What Is Field Sales? Examples and How to Build an Effective Strategy

• Field sales reps work with prospects and customers that represent large, complex deals and require in-person relationship building.
• The key benefits organizations get from field sales are stronger relationships and a deeper understanding of their customers, which sets them apart from their competitors.
• Field reps often generate higher sales revenue due to better close rates and a smoother path to account expansion.

While some may think that field sales is outdated, it’s still a powerful way to build relationships and win business. I know because I've worked in sales since the 1900s (early 1990s.) I've been a sales development rep, account executive, VP of sales, head of sales operations — you name it. I've built teams from the ground up and turned around inherited sales teams.

Now, as founder of the Harris Consulting Group I dedicate all my time to growing revenue machines and sales team training. Drawing from more than 30 years of experience, here are my thoughts on the benefits of investing in a field sales team, how to overcome common challenges in the role, and how to build a solid field sales strategy.

Field sales, also called outside sales, is an approach where sales reps travel to meet prospects and customers face-to-face. These reps visit customers in their offices, over meals, and even in their homes in a direct-to-consumer model to build relationships and make in-person sales.

While field sales reps sell products and services in person and often travel to client locations, inside sales reps typically conduct sales activities from a desk at their company's office or in a work from home model.

Inside sales reps contact prospects and customers through email, phone calls, and web conferences. Because they don't have to travel to meet customers, they can handle more accounts and, in my experience, usually work on lower-value deals under $100,000. Although, lately that number is creeping higher.

Field sales reps manage fewer, high-value accounts that generate larger sales. Their deals tend to be more complex, so they spend more time traveling to in-person meetings. It’s not uncommon for field reps to build relationships with many people across a multitude of divisions, partners, and channels before closing a deal, which makes sense — their prospects will be spending a significant amount of money. While in-person dinners, meetings, and golf outings might seem outdated, this kind of relationship building remains effective when trying to secure and retain large accounts. The field sales rep is at the center of the action, making sure everyone is where they are supposed to be, all the people are engaged at the right times, and all paying attention to the right milestones.

According to Salesforce's State of Sales Report, the top two challenges sales teams face are competition with other businesses and the evolving needs and expectations of their customers. A strong field sales team can help your organization overcome both. People will buy from you not just because of what you do. They also buy based on how you do things. This is where I’ve seen field sales make a difference. Every human being wants three things: They want to be seen, heard, and understood. And while this can be done via inside sales, there is a completely different dynamic and relationship that builds when you meet in person. It sets your organization apart from the competition. It also puts your people in a better position to understand their customers’ needs and maintain communication on how they may evolve.

Let's look at things from a customer perspective. According to State of the Connected Customer, 61% of customers say most companies treat them like a number. In other words, companies fail to take the time to understand their needs or build a genuine connection. With a strong field sales team that invests time in each customer relationship, this becomes an opportunity to surpass those other companies.

Field sales reps who meet with customers gain a better understanding of their needs and expectations. This enables them to more effectively communicate why your solution is the best choice. Investing time and resources in building your customers' trust helps you stand out from the competition while pursuing new deals and maintaining existing business. Personal relationships are difficult for competitors to break, making it hard for them to displace you as the current provider. In fact, 86% of customers who have an emotional connection with a customer-facing representative say they are more willing to continue doing business with the company.

Field sales isn't just the most effective way to close large deals — sometimes it's the only way. Consider this: An aircraft manufacturer isn't going to sell commercial jets for upwards of $300 million without sending anyone to meet with its customer.

Field sales is characterized by high-touch, in-person customer engagement and high-value accounts.

To justify their smaller list of customers, not to mention the amount of time and resources they spend on each one, field sales reps must focus on high-value deals. These large accounts require more attention and information, involving more people. In fact, 68% of business buyers say more stakeholders are involved in purchase decisions now than there used to be.

Depending on the account and what they’re selling, field sales reps often need to meet with different teams at their client’s business. These teams can include IT, security, operations, and more, as they all need to ask questions and confirm their buy-in before making a final decision. At each stage of their sales process, your reps should be prepared to deliver customized and personalized sales presentations and product demonstrations. The ideal field sales rep is adaptable, independent, and skilled at managing their time and resources. To meet the level of service that high-value customers expect, they also need to be good listeners and communicators with deep product, industry, and buyer persona knowledge.

