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The differences between sales support engineers and sales engineering managers can be seen in a few details. Each job has different responsibilities and duties. It typically takes 4-6 years to become both a sales support engineer and a sales engineering manager. Additionally, a sales engineering manager has an average salary of $122,397, which is higher than the $78,335 average annual salary of a sales support engineer.
The top three skills for a sales support engineer include CRM, product line and sales process. The most important skills for a sales engineering manager are cloud, pre sales, and customer satisfaction.
| Sales Support Engineer | Sales Engineering Manager | |
| Yearly salary | $78,335 | $122,397 |
| Hourly rate | $37.66 | $58.84 |
| Growth rate | 6% | 6% |
| Number of jobs | 118,608 | 143,055 |
| Job satisfaction | - | - |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 66% | Bachelor's Degree, 73% |
| Average age | 44 | 44 |
| Years of experience | 6 | 6 |
A sales support engineer assists customers by dealing with complex issues and concerns, resolving them using their technical expertise. They usually communicate with customers using calls and correspondence, and through this, they also develop and deliver sales proposals, answer inquiries, and provide price quotes. Moreover, a sales support engineer also works to assist sales teams by conducting research and analyses to develop procedures that will optimize operations, producing data and guidelines, and creating sales strategies for profit growth.
A sales engineering manager specializes in developing systems and procedures to optimize a company's sales operations, aiming for client satisfaction and profit growth. It is their duty to set goals and timelines, establish guidelines, manage different teams, research new business and client opportunities, gather and analyze data to identify the strengths and weaknesses of existing operations, develop sales strategies, and implement solutions against problem areas. Moreover, as a manager, it is essential to lead and encourage staff to reach goals while enforcing and promoting the company's policies and regulations.
Sales support engineers and sales engineering managers have different pay scales, as shown below.
| Sales Support Engineer | Sales Engineering Manager | |
| Average salary | $78,335 | $122,397 |
| Salary range | Between $52,000 And $116,000 | Between $89,000 And $167,000 |
| Highest paying City | Fort Collins, CO | San Francisco, CA |
| Highest paying state | Virginia | Virginia |
| Best paying company | Agilent Technologies | |
| Best paying industry | Energy | Technology |
There are a few differences between a sales support engineer and a sales engineering manager in terms of educational background:
| Sales Support Engineer | Sales Engineering Manager | |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 66% | Bachelor's Degree, 73% |
| Most common major | Electrical Engineering | Business |
| Most common college | Stanford University | Stanford University |
Here are the differences between sales support engineers' and sales engineering managers' demographics:
| Sales Support Engineer | Sales Engineering Manager | |
| Average age | 44 | 44 |
| Gender ratio | Male, 84.8% Female, 15.2% | Male, 93.0% Female, 7.0% |
| Race ratio | Black or African American, 1.6% Unknown, 6.2% Hispanic or Latino, 8.0% Asian, 8.2% White, 75.7% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.3% | Black or African American, 1.7% Unknown, 6.2% Hispanic or Latino, 8.2% Asian, 6.1% White, 77.4% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.3% |
| LGBT Percentage | 7% | 7% |