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The differences between sales agents and inside sales specialists can be seen in a few details. Each job has different responsibilities and duties. While it typically takes 4-6 years to become a sales agent, becoming an inside sales specialist takes usually requires 2-4 years. Additionally, an inside sales specialist has an average salary of $50,944, 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 an inside sales specialist are customer service, CRM, and sales process.
| Sales Agent | Inside Sales Specialist | |
| Yearly salary | $45,217 | $50,944 |
| Hourly rate | $21.74 | $24.49 |
| Growth rate | 10% | 4% |
| Number of jobs | 391,987 | 251,423 |
| Job satisfaction | - | - |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 48% | Bachelor's Degree, 69% |
| Average age | 43 | 47 |
| Years of experience | 6 | 4 |
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.
An inside sales specialist is primarily responsible for securing sales by reaching out to clients to sell products and services. They may communicate with customers through calls and correspondence or personally recommend products in a retail store setting. Moreover, they are also responsible for responding to inquiries or concerns, identifying the customers' needs, devising strategies to find sales opportunities, and discussing products to customers. An inside sales specialist is often required to meet sales goals and report to managers should there be any issues or problems.
Sales agents and inside sales specialists have different pay scales, as shown below.
| Sales Agent | Inside Sales Specialist | |
| Average salary | $45,217 | $50,944 |
| Salary range | Between $21,000 And $95,000 | Between $34,000 And $75,000 |
| Highest paying City | New York, NY | Seattle, WA |
| Highest paying state | New York | Washington |
| Best paying company | Goldman Sachs | Keller Williams Greater Seattle |
| Best paying industry | - | Real Estate |
There are a few differences between a sales agent and an inside sales specialist in terms of educational background:
| Sales Agent | Inside Sales Specialist | |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 48% | Bachelor's Degree, 69% |
| Most common major | Business | Business |
| Most common college | Stanford University | SUNY College of Technology at Alfred |
Here are the differences between sales agents' and inside sales specialists' demographics:
| Sales Agent | Inside Sales Specialist | |
| Average age | 43 | 47 |
| Gender ratio | Male, 52.7% Female, 47.3% | Male, 52.0% Female, 48.0% |
| Race ratio | Black 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, 3.8% Unknown, 3.7% Hispanic or Latino, 13.9% Asian, 5.1% White, 73.2% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.2% |
| LGBT Percentage | 6% | 6% |