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The differences between technical sales engineers and sales engineers can be seen in a few details. Each job has different responsibilities and duties. It typically takes 4-6 years to become both a technical sales engineer and a sales engineer. Additionally, a sales engineer has an average salary of $93,727, which is higher than the $88,623 average annual salary of a technical sales engineer.
The top three skills for a technical sales engineer include customer service, sales process and product line. The most important skills for a sales engineer are pre sales, customer service, and sales process.
| Technical Sales Engineer | Sales Engineer | |
| Yearly salary | $88,623 | $93,727 |
| Hourly rate | $42.61 | $45.06 |
| Growth rate | 6% | 6% |
| Number of jobs | 161,743 | 132,324 |
| Job satisfaction | - | 5 |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 73% | Bachelor's Degree, 74% |
| Average age | 44 | 44 |
| Years of experience | 6 | 6 |
A technical sales engineer is a sales professional who provides technical sales support and advice about the products and services. Your duties typically include consulting and selling on scientifically and technologically advanced products, organizing sales visits, and liaising contracts and terms and conditions. Additionally, you are expected to collaborate with the design, engineering, production, and research and development departments on how to modify products and services that meet customers' needs. You are also responsible for attending meetings, conferences, and trade shows.
A sales engineer is responsible for assisting customers with their technical equipment and advanced scientific product needs. Sales engineers must have excellent knowledge of the scientific processes and component functions of the products they're selling to deliver presentations and orient the customers. Sales engineers' duties also include troubleshooting, identifying product defects, and upgrading systems for better optimization. They are also responsible for analyzing cost estimates documents, performing adjustments as needed, process payments, arranging deliveries, and settling customers' complaints by replacing damaged items or doing refunds.
Technical sales engineers and sales engineers have different pay scales, as shown below.
| Technical Sales Engineer | Sales Engineer | |
| Average salary | $88,623 | $93,727 |
| Salary range | Between $63,000 And $122,000 | Between $66,000 And $132,000 |
| Highest paying City | San Francisco, CA | Washington, DC |
| Highest paying state | Oregon | Virginia |
| Best paying company | Meta | |
| Best paying industry | Telecommunication | Technology |
There are a few differences between a technical sales engineer and a sales engineer in terms of educational background:
| Technical Sales Engineer | Sales Engineer | |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 73% | Bachelor's Degree, 74% |
| Most common major | Electrical Engineering | Business |
| Most common college | Northwestern University | Northwestern University |
Here are the differences between technical sales engineers' and sales engineers' demographics:
| Technical Sales Engineer | Sales Engineer | |
| Average age | 44 | 44 |
| Gender ratio | Male, 88.6% Female, 11.4% | Male, 90.1% Female, 9.9% |
| Race ratio | Black or African American, 1.6% Unknown, 6.2% Hispanic or Latino, 7.7% Asian, 8.7% White, 75.5% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.3% | Black or African American, 1.7% Unknown, 6.2% Hispanic or Latino, 8.0% Asian, 7.1% White, 76.8% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.3% |
| LGBT Percentage | 7% | 7% |