Specialty sales representative vs sales specialist

The differences between specialty sales representatives and sales specialists 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 sales representative, becoming a sales specialist takes usually requires 2-4 years. Additionally, a specialty sales representative has an average salary of $67,605, which is higher than the $53,004 average annual salary of a sales specialist.

The top three skills for a specialty sales representative include patients, product knowledge and territory management. The most important skills for a sales specialist are building relationships, customer complaints, and customer orders.

Specialty sales representative vs sales specialist overview

	Specialty Sales Representative	Sales Specialist
Yearly salary	$67,605	$53,004
Hourly rate	$32.50	$25.48
Growth rate	4%	4%
Number of jobs	174,608	324,069
Job satisfaction	-	-
Most common degree	Bachelor's Degree, 86%	Bachelor's Degree, 62%
Average age	47	47
Years of experience	2	4

What does a specialty sales representative do?

Specialty sales representatives are responsible for selling products and services using firm arguments to possible clients. Also, they perform a cost-benefit study of present and prospective clients. These representatives support positive business relationships to guarantee future sales. Their main role is to give complete and correct solutions to clients to enhance top-line revenue progress, profitability, and investment levels. Their duties include reaching out to customer leads through telemarketing as well as maximize customer satisfaction by efficiently providing resolutions to their issues and complaints.

What does a sales specialist do?

A sales specialist is responsible for offering the best goods and services to customers in order to boost the company's sales. Sales specialists also promote strategies and solutions to contribute to the company's growth and profitability. A sales specialist must have extensive knowledge of the current market trends and the best sales skills to perform marketing tasks. Sales specialists should have excellent communication and customer service skills to assist existing and potential clients with their inquiries and concerns.

Specialty sales representative vs sales specialist salary

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

	Specialty Sales Representative	Sales Specialist
Average salary	$67,605	$53,004
Salary range	Between $40,000 And $113,000	Between $30,000 And $91,000
Highest paying City	-	Boston, MA
Highest paying state	-	Massachusetts
Best paying company	-	VMware
Best paying industry	-	-

Differences between specialty sales representative and sales specialist education

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

	Specialty Sales Representative	Sales Specialist
Most common degree	Bachelor's Degree, 86%	Bachelor's Degree, 62%
Most common major	Business	Business
Most common college	University of Pennsylvania	SUNY College of Technology at Alfred

Specialty sales representative vs sales specialist demographics

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

	Specialty Sales Representative	Sales Specialist
Average age	47	47
Gender ratio	Male, 50.9% Female, 49.1%	Male, 55.1% Female, 44.9%
Race ratio	Black or African American, 3.8% Unknown, 3.7% Hispanic or Latino, 13.9% Asian, 5.1% White, 73.3% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.2%	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%
LGBT Percentage	6%	6%

Differences between specialty sales representative and sales specialist duties and responsibilities

Specialty sales representative example responsibilities.

Utilize CRM system and other applications to manage all sales within the renewal stages.
Collaborate with management, marketing, and training departments to achieve the common goals of Merck.
Manage allocated resources and accountable for pharmaceutical samples in accordance with FDA and PDMA guidelines; responsible for expense management.
Manage tough relationships with key reimbursement decision-makers in hospitals, renal and oncology clinics throughout territory.
Manage the development, productivity and utilization of local, regional and national speakers for hyperlipidemia and hypertension.
Perform several educational sales presentations to large audiences on appropriate pain management for patients.

Sales specialist example responsibilities.

Manage a Salesforce database comprise of customer information, leads and potential sales opportunities.
Manage Pardot (marketing database), and Zuora (online billing and payment gateway).
Manage territory retail accounts, category management, install POS, sell of manufacturer programs and implementation of sales programs.
Manage planning parameters in ERP via the item master (lead times, min/max, safety stock, pay terms).
Master delivering technical product information to doctors on training and teaching proper injection technique to achieve optimal results for patients.
Lead on sales order reporting for Americas.

Specialty sales representative vs sales specialist skills

Common specialty sales representative skills

Patients, 14%
Product Knowledge, 9%
Territory Management, 7%
Neurology, 6%
Work Ethic, 6%
Medical Sales, 5%

Common sales specialist skills

Building Relationships, 10%
Customer Complaints, 9%
Customer Orders, 9%
Product Knowledge, 6%
Patients, 6%
Sales Process, 5%

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Specialty Sales Representative
Specialty Sales Representative vs Sales Specialist

Updated January 8, 2025

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