Outside sales engineer vs field sales representative

The differences between outside sales engineers and field 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 outside sales engineer, becoming a field sales representative takes usually requires 2-4 years. Additionally, an outside sales engineer has an average salary of $79,145, which is higher than the $48,460 average annual salary of a field sales representative.

The top three skills for an outside sales engineer include customer relationships, HVAC and product line. The most important skills for a field sales representative are excellent time management, customer service, and powerpoint.

Outside sales engineer vs field sales representative overview

	Outside Sales Engineer	Field Sales Representative
Yearly salary	$79,145	$48,460
Hourly rate	$38.05	$23.30
Growth rate	6%	4%
Number of jobs	113,925	228,254
Job satisfaction	-	5
Most common degree	Bachelor's Degree, 74%	Bachelor's Degree, 73%
Average age	44	47
Years of experience	6	4

What does an outside sales engineer do?

An outside sales engineer is both a specialist and a salesperson of scientific and technological products or services to businesses. You have an in-depth knowledge of the products and the engineering processes that make these products work so that you can demonstrate their benefits to customers. Outside sales engineers are technical customer service representatives working for businesses that sell engineering products or the makers - they are out in the field interacting, educating, and selling to potential customers.

What does a field sales representative do?

A field sales representative is an employee who is employed by business-to-business (B2B) and wholesale organizations to visit leads and sell products or services to their customers in person. Field sales representatives must attract new customers and win new accounts so that they can maximize profitability within their territory. They travel around their assigned territory and visit their customers regularly to educate them on how their products can benefit them. Field sales representatives must also maintain records of all sales leads and monitor the organization's competitor, new products, and market conditions.

Outside sales engineer vs field sales representative salary

Outside sales engineers and field sales representatives have different pay scales, as shown below.

	Outside Sales Engineer	Field Sales Representative
Average salary	$79,145	$48,460
Salary range	Between $55,000 And $113,000	Between $26,000 And $88,000
Highest paying City	-	Seattle, WA
Highest paying state	-	Washington
Best paying company	-	VMware
Best paying industry	-	Technology

Differences between outside sales engineer and field sales representative education

There are a few differences between an outside sales engineer and a field sales representative in terms of educational background:

	Outside Sales Engineer	Field Sales Representative
Most common degree	Bachelor's Degree, 74%	Bachelor's Degree, 73%
Most common major	Business	Business
Most common college	Northwestern University	SUNY College of Technology at Alfred

Outside sales engineer vs field sales representative demographics

Here are the differences between outside sales engineers' and field sales representatives' demographics:

	Outside Sales Engineer	Field Sales Representative
Average age	44	47
Gender ratio	Male, 91.2% Female, 8.8%	Male, 69.5% Female, 30.5%
Race ratio	Black or African American, 1.6% Unknown, 6.2% Hispanic or Latino, 7.9% Asian, 5.8% White, 78.2% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.3%	Black or African American, 3.9% Unknown, 3.7% Hispanic or Latino, 14.5% Asian, 5.2% White, 72.5% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.2%
LGBT Percentage	7%	6%

Differences between outside sales engineer and field sales representative duties and responsibilities

Outside sales engineer example responsibilities.

Manage inbound domestic and international logistics and domestic shipping with respect to carrier selection, forwarding, brokering and expediting.
Increase sales to existing OEMs and develop new OEM customers.
Develop and implement sales and marketing strategies to aggressively develop new OEM accounts.
Price, sell, and engineer HVAC products and services to contractors and building owners.
Increase revenue by developing better understanding of buying trends and customer decision-makers by instituting CRM and sales tracking software.
Design and maintain corporate CRM, customer quoting and invoicing systems for inside, outside sales teams, including accounting.

Field sales representative example responsibilities.

Train and manage new DSR's.
Lead seminars for the CPA community for CPE credits.
Develop and manage sales in major retail accounts in the Mid-Atlantic region.
Manage and assist a vast customer base in the market for new roofing needs after a large hail storm in Lubbock.
Manage merchandising and POS materials at the retail store level ensuring meticulous compliance with all current corporate initiative regulations.
Conduct effective group Medicare HMO/PPO presentations/seminars, as well as one-on-one field sales presentations.

Outside sales engineer vs field sales representative skills

Common outside sales engineer skills

Customer Relationships, 10%
HVAC, 7%
Product Line, 7%
CRM, 5%
Trade Shows, 5%
Territory Sales, 5%

Common field sales representative skills

Excellent Time Management, 17%
Customer Service, 8%
PowerPoint, 6%
Medicare, 6%
Account Management, 6%
Sales Presentations, 5%

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Outside Sales Engineer
Outside Sales Engineer vs Field Sales Representative

Updated January 8, 2025

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