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The differences between sales operations specialists and sales associates can be seen in a few details. Each job has different responsibilities and duties. Additionally, a sales operations specialist has an average salary of $76,900, which is higher than the $32,167 average annual salary of a sales associate.
The top three skills for a sales operations specialist include sales operations, CRM and customer service. The most important skills for a sales associate are customer service, sales floor, and cash handling.
| Sales Operations Specialist | Sales Associate | |
| Yearly salary | $76,900 | $32,167 |
| Hourly rate | $36.97 | $15.46 |
| Growth rate | 4% | - |
| Number of jobs | 355,551 | 579,849 |
| Job satisfaction | - | - |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 65% | Bachelor's Degree, 38% |
| Average age | 47 | 41 |
| Years of experience | 4 | - |
The sales operation specialist is the one who is responsible for making certain that the company's sales are efficient and effective. They gather and evaluate sales data for a company. The results are compared with business plans and previous forecasts to find out if goals were achieved. These specialists are also responsible for creating forecasts about upcoming sales data. Also, they make contracts that fulfill both customer and company needs. Skills required for a sales operations specialist include negotiation, good communication skills, analytical, and strong leadership skills.
Sales associates are responsible for promoting the company's goods or services. They are expected to provide exceptional customer service to prospective buyers. They should be familiar with all features of the company's products or services so that they can answer the customers' inquiries. Sales associates also assist customers in processing their checkouts, refunds, returns, and other needs. They should be customer-oriented, and they should have great communication skills. They should know how to sell their products or services to customers. They are considered the company's representatives on the ground.
Sales operations specialists and sales associates have different pay scales, as shown below.
| Sales Operations Specialist | Sales Associate | |
| Average salary | $76,900 | $32,167 |
| Salary range | Between $50,000 And $116,000 | Between $21,000 And $47,000 |
| Highest paying City | Seattle, WA | New York, NY |
| Highest paying state | Washington | New York |
| Best paying company | Amazon | Barclays |
| Best paying industry | - | Manufacturing |
There are a few differences between a sales operations specialist and a sales associate in terms of educational background:
| Sales Operations Specialist | Sales Associate | |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 65% | Bachelor's Degree, 38% |
| Most common major | Business | Business |
| Most common college | SUNY College of Technology at Alfred | - |
Here are the differences between sales operations specialists' and sales associates' demographics:
| Sales Operations Specialist | Sales Associate | |
| Average age | 47 | 41 |
| Gender ratio | Male, 51.5% Female, 48.5% | Male, 38.4% Female, 61.6% |
| Race ratio | Black or African American, 3.8% Unknown, 3.7% Hispanic or Latino, 13.9% Asian, 5.1% White, 73.3% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.2% | Black or African American, 10.6% Unknown, 5.1% Hispanic or Latino, 21.4% Asian, 6.9% White, 55.4% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.6% |
| LGBT Percentage | 6% | 7% |