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The differences between sales engineers and territory sales representatives 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 territory sales representative takes usually requires 2-4 years. Additionally, a sales engineer has an average salary of $93,727, which is higher than the $34,431 average annual salary of a territory sales representative.
The top three skills for a sales engineer include pre sales, customer service and sales process. The most important skills for a territory sales representative are customer service, CRM, and product knowledge.
| Sales Engineer | Territory Sales Representative | |
| Yearly salary | $93,727 | $34,431 |
| Hourly rate | $45.06 | $16.55 |
| Growth rate | 6% | 4% |
| Number of jobs | 132,324 | 219,928 |
| Job satisfaction | 5 | - |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 74% | Bachelor's Degree, 79% |
| Average age | 44 | 47 |
| Years of experience | 6 | 4 |
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 territory sales representative is responsible for selling goods and services, assisting customers with their inquiries and concerns, and monitoring the assigned area's sales reports. Territory sales representatives coordinate with the rest of the sales team to develop effective marketing strategies and promotional techniques to increase revenues and profitability. Territory sales representatives research current market trends to identify business opportunities to meet consumer demands and widen their services. A territory sales representative must have excellent knowledge of the sales disciplines and principles, managing the market approach to ensure customer satisfaction.
Sales engineers and territory sales representatives have different pay scales, as shown below.
| Sales Engineer | Territory Sales Representative | |
| Average salary | $93,727 | $34,431 |
| Salary range | Between $66,000 And $132,000 | Between $15,000 And $78,000 |
| Highest paying City | Washington, DC | Boston, MA |
| Highest paying state | Virginia | Massachusetts |
| Best paying company | Meta | IBM |
| Best paying industry | Technology | - |
There are a few differences between a sales engineer and a territory sales representative in terms of educational background:
| Sales Engineer | Territory Sales Representative | |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 74% | Bachelor's Degree, 79% |
| Most common major | Business | Business |
| Most common college | Northwestern University | University of Pennsylvania |
Here are the differences between sales engineers' and territory sales representatives' demographics:
| Sales Engineer | Territory Sales Representative | |
| Average age | 44 | 47 |
| Gender ratio | Male, 90.1% Female, 9.9% | Male, 69.1% Female, 30.9% |
| 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, 3.8% Unknown, 3.7% Hispanic or Latino, 14.2% Asian, 5.1% White, 72.9% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.2% |
| LGBT Percentage | 7% | 6% |