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The differences between technical sales specialists and area 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 technical sales specialist, becoming an area sales representative takes usually requires 2-4 years. Additionally, a technical sales specialist has an average salary of $86,598, which is higher than the $58,355 average annual salary of an area sales representative.
The top three skills for a technical sales specialist include customer service, technical knowledge and cloud. The most important skills for an area sales representative are customer service, business development, and sales process.
| Technical Sales Specialist | Area Sales Representative | |
| Yearly salary | $86,598 | $58,355 |
| Hourly rate | $41.63 | $28.06 |
| Growth rate | 4% | 4% |
| Number of jobs | 212,987 | 199,212 |
| Job satisfaction | - | - |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 69% | Bachelor's Degree, 69% |
| Average age | 47 | 47 |
| Years of experience | 2 | 4 |
A technical sales specialist is in charge of devising strategies to develop technical solutions for optimizing sales procedures. Their responsibilities revolve around identifying market and client needs, assessing existing programs and projects to determine its strengths and weaknesses, and recommending improvements as needed. A technical sales specialist may also interact with walk-in clients, or reach out to them through calls and correspondence, to demonstrate and offer products and services. Furthermore, as a technical sales specialist, it is essential to produce progress reports and maintain records of transactions, all while prioritizing to meet sales targets.
The primary role of an area sales representative is to sell the company's products and services within a specified region or territory. You will be responsible for attracting new clients, increase profitability, and win new accounts. Other duties typically include building and maintaining relationships with both new and existing customers, traveling across the region to visit customers, and maintaining records of customer accounts and sales leads. As an area sales representative, it is also your duty to close deals and negotiate service agreements, prices, and terms of sale.
Technical sales specialists and area sales representatives have different pay scales, as shown below.
| Technical Sales Specialist | Area Sales Representative | |
| Average salary | $86,598 | $58,355 |
| Salary range | Between $57,000 And $129,000 | Between $42,000 And $80,000 |
| Highest paying City | San Francisco, CA | Syracuse, NY |
| Highest paying state | California | Maine |
| Best paying company | Microsoft | |
| Best paying industry | - | Finance |
There are a few differences between a technical sales specialist and an area sales representative in terms of educational background:
| Technical Sales Specialist | Area Sales Representative | |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 69% | Bachelor's Degree, 69% |
| Most common major | Business | Business |
| Most common college | University of Pennsylvania | SUNY College of Technology at Alfred |
Here are the differences between technical sales specialists' and area sales representatives' demographics:
| Technical Sales Specialist | Area Sales Representative | |
| Average age | 47 | 47 |
| Gender ratio | Male, 75.3% Female, 24.7% | Male, 66.0% Female, 34.0% |
| 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, 3.8% Unknown, 3.7% Hispanic or Latino, 14.3% Asian, 5.2% White, 72.7% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.2% |
| LGBT Percentage | 6% | 6% |