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The differences between senior sales specialists and area sales representatives can be seen in a few details. Each job has different responsibilities and duties. While it typically takes 1-2 years to become a senior sales specialist, becoming an area sales representative takes usually requires 2-4 years. Additionally, a senior sales specialist has an average salary of $74,361, which is higher than the $58,355 average annual salary of an area sales representative.
The top three skills for a senior sales specialist include customer service, sales training and customer satisfaction. The most important skills for an area sales representative are customer service, business development, and sales process.
| Senior Sales Specialist | Area Sales Representative | |
| Yearly salary | $74,361 | $58,355 |
| Hourly rate | $35.75 | $28.06 |
| Growth rate | 4% | 4% |
| Number of jobs | 109,882 | 199,212 |
| Job satisfaction | - | - |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 80% | Bachelor's Degree, 69% |
| Average age | 47 | 47 |
| Years of experience | 2 | 4 |
A senior sales specialist oversees and provides solutions to improve a company's sales operations. It is their responsibility to conduct market research and analysis, establish budgets and guidelines, generate leads, and develop sales strategies and sales forecasts. They also liaise and build positive relationships with vendors and suppliers, set sales targets, and resolve customer issues and complaints. Moreover, being a senior sales specialist, it is essential to lead and serve as a mentor to junior sales specialists while implementing and promoting the company's policies and regulations.
The primary role of an area sales representative is to sell the company's products and services within a specified region or territory. You will be responsible for attracting new clients, increase profitability, and win new accounts. Other duties typically include building and maintaining relationships with both new and existing customers, traveling across the region to visit customers, and maintaining records of customer accounts and sales leads. As an area sales representative, it is also your duty to close deals and negotiate service agreements, prices, and terms of sale.
Senior sales specialists and area sales representatives have different pay scales, as shown below.
| Senior Sales Specialist | Area Sales Representative | |
| Average salary | $74,361 | $58,355 |
| Salary range | Between $50,000 And $108,000 | Between $42,000 And $80,000 |
| Highest paying City | San Francisco, CA | Syracuse, NY |
| Highest paying state | California | Maine |
| Best paying company | VMware | Microsoft |
| Best paying industry | Pharmaceutical | Finance |
There are a few differences between a senior sales specialist and an area sales representative in terms of educational background:
| Senior Sales Specialist | Area Sales Representative | |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 80% | Bachelor's Degree, 69% |
| Most common major | Business | Business |
| Most common college | University of Pennsylvania | SUNY College of Technology at Alfred |
Here are the differences between senior sales specialists' and area sales representatives' demographics:
| Senior Sales Specialist | Area Sales Representative | |
| Average age | 47 | 47 |
| Gender ratio | Male, 53.5% Female, 46.5% | Male, 66.0% Female, 34.0% |
| Race ratio | Black or African American, 3.9% Unknown, 3.7% Hispanic or Latino, 14.6% Asian, 5.2% White, 72.4% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.2% | Black or African American, 3.8% Unknown, 3.7% Hispanic or Latino, 14.3% Asian, 5.2% White, 72.7% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.2% |
| LGBT Percentage | 6% | 6% |