Inbound sales is the motion in which prospects initiate the conversation, usually by completing a form, requesting a demo, downloading content, or signing up for a free trial. Inbound is generated upstream by marketing investments in content, SEO, paid advertising, events, and brand. The inbound conversion economics typically beat outbound (higher win rates, shorter cycles, lower CAC) but inbound volume is capped by the size of your in-market demand, which is why most B2B companies run both motions in parallel.
What does the inbound funnel look like?
Five typical stages. Anonymous visitor (someone hits your site). Known lead (filled a form). MQL (qualified by marketing scoring). SQL (accepted by sales). Opportunity (entered the pipeline). Conversion rates between stages vary widely by segment. Average B2B SaaS conversion from form-fill to MQL is 30-50%, MQL to SQL is 20-40%, SQL to opportunity is 50-70%, opportunity to closed-won is 15-25%. Multiply through and you get the typical 0.5-3% form-fill-to-customer conversion that defines healthy B2B marketing.
The piece most teams underweight is response time. Studies consistently show that responding to an inbound lead in under 5 minutes vs 30 minutes can 10x your odds of qualifying that lead. Most teams fail this bar; the ones that hit it consistently outperform on inbound conversion.
How do inbound and outbound work together?
Three patterns. First, account amplification: when an inbound lead arrives from a target account, outbound multi-threads into the same account to find other stakeholders. Second, intent-driven outbound: when a prospect engages on your site (pricing page, demo video) but doesn't convert, outbound reaches them within 24 hours. Third, content nurture: inbound prospects who don't qualify go into long-cycle content nurture; when they re-engage, outbound takes over. The teams that integrate the two motions consistently outperform teams that silo them. ReachIQ's ICP scoring works across inbound and outbound leads with one consistent score.
Related questions
Why are inbound conversion rates higher than outbound?
Self-selection. An inbound lead has identified a problem and started actively researching solutions; an outbound contact may not have. So inbound starts the conversation further down the buying journey, which compresses cycle time and raises win rate, all else equal.
How much should I invest in inbound vs outbound?
Most B2B companies target a 40/60 to 60/40 split between inbound-sourced and outbound-sourced pipeline. Earlier-stage companies skew outbound because inbound demand hasn't compounded. Category leaders skew inbound because brand and content do the work. The pure-inbound model is rare and depends on dominant brand share.
Does PLG count as inbound sales?
Product-led growth is a different motion than traditional inbound. PLG starts with product usage; inbound sales starts with a sales conversation. Some companies run both: PLG for individual users and inbound sales for enterprise-tier conversion of those users into paid deals.