Sales professional vs sales representative

The differences between sales professionals and sales representatives 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 professional and a sales representative. Additionally, a sales professional has an average salary of $68,809, which is higher than the $56,591 average annual salary of a sales representative.

The top three skills for a sales professional include product knowledge, POS and CRM. The most important skills for a sales representative are sales process, product knowledge, and customer service.

Sales professional vs sales representative overview

	Sales Professional	Sales Representative
Yearly salary	$68,809	$56,591
Hourly rate	$33.08	$27.21
Growth rate	4%	4%
Number of jobs	347,888	205,456
Job satisfaction	-	4.33
Most common degree	Bachelor's Degree, 63%	Bachelor's Degree, 54%
Average age	47	47
Years of experience	4	4

What does a sales professional do?

A sales professional is an employee who is responsible for the management and assessment of the effectiveness of a company's sales representatives and sales team. By setting sales goals, sales professionals work with other departments to learn more about the company's products and services while developing strategies for acquiring new clients. They analyze the company's track sales and status reports and present them to the top management to continually keep improving. Employers may require their sales professionals to have a bachelor's degree with working experience.

What does a sales representative do?

Sales representatives primarily sell the company's products and services to businesses or organizations. They should be adept at closing out sales, negotiating, and providing customer service. They should be knowledgeable about the products or services of the manufacturer or producer they represent. They must also have strong analytical skills that would help them in coming up with cost-benefit analysis in assessing the current roster of clients and even prospective ones. Sales representatives should also be able to maintain good working relationships with all involved stakeholders, especially clients.

Sales professional vs sales representative salary

Sales professionals and sales representatives have different pay scales, as shown below.

	Sales Professional	Sales Representative
Average salary	$68,809	$56,591
Salary range	Between $42,000 And $110,000	Between $33,000 And $94,000
Highest paying City	Boston, MA	Boston, MA
Highest paying state	Massachusetts	Massachusetts
Best paying company	Microsoft	Google
Best paying industry	-	Pharmaceutical

Differences between sales professional and sales representative education

There are a few differences between a sales professional and a sales representative in terms of educational background:

	Sales Professional	Sales Representative
Most common degree	Bachelor's Degree, 63%	Bachelor's Degree, 54%
Most common major	Business	Business
Most common college	SUNY College of Technology at Alfred	SUNY College of Technology at Alfred

Sales professional vs sales representative demographics

Here are the differences between sales professionals' and sales representatives' demographics:

	Sales Professional	Sales Representative
Average age	47	47
Gender ratio	Male, 63.7% Female, 36.3%	Male, 58.1% Female, 41.9%
Race ratio	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%	Black or African American, 3.9% Unknown, 3.7% Hispanic or Latino, 14.5% Asian, 5.2% White, 72.5% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.2%
LGBT Percentage	6%	6%

Differences between sales professional and sales representative duties and responsibilities

Sales professional example responsibilities.

Track leads and manage accounts with SalesForce.
Record client information and sales using SalesForce.
Utilize Instagram and Facebook for marketing channel to promote diverse product lines.
Preform daily sales tasks as provide outstanding customer service and greetings, operate POS register system, merchandise transfers and re-merchandising.
Present PowerPoint presentations on how to be more effective with providing excellent customer service to customers
Prioritize account management, POS operations, customer service problem-solving and relationship building in fast-pace setting.

Sales representative example responsibilities.

Manage prospective leads and existing accounts through a CRM platform to accurately forecast revenue and develop long-term business partnerships.
Manage and create all content distribute via various social media outlets: Facebook, twitter, feedback blogs, etc.
Search for procurement contracts, attend trade shows, design flyers, postcards, etc.
Utilize POS sales software to maintain monetary sales information produce reports for organizational review.
Develop and maintain business relationships with businesses and policyholders using establish methods such as customer relationship management CRM.
Handle administrative and sales duties as Jr.

Sales professional vs sales representative skills

Common sales professional skills

Product Knowledge, 13%
POS, 10%
CRM, 8%
Work Ethic, 7%
Sales Presentations, 6%
Sales Techniques, 6%

Common sales representative skills

Sales Process, 9%
Product Knowledge, 9%
Customer Service, 7%
CRM, 6%
Business Development, 6%
Sales REP, 5%

Sales Professional vs. similar jobs

Sales Professional related careers

Sales Professional related jobs

Sales Professional jobs by location

Zippia Careers
Sales Industry
Sales Professional
Sales Professional vs Sales Representative

Updated January 8, 2025

Browse sales jobs