Organizations that invest in a field sales team can foster strong customer relationships that help them close more deals and safeguard revenue for the long term. Here's how:

• Competitive differentiation: Not all organizations have people who will show up in person to better understand customers' needs and their industry. When you do, it sets you apart.
• Secure relationships: Face-to-face interactions build trust and rapport. Spending time with customers shows them they're a priority while giving your reps the chance to ask deeper questions and helping them deliver a personalized experience.
• Higher close rates: Field reps focus on fewer accounts to spend more time in deep discovery with each prospect. This provides a significant advantage, especially since 86% of business buyers say they're more likely to buy from a company that shows an understanding of their goals.
• Improved account expansion: With a strong relationship in place, field reps are more likely to find opportunities to offer additional products and expanded services. By spending time with each customer and using sales analytics software, they can discover new needs as they arise — sometimes even before the customer recognizes them. Then, they can use warm introductions from their initial contact to expand across departments in large enterprises.
• Engaging demonstrations: Selling often requires product demos. When done in person, reps can more easily engage with customers and assess their reactions, getting the chance to respond in the moment and pivot if needed.

Based on my experience, these are the most common challenges faced by field sales reps and their leaders.

Field sales teams cost more than inside sales teams. This is because experienced reps typically face longer sales cycles and require travel and entertainment expenses. Flights, rental cars, and hotel stays add up. Finally, outside sales reps also have higher base salaries. According to Glassdoor, the average field sales rep in the U.S. earns a base salary between $61,000 and $95,000, while the average base salary for an inside sales rep ranges from $51,000 to $73,000. With an OTE, you are typically doubling that number based on commissions and bonuses.

Although field sales teams come with higher costs, there are ways to manage these expenses, such as issuing per diem budgets for solo meals while on the road. You can also negotiate corporate rates with rental car companies and earn business points with airlines and hotel chains. Ultimately, great sales reps know when it's possible to direct prospects and customers toward more affordable meetings, especially when incentivized to do so.

Due to deal complexity, including multiple stakeholders, the high-value customers that field reps work with typically take longer to make a final purchase decision. In fact, large enterprise deals usually take 12 to 18 months to close.

Beyond responding promptly to all questions and providing customers with the right information at key moments, field sales teams can't do much to shorten their sales cycle until their buyers are ready for a different experience. For example, one manufacturing company built an online B2B storefront, but did so with careful consideration of the business buyers' experience.

Field sales reps have time for in-depth discovery and should maximize that opportunity. The most successful ones know how to earn the right to ask questions, which questions to ask, and when to ask them. They aren't afraid to ask customers tough questions and will use those conversations to guide and advise. Yet, even reps who have a thorough understanding of their industry and customers may need guidance on how to steer their conversations. There’s a lot going on, and a good field sales rep will know how to navigate their own internal company teams and politics to get the deal done.

Offer training on sales conversation tactics that go beyond overcoming objections and delve into how to be more consultative. This training should be specific to different use cases and customer profiles. The Head of IT might differ from the Head of Security on how they view the same challenge, so your reps need to address both sets of concerns. You can also encourage reps to learn from each other and share effective strategies in these conversations. Your most far-flung reps could benefit from an online sales community like the Salesblazer Community on Slack.

Field reps have a lot of "windshield time." We call it that because when they're driving, they can only stare out the windshield rather than doing deep work. And because reps tend to spend much of their day in transit, it's crucial to provide sales team productivity tools that help them get more done in the time they do have — especially on the go.

Field reps spend less time in their sales software, and data entry after a day of meetings is a major challenge. If they don't find time to update their CRM, their managers won't get timely pipeline information.

You can overcome this by giving them efficient methods to document customer updates, eliminating the need to wait until the end of the day or a week of meetings. Provide AI sales tools, such as conversation recording software integrated with your CRM, that automatically import meeting notes, key takeaways, and next steps. This means data entry happens almost instantly, even during meetings, while reps can be present with their customers. Remember, a field sales rep is a bit more expensive, which means you’re paying a lot of money for someone to do data entry.

Of course, time isn't always the issue. Some seasoned reps struggle to adopt new technologies. Show them how new tools can make their jobs easier with AI sales training, and ensure you provide coaching or pair them up with a power user for each sales technology they'll use. Additionally, this will never be a one-and-done type of training, it must be consistent and repetitive until it’s habitual.

