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The differences between medical sales specialists and sales development representatives can be seen in a few details. Each job has different responsibilities and duties. While it typically takes 1-2 years to become a medical sales specialist, becoming a sales development representative takes usually requires 2-4 years. Additionally, a medical sales specialist has an average salary of $69,959, which is higher than the $51,504 average annual salary of a sales development representative.
The top three skills for a medical sales specialist include patients, medical devices and medical sales. The most important skills for a sales development representative are SDR, lead generation, and customer service.
| Medical Sales Specialist | Sales Development Representative | |
| Yearly salary | $69,959 | $51,504 |
| Hourly rate | $33.63 | $24.76 |
| Growth rate | 4% | 4% |
| Number of jobs | 76,398 | 199,588 |
| Job satisfaction | - | - |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 79% | Bachelor's Degree, 83% |
| Average age | 47 | 47 |
| Years of experience | 2 | 4 |
A medical sales specialist is an individual who advertises, markets, and distributes a specific pharmaceutical product or medical equipment to medical establishments. Medical sales specialists must manage a network of independent representatives and maintain relationships with their clients to attain territory-specific sales goals. They develop marketing strategies and business sales plans to identify key growth areas and deliver short and long-term corporate objectives. Medical sales specialists should also conduct analyses on product and market trends to achieve and exceed sales goals.
A sales development representative qualifies leads at the sales funnel's initial stages. Sales development representatives need to conduct research for prospective clients and qualify the leads before handing them to the sales team. They develop sales strategies to attract buyers or solicit potential customers. They need to build relationships with their customers to determine their needs and qualify the viability of interests to drive sales. Also, they collaborate with the sales executives making certain that corporate targets and goals are met.
Medical sales specialists and sales development representatives have different pay scales, as shown below.
| Medical Sales Specialist | Sales Development Representative | |
| Average salary | $69,959 | $51,504 |
| Salary range | Between $47,000 And $102,000 | Between $34,000 And $77,000 |
| Highest paying City | San Francisco, CA | Boston, MA |
| Highest paying state | California | Alaska |
| Best paying company | Medline | PitchBook Data |
| Best paying industry | Pharmaceutical | Start-up |
There are a few differences between a medical sales specialist and a sales development representative in terms of educational background:
| Medical Sales Specialist | Sales Development Representative | |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 79% | Bachelor's Degree, 83% |
| Most common major | Business | Business |
| Most common college | University of Pennsylvania | University of Pennsylvania |
Here are the differences between medical sales specialists' and sales development representatives' demographics:
| Medical Sales Specialist | Sales Development Representative | |
| Average age | 47 | 47 |
| Gender ratio | Male, 50.8% Female, 49.2% | Male, 63.1% Female, 36.9% |
| Race ratio | Black or African American, 3.8% Unknown, 3.7% Hispanic or Latino, 14.2% Asian, 5.1% White, 72.9% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.2% | Black or African American, 3.9% Unknown, 3.7% Hispanic or Latino, 14.5% Asian, 5.2% White, 72.4% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.2% |
| LGBT Percentage | 6% | 6% |