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The differences between business development representatives and sales representatives can be seen in a few details. Each job has different responsibilities and duties. Additionally, a sales representative has an average salary of $56,591, which is higher than the $47,240 average annual salary of a business development representative.
The top three skills for a business development representative include business development, work ethic and customer service. The most important skills for a sales representative are sales process, product knowledge, and customer service.
| Business Development Representative | Sales Representative | |
| Yearly salary | $47,240 | $56,591 |
| Hourly rate | $22.71 | $27.21 |
| Growth rate | 4% | 4% |
| Number of jobs | 269,704 | 205,456 |
| Job satisfaction | 5 | 4.33 |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 70% | Bachelor's Degree, 54% |
| Average age | 44 | 47 |
| Years of experience | - | 4 |
A business development representative's role is to find new business and client opportunities through market research and networking. They are primarily responsible for participating in creating strategies to enhance client relations, improve sales, and reach out to potential clients through calls, correspondence, and meetings. Moreover, it is also their responsibility to perform follow-up calls, offer recommendations, and even build rapport to strengthen client base. As a representative, it is essential to coordinate with managers and supervisors and adhere to policies and regulations.
Sales representatives primarily sell the company's products and services to businesses or organizations. They should be adept at closing out sales, negotiating, and providing customer service. They should be knowledgeable about the products or services of the manufacturer or producer they represent. They must also have strong analytical skills that would help them in coming up with cost-benefit analysis in assessing the current roster of clients and even prospective ones. Sales representatives should also be able to maintain good working relationships with all involved stakeholders, especially clients.
Business development representatives and sales representatives have different pay scales, as shown below.
| Business Development Representative | Sales Representative | |
| Average salary | $47,240 | $56,591 |
| Salary range | Between $26,000 And $82,000 | Between $33,000 And $94,000 |
| Highest paying City | San Francisco, CA | Boston, MA |
| Highest paying state | Alaska | Massachusetts |
| Best paying company | Wipro Limited | |
| Best paying industry | Manufacturing | Pharmaceutical |
There are a few differences between a business development representative and a sales representative in terms of educational background:
| Business Development Representative | Sales Representative | |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 70% | Bachelor's Degree, 54% |
| Most common major | Business | Business |
| Most common college | Stanford University | SUNY College of Technology at Alfred |
Here are the differences between business development representatives' and sales representatives' demographics:
| Business Development Representative | Sales Representative | |
| Average age | 44 | 47 |
| Gender ratio | Male, 50.9% Female, 49.1% | Male, 58.1% Female, 41.9% |
| Race ratio | Black or African American, 6.8% Unknown, 4.1% Hispanic or Latino, 16.3% Asian, 5.6% White, 66.9% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.4% | Black or African American, 3.9% Unknown, 3.7% Hispanic or Latino, 14.5% Asian, 5.2% White, 72.5% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.2% |
| LGBT Percentage | 5% | 6% |