What does a technical sales specialist do?
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.
Technical sales specialist responsibilities
Here are examples of responsibilities from real technical sales specialist resumes:
- Use of CRM software to work with potential leads.
- Conduct budgeting and funding discussions with administrators to achieve ROI on purchases.
- Develop pull-through strategies that effectively promote RibaPak through Gastroenterologists clinics and manage care organizations.
- Educate nurses and technicians on products under FDA requirements.
- Develop protocols for product uses prior to FDA approval.
- Identify niche market comprise of HCP's in underserve rural areas.
- Spearhead the implementation of a new CRM that double prospects for key products.
- Create, customize, and distribute pricing metrics of all virtualization products for re-sellers.
- Perform technical analysis, chip sizing, IP solutions, power estimates for ASIC products.
- Respond to technical RFP s from existing and potential clients in writing and live presentations.
- Prepare RFP's and quotations on a full line of products, services and rental equipment.
- Assist in the development and implementation of sales strategies for partners with a focus on virtualization.
- Propose and implement a new cloud service software on mainframe Linux for the first time in the world.
- Instruct surgeons and clinical staff on the placement of the OnQ pain pump catheter in the operating room.
- Enable standardized solution for all environments, automating deployments of applications to cloud, hybrid cloud, and traditional servers.
Technical sales specialist skills and personality traits
We calculated that 14% of Technical Sales Specialists are proficient in Customer Service, Technical Knowledge, and Cloud. They’re also known for soft skills such as Physical stamina, Interpersonal skills, and Self-confidence.
We break down the percentage of Technical Sales Specialists that have these skills listed on their resume here:
- Customer Service, 14%
Advertised, interviewed and recruited professional technical candidates for key client openings which resulted in high-quality customer service and repeat business.
- Technical Knowledge, 11%
Developed extensive technical knowledge of product portfolio to support customers -adding value and creating more sales opportunities.
- Cloud, 7%
Drive IBM Cloud Services (Private, Public and Hybrid) as it relates to the Software Defined Infrastructure Solution set.
- Product Sales, 7%
Manage territory providing product sales, support and direction to Hospitals, Doctors, Universities, Medical Device and Pharmaceutical Clients.
- Client Facing, 6%
Worked with upper level management in order to develop a new marketing campaign to create new client facing communications.
- Competitive Landscape, 5%
Recognized for understanding our customer s business requirements, technical requirements and competitive landscape.
Most technical sales specialists use their skills in "customer service," "technical knowledge," and "cloud" to do their jobs. You can find more detail on essential technical sales specialist responsibilities here:
Physical stamina. The most essential soft skill for a technical sales specialist to carry out their responsibilities is physical stamina. This skill is important for the role because "wholesale and manufacturing sales representatives are often on their feet for a long time and may carry heavy sample products." Additionally, a technical sales specialist resume shows how their duties depend on physical stamina: "presented product developments and physically trained sales, marketing, service, application, and engineering teams in technical applications. "
Interpersonal skills. Another essential skill to perform technical sales specialist duties is interpersonal skills. Technical sales specialists responsibilities require that "wholesale and manufacturing sales representatives must be able to work well with many types of people." Technical sales specialists also use interpersonal skills in their role according to a real resume snippet: "applied strong interpersonal skills to consistently maintain a high level of customer service. "
Self-confidence. technical sales specialists are also known for self-confidence, which are critical to their duties. You can see how this skill relates to technical sales specialist responsibilities, because "wholesale and manufacturing sales representatives must be confident and persuasive when making sales presentations." A technical sales specialist resume example shows how self-confidence is used in the workplace: "utilized knowledge gained as a technical service representative in the sales process to assist building client confidence in the company. "
Customer-service skills. A big part of what technical sales specialists do relies on "customer-service skills." You can see how essential it is to technical sales specialist responsibilities because "wholesale and manufacturing sales representatives must be able to listen to the customer’s needs and concerns before and after the sale." Here's an example of how this skill is used from a resume that represents typical technical sales specialist tasks: "coordinated project installations and ongoing customer support. "
The three companies that hire the most technical sales specialists are:
- Thermo Fisher Scientific138 technical sales specialists jobs
- IBM59 technical sales specialists jobs
- McKesson23 technical sales specialists jobs
Choose from 10+ customizable technical sales specialist resume templates
Build a professional technical sales specialist resume in minutes. Our AI resume writing assistant will guide you through every step of the process, and you can choose from 10+ resume templates to create your technical sales specialist resume.Compare different technical sales specialists
Technical sales specialist vs. Territory representative
A territory representative is responsible for selling the company's goods and services within a designated area, negotiating offers with potential clients, and identifying business opportunities according to market trends and customer demands. Territory representatives analyze the sales performance and strategize techniques to reach sales targets by coordinating with the whole sales team. They must be highly knowledgeable of the products offered by the company to demonstrate features and functionalities and respond to the inquiries and concerns the customers may have.
