Outside sales vs sales development representative

The differences between outside sales and sales development 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 sales development representative. Additionally, an outside sales has an average salary of $77,292, which is higher than the $51,504 average annual salary of a sales development representative.

The top three skills for an outside sales include customer service, product knowledge and ongoing support. The most important skills for a sales development representative are SDR, lead generation, and customer service.

Outside sales vs sales development representative overview

	Outside Sales	Sales Development Representative
Yearly salary	$77,292	$51,504
Hourly rate	$37.16	$24.76
Growth rate	4%	4%
Number of jobs	333,400	199,588
Job satisfaction	-	-
Most common degree	Bachelor's Degree, 60%	Bachelor's Degree, 83%
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 sales development representative do?

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. They develop sales strategies to attract buyers or solicit potential customers. They need to build relationships with their customers to determine their needs and qualify the viability of interests to drive sales. Also, they collaborate with the sales executives making certain that corporate targets and goals are met.

Outside sales vs sales development representative salary

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

	Outside Sales	Sales Development Representative
Average salary	$77,292	$51,504
Salary range	Between $56,000 And $104,000	Between $34,000 And $77,000
Highest paying City	Arlington, VA	Boston, MA
Highest paying state	New Hampshire	Alaska
Best paying company	Morgan Stanley	PitchBook Data
Best paying industry	Manufacturing	Start-up

Differences between outside sales and sales development representative education

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

	Outside Sales	Sales Development Representative
Most common degree	Bachelor's Degree, 60%	Bachelor's Degree, 83%
Most common major	Business	Business
Most common college	SUNY College of Technology at Alfred	University of Pennsylvania

Outside sales vs sales development representative demographics

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

	Outside Sales	Sales Development Representative
Average age	47	47
Gender ratio	Male, 78.3% Female, 21.7%	Male, 63.1% Female, 36.9%
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, 72.4% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.2%
LGBT Percentage	6%	6%

Differences between outside sales and sales development 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.

Sales development representative example responsibilities.

Manage organization website and Facebook page; writing articles for websites and newsletters.
Develop social media strategies for Facebook, LinkedIn, and emerging social networks, generating leads.
Manage individual sales activities by developing highly effective, communications focuse relationship with multiple sales channels.
supply chain management and procurement software (SaaS).
Handle customer service inquiries, returns, and RMA exchanges.
Develop a strong knowledge of SaaS sales techniques and lead management/generation.

Outside sales vs sales development representative skills

Common outside sales skills

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

Common sales development representative skills

SDR, 11%
Lead Generation, 6%
Customer Service, 6%
Account Executives, 5%
Linkedin, 5%
Outbound Calls, 4%

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Sales Industry
Outside Sales
Outside Sales vs Sales Development Representative

Updated January 8, 2025

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