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Inside Sales Representative skills for your resume and career

Updated January 8, 2025
5 min read
Quoted Experts
Frederik Beuk,
Linda Hajec
Inside Sales Representative Example Skills

Some of the most important hard skills an inside sales representative can possess include the skills and knowledge related to sales processes. It's important that inside sales representatives have experience with business development, customer relationship management, meeting sales goals, and an abundance of product knowledge regarding what they are selling.


When it comes to soft skills, inside sales representatives should have very strong communication skills. You will also need to demonstrate stellar customer service skills, and a focus on customer satisfaction. Inside sales representatives need to communicate consistently with customers and be able to resolve any issues, so communication and customer service skills are crucial.

Below we've compiled a list of the most critical inside sales representative skills. We ranked the top skills for inside sales representatives based on the percentage of resumes they appeared on. For example, 21.5% of inside sales representative resumes contained customer service as a skill. Continue reading to find out what skills an inside sales representative needs to be successful in the workplace.

15 inside sales representative skills for your resume and career

1. Customer Service

Customer service is the process of offering assistance to all the current and potential customers -- answering questions, fixing problems, and providing excellent service. The main goal of customer service is to build a strong relationship with the customers so that they keep coming back for more business.

Here's how inside sales representatives use customer service:
  • Maintained a professional working relationship with existing corporate customers and established new business through personalized, quality levels of customer service.
  • Market integrated CRM, Marketing and Customer Service Technologies, Mobile Applications, Content Management and Business Intelligence solutions to executives.

2. CRM

CRM stands for Customer relationship management and it is a complete process through which a business or organization monitors and administers its interactions with the customers. A process in which large amounts of data are collected through marketing via a company's website, polls, surveys, and other social media applications. The basic goal of CRM is to target the right audience for their product, and then fulfill their needs, to increase the sales and revenue of the company.

Here's how inside sales representatives use crm:
  • Maintained records of customer contact through CRM and generated reports on request for individual customers both internally and externally.
  • Maintained and expanded Sales-i CRM database of prospects within my assigned territory.

3. Outbound Calls

An outbound call is made by the call center representative to the customers on behalf of the company. Such calls help increase sales and generate revenue for the organization.

Here's how inside sales representatives use outbound calls:
  • Generate incremental revenue by inbound/outbound calls selling service agreements for ophthalmic equipment and microscopes.
  • Established and maintained customer relations and retention within region via daily in/outbound calls.

4. Product Knowledge

Product knowledge is the skill of having better information and knowledge about the product you are selling. Product knowledge is essential for the employees of the companies so they can communicate and inform the customers about the product. Having great product knowledge is essential for a better sales pitch and to give the customer a better and complete idea of the product that will influence him to buy the product eventually.

Here's how inside sales representatives use product knowledge:
  • Trained, developed and objectively evaluated sales representatives in the areas of product knowledge, competitive positioning and sales execution.
  • Researched competitor strategies and offerings while using product knowledge to generate solutions that satisfy customer needs and business objectives.

5. Work Ethic

Here's how inside sales representatives use work ethic:
  • Self-motivated and self-disciplined with dedicated work ethic.
  • Trained in BAC & AND Extrusion for Boeing & Lockheed Key Accomplishments: * Developed strong work ethic and skills set.

6. Sales Process

Here's how inside sales representatives use sales process:
  • Facilitate successful implementation of new programs by ensuring a well-defined and efficient sales process is selected and implemented prior to launch.
  • Partnered with captive representatives in respective territories to achieve streamlined sales processes, order accuracy and superior customer service.

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7. Salesforce

Salesforce is an American cloud-based software company based in San Francisco, California. This company provides customer relationship management services that enable the customers to be closer to the company. It gives the company detailed information about each customer, including marketing, sales, commerce, and services. Salesforce also helps market a product to attract more buyers, and helps win more customers by targeting the right audience.

Here's how inside sales representatives use salesforce:
  • Worked on special projects for marketing to my territories using multiple software applications, including SalesForce.com.
  • Assisted with keynote presentation marketing/representing SalesForce One Company increase appeal across Bay Area and nationally.

8. Customer Inquiries

Here's how inside sales representatives use customer inquiries:
  • Handled high volume customer inquiries, trouble shot customer related problems/concerns and initiated effective problem-resolution steps to achieve customer satisfaction.
  • Responded to customer inquiries regarding product selection, technical questions, price and product availability.

9. Phone Calls

Phone calls are a wireless or wired connection made over a telephone or a mobile phone between two people. Two parties are involved in a phone call, the caller and the receiver. A caller dials the number of the one he wants to call, and the recipient hears a bell or a tune to which he picks up the call. The call establishes a connection between them through which they can communicate. The voice is converted into signals and is transmitted through wired or wireless technology.

Here's how inside sales representatives use phone calls:
  • Developed ability to ensure returned phone calls by utilizing resources within customers' departments or obtaining referrals at higher decision-making levels.
  • Initiate telephone calls to customers and potential customers to solicit purchases of stock or to follow-up previously quoted business opportunities.

10. Excellent Interpersonal

Here's how inside sales representatives use excellent interpersonal:
  • Used excellent interpersonal and communication skills to build and maintain relationships with people across a variety of demographics.
  • Demonstrated excellent interpersonal skills and ability to sell products to a variety of customers.

11. Computer System

Here's how inside sales representatives use computer system:
  • Documented computer systems issues or customer problems and pro-actively communicated to Supervisors to improve systems.
  • Documented Pharmacist information into computer system while engaging in conversation about new or upcoming products.

