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The differences between business sales representatives and sales specialists can be seen in a few details. Each job has different responsibilities and duties. It typically takes 2-4 years to become both a business sales representative and a sales specialist. Additionally, a business sales representative has an average salary of $58,288, which is higher than the $53,004 average annual salary of a sales specialist.
The top three skills for a business sales representative include business sales, customer accounts and customer service. The most important skills for a sales specialist are building relationships, customer complaints, and customer orders.
| Business Sales Representative | Sales Specialist | |
| Yearly salary | $58,288 | $53,004 |
| Hourly rate | $28.02 | $25.48 |
| Growth rate | 4% | 4% |
| Number of jobs | 226,438 | 324,069 |
| Job satisfaction | - | - |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 68% | Bachelor's Degree, 62% |
| Average age | 47 | 47 |
| Years of experience | 4 | 4 |
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.
A sales specialist is responsible for offering the best goods and services to customers in order to boost the company's sales. Sales specialists also promote strategies and solutions to contribute to the company's growth and profitability. A sales specialist must have extensive knowledge of the current market trends and the best sales skills to perform marketing tasks. Sales specialists should have excellent communication and customer service skills to assist existing and potential clients with their inquiries and concerns.
Business sales representatives and sales specialists have different pay scales, as shown below.
| Business Sales Representative | Sales Specialist | |
| Average salary | $58,288 | $53,004 |
| Salary range | Between $31,000 And $108,000 | Between $30,000 And $91,000 |
| Highest paying City | Bothell, WA | Boston, MA |
| Highest paying state | Washington | Massachusetts |
| Best paying company | Amazon | VMware |
| Best paying industry | - | - |
There are a few differences between a business sales representative and a sales specialist in terms of educational background:
| Business Sales Representative | Sales Specialist | |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 68% | Bachelor's Degree, 62% |
| Most common major | Business | Business |
| Most common college | Stanford University | SUNY College of Technology at Alfred |
Here are the differences between business sales representatives' and sales specialists' demographics:
| Business Sales Representative | Sales Specialist | |
| Average age | 47 | 47 |
| Gender ratio | Male, 61.4% Female, 38.6% | Male, 55.1% Female, 44.9% |
| 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, 3.8% Unknown, 3.7% Hispanic or Latino, 14.2% Asian, 5.1% White, 72.9% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.2% |
| LGBT Percentage | 6% | 6% |