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The differences between inside sales engineers and field sales representatives can be seen in a few details. Each job has different responsibilities and duties. While it typically takes 4-6 years to become an inside sales engineer, becoming a field sales representative takes usually requires 2-4 years. Additionally, an inside sales engineer has an average salary of $50,487, which is higher than the $48,460 average annual salary of a field sales representative.
The top three skills for an inside sales engineer include customer service, product knowledge and CRM. The most important skills for a field sales representative are excellent time management, customer service, and powerpoint.
| Inside Sales Engineer | Field Sales Representative | |
| Yearly salary | $50,487 | $48,460 |
| Hourly rate | $24.27 | $23.30 |
| Growth rate | 6% | 4% |
| Number of jobs | 156,700 | 228,254 |
| Job satisfaction | - | 5 |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 59% | Bachelor's Degree, 73% |
| Average age | 44 | 47 |
| Years of experience | 6 | 4 |
An inside sales engineer is an individual who uses specialized technical knowledge to negotiate between sales units and clients to increase the profits and revenue of a company. Inside sales, engineers must seek clients who will benefit from their products or services and aim to maximize client potential in the different allocated regions. Inside sales engineers must also provide technical help and carry out training, if necessary, once a sale has been made.
A field sales representative is an employee who is employed by business-to-business (B2B) and wholesale organizations to visit leads and sell products or services to their customers in person. Field sales representatives must attract new customers and win new accounts so that they can maximize profitability within their territory. They travel around their assigned territory and visit their customers regularly to educate them on how their products can benefit them. Field sales representatives must also maintain records of all sales leads and monitor the organization's competitor, new products, and market conditions.
Inside sales engineers and field sales representatives have different pay scales, as shown below.
| Inside Sales Engineer | Field Sales Representative | |
| Average salary | $50,487 | $48,460 |
| Salary range | Between $33,000 And $76,000 | Between $26,000 And $88,000 |
| Highest paying City | Alexandria, VA | Seattle, WA |
| Highest paying state | New York | Washington |
| Best paying company | Fluid Components International | VMware |
| Best paying industry | Technology | Technology |
There are a few differences between an inside sales engineer and a field sales representative in terms of educational background:
| Inside Sales Engineer | Field Sales Representative | |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 59% | Bachelor's Degree, 73% |
| Most common major | Business | Business |
| Most common college | Northwestern University | SUNY College of Technology at Alfred |
Here are the differences between inside sales engineers' and field sales representatives' demographics:
| Inside Sales Engineer | Field Sales Representative | |
| Average age | 44 | 47 |
| Gender ratio | Male, 65.3% Female, 34.7% | Male, 69.5% Female, 30.5% |
| Race ratio | Black or African American, 1.7% Unknown, 6.2% Hispanic or Latino, 8.3% Asian, 5.7% White, 77.7% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.3% | 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 | 7% | 6% |