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The differences between senior sales specialists and sales/account 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 a sales/account representative takes usually requires 2-4 years. Additionally, a senior sales specialist has an average salary of $74,361, which is higher than the $56,954 average annual salary of a sales/account representative.
The top three skills for a senior sales specialist include customer service, sales training and customer satisfaction. The most important skills for a sales/account representative are customer service, CRM, and sales process.
| Senior Sales Specialist | Sales/Account Representative | |
| Yearly salary | $74,361 | $56,954 |
| Hourly rate | $35.75 | $27.38 |
| Growth rate | 4% | 4% |
| Number of jobs | 109,882 | 257,122 |
| 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.
A sales account representative is responsible for managing and responding promptly to customer complaints and queries of clients. They focus on customer concerns and contact prospects. They work on upselling or cross-selling products and services, collaborating with account executives, and prepare reports to upper management. This job requires you to be a goal-driven person, energetic, and have excellent communication skills. Moreover, this is a challenging job; at times, it requires being extra polite and calm in handling customer complaints and other related situations.
Senior sales specialists and sales/account representatives have different pay scales, as shown below.
| Senior Sales Specialist | Sales/Account Representative | |
| Average salary | $74,361 | $56,954 |
| Salary range | Between $50,000 And $108,000 | Between $39,000 And $81,000 |
| Highest paying City | San Francisco, CA | Olympia, WA |
| Highest paying state | California | Washington |
| Best paying company | VMware | Smartsheet |
| Best paying industry | Pharmaceutical | Technology |
There are a few differences between a senior sales specialist and a sales/account representative in terms of educational background:
| Senior Sales Specialist | Sales/Account 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 sales/account representatives' demographics:
| Senior Sales Specialist | Sales/Account Representative | |
| Average age | 47 | 47 |
| Gender ratio | Male, 53.5% Female, 46.5% | Male, 57.8% Female, 42.2% |
| 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, 3.9% Unknown, 3.7% Hispanic or Latino, 14.6% Asian, 5.2% White, 72.4% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.2% |
| LGBT Percentage | 6% | 6% |