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The differences between business sales representatives and consumer sales representatives can be seen in a few details. Each job has different responsibilities and duties. While it typically takes 2-4 years to become a business sales representative, becoming a consumer sales representative takes usually requires 6-12 months. Additionally, a business sales representative has an average salary of $58,288, which is higher than the $38,514 average annual salary of a consumer sales representative.
The top three skills for a business sales representative include business sales, customer accounts and customer service. The most important skills for a consumer sales representative are broadband, product knowledge, and inbound calls.
| Business Sales Representative | Consumer Sales Representative | |
| Yearly salary | $58,288 | $38,514 |
| Hourly rate | $28.02 | $18.52 |
| Growth rate | 4% | -4% |
| Number of jobs | 226,438 | 216,394 |
| Job satisfaction | - | - |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 68% | Bachelor's Degree, 57% |
| Average age | 47 | 40 |
| Years of experience | 4 | 12 |
A business sales representative's role is to develop strategies in identifying leads and opportunities to secure sales. Their responsibilities revolve around reaching out to clients to offer products and services, discussing the pricing and specifications of products, processing payments, and gathering necessary client information. They may also arrange appointments with clients to negotiate and sign contracts. Furthermore, as a business sales representative, it is essential to produce progress reports and presentations, handle issues and complaints, maintain records of all transactions, and regularly update databases.
Customer sales representatives' primary role is to present their employer's offerings to potential buyers. They may work out of an office, travel to conferences where their offerings might be suitable to attendees. It is their responsibility as customer sales representatives to get people to buy physical items, such as cars, new windows for their home, and skincare products. They perform a variety of tasks promoting their employer's offerings, sell policies for insurance companies, promote bundle deals for telecommunication industries, gym membership plans, and persuade parents to let their children join the tutoring system.
Business sales representatives and consumer sales representatives have different pay scales, as shown below.
| Business Sales Representative | Consumer Sales Representative | |
| Average salary | $58,288 | $38,514 |
| Salary range | Between $31,000 And $108,000 | Between $21,000 And $67,000 |
| Highest paying City | Bothell, WA | - |
| Highest paying state | Washington | - |
| Best paying company | Amazon | - |
| Best paying industry | - | - |
There are a few differences between a business sales representative and a consumer sales representative in terms of educational background:
| Business Sales Representative | Consumer Sales Representative | |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 68% | Bachelor's Degree, 57% |
| Most common major | Business | Business |
| Most common college | Stanford University | - |
Here are the differences between business sales representatives' and consumer sales representatives' demographics:
| Business Sales Representative | Consumer Sales Representative | |
| Average age | 47 | 40 |
| Gender ratio | Male, 61.4% Female, 38.6% | Male, 39.8% Female, 60.2% |
| Race ratio | Black or African American, 3.8% Unknown, 3.7% Hispanic or Latino, 14.3% Asian, 5.2% White, 72.7% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.2% | Black or African American, 11.6% Unknown, 5.3% Hispanic or Latino, 19.4% Asian, 6.8% White, 56.2% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.7% |
| LGBT Percentage | 6% | 7% |