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The differences between inside sales engineers and sales support 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 sales support representative takes usually requires 2-4 years. Additionally, an inside sales engineer has an average salary of $50,487, which is higher than the $38,310 average annual salary of a sales support representative.
The top three skills for an inside sales engineer include customer service, product knowledge and CRM. The most important skills for a sales support representative are sales support, phone calls, and POS.
| Inside Sales Engineer | Sales Support Representative | |
| Yearly salary | $50,487 | $38,310 |
| Hourly rate | $24.27 | $18.42 |
| Growth rate | 6% | 4% |
| Number of jobs | 156,700 | 319,292 |
| Job satisfaction | - | - |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 59% | Bachelor's Degree, 55% |
| 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 sales support representative is responsible for assisting the complex operations of sales departments, performing administrative duties under the supervision of a direct manager. Sales support representatives' tasks include acknowledging and encoding customers' orders in the system, processing payments, responding to the customers' inquiries and concerns about the products, writing sales reports, and updating the customer of the shipment details. They also support the sales representatives on selling goods and services to potential customers by creating marketing materials and communicating with customers over the phone and e-mail to generate revenues and increase profits.
Inside sales engineers and sales support representatives have different pay scales, as shown below.
| Inside Sales Engineer | Sales Support Representative | |
| Average salary | $50,487 | $38,310 |
| Salary range | Between $33,000 And $76,000 | Between $30,000 And $48,000 |
| Highest paying City | Alexandria, VA | Seattle, WA |
| Highest paying state | New York | Washington |
| Best paying company | Fluid Components International | NetApp |
| Best paying industry | Technology | Finance |
There are a few differences between an inside sales engineer and a sales support representative in terms of educational background:
| Inside Sales Engineer | Sales Support Representative | |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 59% | Bachelor's Degree, 55% |
| 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 sales support representatives' demographics:
| Inside Sales Engineer | Sales Support Representative | |
| Average age | 44 | 47 |
| Gender ratio | Male, 65.3% Female, 34.7% | Male, 39.9% Female, 60.1% |
| 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% |