How to hire a software sales representative

How to hire a software sales representative, step by step

Here's a step-by-step software sales representative hiring guide:

• Step 1: Identify your hiring needs
• Step 2: Create an ideal candidate profile
• Step 3: Make a budget
• Step 4: Write a software sales representative job description
• Step 5: Post your job
• Step 6: Interview candidates
• Step 7: Send a job offer and onboard your new software sales representative
• Step 8: Go through the hiring process checklist

What does a software sales representative do?

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1. Identify your hiring needs

   Before you post your software sales representative job, you should take the time to determine what type of worker your business needs. While certain jobs definitely require a full-time employee, it's sometimes better to find a software sales representative for hire on a part-time basis or as a contractor.

   Determine employee vs contractor status

   Is the person you're thinking of hiring a US citizen or green card holder?

   Yes

   No

   You should also consider the ideal background you'd like them a software sales representative to have before you start to hire. For example, what industry or field would you like them to have experience in, what level of seniority or education does the job require, and how much it'll cost to hire a software sales representative that fits the bill.

   This list shows salaries for various types of software sales representatives.

   Type of Software Sales Representative	Description	Hourly rate
   Software Sales Representative	Wholesale and manufacturing sales representatives sell goods for wholesalers or manufacturers to businesses, government agencies, and other organizations. They contact customers, explain product features, answer any questions that their customers may have, and negotiate prices.	$27-55
   Territory Representative	A territory representative is responsible for selling the company's goods and services within a designated area, negotiating offers with potential clients, and identifying business opportunities according to market trends and customer demands. Territory representatives analyze the sales performance and strategize techniques to reach sales targets by coordinating with the whole sales team... Show more	$14-24
   Sales Development Representative	A sales development representative qualifies leads at the sales funnel's initial stages. Sales development representatives need to conduct research for prospective clients and qualify the leads before handing them to the sales team... Show more	$16-37

   Show more

2. Create an ideal candidate profile

   Common skills:

   • Cloud
   • Software Sales
   • Healthcare
   • ERP
   • Software Solutions
   • C-Level
   • Business Development
   • Sales Process
   • Software Products
   • Saas
   • Revenue Growth
   • Direct Sales
   • ROI
   • Sales Strategies

   Check all skills

   Responsibilities:

   • Promote cloud solutions, including DR, servers, virtual machines, and manage services.
   • Manage merchandising and POS materials at the retail store level ensuring meticulous compliance with all current corporate initiative regulations.
   • Focuse on healthcare, insurance and government verticals.
   • Perform business analysis and develop compelling ROI cases for major customers.
   • Develop and expand customer client base via direct marketing, referrals and CRM software.
   • Assess client business needs, pitch marketing solutions, present account overviews & evidence of ROI to secure additional business.

   More software sales representative duties

3. Make a budget

   Including a salary range in your software sales representative job description is a great way to entice the best and brightest candidates. A software sales representative salary can vary based on several factors:

   • Location. For example, software sales representatives' average salary in hawaii is 62% less than in alaska.
   • Seniority. Entry-level software sales representatives earn 50% less than senior-level software sales representatives.
   • Certifications. A software sales representative with a few certifications under their belt will likely demand a higher salary.
   • Company. Working for a prestigious company or an exciting start-up can make a huge difference in a software sales representative's salary.

   Average software sales representative salary

   $82,188yearly

   $39.51 hourly rate

   ---

   Entry-level software sales representative salary

   $58,000 yearly salary

   Updated December 13, 2025

   Average software sales representative salary by state

   Rank	State	Avg. salary	Hourly rate
   1	California	$113,987	$55
   2	Washington	$104,329	$50
   3	Wyoming	$101,316	$49
   4	Massachusetts	$99,963	$48
   5	New Jersey	$95,831	$46
   6	Utah	$92,584	$45
   7	North Carolina	$90,644	$44
   8	Ohio	$83,909	$40
   9	New York	$83,203	$40
   10	Virginia	$83,013	$40
   11	Arizona	$81,803	$39
   12	Colorado	$80,317	$39
   13	Kansas	$78,025	$38
   14	District of Columbia	$77,079	$37
   15	Texas	$76,851	$37
   16	Louisiana	$76,659	$37
   17	Illinois	$76,655	$37
   18	Florida	$65,221	$31
   19	Georgia	$65,111	$31

   Average software sales representative salary by company

   Company

   Rank	Company	Average salary	Hourly rate	Job openings
   1	Varian Medical Systems	$104,154	$50.07	2
   2	IBM	$95,731	$46.02	132
   3	Agilent Technologies	$89,633	$43.09	5
   4	Hilti	$86,277	$41.48
   5	CSI International	$85,298	$41.01
   6	VantagePoint HealthCare Advisors	$82,350	$39.59
   7	The Verge	$81,709	$39.28	1
   8	M-Tek	$80,078	$38.50
   9	CyberCoders	$77,656	$37.33	8
   10	Mbr Construction, Inc.	$74,661	$35.89	24
   11	GPAC	$73,933	$35.54
   12	Randstad North America, Inc.	$71,435	$34.34	21
   13	SailPoint	$71,401	$34.33	7
   14	Resource/Ammirati	$71,177	$34.22
   15	L3Harris	$68,765	$33.06	109
   16	Diedre Moire	$67,381	$32.39
   17	Accenture	$62,737	$30.16	224

4. Writing a software sales representative job description

   A software sales representative job description should include a summary of the role, required skills, and a list of responsibilities. It's also good to include a salary range and the first name of the hiring manager. To help get you started, here's an example of a software sales representative job description:

   Software sales representative job description example

   Inside Sales/Software Advisor
   
   This is the best Inside Sales position you may ever have because you are actually helping people and making great money (and not cold calling and bothering people who are not interested in your product or service.) No online presentations or heavy-duty selling either. All you do is follow up with people who have requested access to SelectHub's software platform or downloaded information searching for answers for their software research needs. You call these individuals to better understand their needs and make relevant product recommendations. This saves them so much valuable time and money trying to find these products and companies on their own. Extensive in office training for first 3 months, and commission eligible day one!
   
