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What does a sales support associate do?

Updated January 8, 2025
7 min read
What does a sales support associate do

A sales support associate is an individual who is responsible for assisting sales staff and help customers. To provide this assistance, sales support associates use customer communication methods such as telephones or email to process customer orders and ensure that they are accurate. They work closely with distributors to make sure that products are available for their customers. Sales support associates may function as either part-time or full time, but companies may require excellent communication skills.

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Sales support associate responsibilities

Here are examples of responsibilities from real sales support associate resumes:

  • Contribute to marketing business online and manage Facebook page.
  • Cross trained on POS function and inventory management
  • Assist patients with Critical/Triage calls; document necessary symptoms for medical assistants to determine what medical intervention is necessary.
  • Work with A/R on short payments and credit/debit discrepancies.
  • Identify and prioritize account opportunities and upselling value add services.
  • Process new service for external customers and initiate upselling opportunities for additional products and services.

Sales support associate skills and personality traits

We calculated that 21% of Sales Support Associates are proficient in Sales Floor, Back Room, and Math. They’re also known for soft skills such as Physical stamina, Self-confidence, and Customer-service skills.

We break down the percentage of Sales Support Associates that have these skills listed on their resume here:

  • Sales Floor, 21%

    Assist customers and coworkers with sales and returns, restock sales floor and prepare inventory for sale in various departments.

  • Back Room, 13%

    Maintained and replenished merchandise to ensure brand-standard products and merchandise availability in the back rooms.

  • Math, 13%

    Process chemical orders that require accurate math computation for chemical delivery.

  • Sales Support, 12%

    Provide data entry sales support to Account Managers by accurately processing quotes for commercial buyers of electrical engineering components.

  • Customer Service, 8%

    Provided exceptional guest store experience by representing the company in customer service and interactions as a proficient representative of Tory Burch.

  • Sales Service, 6%

    Provided first level technical support Prepared computer systems to customer's specifications Provided mail order phone sales service.

"sales floor," "back room," and "math" are among the most common skills that sales support associates use at work. You can find even more sales support associate responsibilities below, including:

Physical stamina. To carry out their duties, the most important skill for a sales support associate to have is physical stamina. Their role and responsibilities require that "wholesale and manufacturing sales representatives are often on their feet for a long time and may carry heavy sample products." Sales support associates often use physical stamina in their day-to-day job, as shown by this real resume: "assisted with physical inventory preparations, merchandising, and visual standards. "

Self-confidence. Another soft skill that's essential for fulfilling sales support associate duties is self-confidence. The role rewards competence in this skill because "wholesale and manufacturing sales representatives must be confident and persuasive when making sales presentations." According to a sales support associate resume, here's how sales support associates can utilize self-confidence in their job responsibilities: "processed over the phone credit card payments and logged the confidential information into jde a/r program. "

Customer-service skills. This is an important skill for sales support associates to perform their duties. For an example of how sales support associate responsibilities depend on this skill, consider that "wholesale and manufacturing sales representatives must be able to listen to the customer’s needs and concerns before and after the sale." This excerpt from a resume also shows how vital it is to everyday roles and responsibilities of a sales support associate: "maintained an awareness of loss prevention by supporting a culture of honesty and connecting the links between customer service and shrink. ".

Interpersonal skills. For certain sales support associate responsibilities to be completed, the job requires competence in "interpersonal skills." The day-to-day duties of a sales support associate rely on this skill, as "wholesale and manufacturing sales representatives must be able to work well with many types of people." For example, this snippet was taken directly from a resume about how this skill applies to what sales support associates do: "developed strong interpersonal and customer relationship skills. "

Most common sales support associate skills

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Compare different sales support associates

Sales support associate vs. Associate sales representative

The duties of an associate sales representative depend on one's line of work or industry of employment. Their responsibilities typically revolve around reaching out to clients through calls or door-to-door visits, offering products and services, collecting payments, addressing issues and concerns, and performing corrective measures when necessary. An associate sales representative often has a quota and deadline to reach; therefore, it is essential to be sales driven and goal-oriented. Furthermore, one must adhere to the policies and regulations of the company.

We looked at the average sales support associate salary and compared it with the wages of an associate sales representative. Generally speaking, associate sales representatives are paid $16,553 higher than sales support associates per year.While the two careers have a salary gap, they share some of the same responsibilities. Employees in both sales support associate and associate sales representative positions are skilled in sales floor, sales support, and customer service.

These skill sets are where the common ground ends though. The responsibilities of a sales support associate are more likely to require skills like "back room," "math," "strong computer," and "sales service." On the other hand, a job as an associate sales representative requires skills like "work ethic," "patients," "excellent organizational," and "sales techniques." As you can see, what employees do in each career varies considerably.

