Specialty representative vs field sales representative

The differences between specialty representatives and field 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 specialty representative, becoming a field sales representative takes usually requires 2-4 years. Additionally, a specialty representative has an average salary of $49,201, which is higher than the $48,460 average annual salary of a field sales representative.

The top three skills for a specialty representative include patients, oncology and dermatology. The most important skills for a field sales representative are excellent time management, customer service, and powerpoint.

Specialty representative vs field sales representative overview

	Specialty Representative	Field Sales Representative
Yearly salary	$49,201	$48,460
Hourly rate	$23.65	$23.30
Growth rate	4%	4%
Number of jobs	50,435	228,254
Job satisfaction	-	5
Most common degree	Bachelor's Degree, 85%	Bachelor's Degree, 73%
Average age	47	47
Years of experience	2	4

What does a specialty representative do?

A specialty representative is responsible for selling specific goods and services to target customers through remote communication or site visits, depending on business requirements and client needs. Specialty representatives assist the marketing and sales team in delivering high-quality sales strategies and promotional techniques to attract customers, identifying their needs by researching industry trends to drive more revenue resources and achieve sales goals and objectives. A specialty representative should have excellent communication and organizational skills, especially in responding to the customers' inquiries and concerns, resolving complaints, and updating their accounts within the database.

What does a field sales representative do?

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.

Specialty representative vs field sales representative salary

Specialty representatives and field sales representatives have different pay scales, as shown below.

	Specialty Representative	Field Sales Representative
Average salary	$49,201	$48,460
Salary range	Between $26,000 And $92,000	Between $26,000 And $88,000
Highest paying City	-	Seattle, WA
Highest paying state	-	Washington
Best paying company	-	VMware
Best paying industry	-	Technology

Differences between specialty representative and field sales representative education

There are a few differences between a specialty representative and a field sales representative in terms of educational background:

	Specialty Representative	Field Sales Representative
Most common degree	Bachelor's Degree, 85%	Bachelor's Degree, 73%
Most common major	Business	Business
Most common college	University of Pennsylvania	SUNY College of Technology at Alfred

Specialty representative vs field sales representative demographics

Here are the differences between specialty representatives' and field sales representatives' demographics:

	Specialty Representative	Field Sales Representative
Average age	47	47
Gender ratio	Male, 47.7% Female, 52.3%	Male, 69.5% Female, 30.5%
Race ratio	Black or African American, 3.8% Unknown, 3.7% Hispanic or Latino, 14.2% Asian, 5.1% White, 72.9% 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%

Differences between specialty representative and field sales representative duties and responsibilities

Specialty representative example responsibilities.

Manage the strategic planning and territory development of neurology accounts.
Manage the development, productivity and utilization of local, regional and national speakers for hyperlipidemia and hypertension.
Attract and build strong advocates within large cardiology groups by building a reputation on integrity, product knowledge and accountability.
Develop and influence neurology and psychiatry opinion leaders by organizing medical education events, residency and speaker programs.
Present in-services for healthcare teams in surgery, ICU and GI settings.
Work with key colorectal surgeons and anesthesiologists to prepare for the launch of Entereg.

Field sales representative example responsibilities.

Train and manage new DSR's.
Lead seminars for the CPA community for CPE credits.
Develop and manage sales in major retail accounts in the Mid-Atlantic region.
Manage and assist a vast customer base in the market for new roofing needs after a large hail storm in Lubbock.
Manage merchandising and POS materials at the retail store level ensuring meticulous compliance with all current corporate initiative regulations.
Conduct effective group Medicare HMO/PPO presentations/seminars, as well as one-on-one field sales presentations.

Specialty representative vs field sales representative skills

Common specialty representative skills

Patients, 27%
Oncology, 10%
Dermatology, 8%
Neurology, 6%
Educational Programs, 6%
Endocrinology, 5%

Common field sales representative skills

Excellent Time Management, 17%
Customer Service, 8%
PowerPoint, 6%
Medicare, 6%
Account Management, 6%
Sales Presentations, 5%

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Specialty Representative
Specialty Representative vs Field Sales Representative

Updated January 8, 2025

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