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The differences between strategic accounts managers and outside sales managers can be seen in a few details. Each job has different responsibilities and duties. It typically takes 6-8 years to become both a strategic accounts manager and an outside sales manager. Additionally, an outside sales manager has an average salary of $84,408, which is higher than the $83,574 average annual salary of a strategic accounts manager.
The top three skills for a strategic accounts manager include account management, healthcare and customer service. The most important skills for an outside sales manager are product knowledge, CRM, and customer service.
| Strategic Accounts Manager | Outside Sales Manager | |
| Yearly salary | $83,574 | $84,408 |
| Hourly rate | $40.18 | $40.58 |
| Growth rate | 5% | 5% |
| Number of jobs | 141,224 | 138,054 |
| Job satisfaction | - | - |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 79% | Bachelor's Degree, 63% |
| Average age | 46 | 46 |
| Years of experience | 8 | 8 |
A strategic accounts manager is an individual who is responsible for establishing and maintaining productive relationships with new and existing large clients. Strategic accounts managers assign staff members to provide help and support with client accounts and how they can be of service to the clients. They are required to create an appropriate sales strategy for each of their clients and identify needs. Strategic accounts manager must also create comprehensive reports on client sales and strategy to their upper management.
An outside sales manager is responsible for monitoring the sales staff performance in selling goods and services to existing and potential clients and ensuring that the team meets sales objectives. Outside sales managers set reasonable sales targets and establish techniques to maximize the staff's efficiency and productivity. They regularly connect with the clients to determine their needs and make any adjustments to business plans as needed. An outside sales manager should have excellent knowledge of the current market trends to identify business opportunities that would generate more revenues and resources.
Strategic accounts managers and outside sales managers have different pay scales, as shown below.
| Strategic Accounts Manager | Outside Sales Manager | |
| Average salary | $83,574 | $84,408 |
| Salary range | Between $51,000 And $135,000 | Between $51,000 And $138,000 |
| Highest paying City | San Francisco, CA | Albany, NY |
| Highest paying state | New Jersey | Hawaii |
| Best paying company | VMware | Dominion Enterprises |
| Best paying industry | Technology | Finance |
There are a few differences between a strategic accounts manager and an outside sales manager in terms of educational background:
| Strategic Accounts Manager | Outside Sales Manager | |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 79% | Bachelor's Degree, 63% |
| Most common major | Business | Business |
| Most common college | University of Southern California | University of Southern California |
Here are the differences between strategic accounts managers' and outside sales managers' demographics:
| Strategic Accounts Manager | Outside Sales Manager | |
| Average age | 46 | 46 |
| Gender ratio | Male, 68.2% Female, 31.8% | Male, 79.1% Female, 20.9% |
| Race ratio | Black or African American, 3.2% Unknown, 4.4% Hispanic or Latino, 9.8% Asian, 4.1% White, 78.2% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.2% | Black or African American, 3.2% Unknown, 4.4% Hispanic or Latino, 9.8% Asian, 4.1% White, 78.2% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.2% |
| LGBT Percentage | 7% | 7% |