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.

Product Specialist Responsibilities

Here are examples of responsibilities from real product specialist resumes representing typical tasks they are likely to perform in their roles.

  • Create and manage RFP responses for potential customers and develop product quotes base on customer requirements.
  • Manage projects and priorities list of ongoing engineering plans base on ROI and business needs, and relay to operations regularly.
  • Perform weekly review and update of lead list against opportunities manage in Salesforce.com.
  • Manage telephone relationships with senior management of client companies to troubleshoot and develop product.
  • Participate in CAPA activities as required.
  • Develop generic UI's that includes re-branding & re-skinning of product.
  • Maintain budgeted payroll and POS markdown to target percent and department goals.
  • Lead successful asset raising marketing efforts direct towards the macro fund community.
  • Create knowledge SME articles for technical areas and mentor others in learning material.
  • Develop and implement website changes to enhance search engine optimization (SEO).
  • Draft electronic direct mailers using raw HTML, WYSIWYG editors, and Photoshop.
  • Review and stay abreast of current and new CAPA's for complaint processing.
  • Support clients in use of UI and API to traffic campaigns through the AppNexus platform.
  • Prepare healthcare product supply chain data for the development and management of hospital data systems.
  • Compile weekly sales reports for each account manager including call summary reports and booking rates.

Product Specialist Skills and Personality Traits

We calculated that 19% of Product Specialists are proficient in Customer Service, Product Knowledge, and Sales Floor. They’re also known for soft skills such as Detail oriented, Analytical skills, and Communication skills.

We break down the percentage of Product Specialists that have these skills listed on their resume here:

  • Customer Service, 19%

    Provided customer service/technical support/troubleshooting and application solutions.

  • Product Knowledge, 7%

    Identify the most efficient, acceptable and profitable resolution to customer inquiries -Expertise in product knowledge and building long lasting customer relationships

  • Sales Floor, 7%

    Maintained responsibilities on a competitive commission sales floor.

  • Patients, 6%

    Developed revolutionary harness design which benefits patients and therapists.

  • Excellent Interpersonal, 4%

    Established rapport and developed excellent interpersonal relationships with key thought leaders to best facilitate strategic product growth.

  • Windows, 3%

    Provide additional Macintosh training to Windows only technicians.

"customer service," "product knowledge," and "sales floor" aren't the only skills we found product specialists list on their resumes. In fact, there's a whole list of product specialist responsibilities that we found, including:

  • Arguably the most important personality trait for a product specialist to have happens to be detail oriented. An example from a resume said this about the skill, "market research analysts must be detail oriented because they often do precise data analysis." Additionally, other resumes have pointed out that product specialists can use detail oriented to "communicate detailed information regarding product lines including product demonstrations. "
  • Another commonly found skill for being able to perform product specialist duties is the following: analytical skills. According to a product specialist resume, "market research analysts must be able to understand large amounts of data and information." Check out this example of how product specialists use analytical skills: "assessed validity and duplication of reported pregnancy data for regulatory and fda. "
  • Product specialists are also known for communication skills, which can be critical when it comes to performing their duties. An example of why this skill is important is shown by this snippet that we found in a product specialist resume: "market research analysts need strong communication skills when gathering information, interpreting data, and presenting results to clients." We also found this resume example that details how this skill is put to the test: "maintained a high level of customer satisfaction through excellent communication, timely follow-up, and other customer support efforts. "
  • See the full list of product specialist skills.

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    What Business Development Specialists Do

    A business development specialist is an expert who determines opportunities for marketing strategy optimization and business growth. The specialists perform business process and financial analysis, effective network creation, and business plan implementation. Being a good business development specialist requires knowledge and experience in managing a business. The skillset for the position includes a strong command in English, information technology, attention to detail, and written and verbal communication.

    In this section, we take a look at the annual salaries of other professions. Take business development specialist for example. On average, the business development specialists annual salary is $28,522 lower than what product specialists make on average every year.

    Even though product specialists and business development specialists have vast differences in their careers, a few of the skills required to do both jobs are similar. For example, both careers require customer service, product knowledge, and patients in the day-to-day roles.

    These skill sets are where the common ground ends though. A product specialist responsibility is more likely to require skills like "sales floor," "windows," "product management," and "technical support." Whereas a business development specialist requires skills like "strong work ethic," "healthcare," "salesforce," and "lead generation." Just by understanding these different skills you can see how different these careers are.

    Business development specialists tend to make the most money in the finance industry by averaging a salary of $63,094. In contrast, product specialists make the biggest average salary of $92,638 in the technology industry.

    On average, business development specialists reach similar levels of education than product specialists. Business development specialists are 3.7% more likely to earn a Master's Degree and 0.0% less likely to graduate with a Doctoral Degree.

    What Are The Duties Of a Marketing Specialist Internship?

