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The differences between software sales representatives and field sales representatives can be seen in a few details. Each job has different responsibilities and duties. It typically takes 2-4 years to become both a software sales representative and a field sales representative. Additionally, a software sales representative has an average salary of $82,188, which is higher than the $48,460 average annual salary of a field sales representative.
The top three skills for a software sales representative include cloud, software sales and healthcare. The most important skills for a field sales representative are excellent time management, customer service, and powerpoint.
| Software Sales Representative | Field Sales Representative | |
| Yearly salary | $82,188 | $48,460 |
| Hourly rate | $39.51 | $23.30 |
| Growth rate | 4% | 4% |
| Number of jobs | 146,618 | 228,254 |
| Job satisfaction | - | 5 |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 72% | Bachelor's Degree, 73% |
| Average age | 47 | 47 |
| Years of experience | 4 | 4 |
A software sales representative is responsible for selling technology products and software applications, as well as responding to the customers' inquiries and concerns, and resolving complaints. Software sales representatives take customer orders, process their payments, and set the delivery schedule according to the customers' preference. They also discuss the products' terms of service, including its maintenance instructions, and other related conditions. A software sales representative must have excellent communication and organizational skills, especially when updating customers' information in the database accurately and verifying the adequacy of stock inventories.
A field sales representative is an employee who is employed by business-to-business (B2B) and wholesale organizations to visit leads and sell products or services to their customers in person. Field sales representatives must attract new customers and win new accounts so that they can maximize profitability within their territory. They travel around their assigned territory and visit their customers regularly to educate them on how their products can benefit them. Field sales representatives must also maintain records of all sales leads and monitor the organization's competitor, new products, and market conditions.
Software sales representatives and field sales representatives have different pay scales, as shown below.
| Software Sales Representative | Field Sales Representative | |
| Average salary | $82,188 | $48,460 |
| Salary range | Between $58,000 And $115,000 | Between $26,000 And $88,000 |
| Highest paying City | Sacramento, CA | Seattle, WA |
| Highest paying state | Alaska | Washington |
| Best paying company | Varian Medical Systems | VMware |
| Best paying industry | Technology | Technology |
There are a few differences between a software sales representative and a field sales representative in terms of educational background:
| Software Sales Representative | Field Sales Representative | |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 72% | Bachelor's Degree, 73% |
| Most common major | Business | Business |
| Most common college | SUNY College of Technology at Alfred | SUNY College of Technology at Alfred |
Here are the differences between software sales representatives' and field sales representatives' demographics:
| Software Sales Representative | Field Sales Representative | |
| Average age | 47 | 47 |
| Gender ratio | Male, 71.2% Female, 28.8% | Male, 69.5% Female, 30.5% |
| Race ratio | Black or African American, 3.9% Unknown, 3.7% Hispanic or Latino, 14.4% Asian, 5.2% White, 72.6% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.2% | Black or African American, 3.9% Unknown, 3.7% Hispanic or Latino, 14.5% Asian, 5.2% White, 72.5% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.2% |
| LGBT Percentage | 6% | 6% |