Hospital sales representative vs specialty representative

The differences between hospital sales representatives and specialty representatives can be seen in a few details. Each job has different responsibilities and duties. It typically takes 1-2 years to become both a hospital sales representative and a specialty representative. Additionally, a hospital sales representative has an average salary of $93,625, which is higher than the $49,201 average annual salary of a specialty representative.

The top three skills for a hospital sales representative include patients, territory sales and healthcare professionals. The most important skills for a specialty representative are patients, oncology, and dermatology.

Hospital sales representative vs specialty representative overview

	Hospital Sales Representative	Specialty Representative
Yearly salary	$93,625	$49,201
Hourly rate	$45.01	$23.65
Growth rate	4%	4%
Number of jobs	165,793	50,435
Job satisfaction	-	-
Most common degree	Bachelor's Degree, 85%	Bachelor's Degree, 85%
Average age	47	47
Years of experience	2	2

What does a hospital sales representative do?

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.

What does a specialty representative do?

A specialty representative is responsible for selling specific goods and services to target customers through remote communication or site visits, depending on business requirements and client needs. Specialty representatives assist the marketing and sales team in delivering high-quality sales strategies and promotional techniques to attract customers, identifying their needs by researching industry trends to drive more revenue resources and achieve sales goals and objectives. A specialty representative should have excellent communication and organizational skills, especially in responding to the customers' inquiries and concerns, resolving complaints, and updating their accounts within the database.

Hospital sales representative vs specialty representative salary

Hospital sales representatives and specialty representatives have different pay scales, as shown below.

	Hospital Sales Representative	Specialty Representative
Average salary	$93,625	$49,201
Salary range	Between $62,000 And $141,000	Between $26,000 And $92,000
Highest paying City	-	-
Highest paying state	-	-
Best paying company	-	-
Best paying industry	-	-

Differences between hospital sales representative and specialty representative education

There are a few differences between a hospital sales representative and a specialty representative in terms of educational background:

	Hospital Sales Representative	Specialty Representative
Most common degree	Bachelor's Degree, 85%	Bachelor's Degree, 85%
Most common major	Business	Business
Most common college	University of Pennsylvania	University of Pennsylvania

Hospital sales representative vs specialty representative demographics

Here are the differences between hospital sales representatives' and specialty representatives' demographics:

	Hospital Sales Representative	Specialty Representative
Average age	47	47
Gender ratio	Male, 58.9% Female, 41.1%	Male, 47.7% Female, 52.3%
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, 3.8% 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%

Differences between hospital sales representative and specialty representative duties and responsibilities

Hospital sales representative example responsibilities.

Manage products in gastroenterology, cardiology, endocrinology, psychiatry, rheumatology, and OB-GYN categories.
Educate clinicians at top teaching institutions across the southeast on appropriate care and therapies for critically ill patients.
Promote Genoptix Oncology/Hematology diagnostic services in the private oncology clinic and hospital laboratory.
Trained/developed influential physician advocates for product lines, including top gastroenterology practices and recruiting top physicians as regional speakers.
Acquire knowledge of medical terminology, anatomy, physiology, and diseases to sell respiratory equipment and nebulizer medication.

Specialty representative example responsibilities.

Manage the strategic planning and territory development of neurology accounts.
Manage the development, productivity and utilization of local, regional and national speakers for hyperlipidemia and hypertension.
Attract and build strong advocates within large cardiology groups by building a reputation on integrity, product knowledge and accountability.
Develop and influence neurology and psychiatry opinion leaders by organizing medical education events, residency and speaker programs.
Present in-services for healthcare teams in surgery, ICU and GI settings.
Work with key colorectal surgeons and anesthesiologists to prepare for the launch of Entereg.

Hospital sales representative vs specialty representative skills

Common hospital sales representative skills

Patients, 19%
Territory Sales, 7%
Healthcare Professionals, 6%
Medical Sales, 6%
Sales Quota, 6%
Sales Growth, 5%

Common specialty representative skills

Patients, 27%
Oncology, 10%
Dermatology, 8%
Neurology, 6%
Educational Programs, 6%
Endocrinology, 5%

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Hospital Sales Representative
Hospital Sales Representative vs Specialty Representative

Updated January 8, 2025

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