How To Become An Internal Sales Representative: What It Is and Career Path

What is an internal sales representative and how to become one

Updated January 8, 2025

3 min read

Quoted experts

Laura Sansoni,

John Cicala Ph.D.

Did you know Internal Sales Representatives, traditionally, did business over the phone? But technological advancements now allow them to work via email, Skype, and other online communication services. Internal Sales Representatives are the ones who sell goods and services to customers either in an office environment or a retail store location. They initially deal with either walk-in customers or source sales via email, cold calling, and lead follow-up calls in each context.

For the role of sales representative, having a high school degree is sufficient; however, agents selling scientific and technical products usually must have a bachelor's degree in a related field. If you're an Internal Sales Representative in the U.S., you can make an average salary of $43,927 per year or $21 per hour. However, this figure can vary significantly depending upon your experience and skills."

What general advice would you give to an internal sales representative?

Laura Sansoni

Director, Career Development, CBA Career Center, University of Nebraska at Omaha

Whenever I work with a new graduate, I see them experiencing many emotions ranging from excitement from completing their education to anxiety about starting their careers.

For the graduates that have a job, I highly encourage them to take advantage of any opportunity presented to them. Participate in workplace events, take advantage of professional development opportunities like attending conferences or trainings, and volunteer to work on projects when asked to. Taking advantage of these opportunities in your workplace will increase your skills and experiences while deepening your connections to your colleagues and growing your personal network.

For graduates that are still looking for jobs, I remind them that the worst things that can happen in the job search are an employer saying "no", "we went with another candidate", or not responding to your application at all. While that can be scary and defeating at times, think about the positives of the situation. You didn't get the interview or the job, but you didn't lose anything either. Instead, you gained more experience in the job search process that you can improve upon for the next time. I also remind new grads to let the employers decide if they are the right fit for the job instead of counting yourself out too early. If you meet 75 percent of the qualifications in the job description, apply for the job and let the recruiter decide whether to set up an interview. Don't be so afraid of the next "no" that it prevents you from finding the next possible "yes".

ScoreInternal Sales RepresentativeUS Average

Salary

3.5

Avg. Salary $44,872

Avg. Salary $59,228

Stability level

7.1

Growth rate 4%

Growth rate 0.3%

Diversity

3.8

Race

American Indian and Alaska Native 0.23%

Asian 5.16%

Black or African American 3.84%

Hispanic or Latino 14.27%

Unknown 3.71%

White 72.78%

Gender

female 44.96%

male 55.04%

Age - 48

Race

American Indian and Alaska Native 3.00%

Asian 7.00%

Black or African American 14.00%

Hispanic or Latino 19.00%

White 57.00%

Gender

female 47.00%

male 53.00%

Age - 48

Stress level

7.1

Stress level is high

7.1 - high

Complexity level

8.4

Complexity level is challenging

7 - challenging

Work life balance

4.9

Work life balance is fair

6.4 - fair

Key steps to become an internal sales representative

Explore internal sales representative education requirements

Most common internal sales representative degrees

Bachelor's

70.9 %

Associate

10.3 %

Master's

7.3 %

Start to develop specific internal sales representative skills

Skills	Percentages
Phone Calls	12.04%
Internal Sales	9.85%
Product Knowledge	9.04%
CRM	7.69%
Sales Process	7.39%

Complete relevant internal sales representative training and internships

Accountants spend an average of 6-12 months on post-employment, on-the-job training. New internal sales representatives learn the skills and techniques required for their job and employer during this time. The chart below shows how long it takes to gain competency as an internal sales representative based on U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics data and data from real internal sales representative resumes.

Research internal sales representative duties and responsibilities

Accomplish tasks in a timely manner.Skills UsedComputer, math, reading wiring schematics.
Provide merchandising assistance to customers by building displays, negotiating placement, replenishing permanent secondary displays and using POS materials effectively.
Learned how to ask proper questions and communicate MetLife's product differentiators against competition

Prepare your internal sales representative resume

When your background is strong enough, you can start writing your internal sales representative resume.

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