How to hire an outside sales executive

How to hire an outside sales executive, step by step

Here's a step-by-step outside sales executive hiring guide:

• Step 1: Identify your hiring needs
• Step 2: Create an ideal candidate profile
• Step 3: Make a budget
• Step 4: Write an outside sales executive job description
• Step 5: Post your job
• Step 6: Interview candidates
• Step 7: Send a job offer and onboard your new outside sales executive
• Step 8: Go through the hiring process checklist

What does an outside sales executive do?

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1. Identify your hiring needs

   Before you start hiring an outside sales executive, identify what type of worker you actually need. Certain positions might call for a full-time employee, while others can be done by a part-time worker or contractor.

   Determine employee vs contractor status

   Is the person you're thinking of hiring a US citizen or green card holder?

   Yes

   No

   An outside sales executive's background is also an important factor in determining whether they'll be a good fit for the position. For example, outside sales executives from different industries or fields will have radically different experiences and will bring different viewpoints to the role. You also need to consider the candidate's previous level of experience to make sure they'll be comfortable with the job's level of seniority.

   The following list breaks down different types of outside sales executives and their corresponding salaries.

   Type of Outside Sales Executive	Description	Hourly rate
   Outside Sales Executive	Wholesale and manufacturing sales representatives sell goods for wholesalers or manufacturers to businesses, government agencies, and other organizations. They contact customers, explain product features, answer any questions that their customers may have, and negotiate prices.	$23-50
   Sales Professional	A sales professional is an employee who is responsible for the management and assessment of the effectiveness of a company's sales representatives and sales team. By setting sales goals, sales professionals work with other departments to learn more about the company's products and services while developing strategies for acquiring new clients... Show more	$20-52
   Sales Development Representative	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... Show more	$16-37

   Show more

2. Create an ideal candidate profile

   Common skills:

   • Customer Service
   • CRM
   • Account Management
   • Business Sales
   • Cold Calls
   • Business Solutions
   • Sales Presentations
   • Sales Process
   • Business Development
   • Telemarketing
   • Business Relationships
   • Sales Targets
   • Relationship Building
   • Social Media Marketing

   Check all skills

   Responsibilities:

   • Manage a team of 15-25 ISE's through effective sales coaching, call monitoring and creating sales spiff programs.
   • Sell SaaS B2B for leading cloud-base expense management provider.
   • Track all sales activity within the company database and SalesLogix, a CRM software program.
   • Maintain CRM and provide assistance in customer's needs, including engine, chassis and transmission parts.
   • Perform regular sales visits throughout assign territory to develop relationship with independent grocery and convenient stores.
   • Assist MRO organizations in composite shop design and organization.

   More outside sales executive duties

3. Make a budget

   Including a salary range in your outside sales executive job description helps attract top candidates to the position. An outside sales executive salary can be affected by several factors, such as geography, experience, seniority, certifications, and the prestige of the hiring company.

   For example, the average salary for an outside sales executive in Alabama may be lower than in Washington, and an entry-level outside sales executive usually earns less than a senior-level outside sales executive. Additionally, an outside sales executive with certifications may command a higher salary, and working for a well-known company or start-up may also impact an employee's pay.

   Average outside sales executive salary

   $71,981yearly

   $34.61 hourly rate

   ---

   Entry-level outside sales executive salary

   $49,000 yearly salary

   Updated December 19, 2025

   Average outside sales executive salary by state

   Rank	State	Avg. salary	Hourly rate
   1	Washington	$89,606	$43
   2	Virginia	$83,450	$40
   3	Massachusetts	$83,439	$40
   4	New York	$83,134	$40
   5	Oregon	$82,717	$40
   6	Minnesota	$75,813	$36
   7	California	$74,142	$36
   8	Indiana	$73,940	$36
   9	New Hampshire	$73,922	$36
   10	Texas	$73,458	$35
   11	Maine	$73,284	$35
   12	New Jersey	$69,515	$33
   13	Colorado	$69,514	$33
   14	Ohio	$69,213	$33
   15	North Carolina	$68,822	$33
   16	Louisiana	$68,451	$33
   17	Arizona	$67,890	$33
   18	Tennessee	$65,282	$31
   19	Florida	$65,079	$31
   20	Kentucky	$63,738	$31

