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The differences between sales specialists and pharmaceutical sales specialists can be seen in a few details. Each job has different responsibilities and duties. While it typically takes 2-4 years to become a sales specialist, becoming a pharmaceutical sales specialist takes usually requires 1-2 years. Additionally, a pharmaceutical sales specialist has an average salary of $73,003, which is higher than the $53,004 average annual salary of a sales specialist.
The top three skills for a sales specialist include building relationships, customer complaints and customer orders. The most important skills for a pharmaceutical sales specialist are patients, sales territory, and diabetes.
| Sales Specialist | Pharmaceutical Sales Specialist | |
| Yearly salary | $53,004 | $73,003 |
| Hourly rate | $25.48 | $35.10 |
| Growth rate | 4% | 4% |
| Number of jobs | 324,069 | 23,474 |
| Job satisfaction | - | - |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 62% | Bachelor's Degree, 85% |
| Average age | 47 | 47 |
| Years of experience | 4 | 2 |
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.
A pharmaceutical sales specialist's primary duty is to reach out to pharmacies, medical facilities, and physicians to discuss the latest medical drugs in an effort to secure sales. Their responsibilities typically revolve around learning and understanding everything about the products that they are offering, traveling to different areas to deliver samples, and maintaining records of all transactions. Furthermore, as a pharmaceutical sales specialist, it is essential to create marketing materials and build positive relationships with clients to accomplish sales targets, all while adhering to the company's policies and regulations.
Sales specialists and pharmaceutical sales specialists have different pay scales, as shown below.
| Sales Specialist | Pharmaceutical Sales Specialist | |
| Average salary | $53,004 | $73,003 |
| Salary range | Between $30,000 And $91,000 | Between $47,000 And $112,000 |
| Highest paying City | Boston, MA | San Francisco, CA |
| Highest paying state | Massachusetts | Nevada |
| Best paying company | VMware | AstraZeneca |
| Best paying industry | - | Pharmaceutical |
There are a few differences between a sales specialist and a pharmaceutical sales specialist in terms of educational background:
| Sales Specialist | Pharmaceutical Sales Specialist | |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 62% | Bachelor's Degree, 85% |
| Most common major | Business | Business |
| Most common college | SUNY College of Technology at Alfred | University of Pennsylvania |
Here are the differences between sales specialists' and pharmaceutical sales specialists' demographics:
| Sales Specialist | Pharmaceutical Sales Specialist | |
| Average age | 47 | 47 |
| Gender ratio | Male, 55.1% Female, 44.9% | Male, 47.9% Female, 52.1% |
| Race ratio | 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% | Black or African American, 3.9% Unknown, 3.7% Hispanic or Latino, 14.4% Asian, 5.2% White, 72.6% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.2% |
| LGBT Percentage | 6% | 6% |