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Sales lead/sales associate vs associate/team lead

The differences between sales lead/sales associates and associate/team leads can be seen in a few details. Each job has different responsibilities and duties. It typically takes 4-6 years to become both a sales lead/sales associate and an associate/team lead. Additionally, an associate/team lead has an average salary of $54,721, which is higher than the $31,954 average annual salary of a sales lead/sales associate.

The top three skills for a sales lead/sales associate include POS, cash control and customer service. The most important skills for an associate/team lead are excellent interpersonal, product knowledge, and quality standards.

Sales lead/sales associate vs associate/team lead overview

Sales Lead/Sales AssociateAssociate/Team Lead
Yearly salary$31,954$54,721
Hourly rate$15.36$26.31
Growth rate--
Number of jobs882,220247,018
Job satisfaction--
Most common degreeBachelor's Degree, 36%Bachelor's Degree, 50%
Average age4343
Years of experience66

What does a sales lead/sales associate do?

Sales lead and sales associates are two different sales positions in the retail industry. A sales lead is in charge of supervising the sales department. Sales leads perform administrative duties like recruiting and training staff, monitoring inventories, and maintaining sales performance. On the other hand, sales associates guide potential customers to acquire the products or services that fit their needs. The associates notify clients of sales promotions then present to them the product or service. Employees for these positions are looking for candidates with relevant experience in sales and related degrees like marketing and sales.

What does an associate/team lead do?

An associate/team lead oversees the performance of team members while ensuring that clients get to receive optimal services. Their responsibilities typically include establishing guidelines and objectives, managing schedules, generating leads, performing market research and analysis, and developing strategies to optimize the daily operations. They may communicate with clients and assist them by identifying their needs, answering inquiries, and resolving issues and concerns. Moreover, as an associate/team lead, it is essential to guide and encourage staff to reach goals, all while enforcing the company's policies and regulations.

Sales lead/sales associate vs associate/team lead salary

Sales lead/sales associates and associate/team leads have different pay scales, as shown below.

Sales Lead/Sales AssociateAssociate/Team Lead
Average salary$31,954$54,721
Salary rangeBetween $17,000 And $57,000Between $28,000 And $104,000
Highest paying CityNew York, NYBoston, MA
Highest paying stateNew YorkRhode Island
Best paying companyGoogleCiti
Best paying industryRetail-

Differences between sales lead/sales associate and associate/team lead education

There are a few differences between a sales lead/sales associate and an associate/team lead in terms of educational background:

Sales Lead/Sales AssociateAssociate/Team Lead
Most common degreeBachelor's Degree, 36%Bachelor's Degree, 50%
Most common majorBusinessBusiness
Most common collegeSUNY College of Technology at DelhiSUNY College of Technology at Delhi

Sales lead/sales associate vs associate/team lead demographics

Here are the differences between sales lead/sales associates' and associate/team leads' demographics:

Sales Lead/Sales AssociateAssociate/Team Lead
Average age4343
Gender ratioMale, 35.3% Female, 64.7%Male, 51.8% Female, 48.2%
Race ratioBlack or African American, 8.4% Unknown, 4.6% Hispanic or Latino, 17.9% Asian, 6.9% White, 61.5% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.7%Black or African American, 8.5% Unknown, 4.6% Hispanic or Latino, 17.9% Asian, 7.0% White, 61.3% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.7%
LGBT Percentage9%9%

Differences between sales lead/sales associate and associate/team lead duties and responsibilities

Sales lead/sales associate example responsibilities.

  • Partner in managing operations of multiple retail outlets, including hiring, performance management, scheduling, and merchandising management.
  • Complete customer transactions using POS register system and fraud security protocol.
  • Monitor inventory accountability by physically checking inventory, running inventory reports, receiving shipments, and completing transfers in the POS.
  • Demonstrate strong leadership, communication and supervisory skills by providing coaching and feedback to maximize individual and store performance.

Associate/team lead example responsibilities.

  • Accomplish requirements, allocating resources, scheduling and coordinating staff and assure accuracy of payroll.
  • Ensure all sales transactions, refunds and POS system function smoothly and take corrective action when necessary.
  • Process sales transactions, POS, credit applications, discounts, trade-in allowances, warranties and delivery dates.
  • Provide leadership and mentoring of team members to increase productivity while ensuring accuracy.
  • Handle inbound/outbound escalate customer complaints, including executive escalations from various levels of leadership.
  • Aggregate, analyze and organize information from QC reports into a department-wide WIKI to facilitate information sharing and best practice utilization.
  • Show more

Sales lead/sales associate vs associate/team lead skills

Common sales lead/sales associate skills
  • POS, 16%
  • Cash Control, 13%
  • Customer Service, 9%
  • Bank Deposits, 8%
  • Inventory Control, 8%
  • Sales Transactions, 7%
Common associate/team lead skills
  • Excellent Interpersonal, 18%
  • Product Knowledge, 9%
  • Quality Standards, 9%
  • Leadership, 7%
  • Math, 6%
  • Customer Satisfaction, 6%