The sale of products or services by sales personnel who reach customers by phone or online, rather than traveling to meet them face-to-face. Inside relies on the phone, emails and the internet to reach customers and is common in the retail industry.
Unlike outside sales personnel, insides salespeople do not travel. Despite this, they are still proactive about contacting potential customers and may make cold contacts. However a company may also designate incoming calls from prospective customers as inside sales. In addition, a company may outsource its inside sales duties to a third-party instead of conducting sales in-house.
Investment dictionary. Academic. 2012.