Pharmaceutical representative vs sales development representative

The differences between pharmaceutical representatives and sales development representatives can be seen in a few details. Each job has different responsibilities and duties. While it typically takes 1-2 years to become a pharmaceutical representative, becoming a sales development representative takes usually requires 2-4 years. Additionally, a pharmaceutical representative has an average salary of $66,166, which is higher than the $51,504 average annual salary of a sales development representative.

The top three skills for a pharmaceutical representative include pharmaceutical products, territory management and medical professionals. The most important skills for a sales development representative are SDR, lead generation, and customer service.

Pharmaceutical representative vs sales development representative overview

	Pharmaceutical Representative	Sales Development Representative
Yearly salary	$66,166	$51,504
Hourly rate	$31.81	$24.76
Growth rate	4%	4%
Number of jobs	51,956	199,588
Job satisfaction	-	-
Most common degree	Bachelor's Degree, 80%	Bachelor's Degree, 83%
Average age	47	47
Years of experience	2	4

Pharmaceutical representative vs sales development representative salary

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

	Pharmaceutical Representative	Sales Development Representative
Average salary	$66,166	$51,504
Salary range	Between $42,000 And $103,000	Between $34,000 And $77,000
Highest paying City	-	Boston, MA
Highest paying state	-	Alaska
Best paying company	-	PitchBook Data
Best paying industry	-	Start-up

Differences between pharmaceutical representative and sales development representative education

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

	Pharmaceutical Representative	Sales Development Representative
Most common degree	Bachelor's Degree, 80%	Bachelor's Degree, 83%
Most common major	Business	Business
Most common college	University of Pennsylvania	University of Pennsylvania

Pharmaceutical representative vs sales development representative demographics

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

	Pharmaceutical Representative	Sales Development Representative
Average age	47	47
Gender ratio	Male, 44.3% Female, 55.7%	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, 72.7% 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 pharmaceutical representative and sales development representative duties and responsibilities

Pharmaceutical representative example responsibilities.

Manage and promote cardiovascular and respiratory products to local cardiologist, endocrinologists & allergists.
Manage Santa Rosa/San Francisco territories, marketing and selling respiratory, urology, cardiology to pharmacies and primary care physicians.
Collaborate with institution, cardiology, and diabetes specialists to increase penetration and productivity in hospital and endocrinology.
Complete extensive training in disease states such as hypertension, atherosclerosis, allergy, neurology and pain management.
Promote pharmaceuticals in the anti-microbial, neurology and gastroenterology markets.
Conduct discussions for a new drug for the treatment of hypertension.

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.

Pharmaceutical representative vs sales development representative skills

Common pharmaceutical representative skills

Pharmaceutical Products, 17%
Territory Management, 13%
Medical Professionals, 7%
Market Share Growth, 6%
Neurology, 5%
Sales Growth, 5%

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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Pharmaceutical Representative
Pharmaceutical Representative vs Sales Development Representative

Updated January 8, 2025

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