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The differences between product specialists and sales representatives can be seen in a few details. Each job has different responsibilities and duties. While it typically takes 4-6 years to become a product specialist, becoming a sales representative takes usually requires 2-4 years. Additionally, a product specialist has an average salary of $85,932, which is higher than the $56,591 average annual salary of a sales representative.
The top three skills for a product specialist include customer service, product knowledge and sales floor. The most important skills for a sales representative are sales process, product knowledge, and customer service.
| Product Specialist | Sales Representative | |
| Yearly salary | $85,932 | $56,591 |
| Hourly rate | $41.31 | $27.21 |
| Growth rate | 19% | 4% |
| Number of jobs | 103,863 | 205,456 |
| Job satisfaction | 5 | 4.33 |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 64% | Bachelor's Degree, 54% |
| Average age | 37 | 47 |
| Years of experience | 6 | 4 |
A product specialist is required to have excellent knowledge about a product and work with a business unit to ensure excellent product delivery. Product specialists perform product demonstrations to customers and other stakeholders and assist in their promotions and product releases. To gain increased revenue, product specialists must be able to identify new market opportunities. They are required to conduct product and sales training for the marketing team. They must also provide reports about their product-related activities to the management.
Sales representatives primarily sell the company's products and services to businesses or organizations. They should be adept at closing out sales, negotiating, and providing customer service. They should be knowledgeable about the products or services of the manufacturer or producer they represent. They must also have strong analytical skills that would help them in coming up with cost-benefit analysis in assessing the current roster of clients and even prospective ones. Sales representatives should also be able to maintain good working relationships with all involved stakeholders, especially clients.
Product specialists and sales representatives have different pay scales, as shown below.
| Product Specialist | Sales Representative | |
| Average salary | $85,932 | $56,591 |
| Salary range | Between $56,000 And $130,000 | Between $33,000 And $94,000 |
| Highest paying City | San Bruno, CA | Boston, MA |
| Highest paying state | California | Massachusetts |
| Best paying company | ByteDance | |
| Best paying industry | Technology | Pharmaceutical |
There are a few differences between a product specialist and a sales representative in terms of educational background:
| Product Specialist | Sales Representative | |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 64% | Bachelor's Degree, 54% |
| Most common major | Business | Business |
| Most common college | University of Georgia | SUNY College of Technology at Alfred |
Here are the differences between product specialists' and sales representatives' demographics:
| Product Specialist | Sales Representative | |
| Average age | 37 | 47 |
| Gender ratio | Male, 59.8% Female, 40.2% | Male, 58.1% Female, 41.9% |
| Race ratio | Black or African American, 5.2% Unknown, 5.0% Hispanic or Latino, 12.5% Asian, 10.6% White, 66.6% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.1% | 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 | 10% | 6% |