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The differences between sales specialists and sales associates can be seen in a few details. Each job has different responsibilities and duties. Additionally, a sales specialist has an average salary of $53,004, which is higher than the $32,167 average annual salary of a sales associate.
The top three skills for a sales specialist include building relationships, customer complaints and customer orders. The most important skills for a sales associate are customer service, sales floor, and cash handling.
| Sales Specialist | Sales Associate | |
| Yearly salary | $53,004 | $32,167 |
| Hourly rate | $25.48 | $15.46 |
| Growth rate | 4% | - |
| Number of jobs | 324,069 | 579,849 |
| Job satisfaction | - | - |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 62% | Bachelor's Degree, 38% |
| Average age | 47 | 41 |
| Years of experience | 4 | - |
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 associates are responsible for promoting the company's goods or services. They are expected to provide exceptional customer service to prospective buyers. They should be familiar with all features of the company's products or services so that they can answer the customers' inquiries. Sales associates also assist customers in processing their checkouts, refunds, returns, and other needs. They should be customer-oriented, and they should have great communication skills. They should know how to sell their products or services to customers. They are considered the company's representatives on the ground.
Sales specialists and sales associates have different pay scales, as shown below.
| Sales Specialist | Sales Associate | |
| Average salary | $53,004 | $32,167 |
| Salary range | Between $30,000 And $91,000 | Between $21,000 And $47,000 |
| Highest paying City | Boston, MA | New York, NY |
| Highest paying state | Massachusetts | New York |
| Best paying company | VMware | Barclays |
| Best paying industry | - | Manufacturing |
There are a few differences between a sales specialist and a sales associate in terms of educational background:
| Sales Specialist | Sales Associate | |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 62% | Bachelor's Degree, 38% |
| Most common major | Business | Business |
| Most common college | SUNY College of Technology at Alfred | - |
Here are the differences between sales specialists' and sales associates' demographics:
| Sales Specialist | Sales Associate | |
| Average age | 47 | 41 |
| Gender ratio | Male, 55.1% Female, 44.9% | Male, 38.4% Female, 61.6% |
| 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, 10.6% Unknown, 5.1% Hispanic or Latino, 21.4% Asian, 6.9% White, 55.4% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.6% |
| LGBT Percentage | 6% | 7% |