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What does a sales support specialist do?

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

A sales support specialist is primarily responsible for performing clerical tasks to support a sales team. Typically, they gather sales leads and data, produce progress reports and presentations, maintain records of all transactions, and liaise with different accounting personnel. A sales support specialist may respond to calls and inquiries, resolving customers' complaints and concerns promptly and professionally. Furthermore, one may arrange meetings and appointments with clients, develop sales strategies for profit growth, and process orders, all while ensuring customer satisfaction.

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Sales support specialist responsibilities

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

  • Manage planning parameters in ERP via the item master (lead times, min/max, safety stock, pay terms).
  • Position demand high degree of accuracy, product knowledge and math skills.
  • Act as liaison to sales organizations and attend sales calls as necessary to address RFP or project management type activities.
  • Assist AE/VP in maintaining pipeline/ forecast in SalesForce.
  • Assist outside sales personnel in HVAC job preparation.
  • Coordinate commercial loan process from application through booking, maintaining efficient workflow in fast pace environment.
  • Assist with sales of HVAC parts, equipment, supplies over the phone and over the counter.
  • Prepare bi-monthly reports for billing, services and contract value to ensure accuracy in booking and billing processes.
  • Support the sales force by conducting research on prospects, coordinating responses to RFP's, and developing letters and presentations.
  • Migrate physical analog documents to a digital CRM database.
  • Create PowerPoint presentations for client or industry in preparation for prospect presentation.
  • Facilitate logistics of business meetings, calendar management, and preparation of presentation and event activities.
  • Administer daily activities, regulate inventory, handle equipment programming, and logistics with direct fulfillment.
  • Coordinate the creation and delivery of graphics to support oral presentations for sales representatives using PowerPoint and different websites.
  • Generate, export, and format reports from SalesForce.com.

Sales support specialist skills and personality traits

We calculated that 17% of Sales Support Specialists are proficient in Customer Service, Sales Support, and PowerPoint. They’re also known for soft skills such as Customer-service skills, Physical stamina, and Self-confidence.

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

  • Customer Service, 17%

    Handled customer relations and quality management, customer service, product innovation, pricing, dispute resolution and general customer support.

  • Sales Support, 12%

    Contributed to sales support team by successfully taking over coworkers duties within 3 weeks of employment increasing efficiency and productivity.

  • PowerPoint, 5%

    Coordinated the creation and delivery of graphics to support oral presentations for sales representatives using PowerPoint and different websites.

  • CRM, 4%

    Utilize CRM Microsoft Dynamics to update information regarding database on financial clients.

  • Salesforce, 4%

    Assist the SalesForce Administrative Team with cleaning up/closing out/updating duplicate entries or entries that have not been entered correctly.

  • Excellent Interpersonal, 4%

    Demonstrated excellent interpersonal skills combined with an intuitive and professional approach contributed to an above average conversion rate.

Common skills that a sales support specialist uses to do their job include "customer service," "sales support," and "powerpoint." You can find details on the most important sales support specialist responsibilities below.

Customer-service skills. The most essential soft skill for a sales support specialist to carry out their responsibilities is customer-service skills. This skill is important for the role because "wholesale and manufacturing sales representatives must be able to listen to the customer’s needs and concerns before and after the sale." Additionally, a sales support specialist resume shows how their duties depend on customer-service skills: "provided sales and technical customer support for a proprietary stock market analysis software program. "

Physical stamina. Another essential skill to perform sales support specialist duties is physical stamina. Sales support specialists 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 specialists also use physical stamina in their role according to a real resume snippet: "migrated physical analog documents to a digital crm database. "

Self-confidence. Another skill that relates to the job responsibilities of sales support specialists is self-confidence. This skill is critical to many everyday sales support specialist duties, as "wholesale and manufacturing sales representatives must be confident and persuasive when making sales presentations." This example from a resume shows how this skill is used: "maintain confidential company information while following crm database requirements. "

Interpersonal skills. sales support specialist responsibilities often require "interpersonal skills." The duties that rely on this skill are shown by the fact that "wholesale and manufacturing sales representatives must be able to work well with many types of people." This resume example shows what sales support specialists do with interpersonal skills on a typical day: "well-organized, motivated, self-starter with excellent interpersonal and relationship skills. "

Most common sales support specialist skills

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Compare different sales support specialists

Sales support specialist vs. Sales coordinator

A sales coordinator is primarily responsible for managing a sales team, ensuring that all workforce members are functioning efficiently and are achieving the sales targets. For this, a sales coordinator must arrange strategic schedules, provide necessary support materials to each member, and devise plans that would help the team gain more sales. Aside from monitoring the progress and taking charge of the team's direction, a sales coordinator must also reach out to clients and assist in every way, even handling complaints when necessary.

If we compare the average sales support specialist annual salary with that of a sales coordinator, we find that sales coordinators typically earn a $11,427 lower salary than sales support specialists make annually.Even though sales support specialists and sales coordinators are distinct careers, a few of the skills required for both jobs are similar. For example, both careers require customer service, sales support, and powerpoint in the day-to-day roles and responsibilities.

