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The differences between sales engineers and technical sales managers 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 engineer, becoming a technical sales manager takes usually requires 6-8 years. Additionally, a technical sales manager has an average salary of $129,770, which is higher than the $93,727 average annual salary of a sales engineer.
The top three skills for a sales engineer include pre sales, customer service and sales process. The most important skills for a technical sales manager are customer satisfaction, sales management, and CRM.
| Sales Engineer | Technical Sales Manager | |
| Yearly salary | $93,727 | $129,770 |
| Hourly rate | $45.06 | $62.39 |
| Growth rate | 6% | 5% |
| Number of jobs | 132,324 | 193,981 |
| Job satisfaction | 5 | - |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 74% | Bachelor's Degree, 65% |
| Average age | 44 | 46 |
| Years of experience | 6 | 8 |
A sales engineer is responsible for assisting customers with their technical equipment and advanced scientific product needs. Sales engineers must have excellent knowledge of the scientific processes and component functions of the products they're selling to deliver presentations and orient the customers. Sales engineers' duties also include troubleshooting, identifying product defects, and upgrading systems for better optimization. They are also responsible for analyzing cost estimates documents, performing adjustments as needed, process payments, arranging deliveries, and settling customers' complaints by replacing damaged items or doing refunds.
A technical sales manager is responsible for monitoring the sales techniques and performance of the sales team in selling technical services and systems to the customers. Technical sales managers coordinate with clients to discuss and negotiate offers of new products and services. They also identify business opportunities by analyzing current technology trends from public demands to generate more revenue resources and increase the company's profits. A technical sales manager facilitates and plans sales training and programs to maximize staff's efficiency and productivity.
Sales engineers and technical sales managers have different pay scales, as shown below.
| Sales Engineer | Technical Sales Manager | |
| Average salary | $93,727 | $129,770 |
| Salary range | Between $66,000 And $132,000 | Between $90,000 And $186,000 |
| Highest paying City | Washington, DC | Columbia, MD |
| Highest paying state | Virginia | New Hampshire |
| Best paying company | Meta | Palo Alto Networks |
| Best paying industry | Technology | Manufacturing |
There are a few differences between a sales engineer and a technical sales manager in terms of educational background:
| Sales Engineer | Technical Sales Manager | |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 74% | Bachelor's Degree, 65% |
| Most common major | Business | Business |
| Most common college | Northwestern University | University of Southern California |
Here are the differences between sales engineers' and technical sales managers' demographics:
| Sales Engineer | Technical Sales Manager | |
| Average age | 44 | 46 |
| Gender ratio | Male, 90.1% Female, 9.9% | Male, 86.2% Female, 13.8% |
| Race ratio | Black or African American, 1.7% Unknown, 6.2% Hispanic or Latino, 8.0% Asian, 7.1% White, 76.8% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.3% | Black or African American, 3.2% Unknown, 4.4% Hispanic or Latino, 9.8% Asian, 4.1% White, 78.2% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.2% |
| LGBT Percentage | 7% | 7% |