Explore jobs
Find specific jobs
Explore careers
Explore professions
Best companies
Explore companies
The differences between sales agents and sales consultants 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 a sales consultant takes usually requires 2-4 years. Additionally, a sales consultant has an average salary of $60,135, 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 sales consultant are sales process, product knowledge, and POS.
| Sales Agent | Sales Consultant | |
| Yearly salary | $45,217 | $60,135 |
| Hourly rate | $21.74 | $28.91 |
| Growth rate | 10% | 4% |
| Number of jobs | 391,987 | 227,636 |
| Job satisfaction | - | 4.5 |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 48% | Bachelor's Degree, 56% |
| 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.
Sales consultants are employees who work in the sales department of a company. They are usually more skilled than usual sales employees. As such, they are usually given more complicated products or services to sell because they will be able to explain the product or service to the customers better. Sales consultants have in-depth knowledge of the offerings of the company. They talk to customers, understand what the customers need, and match the customers' needs with company products that can address the needs. They should also be updated on trends in the market and what is currently popular with the masses.
Sales agents and sales consultants have different pay scales, as shown below.
| Sales Agent | Sales Consultant | |
| Average salary | $45,217 | $60,135 |
| Salary range | Between $21,000 And $95,000 | Between $37,000 And $97,000 |
| Highest paying City | New York, NY | San Francisco, CA |
| Highest paying state | New York | California |
| Best paying company | Goldman Sachs | |
| Best paying industry | - | Finance |
There are a few differences between a sales agent and a sales consultant in terms of educational background:
| Sales Agent | Sales Consultant | |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 48% | Bachelor's Degree, 56% |
| Most common major | Business | Business |
| Most common college | Stanford University | SUNY College of Technology at Alfred |
Here are the differences between sales agents' and sales consultants' demographics:
| Sales Agent | Sales Consultant | |
| Average age | 43 | 47 |
| Gender ratio | Male, 52.7% Female, 47.3% | Male, 63.2% Female, 36.8% |
| 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, 14.2% Asian, 5.1% White, 72.8% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.2% |
| LGBT Percentage | 6% | 6% |