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The differences between sales specialists and retention 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 retention specialist takes usually requires 6-12 months. Additionally, a sales specialist has an average salary of $53,004, which is higher than the $37,175 average annual salary of a retention specialist.
The top three skills for a sales specialist include building relationships, customer complaints and customer orders. The most important skills for a retention specialist are customer service, outbound calls, and powerpoint.
| Sales Specialist | Retention Specialist | |
| Yearly salary | $53,004 | $37,175 |
| Hourly rate | $25.48 | $17.87 |
| Growth rate | 4% | -4% |
| Number of jobs | 324,069 | 199,631 |
| Job satisfaction | - | - |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 62% | Bachelor's Degree, 40% |
| Average age | 47 | 40 |
| Years of experience | 4 | 12 |
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 retention specialist is responsible for devising strategies to maintain a healthy relationship with clients. They are primarily in charge of negotiating and securing contract renewals, handling issues and corrective measures for customer satisfaction, utilizing feedback to improve services, and maintaining a healthy rapport to strengthen the client base. Furthermore, as a retention specialist, it is essential to perform calls and correspondence, keep records of all transactions, and coordinate with work-staff.
Sales specialists and retention specialists have different pay scales, as shown below.
| Sales Specialist | Retention Specialist | |
| Average salary | $53,004 | $37,175 |
| Salary range | Between $30,000 And $91,000 | Between $28,000 And $48,000 |
| Highest paying City | Boston, MA | Los Angeles, CA |
| Highest paying state | Massachusetts | California |
| Best paying company | VMware | Adobe |
| Best paying industry | - | Finance |
There are a few differences between a sales specialist and a retention specialist in terms of educational background:
| Sales Specialist | Retention Specialist | |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 62% | Bachelor's Degree, 40% |
| Most common major | Business | Business |
| Most common college | SUNY College of Technology at Alfred | - |
Here are the differences between sales specialists' and retention specialists' demographics:
| Sales Specialist | Retention Specialist | |
| Average age | 47 | 40 |
| Gender ratio | Male, 55.1% Female, 44.9% | Male, 37.0% Female, 63.0% |
| 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, 11.4% Unknown, 5.3% Hispanic or Latino, 20.6% Asian, 6.0% White, 55.9% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.7% |
| LGBT Percentage | 6% | 7% |