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The differences between inside sales representatives and business development representatives can be seen in a few details. Each job has different responsibilities and duties. Additionally, a business development representative has an average salary of $47,240, which is higher than the $44,413 average annual salary of an inside sales representative.
The top three skills for an inside sales representative include customer service, CRM and outbound calls. The most important skills for a business development representative are business development, work ethic, and customer service.
| Inside Sales Representative | Business Development Representative | |
| Yearly salary | $44,413 | $47,240 |
| Hourly rate | $21.35 | $22.71 |
| Growth rate | 4% | 4% |
| Number of jobs | 244,168 | 269,704 |
| Job satisfaction | - | 5 |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 66% | Bachelor's Degree, 70% |
| Average age | 47 | 44 |
| Years of experience | 4 | - |
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.
A business development representative's role is to find new business and client opportunities through market research and networking. They are primarily responsible for participating in creating strategies to enhance client relations, improve sales, and reach out to potential clients through calls, correspondence, and meetings. Moreover, it is also their responsibility to perform follow-up calls, offer recommendations, and even build rapport to strengthen client base. As a representative, it is essential to coordinate with managers and supervisors and adhere to policies and regulations.
Inside sales representatives and business development representatives have different pay scales, as shown below.
| Inside Sales Representative | Business Development Representative | |
| Average salary | $44,413 | $47,240 |
| Salary range | Between $28,000 And $69,000 | Between $26,000 And $82,000 |
| Highest paying City | Seattle, WA | San Francisco, CA |
| Highest paying state | Wyoming | Alaska |
| Best paying company | Berkshire Hathaway | Wipro Limited |
| Best paying industry | Technology | Manufacturing |
There are a few differences between an inside sales representative and a business development representative in terms of educational background:
| Inside Sales Representative | Business Development Representative | |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 66% | Bachelor's Degree, 70% |
| Most common major | Business | Business |
| Most common college | SUNY College of Technology at Alfred | Stanford University |
Here are the differences between inside sales representatives' and business development representatives' demographics:
| Inside Sales Representative | Business Development Representative | |
| Average age | 47 | 44 |
| Gender ratio | Male, 54.7% Female, 45.3% | Male, 50.9% Female, 49.1% |
| 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, 6.8% Unknown, 4.1% Hispanic or Latino, 16.3% Asian, 5.6% White, 66.9% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.4% |
| LGBT Percentage | 6% | 5% |