Outside sales vs field sales representative

The differences between outside sales and field 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 field sales representative. Additionally, an outside sales has an average salary of $77,292, which is higher than the $48,460 average annual salary of a field sales representative.

The top three skills for an outside sales include customer service, product knowledge and ongoing support. The most important skills for a field sales representative are excellent time management, customer service, and powerpoint.

Outside sales vs field sales representative overview

	Outside Sales	Field Sales Representative
Yearly salary	$77,292	$48,460
Hourly rate	$37.16	$23.30
Growth rate	4%	4%
Number of jobs	333,400	228,254
Job satisfaction	-	5
Most common degree	Bachelor's Degree, 60%	Bachelor's Degree, 73%
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 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 vs field sales representative salary

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

	Outside Sales	Field Sales Representative
Average salary	$77,292	$48,460
Salary range	Between $56,000 And $104,000	Between $26,000 And $88,000
Highest paying City	Arlington, VA	Seattle, WA
Highest paying state	New Hampshire	Washington
Best paying company	Morgan Stanley	VMware
Best paying industry	Manufacturing	Technology

Differences between outside sales and field sales representative education

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

	Outside Sales	Field Sales Representative
Most common degree	Bachelor's Degree, 60%	Bachelor's Degree, 73%
Most common major	Business	Business
Most common college	SUNY College of Technology at Alfred	SUNY College of Technology at Alfred

Outside sales vs field sales representative demographics

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

	Outside Sales	Field Sales Representative
Average age	47	47
Gender ratio	Male, 78.3% Female, 21.7%	Male, 69.5% Female, 30.5%
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, 3.9% Unknown, 3.7% Hispanic or Latino, 14.5% Asian, 5.2% White, 72.5% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.2%
LGBT Percentage	6%	6%

Differences between outside sales and field 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.

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 vs field sales representative skills

Common outside sales skills

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

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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Sales Industry
Outside Sales
Outside Sales vs Field Sales Representative

Updated January 8, 2025

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