A business and luxury jet manufacturer employs its field sales team to provide the highly personalized buying experience its customers expect. These customers are used to receiving high-touch service, and the manufacturer's field reps often spend years building relationships before making a sale. Throughout the long sales cycle, reps engage each customer at key points to stay updated on their personal preferences, economic conditions, and even political climate, since all these factors can affect the sale.

During meetings, reps must focus on their customers while also capturing valuable information. That's why they use tools that help them record notes and drive CRM updates while in their meetings, automatically building a detailed history of customer interactions in a unified customer data platform. With access to a rich data profile, AI can assist reps in nurturing relationships by offering tailored suggestions like texting a customer's executive assistant to set up a dinner when they're in town for another event. This type of sales automation allows field reps to spend more time in meaningful conversations.

Field sales plans may take up to two years to become effective, so treat your first strategy as an early blueprint and be ready to iterate along the way. Here's how to begin:

Identify your market first so you can plan your approach strategically. Build your ideal customer profile (ICP) by narrowing your target customers based on industry, geography, and size. Then, consider the range of deal sizes your field sales team will pursue before prioritizing key accounts.

Decide how you'll segment field reps, inside sales, and channel sales partners based on the different types of customers and deals you'll target. To determine how you'll allocate your resources, consider how your inside and field sales reps will collaborate on or pass off various opportunities as they qualify leads.

Decide whether to assign field rep territories based on geography, industry niches, or a specific size or number of accounts. Consider the types of stakeholders involved, their buyer personas, and whether the approach your competitors use is effective. Finally, determine which kinds of accounts justify travel — and how much travel is necessary.

Every organization should use sales technology as part of its sales enablement strategy. A robust CRM with a mobile app is non-negotiable for field sales, and many come with features like sales analytics, sales forecasting, sales automation, and generative AI for sales. Other helpful technologies for field sales teams include route optimization, video conferencing, and other sales productivity tools that can be integrated into your CRM.

Identify which sales data you'll track to gauge the health of your sales funnel and your reps' performance. Focus on sales KPIs that closely align with high-level business goals and support your growth strategy for your target market. Keep it simple by selecting about five metrics for your field sales dashboard. When selecting these, balance metrics that are leading indicators of success, like the number of face-to-face interactions, and lagging indicators like average deal size.

With a defined ICP and clear KPIs for field sales, collaborate with your marketing leaders to align their team's objectives and metrics. Share data and work together on content. Field reps are on the front lines with customers, so they should provide marketing with insights into what customers care about most to guide messaging. Having a few dedicated field marketing reps is also essential for the success of your field sales team, because they can support tailored messaging and use cases. A generic use case document will not cut it in many cases.

Train your reps to batch their travel by geography. If they have three prospects in one metro area, they should aim to visit all three on a single trip instead of making multiple visits. If they're driving to a customer four hours away, they can plan to see any prospects on or near their route. This maximizes their time and travel budget. In some cases, if your prospects are in the same place and the conversation could benefit from bringing them together, it might make sense to have dinner as a group. Oftentimes, our prospects want to know their peers in the space. They can learn from each other and build rapport, and now your field reps can facilitate powerful networking and stronger trusted relationships.

Sales planning software, AI CRM platforms, and other AI-driven sales productivity tools can help field sales reps work efficiently and effectively. These tools streamline processes, automate routine tasks, and provide actionable insights to nurture relationships and close deals.

CRM platforms like Agentforce Sales track customer interactions, manage pipelines, and automate administrative tasks, allowing reps to spend more time with customers. These platforms also offer thousands of integrations with AI tools that can automatically personalize email templates, analyze call data, and flag real-time buying signals to help move deals forward. Organizations that need close collaboration or hand-offs between different sales teams can benefit from sales performance management software that helps align sellers and allocate targets.

Finally, AI sales tools can enter CRM data directly from customer meetings and can even nudge sales reps with personalized recommendations to engage each customer. product.agentforce, for example, can autonomously schedule appointments and provide real-time customer insights to help reps prepare for each meeting.

Building and nurturing a field sales team takes time. This is not something that one can just spin up and expect immediate results. The payoff is the long tail. It’s the best relationships, the bigger deals, and the longer customer lifetime value.