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The differences between senior sales executives and business development executives can be seen in a few details. Each job has different responsibilities and duties. While it typically takes 6-8 years to become a senior sales executive, becoming a business development executive takes usually requires 8-10 years. Additionally, a senior sales executive has an average salary of $110,808, which is higher than the $97,871 average annual salary of a business development executive.
The top three skills for a senior sales executive include sales process, healthcare and business development. The most important skills for a business development executive are business development, digital transformation, and customer service.
| Senior Sales Executive | Business Development Executive | |
| Yearly salary | $110,808 | $97,871 |
| Hourly rate | $53.27 | $47.05 |
| Growth rate | 5% | 10% |
| Number of jobs | 168,737 | 189,950 |
| Job satisfaction | - | - |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 79% | Bachelor's Degree, 75% |
| Average age | 46 | 39 |
| Years of experience | 8 | 10 |
Senior sales executives are the most experienced members of a sales team. It is their responsibility to lead the customer representatives, ensuring that sales targets are met. Their job includes analyzing business trends to identify ways to improve products, ensuring customer satisfaction is met with the company products or services acquired, as well as submitting account plans and sales reports to higher management. They should also be able to timely resolve issues concerning complaints from the customer.
A business development executive serves as a senior manager who drives company sales. Business development executives convince existing clients to buy more offerings and also source new clients. The focus of their job is on lead generation, prospect management, and customer acquisition. They collaborate with management in terms of sales objectives, planning, and prediction. The skills necessary for this job include customer service and relations, time management, strong written communication, and sales process experience.
Senior sales executives and business development executives have different pay scales, as shown below.
| Senior Sales Executive | Business Development Executive | |
| Average salary | $110,808 | $97,871 |
| Salary range | Between $59,000 And $207,000 | Between $64,000 And $149,000 |
| Highest paying City | Boston, MA | Phoenix, AZ |
| Highest paying state | Massachusetts | Arizona |
| Best paying company | IBM | Clifford Chance |
| Best paying industry | Pharmaceutical | Pharmaceutical |
There are a few differences between a senior sales executive and a business development executive in terms of educational background:
| Senior Sales Executive | Business Development Executive | |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 79% | Bachelor's Degree, 75% |
| Most common major | Business | Business |
| Most common college | University of Southern California | University of Georgia |
Here are the differences between senior sales executives' and business development executives' demographics:
| Senior Sales Executive | Business Development Executive | |
| Average age | 46 | 39 |
| Gender ratio | Male, 71.3% Female, 28.7% | Male, 63.8% Female, 36.2% |
| Race ratio | Black or African American, 3.2% Unknown, 4.4% Hispanic or Latino, 9.8% Asian, 4.1% White, 78.2% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.2% | Black or African American, 3.0% Unknown, 5.3% Hispanic or Latino, 8.7% Asian, 8.2% White, 74.6% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.2% |
| LGBT Percentage | 7% | 10% |