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The differences between sales support engineers and sales support representatives can be seen in a few details. Each job has different responsibilities and duties. While it typically takes 4-6 years to become a sales support engineer, becoming a sales support representative takes usually requires 2-4 years. Additionally, a sales support engineer has an average salary of $78,335, which is higher than the $38,310 average annual salary of a sales support representative.
The top three skills for a sales support engineer include CRM, product line and sales process. The most important skills for a sales support representative are sales support, phone calls, and POS.
| Sales Support Engineer | Sales Support Representative | |
| Yearly salary | $78,335 | $38,310 |
| Hourly rate | $37.66 | $18.42 |
| Growth rate | 6% | 4% |
| Number of jobs | 118,608 | 319,292 |
| Job satisfaction | - | - |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 66% | Bachelor's Degree, 55% |
| Average age | 44 | 47 |
| Years of experience | 6 | 4 |
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 support representative is responsible for assisting the complex operations of sales departments, performing administrative duties under the supervision of a direct manager. Sales support representatives' tasks include acknowledging and encoding customers' orders in the system, processing payments, responding to the customers' inquiries and concerns about the products, writing sales reports, and updating the customer of the shipment details. They also support the sales representatives on selling goods and services to potential customers by creating marketing materials and communicating with customers over the phone and e-mail to generate revenues and increase profits.
Sales support engineers and sales support representatives have different pay scales, as shown below.
| Sales Support Engineer | Sales Support Representative | |
| Average salary | $78,335 | $38,310 |
| Salary range | Between $52,000 And $116,000 | Between $30,000 And $48,000 |
| Highest paying City | Fort Collins, CO | Seattle, WA |
| Highest paying state | Virginia | Washington |
| Best paying company | Agilent Technologies | NetApp |
| Best paying industry | Energy | Finance |
There are a few differences between a sales support engineer and a sales support representative in terms of educational background:
| Sales Support Engineer | Sales Support Representative | |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 66% | Bachelor's Degree, 55% |
| Most common major | Electrical Engineering | Business |
| Most common college | Stanford University | SUNY College of Technology at Alfred |
Here are the differences between sales support engineers' and sales support representatives' demographics:
| Sales Support Engineer | Sales Support Representative | |
| Average age | 44 | 47 |
| Gender ratio | Male, 84.8% Female, 15.2% | Male, 39.9% Female, 60.1% |
| 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, 3.8% Unknown, 3.7% Hispanic or Latino, 14.0% Asian, 5.1% White, 73.1% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.2% |
| LGBT Percentage | 7% | 6% |