Glossary
Outside sales
Outside sales is selling in person, with reps who travel to meet buyers at their offices, sites, trade shows or events. It suits large, complex or relationship-heavy deals, and each rep usually covers a territory or a named account list.
What Is Outside Sales?
In short Outside reps own a territory, by region or by named accounts, and spend much of the week on the road: site visits, demos on the customer's premises, trade shows and dinners.
It is common in manufacturing, medical devices, construction, wholesale and enterprise software, where buyers want to see the product or meet the people behind it. The BLS notes that some reps cover regions spanning several states and are away for days or weeks.
The trade-off is cost per meeting. Travel limits a field rep to a few meetings a day, so most teams protect that time: inside reps or SDRs book and qualify the meetings, and the field rep shows up for the conversations that need a person in the room.
Outside Sales Example
Example: a medical device rep covers 120 hospitals across two states. An SDR emails department heads and books 10 on-site demos a month, and the rep groups visits by city to fit 3 demos into each travel day.
Outside Sales in Practice
Many teams now run a hybrid. Field reps prospect remotely the same way inside reps do, then travel for late-stage meetings and key accounts.
FAQ
What is outside sales?
Selling face to face, with reps who travel to meet prospects and customers. HubSpot describes outside sales, also called field sales, as a selling strategy where reps meet prospects in person.
Is outside sales the same as field sales?
Yes. The two terms are used interchangeably.
What does an outside sales rep do?
Plans visits across a territory, runs on-site meetings and demos, negotiates and keeps relationships with existing accounts. The BLS notes that reps with large territories may travel for several days or weeks at a time.
What counts as outside sales under US labor law?
For the overtime exemption, the US Department of Labor requires that the employee's primary duty is making sales and that they work customarily and regularly away from the employer's place of business. Sales made by mail, telephone or the internet do not count as outside sales for that test, unless they only supplement in-person sales calls.
How much do outside sales reps make?
The BLS does not report outside and inside reps separately. For wholesale and manufacturing sales representatives as a whole, it reports a median pay of $76,460 a year as of May 2025.
Do This in Ken
Do This in Ken
Campaigns runs the outreach that books the meetings field reps travel to. Build the territory list in Ken Search, run email and LinkedIn sequences to it and work the replies in Inbox.
- Module
- Campaigns
- Open in Ken
- /how-it-works
The new Ken opens to the waiting list in batches.
Related
- GTM Glossary
Every GTM term, grouped by topic.
- Inside sales
- B2B sales
- Account executive
- Appointment setting
- Sales cycle
- How Ken works
Sources
| Source | Checked |
|---|---|
| HubSpot: Outside sales guide | |
| US Department of Labor: Fact Sheet #17F, Exemption for Outside Sales Employees | |
| US Bureau of Labor Statistics: Wholesale and Manufacturing Sales Representatives |
Changelog
- Page published.