Sales consultant vs outside sales

The differences between sales consultants and outside sales can be seen in a few details. Each job has different responsibilities and duties. It typically takes 2-4 years to become both a sales consultant and an outside sales. Additionally, an outside sales has an average salary of $77,292, which is higher than the $60,135 average annual salary of a sales consultant.

The top three skills for a sales consultant include sales process, product knowledge and POS. The most important skills for an outside sales are customer service, product knowledge, and ongoing support.

Sales consultant vs outside sales overview

	Sales Consultant	Outside Sales
Yearly salary	$60,135	$77,292
Hourly rate	$28.91	$37.16
Growth rate	4%	4%
Number of jobs	227,636	333,400
Job satisfaction	4.5	-
Most common degree	Bachelor's Degree, 56%	Bachelor's Degree, 60%
Average age	47	47
Years of experience	4	4

What does a sales consultant do?

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.

What does an outside sales do?

An outside sales representative is responsible for generating the company's sales and revenues by offering goods and services to existing and potential clients, responding to the customers' inquiries and concerns about the products, and researching on possible leads. Outside sales representatives monitor the current industry trends to identify new business opportunities that would help the business adjust to market changes to achieve profitability goals. An outside sales representative must have excellent communication and customer service skills, immediately resolving complaints and assisting on marketing promotions to gain sales prospects.

Sales consultant vs outside sales salary

Sales consultants and outside sales have different pay scales, as shown below.

	Sales Consultant	Outside Sales
Average salary	$60,135	$77,292
Salary range	Between $37,000 And $97,000	Between $56,000 And $104,000
Highest paying City	San Francisco, CA	Arlington, VA
Highest paying state	California	New Hampshire
Best paying company	Google	Morgan Stanley
Best paying industry	Finance	Manufacturing

Differences between sales consultant and outside sales education

There are a few differences between a sales consultant and an outside sales in terms of educational background:

	Sales Consultant	Outside Sales
Most common degree	Bachelor's Degree, 56%	Bachelor's Degree, 60%
Most common major	Business	Business
Most common college	SUNY College of Technology at Alfred	SUNY College of Technology at Alfred

Sales consultant vs outside sales demographics

Here are the differences between sales consultants' and outside sales' demographics:

	Sales Consultant	Outside Sales
Average age	47	47
Gender ratio	Male, 63.2% Female, 36.8%	Male, 78.3% Female, 21.7%
Race ratio	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%	Black or African American, 3.8% Unknown, 3.7% Hispanic or Latino, 14.3% Asian, 5.2% White, 72.8% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.2%
LGBT Percentage	6%	6%

Differences between sales consultant and outside sales duties and responsibilities

Sales consultant example responsibilities.

Achieve monthly sales goals through new business and upselling current clients.
Utilize CRM systems to effectively manage accounts; leverage competitor and market intelligence to drive offer posture and capture competitor accounts.
Create print ads design and create ad word campaign for SEO and SEM products.
Deliver effective sales presentations to individuals and groups while cross-selling additional vehicle products and services.
Handle incoming calls from Medicare recipients.
Hire and train employees teach effective upselling strategies.

Outside sales example responsibilities.

Plan logistical outside sales route, planned/schedule sales calls with web-base CRM program, manage various sales cycles.
Manage and create all content distribute via various social media outlets: Facebook, twitter, feedback blogs, etc.
Perfect the craft of upselling customers.
Prepare material estimates/bids for houses, windows, doors, trusses, etc.
Increase existing customer base and generate new dealer and customer relationships within the HVAC equipment and sales.
Estimate, price, bid and follow up to all mechanical HVAC and plumbing plan and spec projects.

Sales consultant vs outside sales skills

Common sales consultant skills

Sales Process, 13%
Product Knowledge, 11%
POS, 11%
Pre Sales, 7%
Work Ethic, 5%
Cross-Selling, 5%

Common outside sales skills

Customer Service, 30%
Product Knowledge, 9%
Ongoing Support, 4%
Work Ethic, 4%
CRM, 4%
Flyers, 4%

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Sales Consultant vs Outside Sales

Updated January 8, 2025

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