   Average outside sales executive salary by company

   Company

   Rank	Company	Average salary	Hourly rate	Job openings
   1	Marshberry	$105,480	$50.71
   2	Beyond	$91,520	$44.00	3
   3	Sinclair Broadcast Group	$78,132	$37.56	174
   4	CORT	$74,572	$35.85	24
   5	CyberCoders	$72,396	$34.81	8
   6	Waste Management	$72,149	$34.69	23
   7	Idaho Press	$71,553	$34.40
   8	Heartland Payment Systems	$70,376	$33.83	1
   9	Sharp	$69,807	$33.56	47
   10	Crawford Thomas Recruiting	$69,431	$33.38
   11	Momentum Solar	$69,326	$33.33
   12	The Independent Traveler	$69,170	$33.25	72
   13	DISYS	$68,665	$33.01
   14	Tire Centers	$67,738	$32.57
   15	ADP	$64,240	$30.88	286
   16	Universal Business Team	$64,208	$30.87
   17	The Jan Companies	$63,633	$30.59	2
   18	Dominion Enterprises	$63,246	$30.41	28
   19	1-800-Flowers.com	$62,006	$29.81	17
   20	Echo Global Logistics	$61,555	$29.59	9

4. Writing an outside sales executive job description

   An outside sales executive job description should include a summary of the role, required skills, and a list of responsibilities. It's also good to include a salary range and the first name of the hiring manager. To help get you started, here's an example of an outside sales executive job description:

   Outside sales executive job description example

   Who We Are

   DISYS Solutions Inc. (DSI) is a Cisco Gold Partner generating over $180 million in revenue annually. DSI is an expanding company providing IT solutions and services since 1991 with headquarters in the thriving Dulles Technology corridor (Ashburn, Virginia).

   Our culture is built on credibility, capability, customer service, and commitment to our talented workforce and customers. We look forward to accelerating your career development and growth through our comprehensive professional training programs, competitive compensation package, robust benefits, and a fun and rewarding workplace!

   Benefits We Provide

   DSI sponsored benefits include 401(k) with a 3% company match, medical insurance (including TelaDoc), dental insurance, life insurance, short-term & long-term disability insurance, paid time off (PTO), and 9.5 company paid holidays. We are committed to employee satisfaction through our benefits program and a friendly, team-based culture.

   Your Responsibilities

   • Sell IT Infrastructure solutions from various Vendors to primarily but not limited to State, Local and School of Education (SLED) establishments
   • Interface and drive sales with customers in the Houston area and areas within a 50-mile radius of Houston
   • Defined Sales Territory is where the Sales Executive resides, current client list of the successful candidate and DSI’s sales territory mapping

   • Provide current and new clients product information, pricing, and conduct daily on-site visits
   • Focus on Federal E-rate opportunities as well as commercial sales
   • Partner with our Senior Network Engineers in the areas of (Security, R&S, Wireless, Collaboration, Data Center and Virtualization) for all pre-sales activities
   • Implement a strategic, solution-oriented approach to create interest in our unique value and build market position by identifying, developing, defining, negotiating, and establishing business relationships

   What You Need for this Role

   • Bachelor’s degree in business required or equivalent years of experience
   • 3+ years in outside sales capacity selling IT solutions for Cisco products or other vendors (NetApp, VMware, Microsoft, HPE, Crestron)
   • Must be knowledgeable with Cisco products and solutions
   • Should have a proven and solid SLED and commercial sales background
   • Must be willing to travel within the state of Texas (territory defined above)
   • Existing and active client list for Houston territory
   • Proficiency in Microsoft Office suite
   • Excellent time management, organization skills and attention to detail
   • Excellent written and verbal communication skills
   • Excellent communication skills are required, both written and oral
   • Highly energetic and a self-starter
   • Strong Decision-making, problem resolution and creative thinking skills
   • Results driven and detail-oriented
   • Excellent writing, communication, and customer service skills
   • Demonstrate a high level of confidentiality in all aspects of conducting business
   • Demonstrated credibility in customer and team interactions

