Outside sales vs territory manager

The differences between outside sales and territory 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 a territory manager takes usually requires 6-8 years. Additionally, an outside sales has an average salary of $77,292, which is higher than the $73,728 average annual salary of a territory manager.

The top three skills for an outside sales include customer service, product knowledge and ongoing support. The most important skills for a territory manager are customer service, patients, and product knowledge.

Outside sales vs territory manager overview

	Outside Sales	Territory Manager
Yearly salary	$77,292	$73,728
Hourly rate	$37.16	$35.45
Growth rate	4%	5%
Number of jobs	333,400	106,325
Job satisfaction	-	4
Most common degree	Bachelor's Degree, 60%	Bachelor's Degree, 78%
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 a territory manager do?

A territory manager is responsible for monitoring the sales operations of the different sales team of an organization. One of the most crucial duties of a territory manager is to encourage the sales team to provide the best results for increasing the company's profitability. Territory managers are conducting sales training, improving marketing strategies and approach, reviewing sales pitches, analyzing current market trends, and reaching sales goals. Territory managers must display exceptional leadership and customer service skills to manage customers' needs and identify more business opportunities.

Outside sales vs territory manager salary

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

	Outside Sales	Territory Manager
Average salary	$77,292	$73,728
Salary range	Between $56,000 And $104,000	Between $46,000 And $117,000
Highest paying City	Arlington, VA	Seattle, WA
Highest paying state	New Hampshire	Alaska
Best paying company	Morgan Stanley	FUJIFILM Diosynth Biotechnologies
Best paying industry	Manufacturing	Pharmaceutical

Differences between outside sales and territory manager education

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

	Outside Sales	Territory Manager
Most common degree	Bachelor's Degree, 60%	Bachelor's Degree, 78%
Most common major	Business	Business
Most common college	SUNY College of Technology at Alfred	University of Southern California

Outside sales vs territory manager demographics

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

	Outside Sales	Territory Manager
Average age	47	46
Gender ratio	Male, 78.3% Female, 21.7%	Male, 71.3% Female, 28.7%
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 territory 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.

Territory manager example responsibilities.

Achieve MVP in Q3 2003 and Q1 through Q4 2004.
Manage promotional budgets focusing on high ROI events, thus increasing sales at lower promotional cost.
Manage all aspects of TM specification, sales, order management and delivery of customer's orders.
Generate leads through internet research, marketing, trade show participation, internal department cross-selling, and referrals.
Manage all aspects of SalesForce CRM integration and administration throughout the entire sales department
Achieve profitable relationships with current and prospective customers by providing exceptional customer support through attentiveness and extensive product knowledge.

Outside sales vs territory manager skills

Common outside sales skills

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

Common territory manager skills

Customer Service, 13%
Patients, 8%
Product Knowledge, 7%
Work Ethic, 7%
CRM, 5%
Excellent Interpersonal, 4%

Outside Sales vs. similar jobs

Outside Sales related careers

Outside Sales related jobs

What similar roles do

Zippia Careers
Sales Industry
Outside Sales
Outside Sales vs Territory Manager

Updated January 8, 2025

Browse sales jobs