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The differences between hospital sales representatives and sales representatives can be seen in a few details. Each job has different responsibilities and duties. While it typically takes 1-2 years to become a hospital sales representative, becoming a sales representative takes usually requires 2-4 years. Additionally, a hospital sales representative has an average salary of $93,625, which is higher than the $56,591 average annual salary of a sales representative.
The top three skills for a hospital sales representative include patients, territory sales and healthcare professionals. The most important skills for a sales representative are sales process, product knowledge, and customer service.
| Hospital Sales Representative | Sales Representative | |
| Yearly salary | $93,625 | $56,591 |
| Hourly rate | $45.01 | $27.21 |
| Growth rate | 4% | 4% |
| Number of jobs | 165,793 | 205,456 |
| Job satisfaction | - | 4.33 |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 85% | Bachelor's Degree, 54% |
| Average age | 47 | 47 |
| Years of experience | 2 | 4 |
Hospital sales representatives sell medical supplies to clinics, hospitals, doctors, and facilities. The representatives promote their company's products like medical equipment and/or pharmaceutical products. They increase product awareness, provide advice, introduce new products, and answer queries. It is also part of their job to explain the benefits and features of the products. They are expected to be responsive, keep their patient in mind, communicative, have good customer service, and should be knowledgeable in medicine.
Sales representatives primarily sell the company's products and services to businesses or organizations. They should be adept at closing out sales, negotiating, and providing customer service. They should be knowledgeable about the products or services of the manufacturer or producer they represent. They must also have strong analytical skills that would help them in coming up with cost-benefit analysis in assessing the current roster of clients and even prospective ones. Sales representatives should also be able to maintain good working relationships with all involved stakeholders, especially clients.
Hospital sales representatives and sales representatives have different pay scales, as shown below.
| Hospital Sales Representative | Sales Representative | |
| Average salary | $93,625 | $56,591 |
| Salary range | Between $62,000 And $141,000 | Between $33,000 And $94,000 |
| Highest paying City | - | Boston, MA |
| Highest paying state | - | Massachusetts |
| Best paying company | - | |
| Best paying industry | - | Pharmaceutical |
There are a few differences between a hospital sales representative and a sales representative in terms of educational background:
| Hospital Sales Representative | Sales Representative | |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 85% | Bachelor's Degree, 54% |
| Most common major | Business | Business |
| Most common college | University of Pennsylvania | SUNY College of Technology at Alfred |
Here are the differences between hospital sales representatives' and sales representatives' demographics:
| Hospital Sales Representative | Sales Representative | |
| Average age | 47 | 47 |
| Gender ratio | Male, 58.9% Female, 41.1% | Male, 58.1% Female, 41.9% |
| Race ratio | Black or African American, 3.8% Unknown, 3.7% Hispanic or Latino, 13.9% Asian, 5.1% White, 73.2% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.2% | Black or African American, 3.9% Unknown, 3.7% Hispanic or Latino, 14.5% Asian, 5.2% White, 72.5% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.2% |
| LGBT Percentage | 6% | 6% |