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The differences between commercial sales associates and sales consultants can be seen in a few details. Each job has different responsibilities and duties. It typically takes 2-4 years to become both a commercial sales associate and a sales consultant. Additionally, a sales consultant has an average salary of $60,135, which is higher than the $55,859 average annual salary of a commercial sales associate.
The top three skills for a commercial sales associate include cash handling, financial statements and treasury. The most important skills for a sales consultant are sales process, product knowledge, and POS.
| Commercial Sales Associate | Sales Consultant | |
| Yearly salary | $55,859 | $60,135 |
| Hourly rate | $26.86 | $28.91 |
| Growth rate | 4% | 4% |
| Number of jobs | 261,436 | 227,636 |
| Job satisfaction | - | 4.5 |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 50% | Bachelor's Degree, 56% |
| Average age | 47 | 47 |
| Years of experience | 4 | 4 |
A commercial sales associate specializes in representing a company to offer products and services to businesses and organizations, ensuring efficiency and client satisfaction. Their responsibilities include performing research and analysis to identify business and client opportunities, pursuing leads, reaching out through calls and correspondence, arranging appointments, explaining or demonstrating products, and negotiating contracts. Aside from securing sales with businesses, a commercial sales associate must also perform clerical tasks such as producing progress reports and presentations, arranging schedules, and maintaining records of all transactions, all while adhering to the company's policies and regulations.
Sales consultants are employees who work in the sales department of a company. They are usually more skilled than usual sales employees. As such, they are usually given more complicated products or services to sell because they will be able to explain the product or service to the customers better. Sales consultants have in-depth knowledge of the offerings of the company. They talk to customers, understand what the customers need, and match the customers' needs with company products that can address the needs. They should also be updated on trends in the market and what is currently popular with the masses.
Commercial sales associates and sales consultants have different pay scales, as shown below.
| Commercial Sales Associate | Sales Consultant | |
| Average salary | $55,859 | $60,135 |
| Salary range | Between $28,000 And $111,000 | Between $37,000 And $97,000 |
| Highest paying City | Glen Cove, NY | San Francisco, CA |
| Highest paying state | Maine | California |
| Best paying company | AstraZeneca | |
| Best paying industry | - | Finance |
There are a few differences between a commercial sales associate and a sales consultant in terms of educational background:
| Commercial Sales Associate | Sales Consultant | |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 50% | Bachelor's Degree, 56% |
| Most common major | Business | Business |
| Most common college | SUNY College of Technology at Alfred | SUNY College of Technology at Alfred |
Here are the differences between commercial sales associates' and sales consultants' demographics:
| Commercial Sales Associate | Sales Consultant | |
| Average age | 47 | 47 |
| Gender ratio | Male, 71.0% Female, 29.0% | Male, 63.2% Female, 36.8% |
| Race ratio | Black or African American, 3.9% 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, 72.8% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.2% |
| LGBT Percentage | 6% | 6% |