Post job

Sales agent vs broker

The differences between sales agents and brokers can be seen in a few details. Each job has different responsibilities and duties. Additionally, a broker has an average salary of $124,861, which is higher than the $45,217 average annual salary of a sales agent.

The top three skills for a sales agent include customer service, customer satisfaction and life insurance. The most important skills for a broker are brokerage, financial services, and insurance products.

Sales agent vs broker overview

Sales AgentBroker
Yearly salary$45,217$124,861
Hourly rate$21.74$60.03
Growth rate10%5%
Number of jobs391,9872,770
Job satisfaction--
Most common degreeBachelor's Degree, 48%Bachelor's Degree, 66%
Average age4349
Years of experience6-

What does a sales agent do?

A sales representative is responsible for offering goods and services to potential and existing clients. Sales representatives must display a strong knowledge of the company's products to assist customers with their inquiries and concerns. A sales representative should have exceptional communication skills and extensive knowledge of the sales industry to deliver sales pitches and negotiate pricing offers with the clients. Sales representatives must also keep themselves updated with the current market trends to provide service recommendations, improving their sales to increase revenues.

What does a broker do?

Brokers can either be a firm or an individual acting as an intermediary between a securities exchange and an investor. They often provide services to individual investors and traders who cannot engage directly with security exchanges, which only accept orders from their members. They provide investors and traders with an investment plan, market intelligence, and research. They may cross-sell some financial services and products offered by their brokerage firms. They are also typically classified as discount or full-service brokers.

Sales agent vs broker salary

Sales agents and brokers have different pay scales, as shown below.

Sales AgentBroker
Average salary$45,217$124,861
Salary rangeBetween $21,000 And $95,000Between $68,000 And $227,000
Highest paying CityNew York, NYNew York, NY
Highest paying stateNew YorkNew York
Best paying companyGoldman SachsChild Guidance & Family Solutions
Best paying industry-Insurance

Differences between sales agent and broker education

There are a few differences between a sales agent and a broker in terms of educational background:

Sales AgentBroker
Most common degreeBachelor's Degree, 48%Bachelor's Degree, 66%
Most common majorBusinessBusiness
Most common collegeStanford UniversityUniversity of Southern California

Sales agent vs broker demographics

Here are the differences between sales agents' and brokers' demographics:

Sales AgentBroker
Average age4349
Gender ratioMale, 52.7% Female, 47.3%Male, 63.8% Female, 36.2%
Race ratioBlack or African American, 5.7% Unknown, 4.1% Hispanic or Latino, 12.0% Asian, 9.3% White, 68.6% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.2%Black or African American, 5.3% Unknown, 4.3% Hispanic or Latino, 13.2% Asian, 6.9% White, 70.1% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.3%
LGBT Percentage6%13%

Differences between sales agent and broker duties and responsibilities

Sales agent example responsibilities.

  • Manage a CRM pipeline of hundreds of leads with different needs and qualifications.
  • Generate fresh leads through outbound telemarketing.
  • Achieve sales standards set for department by effectively communicating Humana campaigns to customers.
  • Increase customer understanding of Comcast products and pricing models as well as competitive advantage over other service providers.
  • Schedule and meet individuals\groups for assign or self-generate leads, assist and enroll eligible individuals in suitable Medicare product.
  • Adhere to all CMS, company, and carrier relate policies and procedures while growing sales.
  • Show more

Broker example responsibilities.

  • Manage, lease and sell office condominiums on site.
  • Retail trader, fix income securities; manage client account activity; properly allocate client funds to appropriate investment options
  • Manage indexes, options, foreign equities, and short-selling positions that are compatible with clients' long-term investment goals.
  • Expand and maintain professional relationships with trading accounts including banks, hedge funds and portfolio managers.
  • Specialize in finding undervalue and/or overbought commodities by using fundamental and technical analysis that exist throughout the markets.
  • Install the oracle client for windows.
  • Show more

Sales agent vs broker skills

Common sales agent skills
  • Customer Service, 10%
  • Customer Satisfaction, 10%
  • Life Insurance, 10%
  • Insurance Products, 7%
  • Work Ethic, 6%
  • Cold Calls, 4%
Common broker skills
  • Brokerage, 17%
  • Financial Services, 9%
  • Insurance Products, 7%
  • Risk Management, 6%
  • Client Relationships, 6%
  • Real Estate Transactions, 5%