There are some key differences in the responsibilities of each position. For example, technical sales specialist responsibilities require skills like "technical knowledge," "cloud," "product sales," and "client facing." Meanwhile a typical territory representative has skills in areas such as "patients," "territory development," "food handling," and "food safety." This difference in skills reveals the differences in what each career does.
On average, territory representatives reach similar levels of education than technical sales specialists. Territory representatives are 2.9% less likely to earn a Master's Degree and 0.5% less likely to graduate with a Doctoral Degree.Technical sales specialist vs. Sales/account representative
A sales account representative is responsible for managing and responding promptly to customer complaints and queries of clients. They focus on customer concerns and contact prospects. They work on upselling or cross-selling products and services, collaborating with account executives, and prepare reports to upper management. This job requires you to be a goal-driven person, energetic, and have excellent communication skills. Moreover, this is a challenging job; at times, it requires being extra polite and calm in handling customer complaints and other related situations.
Each career also uses different skills, according to real technical sales specialist resumes. While technical sales specialist responsibilities can utilize skills like "technical knowledge," "cloud," "client facing," and "competitive landscape," sales/account representatives use skills like "sales techniques," "work ethic," "indirect sales," and "sales support."
Average education levels between the two professions vary. Sales/account representatives tend to reach similar levels of education than technical sales specialists. In fact, they're 3.1% less likely to graduate with a Master's Degree and 0.5% less likely to earn a Doctoral Degree.Technical sales specialist vs. Sales representative
Sales representatives primarily sell the company's products and services to businesses or organizations. They should be adept at closing out sales, negotiating, and providing customer service. They should be knowledgeable about the products or services of the manufacturer or producer they represent. They must also have strong analytical skills that would help them in coming up with cost-benefit analysis in assessing the current roster of clients and even prospective ones. Sales representatives should also be able to maintain good working relationships with all involved stakeholders, especially clients.
Some important key differences between the two careers include a few of the skills necessary to fulfill the responsibilities of each. Some examples from technical sales specialist resumes include skills like "technical knowledge," "cloud," "product sales," and "client facing," whereas a sales representative is more likely to list skills in "sales rep," "customer relations," "work ethic," and "powerpoint. "
Sales representatives typically earn similar educational levels compared to technical sales specialists. Specifically, they're 4.3% less likely to graduate with a Master's Degree, and 0.4% less likely to earn a Doctoral Degree.Technical sales specialist vs. Marketing/sales representative
The job of marketing/sales representatives is to pitch a company's products and services to potential customers. They work to drive brand awareness through face-to-face consumer interaction. They are often considered as a liaison between sellers and buyers, providing information about products and services. They promote human relationships through marketing collateral distribution and communication. Other responsibilities include planning and implementing marketing campaigns, maintaining good relationships with vendors and venues, and promoting business expansion opportunities. This role requires a bachelor's degree in business administration, communications and marketing experience, excellent communication skills, and time management skills.
Even though a few skill sets overlap between technical sales specialists and marketing/sales representatives, there are some differences that are important to note. For one, a technical sales specialist might have more use for skills like "technical knowledge," "cloud," "client facing," and "competitive landscape." Meanwhile, some responsibilities of marketing/sales representatives require skills like "customer relations," "sales rep," "sales territory," and "account management. "
Marketing/sales representatives reach similar levels of education compared to technical sales specialists, in general. The difference is that they're 2.9% more likely to earn a Master's Degree, and 0.4% less likely to graduate with a Doctoral Degree.Types of technical sales specialist
Updated January 8, 2025