Associate sales representatives earn the highest salaries when working in the health care industry, with an average yearly salary of $56,246. On the other hand, sales support associates are paid more in the finance industry with an average salary of $45,041.On average, associate sales representatives reach similar levels of education than sales support associates. Associate sales representatives are 1.8% more likely to earn a Master's Degree and 0.6% more likely to graduate with a Doctoral Degree.

Sales support associate vs. Sales associate and customer service

Sales and customer service associates are employees who are responsible for closing out sales deals and attending to customer needs. They are in charge of selling company goods and services to potential clients, often citing the common needs of prospective clients to ensure sales. They also handle customer inquiries and complaints and try their best to mitigate any problems that would arise. They are expected to be experts on company products to ensure that they can provide the best service to customers. Sales and customer service associates should have strong interpersonal skills, customer service skills, and communication skills.

A career as a sales associate and customer service brings a lower average salary when compared to the average annual salary of a sales support associate. In fact, sales associate and customer services salary is $5,800 lower than the salary of sales support associates per year.Only some things about these jobs are the same. Take their skills, for example. Sales support associates and sales associate and customer services both require similar skills like "sales floor," "math," and "customer service" to carry out their responsibilities.

Each career also uses different skills, according to real sales support associate resumes. While sales support associate responsibilities can utilize skills like "back room," "sales support," "strong computer," and "sales service," sales associate and customer services use skills like "plumbing," "phone calls," "booking," and "retail sales."

On average, sales associate and customer services earn a lower salary than sales support associates. Some industries support higher salaries in each profession. Interestingly enough, sales associate and customer services earn the most pay in the manufacturing industry with an average salary of $30,394. Whereas sales support associates have higher pay in the finance industry, with an average salary of $45,041.sales associate and customer services earn similar levels of education than sales support associates in general. They're 1.2% less likely to graduate with a Master's Degree and 0.6% more likely to earn a Doctoral Degree.

Sales support associate vs. Commissioned sales associate

Commissioned sales associates are professionals who conduct sale transactions that can generate additional compensation by increasing selling operations. These associates are must collaborate successfully with fellow associates in regard to sales and commission distribution. They must provide excellent customer service so that they can establish long term relationships with customers and ensure high satisfaction. Commissioned sales associates must also assist the department managers with visual merchandising to arrange racks so that they can place and stock new merchandise.

On average, commissioned sales associates earn higher salaries than sales support associates, with a $2,495 difference per year.Using the responsibilities included on sales support associates and commissioned sales associates resumes, we found that both professions have similar skill requirements, such as "sales floor," "customer service," and "customer issues.rdquo;

Some important key differences between the two careers include a few of the skills necessary to fulfill the responsibilities of each. Some examples from sales support associate resumes include skills like "back room," "math," "sales support," and "strong computer," whereas a commissioned sales associate is more likely to list skills in "excellent organizational," "commission sales," "jewelry," and "customer satisfaction. "

Commissioned sales associates make a very good living in the manufacturing industry with an average annual salary of $38,946. On the other hand, sales support associates are paid the highest salary in the finance industry, with average annual pay of $45,041.When it comes to education, commissioned sales associates tend to earn similar degree levels compared to sales support associates. In fact, they're 0.2% less likely to earn a Master's Degree, and 0.3% less likely to graduate with a Doctoral Degree.

Sales support associate vs. Commercial sales associate

A commercial sales associate specializes in representing a company to offer products and services to businesses and organizations, ensuring efficiency and client satisfaction. Their responsibilities include performing research and analysis to identify business and client opportunities, pursuing leads, reaching out through calls and correspondence, arranging appointments, explaining or demonstrating products, and negotiating contracts. Aside from securing sales with businesses, a commercial sales associate must also perform clerical tasks such as producing progress reports and presentations, arranging schedules, and maintaining records of all transactions, all while adhering to the company's policies and regulations.

Commercial sales associates tend to earn a higher pay than sales support associates by an average of $21,405 per year.While their salaries may vary, sales support associates and commercial sales associates both use similar skills to perform their duties. Resumes from both professions include skills like "sales floor," "customer service," and "customer issues. "Each job also requires different skills to carry out their responsibilities. A sales support associate uses "back room," "math," "sales support," and "strong computer." Commercial sales associates are more likely to have duties that require skills in "cash handling," "financial statements," "treasury," and "client relationships. "The average resume of commercial sales associates showed that they earn similar levels of education compared to sales support associates. So much so that theyacirc;euro;trade;re 1.6% more likely to earn a Master's Degree and more likely to earn a Doctoral Degree by 6.1%.

Types of sales support associate

Updated January 8, 2025

Zippia Research Team
Zippia Team

Editorial Staff

The Zippia Research Team has spent countless hours reviewing resumes, job postings, and government data to determine what goes into getting a job in each phase of life. Professional writers and data scientists comprise the Zippia Research Team.