How To Become A Commercial Sales Associate: What It Is and Career Path

What is a commercial sales associate and how to become one

Updated January 8, 2025

4 min read

A commercial sales associate is a company's representative; they sell its products and services. They are very important in the product workflow, as their success determines a company's profitability. Sales associates work in every industry and receive a base salary along with a percentage of what they sell.

A supervisor assigns them to a territory to perform their duties. They are responsible for convincing customers to go with their company's goods or services and not those of the competition. They also help in driving commercial sales for their store.

While some work in offices via phones, others make sales calls on foot. They can work long and odd hours. They must possess organizational, communication, and customer service skills. The qualifications for a commercial sales representative vary greatly by industry. However, anything from a high school diploma and above can get you the job.

ScoreCommercial Sales AssociateUS Average

Salary

4.4

Avg. Salary $55,859

Avg. Salary $59,228

Stability level

7.1

Growth rate 4%

Growth rate 0.3%

Diversity

3.8

Race

American Indian and Alaska Native 0.23%

Asian 5.17%

Black or African American 3.85%

Hispanic or Latino 14.34%

Unknown 3.71%

White 72.69%

Gender

female 28.97%

male 71.03%

Age - 48

Race

American Indian and Alaska Native 3.00%

Asian 7.00%

Black or African American 14.00%

Hispanic or Latino 19.00%

White 57.00%

Gender

female 47.00%

male 53.00%

Age - 48

Stress level

7.1

Stress level is high

7.1 - high

Complexity level

8.4

Complexity level is challenging

7 - challenging

Work life balance

4.9

Work life balance is fair

6.4 - fair

Key steps to become a commercial sales associate

Explore commercial sales associate education requirements

Most common commercial sales associate degrees

Bachelor's

50.3 %

Associate

17.0 %

High School Diploma

16.5 %

Start to develop specific commercial sales associate skills

Skills	Percentages
Cash Handling	12.60%
Financial Statements	9.45%
Treasury	8.97%
Client Relationships	8.51%
Data Entry	5.71%

Complete relevant commercial sales associate training and internships

Accountants spend an average of 6-12 months on post-employment, on-the-job training. New commercial sales associates learn the skills and techniques required for their job and employer during this time. The chart below shows how long it takes to gain competency as a commercial sales associate based on U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics data and data from real commercial sales associate resumes.

Research commercial sales associate duties and responsibilities

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Survey and record HVAC equipment to provide repair and maintenance estimates for facility owners and managers.
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Prepare your commercial sales associate resume

When your background is strong enough, you can start writing your commercial sales associate resume.

You can use Zippia's AI resume builder to make the resume writing process easier while also making sure that you include key information that hiring managers expect to see on a commercial sales associate resume. You'll find resume tips and examples of skills, responsibilities, and summaries, all provided by Zippi, your career sidekick.

Choose from 10+ customizable commercial sales associate resume templates

Build a professional commercial sales associate resume in minutes. Browse through our resume examples to identify the best way to word your resume. Then choose from 10+ resume templates to create your commercial sales associate resume.