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The differences between sales professionals and sales specialists 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 specialist. Additionally, a sales professional has an average salary of $68,809, which is higher than the $53,004 average annual salary of a sales specialist.
The top three skills for a sales professional include product knowledge, POS and CRM. The most important skills for a sales specialist are building relationships, customer complaints, and customer orders.
| Sales Professional | Sales Specialist | |
| Yearly salary | $68,809 | $53,004 |
| Hourly rate | $33.08 | $25.48 |
| Growth rate | 4% | 4% |
| Number of jobs | 347,888 | 324,069 |
| Job satisfaction | - | - |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 63% | Bachelor's Degree, 62% |
| Average age | 47 | 47 |
| Years of experience | 4 | 4 |
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.
A sales specialist is responsible for offering the best goods and services to customers in order to boost the company's sales. Sales specialists also promote strategies and solutions to contribute to the company's growth and profitability. A sales specialist must have extensive knowledge of the current market trends and the best sales skills to perform marketing tasks. Sales specialists should have excellent communication and customer service skills to assist existing and potential clients with their inquiries and concerns.
Sales professionals and sales specialists have different pay scales, as shown below.
| Sales Professional | Sales Specialist | |
| Average salary | $68,809 | $53,004 |
| Salary range | Between $42,000 And $110,000 | Between $30,000 And $91,000 |
| Highest paying City | Boston, MA | Boston, MA |
| Highest paying state | Massachusetts | Massachusetts |
| Best paying company | Microsoft | VMware |
| Best paying industry | - | - |
There are a few differences between a sales professional and a sales specialist in terms of educational background:
| Sales Professional | Sales Specialist | |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 63% | Bachelor's Degree, 62% |
| Most common major | Business | Business |
| Most common college | SUNY College of Technology at Alfred | SUNY College of Technology at Alfred |
Here are the differences between sales professionals' and sales specialists' demographics:
| Sales Professional | Sales Specialist | |
| Average age | 47 | 47 |
| Gender ratio | Male, 63.7% Female, 36.3% | Male, 55.1% Female, 44.9% |
| 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, 3.8% Unknown, 3.7% Hispanic or Latino, 14.2% Asian, 5.1% White, 72.9% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.2% |
| LGBT Percentage | 6% | 6% |