provide an ever-improving and consistent service experience."

Long ago, most distributors would more likely compare the inside salesperson to a wallflower—someone who was there, but not necessarily the center of attention; the person who would dance if asked, but wouldn't walk up to a partner and request their attention. Obviously, this is no longer the case; inside salespeople merely prefer their office in a building, rather than a car.

"Distributors should be aware of the parity between inside and outside salespeople," says Banther. "The outside salesperson is no longer the most important person to a customer. The inside salesperson is just as valuable. Customers want someone who will listen to them, can help, and can take care of it 'today.' That is where the inside salesperson comes in."

After considering the difference between the outside and the inside salesperson, Derrow says, "There really isn't one. It used to be thought that the inside salesperson was not an aggressive personality; they lacked the egregiousness to make it as an outside salesperson. That's simply not true. There are more similarities than there are differences between the sales forces. The inside salesperson likes talking to customers, is outgoing, needs to understand the customers' problems, and how to apply our products for solutions. They are just as skilled as the outside salesperson."

And from employing those skills, come the inside salesperson's constantly ringing phone, their consistent sales numbers, and their extremely un-wallflower-like workdays.

"The inside salesperson talks to probably 20 people a day; or close to 100 people a week," says Banther. "For a distributor and customer, they are the best human processor of information."

They may, indeed, be the belles of the ball.