There are some key differences in the responsibilities of each position. For example, sales support specialist responsibilities require skills like "excellent interpersonal," "account management," "work ethic," and "excellent organizational." Meanwhile a typical sales coordinator has skills in areas such as "booking," "reservations," "front desk," and "sales efforts." This difference in skills reveals the differences in what each career does.

Sales coordinators tend to make the most money working in the technology industry, where they earn an average salary of $42,196. In contrast, sales support specialists make the biggest average salary, $65,577, in the professional industry.The education levels that sales coordinators earn slightly differ from sales support specialists. In particular, sales coordinators are 0.6% less likely to graduate with a Master's Degree than a sales support specialist. Additionally, they're 0.0% more likely to earn a Doctoral Degree.

Sales support specialist vs. Product specialist/sales specialist

A product specialist/sales specialist is responsible for developing sales strategies, ensuring to reach sales targets and customer satisfaction. They typically offer products and services to walk-in clients or reach out to them through calls or correspondence, discuss product specifications, answer inquiries, conduct demonstrations, process payments, and handle issues and concerns, resolving them promptly and efficiently. Furthermore, a product specialist/ sales specialist must conduct research and analysis to identify new marketing opportunities, develop business plans, and plan sales events in adherence to the company's policies and regulations, including its vision and mission.

A career as a product specialist/sales specialist brings a higher average salary when compared to the average annual salary of a sales support specialist. In fact, product specialists/sales specialists salary is $25,961 higher than the salary of sales support specialists per year.While the salary may differ for these jobs, they share a few skills needed to perform their duties. Based on resume data, both sales support specialists and product specialists/sales specialists have skills such as "customer service," "sales support," and "crm. "

Each career also uses different skills, according to real sales support specialist resumes. While sales support specialist responsibilities can utilize skills like "powerpoint," "salesforce," "excellent interpersonal," and "account executives," product specialists/sales specialists use skills like "product sales," "business relationships," "product demonstrations," and "sales strategies."

Average education levels between the two professions vary. Product specialists/sales specialists tend to reach similar levels of education than sales support specialists. In fact, they're 0.7% more likely to graduate with a Master's Degree and 0.0% more likely to earn a Doctoral Degree.

Sales support specialist vs. Support

A support employee is responsible for assisting the business operations and responding to customers' inquiries and concerns regarding its goods and services. Support logs all customers' interaction and escalates potential complaints to the appropriate department. They also help with implementing strategic procedures to improve operations and reach maximum productivity. A support employee must have excellent communication and customer service skills, ensuring clients' satisfaction with the services and maintain good feedback to boost the company's brand, attract more clients, and increase revenues.

An average support eans a lower salary compared to the average salary of sales support specialists. The difference in salaries amounts to supports earning a $14,555 lower average salary than sales support specialists.Using the responsibilities included on sales support specialists and supports resumes, we found that both professions have similar skill requirements, such as "customer service," "powerpoint," and "data entry.rdquo;

There are many key differences between these two careers, including some of the skills required to perform responsibilities within each role. For example, a sales support specialist is likely to be skilled in "sales support," "crm," "salesforce," and "excellent interpersonal," while a typical support is skilled in "cash management," "hr," "inventory control," and "ladders."

Supports earn the best pay in the professional industry, where they command an average salary of $50,563. Sales support specialists earn the highest pay from the professional industry, with an average salary of $65,577.When it comes to education, supports tend to earn similar degree levels compared to sales support specialists. In fact, they're 0.0% more likely to earn a Master's Degree, and 0.3% more likely to graduate with a Doctoral Degree.

Sales support specialist vs. Customer service specialist

Customer service specialists are employees who are responsible for providing the best customer experience to customers, usually for after-sales transactions. They attend to customers' inquiries and provide answers to their questions on products or services that the company offers. They also address customer complaints and help mitigate the concerns by offering solutions such as instructions on how to fix defects, or processing replacements or refunds. Customer service specialists also listen to customer feedback and ensure that these are logged properly so that proper departments will be able to receive them.

Customer service specialists average a lower salary than the annual salary of sales support specialists. The difference is about $17,544 per year.While their salaries may vary, sales support specialists and customer service specialists both use similar skills to perform their duties. Resumes from both professions include skills like "customer service," "powerpoint," and "product knowledge. "Each job also requires different skills to carry out their responsibilities. A sales support specialist uses "sales support," "crm," "salesforce," and "excellent interpersonal." Customer service specialists are more likely to have duties that require skills in "cleanliness," "front end," "cash management," and "customer transactions. "In general, customer service specialists earn the most working in the finance industry, with an average salary of $34,860. The highest-paying industry for a sales support specialist is the professional industry.The average resume of customer service specialists showed that they earn similar levels of education compared to sales support specialists. So much so that theyacirc;euro;trade;re 2.3% less likely to earn a Master's Degree and more likely to earn a Doctoral Degree by 0.0%.

Types of sales support specialist

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.