    A marketing specialist internship involves a trainee who wants to gain working experience in marketing by helping companies develop marketing programs and strategies. Marketing specialist interns collaborate with marketing professionals in researching target markets and analyze trends to identify new marketing opportunities. They assist in developing marketing materials to ensure that brand guidelines are being achieved. Marketing specialist interns are also required to help professionals in writing, proof-reading, and editing technical and creative content across different mediums.

    Now we're going to look at the marketing specialist internship profession. On average, marketing specialist interns earn a $46,293 lower salary than product specialists a year.

    A similarity between the two careers of product specialists and marketing specialist interns are a few of the skills associated with both roles. We used resumes from both professions to find that both use skills like "customer service," "windows," and "powerpoint. "

    But both careers also use different skills, according to real product specialist resumes. While product specialist responsibilities can utilize skills like "product knowledge," "sales floor," "patients," and "excellent interpersonal," some marketing specialist interns use skills like "community resources," "intake assessments," "mental health," and "child abuse."

    Marketing specialist interns may earn a lower salary than product specialists, but marketing specialist interns earn the most pay in the manufacturing industry with an average salary of $39,914. On the other side of things, product specialists receive higher paychecks in the technology industry where they earn an average of $92,638.

    When it comes to the differences in education between the two professions, marketing specialist interns tend to reach similar levels of education than product specialists. In fact, they're 1.3% more likely to graduate with a Master's Degree and 0.0% less likely to earn a Doctoral Degree.

    What Technology Do You Think Will Become More Important And Prevalent For Business Specialists In The Next 3-5 Years?

    Matthew Nagler

    Professor and Chair, The City College of New York

    Well, by force, we've all had to learn to use Zoom and other online platforms! But, for sure, these skills will remain important, both in education and in the workplace. So students should see their experiences in these areas as an opportunity to be ready for the future!Show more

    How a Product Consultant Compares

    A product consultant is a professional who collaborates with client managers and project managers to analyze client requirements and provide optimal products. Product consultants are required to leverage industry and product knowledge to answer customer inquiries and provide customer consultations. To maintain excellent customer service, product consultants should maintain courtesy and professionalism as well as attentive to product details. They must also train new consultants on product knowledge and communicate sales strategies to the field agents of the company across the region.

    The product consultant profession generally makes a higher amount of money when compared to the average salary of product specialists. The difference in salaries is product consultants making $7,520 higher than product specialists.

    Using product specialists and product consultants resumes, we found that both professions have similar skills such as "customer service," "product knowledge," and "sales floor," but the other skills required are very different.

    As mentioned, these two careers differ between other skills that are required for performing the work exceedingly well. For example, gathering from product specialists resumes, they are more likely to have skills like "patients," "excellent interpersonal," "product management," and "work ethic." But a product consultant might have skills like "assists clients," "drive sales," "learning environment," and "ensure sales."

    Additionally, product consultants earn a higher salary in the technology industry compared to other industries. In this industry, they receive an average salary of $106,130. Additionally, product specialists earn an average salary of $92,638 in the technology industry.

    Product consultants are known to earn similar educational levels when compared to product specialists. Additionally, they're 2.6% more likely to graduate with a Master's Degree, and 0.2% more likely to earn a Doctoral Degree.

    Description Of a Marketing & Sales Specialist

    A marketing/sales specialist is responsible for analyzing the effectiveness of marketing campaigns and promotional strategies, evaluating market data trends to identify business opportunities for revenue resources and profitability. Marketing/sales specialists conduct surveys on various social media platforms and other communication mediums to determine consumer demands and public interests. They also coordinate with the senior management to develop efficient program management systems and execute deliverables with the highest customer satisfaction. A marketing/sales specialist meets with potential clients, negotiates contracts, and addresses their inquiries, concerns, and special requests.

    The fourth career we look at typically earns lower pay than product specialists. On average, marketing & sales specialists earn a difference of $31,718 lower per year.

    According to resumes from both product specialists and marketing & sales specialists, some of the skills necessary to complete the responsibilities of each role are similar. These skills include "customer service," "product knowledge," and "powerpoint. "

    Each job requires different skills like "sales floor," "patients," "excellent interpersonal," and "windows," which might show up on a product specialist resume. Whereas marketing & sales specialist might include skills like "digital marketing," "brand awareness," "marketing campaigns," and "facebook."

    Now, let's take a closer look at the financials in each career. The telecommunication industry tends to pay more for marketing & sales specialists with an average of $52,906. While the highest product specialist annual salary comes from the technology industry.

    In general, marketing & sales specialists reach similar levels of education when compared to product specialists resumes. Marketing & sales specialists are 0.2% more likely to earn their Master's Degree and 0.1% less likely to graduate with a Doctoral Degree.

    What a Product Specialist Does FAQs

    How Much Do Product Specialists Make?

    Product specialists make $79,744 annually, on average. However, total pay depends on the industry, location, and experience.

    On the higher end, product specialists can make around $120,000. The top-paying industries for product specialists are pharmaceutical (offering six-figure salaries), automotive (around $90,000 range), and finance companies (around $80,000 range).

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