   Our Software Advisors average 10-15 conversations daily with a high conversion rate. Position pays a competitive salary, commissions, and bonuses that all accelerate for exceeding performance targets. That also includes uncapped commissions and valuable stock options. Your compensation is completely performance based, no seniority required to advance and make more money. You can eventually work hybrid or completely remotely once you have proven yourself.
   
   Company:
   • Ranked in the top 50 fastest growing software companies by Inc. Magazine two years in a row!
   • SelectHub provides a cloud-based software platform and crowd-sourced best-practices for selecting and implementing enterprise software. There are thousands of monthly visitors to SelectHub consuming their valuable content to help guide them with their important software selection process. The software platform's core value is to help people find the best matching enterprise software for their company faster, easier, and in a more collaborative manner.
   • Website, blog, and content assets register over 62 million impressions a year organically and via paid advertising, partner properties, social media, email, and offline interactions, reaching well over 35 million unique users worldwide annually.
   • On average, 60% of all software buyers interact with them sometime during their buying cycle.
   
   Qualifications:
   • Previous inside or outside sales experience or recent college graduate preferred.
   • You are not afraid of going through 100+ dials to reach your daily conversation goals.
   • You have a student mentality, are open to coaching, and can learn new processes and technologies quickly.
   • You always maintain a positive attitude, you have exceptional “people” skills, and you think on your feet under pressure.
   • Most importantly, you have the discipline to get stuff done with zero excuses!
   
   We work in a professional quiet office in Austin on South Congress Ave. We offer competitive pay, benefits, paid time off and equity in the company. We have a foosball table (we play every day) and try to strike a fair balance between working hard and having fun. If this is the type of work and environment you want to be a part of, please contact us ASAP.
   
   Job Type: Full-time
   
   Pay: $45,000.00 - $100,000.00 per year
   
   Benefits:
   * Dental insurance
   * Flexible schedule
   * Health insurance
   * Paid time off
   * Vision insurance
   Schedule:
   * 8 hour shift
   * Monday to Friday
   Supplemental pay types:
   * Bonus pay
   * Commission pay
   
   Work Location: One location

   Copy this example

   

5. Post your job

   To find the right software sales representative for your business, consider trying out a few different recruiting strategies:

   • Consider internal talent. One of the most important sources of talent for any company is its existing workforce.
   • Ask for referrals. Reach out to friends, family members, and current employees and ask if they know or have worked with software sales representatives they would recommend.
   • Recruit at local colleges. Attend job fairs at local colleges to recruit software sales representatives who meet your education requirements.
   • Social media platforms. LinkedIn, Facebook and Twitter now have more than 3.5 billion users, and you can use social media to reach potential job candidates.

   Post your job online:

   • Post your software sales representative job on Zippia to find and recruit software sales representative candidates who meet your exact specifications.
   • Use field-specific websites such as salesjobs, salesheads, allretailjobs.com, sales trax.
   • Post a job on free websites.

6. Interview candidates

   Recruiting software sales representatives requires you to bring your A-game to the interview process. The first interview should introduce the company and the role to the candidate as much as they present their background experience and reasons for applying for the job. During later interviews, you can go into more detail about the technical details of the job and ask behavioral questions to gauge how they'd fit into your current company culture.

   You should also ask about candidates' unique skills and talents to see if they match the ideal candidate profile you developed earlier. Candidates good enough for the next step can complete the technical interview.

   The right interview questions can help you assess a candidate's hard skills, behavioral intelligence, and soft skills.

7. Send a job offer and onboard your new software sales representative

   Once you have selected a candidate for the software sales representative position, it is time to create an offer letter. In addition to salary, the offer letter should include details about benefits and perks that are available to the employee. Ensuring your offer is competitive is vital, as qualified candidates may be considering other job opportunities. The candidate may wish to negotiate the terms of the offer, and it is important to be open to discussion and reach a mutually beneficial agreement. After the offer has been accepted, it is a good idea to formalize the agreement with a contract.

   It's also important to follow up with applicants who do not get the job with an email letting them know that the position is filled.

   After that, you can create an onboarding schedule for a new software sales representative. Human Resources and the hiring manager should complete Employee Action Forms. Human Resources should also ensure that onboarding paperwork is completed, including I-9s, benefits enrollment, federal and state tax forms, etc., and that new employee files are created.

8. Go through the hiring process checklist

   • Determine employee type (full-time, part-time, contractor, etc.)
   • Submit a job requisition form to the HR department
   • Define job responsibilities and requirements
   • Establish budget and timeline
   • Determine hiring decision makers for the role
   • Write job description
   • Post job on job boards, company website, etc.
   • Promote the job internally
   • Process applications through applicant tracking system
   • Review resumes and cover letters
   • Shortlist candidates for screening
   • Hold phone/virtual interview screening with first round of candidates
   • Conduct in-person interviews with top candidates from first round
   • Score candidates based on weighted criteria (e.g., experience, education, background, cultural fit, skill set, etc.)
   • Conduct background checks on top candidates
   • Check references of top candidates
   • Consult with HR and hiring decision makers on job offer specifics
   • Extend offer to top candidate(s)
   • Receive formal job offer acceptance and signed employment contract
   • Inform other candidates that the position has been filled
   • Set and communicate onboarding schedule to new hire(s)
   • Complete new hire paperwork (i9, benefits enrollment, tax forms, etc.)

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How much does it cost to hire a software sales representative?