It’s a well known fact that quality inside sales is the most direct way to generate predictable revenue + profit. What’s less well known is how to answer the question “should add inside sales to my funnel?”

The first step to answering the question is to rephrase it: “How big of a difference will high touch outreach (outbound one-to-one conversations) make over low touch outreach (automated emails / notifications)?”

Let’s break it down.

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Test 1: The Friction Test

Ultimately what you're testing for here is the impact of “sticky points” in your funnel. In my experience, there are 4 main indicators that high-touch outreach will significantly outperform low-touch outreach -

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1. Money: Do people have to think twice about the money they’re spending? (This is a continuum, but really starts to come into play at around $100+)
2. Time: Do people have to make a real commitment to getting started? (Anything past 1+ hours checks this box)
3. Effort: Do they have to leave their desk/couch to make it happen? (The second you require someone to leave a digital flow, you lose your lower intent customers)
4. Complexity: Will your average customer have questions / uncertainties at any stage in your funnel? (This one can reveal itself if you have a family member or friend go through the process in the same room as you and listen for any questions they have)

Inside sales is great at educating and motivating customers through these friction points in the funnel. If none of these apply, stop here and stick with low touch. If you see 1 or 2 of these things, proceed to test 2. If you see 3 of 4 of these, it’s time to put inside sales at the top of your to-do list.

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Test 2: The Payout Test

If your funnel is high enough consideration for high touch outreach to make a difference, the logical next step is figuring out what the value of that difference will be. A strong proxy for this is seeing where you land on a “volume x value” 2 by 2:    

If you don’t fall into one of the “no brainer” quadrants, you can use your “friction test” results for additional guidance (more friction means you’ll get more value for your investment using inside sales).

If you’re thinking about building a sales team, check out Garrett Wood’s notes on the foundations of a successful sales team.