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Outside sales engineer vs sales engineering manager

The differences between outside sales engineers and sales engineering managers can be seen in a few details. Each job has different responsibilities and duties. It typically takes 4-6 years to become both an outside sales engineer and a sales engineering manager. Additionally, a sales engineering manager has an average salary of $122,397, which is higher than the $79,145 average annual salary of an outside sales engineer.

The top three skills for an outside sales engineer include customer relationships, HVAC and product line. The most important skills for a sales engineering manager are cloud, pre sales, and customer satisfaction.

Outside sales engineer vs sales engineering manager overview

Outside Sales EngineerSales Engineering Manager
Yearly salary$79,145$122,397
Hourly rate$38.05$58.84
Growth rate6%6%
Number of jobs113,925143,055
Job satisfaction--
Most common degreeBachelor's Degree, 74%Bachelor's Degree, 73%
Average age4444
Years of experience66

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 sales engineering manager do?

A sales engineering manager specializes in developing systems and procedures to optimize a company's sales operations, aiming for client satisfaction and profit growth. It is their duty to set goals and timelines, establish guidelines, manage different teams, research new business and client opportunities, gather and analyze data to identify the strengths and weaknesses of existing operations, develop sales strategies, and implement solutions against problem areas. Moreover, as a manager, it is essential to lead and encourage staff to reach goals while enforcing and promoting the company's policies and regulations.

Outside sales engineer vs sales engineering manager salary

Outside sales engineers and sales engineering managers have different pay scales, as shown below.

Outside Sales EngineerSales Engineering Manager
Average salary$79,145$122,397
Salary rangeBetween $55,000 And $113,000Between $89,000 And $167,000
Highest paying City-San Francisco, CA
Highest paying state-Virginia
Best paying company-Google
Best paying industry-Technology

Differences between outside sales engineer and sales engineering manager education

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

Outside Sales EngineerSales Engineering Manager
Most common degreeBachelor's Degree, 74%Bachelor's Degree, 73%
Most common majorBusinessBusiness
Most common collegeNorthwestern UniversityStanford University

Outside sales engineer vs sales engineering manager demographics

Here are the differences between outside sales engineers' and sales engineering managers' demographics:

Outside Sales EngineerSales Engineering Manager
Average age4444
Gender ratioMale, 91.2% Female, 8.8%Male, 93.0% Female, 7.0%
Race ratioBlack 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, 1.7% Unknown, 6.2% Hispanic or Latino, 8.2% Asian, 6.1% White, 77.4% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.3%
LGBT Percentage7%7%

Differences between outside sales engineer and sales engineering manager 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.
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Sales engineering manager example responsibilities.

  • Develop and implement OEM SaaS hosting model with ISP/ASP partners which lead to new revenue and partnership opportunities.
  • Coordinate and manage installation of VoIP & networking solutions.
  • Manage RFP technical responses for large computer and/or telecommunication projects.
  • Lead team of sales engineers to provide B2B host solutions and SaaS.
  • Architect solution for either a cloud or hybrid hosting model depending on customer needs.
  • Provide technical support/consultation for sales staff and channel partners with regards to deploying various IP services.
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Outside sales engineer vs sales engineering manager skills

Common outside sales engineer skills
  • Customer Relationships, 10%
  • HVAC, 7%
  • Product Line, 7%
  • CRM, 5%
  • Trade Shows, 5%
  • Territory Sales, 5%
Common sales engineering manager skills
  • Cloud, 11%
  • Pre Sales, 10%
  • Customer Satisfaction, 10%
  • Post Sales, 6%
  • Business Development, 5%
  • Sales Process, 5%