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What is a sales support representative and how to become one

Updated January 8, 2025
5 min read
Quoted experts
Frederik Beuk,
John Cicala Ph.D.
introduction image

A sales support representative is an individual who assists the sales team in their daily activities. Their main responsibility is to provide administrative support to the sales team, which includes handling customer inquiries, processing orders, and updating customer records. Sales support representatives may also be responsible for generating reports, organizing events and meetings, and managing inventory. They play a critical role in helping the sales team meet their targets and ensuring customer satisfaction.

What general advice would you give to a sales support representative?

Frederik Beuk

Associate Professor of Marketing, University of Akron

The key consideration is whether you really want to maximize your initial salary. For instance, envision two job opportunities: one offering a salary of $50,000 per year, where you'd be the most junior team member, and the other providing $75,000 per year, with the caveat that you would be the sole sales representative for the firm. The optimal choice is to prioritize learning opportunities. In this context, being the lone salesperson for a company that compensates its highest-earning sales professional $75,000 might not be your superior option. Instead, seek a position that offers the greatest potential for learning. Subsequently, demonstrate your negotiating prowess, a critical sales skill, by securing a slightly higher salary. However, it's essential not to fixate on maximizing your starting salary. Your career requires a long-term strategy, and you have several decades ahead of you to maximize income.
ScoreSales Support RepresentativeUS Average
Salary
3.0

Avg. Salary $38,310

Avg. Salary $59,228

Stability level
7.1

Growth rate 4%

Growth rate 0.3%

Diversity
3.8
Race

American Indian and Alaska Native 0.23%

Asian 5.11%

Black or African American 3.81%

Hispanic or Latino 14.05%

Unknown 3.71%

White 73.09%

Gender

female 60.11%

male 39.89%

Age - 48
Race

American Indian and Alaska Native 3.00%

Asian 7.00%

Black or African American 14.00%

Hispanic or Latino 19.00%

White 57.00%

Gender

female 47.00%

male 53.00%

Age - 48
Stress level
7.1

Stress level is high

7.1 - high

Complexity level
8.4

Complexity level is challenging

7 - challenging

Work life balance
4.9

Work life balance is fair

6.4 - fair

What are the pros and cons of being a sales support representative?

Pros

  • Opportunity to develop communication skills

  • Possibility for career advancement within the company

  • Opportunity for performance-based bonuses/incentives

  • Ability to learn about new products and services

  • Regular working hours with predictable schedule

Cons

  • High-pressure environment with sales goals to meet

  • May have to deal with angry or difficult clients

  • Inconsistent workload and may have slow periods

  • May require working long hours or on weekends/holidays during peak seasons

  • Difficult to advance beyond sales support role without further education or experience

Sales support representative career paths

Key steps to become a sales support representative

  1. Explore sales support representative education requirements

    Most common sales support representative degrees

    Bachelor's

    55.5 %

    Associate

    20.2 %

    High School Diploma

    14.4 %
  2. Start to develop specific sales support representative skills

    SkillsPercentages
    Sales Support16.01%
    Phone Calls10.08%
    POS8.24%
    Product Knowledge6.85%
    Customer Complaints5.71%
  3. Complete relevant sales support representative training and internships

    Accountants spend an average of 6-12 months on post-employment, on-the-job training. New sales support representatives learn the skills and techniques required for their job and employer during this time. The chart below shows how long it takes to gain competency as a sales support representative based on U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics data and data from real sales support representative resumes.
  4. Research sales support representative duties and responsibilities

    • Manage internal CRM and inventory software to track and input sales orders, account history, and stock allocation.
    • Facilitate the transition from AS400 to JDE operating system.
    • Utilize all programs, systems, and procedures of windows operating systems.
    • Help customers troubleshoot technical issues with their computers, process customer transactions and handle escalate issues.
  5. Prepare your sales support representative resume

    When your background is strong enough, you can start writing your sales support representative resume.

    You can use Zippia's AI resume builder to make the resume writing process easier while also making sure that you include key information that hiring managers expect to see on a sales support representative resume. You'll find resume tips and examples of skills, responsibilities, and summaries, all provided by Zippi, your career sidekick.

    Choose from 10+ customizable sales support representative resume templates

    Build a professional sales support representative resume in minutes. Browse through our resume examples to identify the best way to word your resume. Then choose from 10+ resume templates to create your sales support representative resume.
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    Sales Support Representative Resume
    Sales Support Representative Resume
  6. Apply for sales support representative jobs

    Now it's time to start searching for a sales support representative job. Consider the tips below for a successful job search:

    1. Browse job boards for relevant postings
    2. Consult your professional network
    3. Reach out to companies you're interested in working for directly
    4. Watch out for job scams

How did you land your first sales support representative job

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Average sales support representative salary

The average sales support representative salary in the United States is $38,310 per year or $18 per hour. Sales support representative salaries range between $30,000 and $48,000 per year.

Average sales support representative salary
$38,310 Yearly
$18.42 hourly

What am I worth?

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How do sales support representatives rate their job?

-/5

5 stars

4 stars

3 stars

2 stars

1 star

Sales support representative reviews

profile
A zippia user wrote a review on Jun 2020
Pros

Communicating and helping my clients.

Cons

The travel was extensive. Sometimes. It took more than month to close a deaĺ.


profile
A zippia user wrote a review on May 2020
Pros

i enjoy the interaction with people, listen the customer in order to convert him/her into your friend, detect and help customer with his/her needs.

Cons

People without vision, dreams and selfishness.


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A zippia user wrote a review on Mar 2020
Pros

Marketing products from a traceable companies to consumers and providing a good service to the clients .

Cons

I don't like to work for a company without good management which results in disappointing consumers


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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.