Inside sales associate vs inside sales specialist

The differences between inside sales associates and inside sales specialists can be seen in a few details. Each job has different responsibilities and duties. It typically takes 2-4 years to become both an inside sales associate and an inside sales specialist. Additionally, an inside sales specialist has an average salary of $50,944, which is higher than the $40,687 average annual salary of an inside sales associate.

The top three skills for an inside sales associate include inside sales, sales associates and strong customer service. The most important skills for an inside sales specialist are customer service, CRM, and sales process.

Inside sales associate vs inside sales specialist overview

	Inside Sales Associate	Inside Sales Specialist
Yearly salary	$40,687	$50,944
Hourly rate	$19.56	$24.49
Growth rate	4%	4%
Number of jobs	320,863	251,423
Job satisfaction	-	-
Most common degree	Bachelor's Degree, 63%	Bachelor's Degree, 69%
Average age	47	47
Years of experience	4	4

What does an inside sales associate do?

An inside sales associate is responsible for selling the company's goods and services through remote communication. Inside sales associates make calls to potential customers, demonstrate the products' features, take orders, process payments, and inform the customers of the delivery details. They strategize the most effective sales pitches to attract the customers on purchasing more services that would generate revenues and increase the company's profitability and brand image. An inside sales associate also supports the marketing team in developing marketing campaigns and promotional offers depending on customer demands and requests.

What does an inside sales specialist do?

An inside sales specialist is primarily responsible for securing sales by reaching out to clients to sell products and services. They may communicate with customers through calls and correspondence or personally recommend products in a retail store setting. Moreover, they are also responsible for responding to inquiries or concerns, identifying the customers' needs, devising strategies to find sales opportunities, and discussing products to customers. An inside sales specialist is often required to meet sales goals and report to managers should there be any issues or problems.

Inside sales associate vs inside sales specialist salary

Inside sales associates and inside sales specialists have different pay scales, as shown below.

	Inside Sales Associate	Inside Sales Specialist
Average salary	$40,687	$50,944
Salary range	Between $30,000 And $54,000	Between $34,000 And $75,000
Highest paying City	Seattle, WA	Seattle, WA
Highest paying state	Washington	Washington
Best paying company	MSCI	Keller Williams Greater Seattle
Best paying industry	Health Care	Real Estate

Differences between inside sales associate and inside sales specialist education

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

	Inside Sales Associate	Inside Sales Specialist
Most common degree	Bachelor's Degree, 63%	Bachelor's Degree, 69%
Most common major	Business	Business
Most common college	SUNY College of Technology at Alfred	SUNY College of Technology at Alfred

Inside sales associate vs inside sales specialist demographics

Here are the differences between inside sales associates' and inside sales specialists' demographics:

	Inside Sales Associate	Inside Sales Specialist
Average age	47	47
Gender ratio	Male, 57.3% Female, 42.7%	Male, 52.0% Female, 48.0%
Race ratio	Black or African American, 3.8% Unknown, 3.7% Hispanic or Latino, 14.0% Asian, 5.1% White, 73.1% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.2%	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%
LGBT Percentage	6%	6%

Differences between inside sales associate and inside sales specialist duties and responsibilities

Inside sales associate example responsibilities.

Manage individual sales activities by developing highly effective, communications focuse relationship with multiple sales channels.
Provide awareness to customers of the benefits of moving to a cloud platform for intra/customer facing web applications.
Develop a standardize, customize CRM system to track sales and marketing ROI that link into operational and financial ERP systems.
Calculate roofing amounts/square footage etc.
Maintain cleanliness and organization of stockroom shelves.
Conduct effective outbound telemarketing calls to potential and existing clients.

Inside sales specialist example responsibilities.

Manage individual sales activities by developing highly effective, communications focuse relationship with multiple sales channels.
Present presentations to potential clients through Microsoft PowerPoint.
Maintain and update assigned territory through SalesLogix CRM program.
Revise and update CRM database to ensure accurate customer information.
Operate as inside sales consultant, primarily in areas of customer relations, sales/service support, coordinating production and transportation scheduling
Call on corporate counsel, c-level executives and law firms to sell solutions with traditional litigation support.

Inside sales associate vs inside sales specialist skills

Common inside sales associate skills

Inside Sales, 13%
Sales Associates, 7%
Strong Customer Service, 6%
Sales Process, 5%
Customer Satisfaction, 5%
Sales Floor, 5%

Common inside sales specialist skills

Customer Service, 13%
CRM, 7%
Sales Process, 5%
Work Ethic, 5%
Product Knowledge, 5%
Outbound Calls, 4%

Inside Sales Associate vs. similar jobs

Inside Sales Associate related careers

Inside Sales Associate related jobs

What similar roles do

Zippia Careers
Sales Industry
Inside Sales Associate
Inside Sales Associate vs Inside Sales Specialist

Updated January 8, 2025

Browse sales jobs