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The differences between sales specialists and sales managers can be seen in a few details. Each job has different responsibilities and duties. While it typically takes 2-4 years to become a sales specialist, becoming a sales manager takes usually requires 6-8 years. Additionally, a sales manager has an average salary of $73,952, which is higher than the $53,004 average annual salary of a sales specialist.
The top three skills for a sales specialist include building relationships, customer complaints and customer orders. The most important skills for a sales manager are product knowledge, customer satisfaction, and sales performance.
| Sales Specialist | Sales Manager | |
| Yearly Salary | $53,004 | $73,952 |
| Hourly rate | $25.48 | $35.55 |
| Growth Rate | 4% | 5% |
| Number Of Jobs | 324,069 | 119,066 |
| Job Satisfaction | - | 5 |
| Most Common Degree | Bachelor's Degree, 62% | Bachelor's Degree, 63% |
| Average Age | 47 | 46 |
| Years Of Experience | 4 | 8 |
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.
Sales managers are responsible for leading the organization's sales team. They oversee the progress and performance of the whole team, set area assignments to team members, and set weekly or monthly quotas. Sales managers oversee training team members during onboarding and providing further coaching to help them achieve their goals. They manage the challenges that team members may meet and help mitigate any problems that come along the way. Sales managers also set the strategic direction of the sales team and follow through by ensuring that the team's activities are in line with the goals.
Sales specialists and sales managers have different pay scales, as shown below.
| Sales Specialist | Sales Manager | |
| Average Salary | $53,004 | $73,952 |
| Salary Range | Between $30,000 And $91,000 | Between $42,000 And $129,000 |
| Highest Paying City | Boston, MA | Jersey City, NJ |
| Highest Paying State | Massachusetts | New Jersey |
| Best Paying Company | VMware | Capgemini |
| Best Paying Industry | - | - |
There are a few differences between a sales specialist and a sales manager in terms of educational background:
| Sales Specialist | Sales Manager | |
| Most Common Degree | Bachelor's Degree, 62% | Bachelor's Degree, 63% |
| Most Common Major | Business | Business |
| Most Common College | SUNY College of Technology at Alfred | University of Southern California |
Here are the differences between sales specialists' and sales managers' demographics:
| Sales Specialist | Sales Manager | |
| Average Age | 47 | 46 |
| Gender Ratio | Male, 55.1% Female, 44.9% | Male, 68.7% Female, 31.3% |
| Race Ratio | 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% | 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 | 6% | 7% |