Post job

Expert vs sales associate

The differences between experts and sales associates can be seen in a few details. Each job has different responsibilities and duties. Additionally, an expert has an average salary of $94,068, which is higher than the $32,167 average annual salary of a sales associate.

The top three skills for an expert include sales floor, strong customer service and product knowledge. The most important skills for a sales associate are customer service, sales floor, and cash handling.

Expert vs sales associate overview

ExpertSales Associate
Yearly salary$94,068$32,167
Hourly rate$45.23$15.46
Growth rate--
Number of jobs11,893579,849
Job satisfaction--
Most common degreeBachelor's Degree, 50%Bachelor's Degree, 38%
Average age4141
Years of experience--

What does an expert do?

An expert has extensive knowledge on a subject gained from a significant amount of experience. Although the tasks will vary on the line of work or organization, an expert's role will often revolve around sharing expertise through discussion, evaluation, and influencing. There's also an opportunity for teaching, training, selling, and even promoting. Being an expert requires a great deal of communication and coordination; the duties will always involve engaging with other people and building rapport.

What does a sales associate do?

Sales associates are responsible for promoting the company's goods or services. They are expected to provide exceptional customer service to prospective buyers. They should be familiar with all features of the company's products or services so that they can answer the customers' inquiries. Sales associates also assist customers in processing their checkouts, refunds, returns, and other needs. They should be customer-oriented, and they should have great communication skills. They should know how to sell their products or services to customers. They are considered the company's representatives on the ground.

Expert vs sales associate salary

Experts and sales associates have different pay scales, as shown below.

ExpertSales Associate
Average salary$94,068$32,167
Salary rangeBetween $54,000 And $161,000Between $21,000 And $47,000
Highest paying CitySan Francisco, CANew York, NY
Highest paying stateCaliforniaNew York
Best paying companyMcKinsey & Company IncBarclays
Best paying industry-Manufacturing

Differences between expert and sales associate education

There are a few differences between an expert and a sales associate in terms of educational background:

ExpertSales Associate
Most common degreeBachelor's Degree, 50%Bachelor's Degree, 38%
Most common majorBusinessBusiness
Most common college--

Expert vs sales associate demographics

Here are the differences between experts' and sales associates' demographics:

ExpertSales Associate
Average age4141
Gender ratioMale, 55.6% Female, 44.4%Male, 38.4% Female, 61.6%
Race ratioBlack or African American, 10.2% Unknown, 5.3% Hispanic or Latino, 19.2% Asian, 8.3% White, 56.5% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.6%Black or African American, 10.6% Unknown, 5.1% Hispanic or Latino, 21.4% Asian, 6.9% White, 55.4% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.6%
LGBT Percentage7%7%

Differences between expert and sales associate duties and responsibilities

Expert example responsibilities.

  • Manage full life cycle development / deployment of focuse business intelligence solutions (SDLC).
  • Manage 20 Lean/Six sigma projects in 2005 enabling annualize savings of $1.42 MM vs. goal of 1.2 MM.
  • Develop talent management plans, set goals, and provide motivation to achieve client and program objectives (KPI's).
  • Manage back-end operations to ensure quality and timely delivery of product.
  • Manage transition logistics for a global vehicle financing company downsizing operations in Colorado.
  • Manipulate or correct color in scan images using Photoshop for the purpose of digitalprinting or platemaking.
  • Show more

Sales associate example responsibilities.

  • Supervise women's department, manage jewelry department, assist customers on finalizing purchases
  • Gain experience with credit cards, mathematics, as well as customer service.
  • Utilize forklift, order picker reach truck, electric ladder, or roll ladders to transfer merchandise to the sales floor.
  • Create Facebook page for Ohco Import/Export division.
  • Increase sales by upselling products and follow up sales calls.
  • Assist customers with the purchase of the perfect piece of jewelry
  • Show more

Expert vs sales associate skills

Common expert skills
  • Sales Floor, 16%
  • Strong Customer Service, 11%
  • Product Knowledge, 8%
  • Customer Service, 6%
  • POS, 5%
  • Customer Loyalty, 4%
Common sales associate skills
  • Customer Service, 15%
  • Sales Floor, 13%
  • Cash Handling, 9%
  • Retail Sales, 9%
  • Loss Prevention, 7%
  • Basic Math, 5%