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The differences between inside sales engineers and inside 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 an inside 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 $44,413 average annual salary of an inside sales representative.
The top three skills for an inside sales engineer include customer service, product knowledge and CRM. The most important skills for an inside sales representative are customer service, CRM, and outbound calls.
| Inside Sales Engineer | Inside Sales Representative | |
| Yearly salary | $50,487 | $44,413 |
| Hourly rate | $24.27 | $21.35 |
| Growth rate | 6% | 4% |
| Number of jobs | 156,700 | 244,168 |
| Job satisfaction | - | - |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 59% | Bachelor's Degree, 66% |
| 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.
An inside sales representative is responsible for selling services and products to clients, driving the company's revenues and increase sales profitability. Duties of an inside sales representative include developing strategic sales pitches, responding to customer's inquiries and requests, offering promotional products and discounts, researching potential clients, creating sales reports, and managing customer's possible complaints. An inside sales representative also provides strategic solutions to share with the sales team to improve their sales performance. Inside sales representatives must have excellent communication and negotiation skills to deal with customers' needs.
Inside sales engineers and inside sales representatives have different pay scales, as shown below.
| Inside Sales Engineer | Inside Sales Representative | |
| Average salary | $50,487 | $44,413 |
| Salary range | Between $33,000 And $76,000 | Between $28,000 And $69,000 |
| Highest paying City | Alexandria, VA | Seattle, WA |
| Highest paying state | New York | Wyoming |
| Best paying company | Fluid Components International | Berkshire Hathaway |
| Best paying industry | Technology | Technology |
There are a few differences between an inside sales engineer and an inside sales representative in terms of educational background:
| Inside Sales Engineer | Inside Sales Representative | |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 59% | Bachelor's Degree, 66% |
| 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 inside sales representatives' demographics:
| Inside Sales Engineer | Inside Sales Representative | |
| Average age | 44 | 47 |
| Gender ratio | Male, 65.3% Female, 34.7% | Male, 54.7% Female, 45.3% |
| 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, 3.8% Unknown, 3.7% Hispanic or Latino, 14.0% Asian, 5.1% White, 73.1% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.2% |
| LGBT Percentage | 7% | 6% |