   What Sets You Apart

   • Any Cisco Sales Certification, especially CCSE (Cisco Certified Sales Expert)
   • Strong team collaborator, mentor, coach to others on the team
   • Demonstrated credibility in customer and team interactions
   • Possess a strong client list for Houston territory

   DSI is proud to be an Equal Opportunity employer. We welcome and encourage diversity in the workplace regardless of race, gender, religion, age, sexual orientation, gender identity, disability, or veteran status.

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5. Post your job

   To find outside sales executives for your business, try out a few different recruiting strategies:

   • Consider internal talent. One of the most important talent pools for any company is its current employees.
   • Ask for referrals. Reach out to friends, family members, and your current work to ask if they know any outside sales executives they would recommend.
   • Recruit at local colleges. Attend job fairs at local colleges to recruit entry-level outside sales executives with the right educational background.
   • Social media platforms. LinkedIn, Facebook, and Twitter have more than 3.5 billion users, and they're a great place for company branding and reaching potential job candidates.

   Post your job online:

   • Post your outside sales executive job on Zippia to find and recruit outside sales executive candidates who meet your exact specifications.
   • Use field-specific websites.
   • Post a job on free websites.

6. Interview candidates

   Recruiting outside sales executives requires you to bring your A-game to the interview process. The first interview should introduce the company and the role to the candidate as much as they present their background experience and reasons for applying for the job. During later interviews, you can go into more detail about the technical details of the job and ask behavioral questions to gauge how they'd fit into your current company culture.

   It's also good to ask about candidates' unique skills and talents to see if they match your ideal candidate profile. If you think a candidate is good enough for the next step, you can move on to the technical interview.

   The right interview questions can help you assess a candidate's hard skills, behavioral intelligence, and soft skills.

7. Send a job offer and onboard your new outside sales executive

   Once you've found the outside sales executive candidate you'd like to hire, it's time to write an offer letter. This should include an explicit job offer that includes the salary and the details of any other perks. Qualified candidates might be looking at multiple positions, so your offer must be competitive if you like the candidate. Also, be prepared for a negotiation stage, as candidates may way want to tweak the details of your initial offer. Once you've settled on these details, you can draft a contract to formalize your agreement.

   It's also good etiquette to follow up with applicants who don't get the job by sending them an email letting them know that the position has been filled.

   Once that's done, you can draft an onboarding schedule for the new outside sales executive. Human Resources should complete Employee Action Forms and ensure that onboarding paperwork is completed, including I-9s, benefits enrollment, federal and state tax forms, etc. They should also ensure that new employee files are created for internal recordkeeping.

8. Go through the hiring process checklist

   • Determine employee type (full-time, part-time, contractor, etc.)
   • Submit a job requisition form to the HR department
   • Define job responsibilities and requirements
   • Establish budget and timeline
   • Determine hiring decision makers for the role
   • Write job description
   • Post job on job boards, company website, etc.
   • Promote the job internally
   • Process applications through applicant tracking system
   • Review resumes and cover letters
   • Shortlist candidates for screening
   • Hold phone/virtual interview screening with first round of candidates
   • Conduct in-person interviews with top candidates from first round
   • Score candidates based on weighted criteria (e.g., experience, education, background, cultural fit, skill set, etc.)
   • Conduct background checks on top candidates
   • Check references of top candidates
   • Consult with HR and hiring decision makers on job offer specifics
   • Extend offer to top candidate(s)
   • Receive formal job offer acceptance and signed employment contract
   • Inform other candidates that the position has been filled
   • Set and communicate onboarding schedule to new hire(s)
   • Complete new hire paperwork (i9, benefits enrollment, tax forms, etc.)

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