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The differences between sales representatives and business 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 representative and a business sales representative. Additionally, a business sales representative has an average salary of $58,288, which is higher than the $56,591 average annual salary of a sales representative.
The top three skills for a sales representative include sales process, product knowledge and customer service. The most important skills for a business sales representative are business sales, customer accounts, and customer service.
| Sales Representative | Business Sales Representative | |
| Yearly salary | $56,591 | $58,288 |
| Hourly rate | $27.21 | $28.02 |
| Growth rate | 4% | 4% |
| Number of jobs | 205,456 | 226,438 |
| Job satisfaction | 4.33 | - |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 54% | Bachelor's Degree, 68% |
| Average age | 47 | 47 |
| Years of experience | 4 | 4 |
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.
A business sales representative's role is to develop strategies in identifying leads and opportunities to secure sales. Their responsibilities revolve around reaching out to clients to offer products and services, discussing the pricing and specifications of products, processing payments, and gathering necessary client information. They may also arrange appointments with clients to negotiate and sign contracts. Furthermore, as a business sales representative, it is essential to produce progress reports and presentations, handle issues and complaints, maintain records of all transactions, and regularly update databases.
Sales representatives and business sales representatives have different pay scales, as shown below.
| Sales Representative | Business Sales Representative | |
| Average salary | $56,591 | $58,288 |
| Salary range | Between $33,000 And $94,000 | Between $31,000 And $108,000 |
| Highest paying City | Boston, MA | Bothell, WA |
| Highest paying state | Massachusetts | Washington |
| Best paying company | Amazon | |
| Best paying industry | Pharmaceutical | - |
There are a few differences between a sales representative and a business sales representative in terms of educational background:
| Sales Representative | Business Sales Representative | |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 54% | Bachelor's Degree, 68% |
| Most common major | Business | Business |
| Most common college | SUNY College of Technology at Alfred | Stanford University |
Here are the differences between sales representatives' and business sales representatives' demographics:
| Sales Representative | Business Sales Representative | |
| Average age | 47 | 47 |
| Gender ratio | Male, 58.1% Female, 41.9% | Male, 61.4% Female, 38.6% |
| Race ratio | 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% | Black or African American, 3.8% Unknown, 3.7% Hispanic or Latino, 14.3% Asian, 5.2% White, 72.7% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.2% |
| LGBT Percentage | 6% | 6% |