Inside Sales
Inside-sales representatives can handle phone and email orders from a controlled storefront workspace. They search their portfolio, enter the customer's account, build the cart and place the order without receiving Magento Admin permissions.
Suggested setup
- Use assigned portfolios for account ownership, or Access All Customers only for a centralized team that truly handles every account.
- Keep the customer list hidden until search for very large portfolios.
- Configure useful search fields such as external customer ID and billing postcode.
- Allow customer creation for authorized onboarding staff.
- Allow item-price editing only for representatives who can negotiate.
- Route order emails to the customer and, if required, copy Staff according to the email policy.
- Enable reports for representatives who need to review their own order/product activity.
Call workflow
- Search by email, company identifier or address and read the company back to the caller.
- Enter customer context and review the existing cart before adding anything.
- Confirm SKU, quantity, price, delivery address and payment method.
- Place the order, note the Magento order number and leave customer context.
- Record any non-order follow-up in Customer History instead of an assignment comment.
For revised offers rather than immediate orders, use Staff Quote Management.
Avoid common shortcuts
Do not give all-customer access merely because search is slow, and do not send customer passwords to representatives. If a caller needs account access, use Magento's customer password reset flow. If an order needs changes, use the controlled Staff order-edit flow only in allowed states.
Related: Customer Assignment, Staff Order Management and Customer History.