Outside sales vs direct sales representative

The differences between outside sales and direct sales representatives can be seen in a few details. Each job has different responsibilities and duties. It typically takes 2-4 years to become both an outside sales and a direct sales representative. Additionally, an outside sales has an average salary of $77,292, which is higher than the $43,527 average annual salary of a direct sales representative.

The top three skills for an outside sales include customer service, product knowledge and ongoing support. The most important skills for a direct sales representative are customer service, direct sales, and TV.

Outside sales vs direct sales representative overview

	Outside Sales	Direct Sales Representative
Yearly salary	$77,292	$43,527
Hourly rate	$37.16	$20.93
Growth rate	4%	4%
Number of jobs	333,400	159,668
Job satisfaction	-	-
Most common degree	Bachelor's Degree, 60%	Bachelor's Degree, 53%
Average age	47	47
Years of experience	4	4

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 a direct sales representative do?

As a direct sales representative, you are responsible for creating customer awareness of a company's products and services and closing sales. You will perform varied tasks that include assisting in developing and executing marketing and sales plans, conducting research on competing products, and identifying opportunities to improve sales. Additionally, you are expected to answer inquiries about product features, availability, benefits, and pricing. Other tasks that you are likely to perform include attending trade shows, preparing sales proposals for prospective buyers, and preparing sales reports.

Outside sales vs direct sales representative salary

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

	Outside Sales	Direct Sales Representative
Average salary	$77,292	$43,527
Salary range	Between $56,000 And $104,000	Between $27,000 And $69,000
Highest paying City	Arlington, VA	Salem, OR
Highest paying state	New Hampshire	Maine
Best paying company	Morgan Stanley	Google
Best paying industry	Manufacturing	-

Differences between outside sales and direct sales representative education

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

	Outside Sales	Direct Sales Representative
Most common degree	Bachelor's Degree, 60%	Bachelor's Degree, 53%
Most common major	Business	Business
Most common college	SUNY College of Technology at Alfred	SUNY College of Technology at Alfred

Outside sales vs direct sales representative demographics

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

	Outside Sales	Direct Sales Representative
Average age	47	47
Gender ratio	Male, 78.3% Female, 21.7%	Male, 68.4% Female, 31.6%
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, 3.8% Unknown, 3.7% Hispanic or Latino, 14.2% Asian, 5.1% White, 72.9% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.2%
LGBT Percentage	6%	6%

Differences between outside sales and direct sales representative 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.

Direct sales representative example responsibilities.

Manage accounts and create invoices via QuickBooks.
Achieve and maintain high-volume sales output, for cell phones and broadband products to stay employ with company.
Contact medicare eligible recipients to sell medicare advantage plans through in-home meetings, community seminars and direct telesales.
Canvass assigned sales territory and solicit orders for new or upgrade cable, broadband and digital phone services.
Generate revenue by selling and upselling services while developing client base throughout territory.
Prospect and generate sales revenue by adding new program residential customers and cross selling and upselling current residential customers.

Outside sales vs direct sales representative skills

Common outside sales skills

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

Common direct sales representative skills

Customer Service, 33%
Direct Sales, 20%
TV, 15%
Work Ethic, 4%
Technical Troubleshooting, 3%
Door-To-Door Sales, 3%

Outside Sales vs. similar jobs

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Sales Industry
Outside Sales
Outside Sales vs Direct Sales Representative

Updated January 8, 2025

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