Outside sales vs account manager

The differences between outside sales and account managers can be seen in a few details. Each job has different responsibilities and duties. While it typically takes 2-4 years to become an outside sales, becoming an account manager takes usually requires 6-8 years. Additionally, an outside sales has an average salary of $77,292, which is higher than the $68,535 average annual salary of an account manager.

The top three skills for an outside sales include customer service, product knowledge and ongoing support. The most important skills for an account manager are customer service, account management, and healthcare.

Outside sales vs account manager overview

	Outside Sales	Account Manager
Yearly salary	$77,292	$68,535
Hourly rate	$37.16	$32.95
Growth rate	4%	5%
Number of jobs	333,400	152,261
Job satisfaction	-	4
Most common degree	Bachelor's Degree, 60%	Bachelor's Degree, 70%
Average age	47	46
Years of experience	4	8

What does an outside sales do?

An outside sales representative is responsible for generating the company's sales and revenues by offering goods and services to existing and potential clients, responding to the customers' inquiries and concerns about the products, and researching on possible leads. Outside sales representatives monitor the current industry trends to identify new business opportunities that would help the business adjust to market changes to achieve profitability goals. An outside sales representative must have excellent communication and customer service skills, immediately resolving complaints and assisting on marketing promotions to gain sales prospects.

What does an account manager do?

Account managers are employees who act as the bridge between the company they represent and the client of the company. They are assigned to handle specific clients so that the company will be able to tailor-fit any product or service according to the clients' requirements. Account managers are responsible for maintaining a harmonious relationship between the two parties by ensuring that any agreement made is amenable to both the company and the client. They are also responsible for ensuring that the company will be able to provide the needs of the client within any limitation that the client may have. Account managers also ensure that the company's reputation and well-being are always considered in any dealings.

Outside sales vs account manager salary

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

	Outside Sales	Account Manager
Average salary	$77,292	$68,535
Salary range	Between $56,000 And $104,000	Between $42,000 And $110,000
Highest paying City	Arlington, VA	San Francisco, CA
Highest paying state	New Hampshire	Washington
Best paying company	Morgan Stanley	NVIDIA
Best paying industry	Manufacturing	Technology

Differences between outside sales and account manager education

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

	Outside Sales	Account Manager
Most common degree	Bachelor's Degree, 60%	Bachelor's Degree, 70%
Most common major	Business	Business
Most common college	SUNY College of Technology at Alfred	University of Southern California

Outside sales vs account manager demographics

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

	Outside Sales	Account Manager
Average age	47	46
Gender ratio	Male, 78.3% Female, 21.7%	Male, 54.8% Female, 45.2%
Race ratio	Black or African American, 3.8% Unknown, 3.7% Hispanic or Latino, 14.3% Asian, 5.2% White, 72.8% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.2%	Black or African American, 3.2% Unknown, 4.4% Hispanic or Latino, 9.8% Asian, 4.1% White, 78.2% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.2%
LGBT Percentage	6%	7%

Differences between outside sales and account manager duties and responsibilities

Outside sales example responsibilities.

Plan logistical outside sales route, planned/schedule sales calls with web-base CRM program, manage various sales cycles.
Manage and create all content distribute via various social media outlets: Facebook, twitter, feedback blogs, etc.
Perfect the craft of upselling customers.
Prepare material estimates/bids for houses, windows, doors, trusses, etc.
Increase existing customer base and generate new dealer and customer relationships within the HVAC equipment and sales.
Estimate, price, bid and follow up to all mechanical HVAC and plumbing plan and spec projects.

Account manager example responsibilities.

Manage financial departments with responsibility for managing payroll, bank re-consolidations, bank deposits, budgeting and cost control.
Manage $4 million territory encompassing three Mid-Atlantic states.
Manage new business and renewals for leading Saas legal solution.
Manage an inside sales territory of multiple states with Avaya technology solutions.
Negotiate and manage all contracts and pricing for IDN's in the territory.
Manage customers' accounts utilizing laptop and internet base CMS reporting software and ADM field guide.

Outside sales vs account manager skills

Common outside sales skills

Customer Service, 30%
Product Knowledge, 9%
Ongoing Support, 4%
Work Ethic, 4%
CRM, 4%
Flyers, 4%

Common account manager skills

Customer Service, 19%
Account Management, 8%
Healthcare, 6%
CRM, 6%
Product Knowledge, 5%
PowerPoint, 5%

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Sales Industry
Outside Sales
Outside Sales vs Account Manager

Updated January 8, 2025

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