12. Account Management

The process of strengthening the relationship between a company and client is called account management. Effective account management has two key objectives, one is to retain loyal customers and the second one is to help the company grow by creating connections with new customers.

Here's how inside sales representatives use account management:
  • Managed SNF accounts using various account management strategies to ultimately strengthen relationship to generate leads on a consistent and complaint basis.
  • Assisted Divisional Vice President in assessing prospect and account management efforts to develop the company's newest territory.

13. Cold Calls

Cold calling is a kind of business solicitation from customers who didn't express interest in their product and services before. In this technique, a salesman conducts a call with potential customers with whom they haven't had a prior interaction. Cold calling can include phone calls or telemarketing. However, in-person visits like door-to-door marketing are also a type of cold calling

Here's how inside sales representatives use cold calls:
  • Established departmentally adopted cold calling resource by creating and maintaining industry prospect database.
  • Managed assigned territory through strategically customized cold calling campaigns and e-marketing.

14. Business Development

Business development is the ideas or initiatives that work to make business work better. Selling, advertising, product development, supply chain management, and vendor management are only a few of the divisions involved with it. There is still a lot of networking, negotiating, forming alliances, and trying to save money. The goals set for business development guide and coordinate with all of these various operations and sectors.

Here's how inside sales representatives use business development:
  • Worked with multiple Business Development Managers to coordinate personal meetings with prospective clients to present and position our solutions and offerings.
  • Participate in business development by being highly responsive to customer needs and targeting new markets while maintaining existing auction business.

15. Inbound Calls

Here's how inside sales representatives use inbound calls:
  • Developed effective relationships with all departments utilizing various lines of communication and directed inbound calls to the appropriate department via switchboard.
  • Identify new business opportunities through outbound/inbound calls insuring existing accounts are aware of new product and service offerings.
top-skills

What skills help Inside Sales Representatives find jobs?

Tell us what job you are looking for, we’ll show you what skills employers want.

What Inside Sales Representative skills would you recommend for someone trying to advance their career?

Frederik Beuk

Associate Professor of Marketing, University of Akron

Digital Literacy and AI are obviously on everybody's mind. The benefit for early career professionals is that these are skills they can use to differentiate themselves from more established professionals. Embrace these tools. At the same time, being an authentic storyteller that helps buyers envision the potential of your solutions can be an extremely powerful skill.

What technical skills for an Inside Sales Representative stand out to employers?

Linda HajecLinda Hajec LinkedIn Profile

Assistant Teaching Professor of Accounting, Associate Chair, Student Recruitment, Retention and Outreach, Penn State Behrend

I think the basics are still important - the feedback from employers still says that they want to see excellent skills in Excel - but if we are talking about changes as a result of the pandemic, job candidates that can also show a comfort level with remote meeting software will feel more natural and less awkward going forward. If you are going to meet on Zoom, make sure you know where to find the features on the screen and if you need to, practice with someone who knows you are just needing to mess around with the settings.

The last thing you would want to do is accidentally exit your interview halfway through because you didn't know where the "share screen" button was. Being familiar with other online collaboration software such as Teams or GoogleDocs is important, too. Even companies that are not working 100% remote are finding great use for these kind of sites, even just to house documents such as policy manuals that they want to share with a group of employees. The fact that a group can work together an collaborate asynchronously is a reality that many companies had not faced before, so the employee needs to be prepared to remember to follow up on team projects instead of waiting for a meeting to see where everything stands.

What soft skills should all Inside Sales Representatives possess?

Sonya DiPalma Ph.D.Sonya DiPalma Ph.D. LinkedIn Profile

Associate Professor, Chair, Academic Policies Committee, Director of MCOM Internship Program, University of North Carolina at Asheville

Be personable and a person someone wants to talk with and work with on a continuing basis. Listening and note-taking skills will be critical. Great employees listen well and ask good follow up questions. Be versatile and adaptable. If you find some downtime between projects, ask how you may help with another project.

List of inside sales representative skills to add to your resume

Inside Sales Representative Skills

The most important skills for an inside sales representative resume and required skills for an inside sales representative to have include:

  • Customer Service
  • CRM
  • Outbound Calls
  • Product Knowledge
  • Work Ethic
  • Sales Process
  • Salesforce
  • Customer Inquiries
  • Phone Calls
  • Excellent Interpersonal
  • Computer System
  • Account Management
  • Cold Calls
  • Business Development
  • Inbound Calls
  • Excellent Organizational
  • PowerPoint
  • Lead Generation
  • Purchase Orders
  • Customer Satisfaction
  • Data Entry
  • Sales Techniques
  • Outbound Sales
  • Sales Orders
  • Customer Complaints
  • Trade Shows
  • Sales Support
  • Customer Accounts
  • Customer Orders
  • Order Entry
  • Sales Quota
  • Sales Presentations
  • Strong Customer Service
  • Customer Support
  • Telemarketing
  • Business Relationships
  • Sales Cycle
  • Customer Calls
  • Senior Care
  • Customer Relations
  • Sales Strategies
  • Sales Reports
  • Lead Management
  • Customer Issues
  • Inventory Control
  • Product Line
  • Inbound Sales

Updated January 8, 2025

Zippia Research Team
Zippia Team

Editorial Staff

The Zippia Research Team has spent countless hours reviewing resumes, job postings, and government data to determine what goes into getting a job in each phase of life. Professional writers and data scientists comprise the Zippia Research Team.