Sales professionals are tasked with the responsibility of educating customers on products and services, closing deals, building relationships, ensuring ongoing customer satisfaction, and other related duties that directly impact the revenue of the company. Working in this field can help you develop soft skills like communication and relationship building. In this article, we would explore 10 career paths in sales that tend to have higher than average salaries.
Sales jobs that pay well
Every figure referenced in this article is gotten from the federal bureau of statistics and it’s ranked from the lowest to the highest pay rates across a wide range of experience levels.
Account executives
Primary duties: Account executives generally work for marketing, advertising agencies, or media companies, and they are tasked with acting as the liaison between the company and its clients. They manage daily communication, ensure campaigns run accordingly, present performance and progress reports, and lastly provide suggestions for improvement. They may also sometimes be tasked with the selling of additional services and ensuring contract renewals.
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- Companies with this position: Comcast, Spectrum, AT&T
- National average salary: $65,632 per year
Car sales executives
Primary duties: A car sales executive works for an auto dealership and is tasked with helping customers find, lease or purchase new and used vehicles. They basically help customers make purchase decisions by discussing model types, features, warranties and financing options. They are also tasked with negotiating prices and also be responsible for up-selling additional products and services.
- Companies with this position: AutoNation, Toyota, Honda
- National average salary: $66,376 per year
Pharmaceutical sales representative
Primary duties: Pharmaceutical sales representatives are professionals who work on behalf of drug manufacturers and are tasked with meeting with physicians and other primary decision-makers at healthcare organizations to educate them on products and treatments. They mainly provide marketing materials and samples to increase awareness of their pharmaceutical products and answer questions to ensure doctors have all the necessary information needed to prescribe those products.
- Companies with this position: Johnson & Johnson, Pfizer Inc., Avion Pharmaceuticals
- National average salary: $68,158 per year
Sales manager
Primary duties: A sales manager is a professional who is tasked with developing and implementing strategic sales plans to help a company meet revenue goals. They set the sales team objectives, monitor progress and report performance to senior management. They are also responsible for the hiring, training, coaching and supervising of all sales staff including sales representatives and account managers.
- Companies with this position: Macy’s, Comcast, Staples
- National average salary: $69,553 per year
Territory sales professional
Primary duties: Territory salespeople are tasked with the responsibility for all sales activity within a defined geographic region. They are expected to identify potential opportunities, arrange in-person meetings with prospects and clients, educate clients on products and services and assist them in making purchase decisions. They are also responsible for managing ongoing client relationships.
- Companies with this position: US Foods, Altria, American Greetings
- National average salary: $69,571 per year
Outside sales representative
Primary duties: An outside sales representative is the professional tasked with the finding of new sales leads, they set up meetings to pitch products and services. They’re supposed to also educate customers and answer product-related questions to help drive purchase decisions and negotiate the pricing while ensuring maximum customer satisfaction through regular communication. Unlike their counterparts the inside sales representatives, the outside sales representatives work with customers one-on-one at their clients’ place of business.
- Companies with this position: Sysco, Builders FirstSource, ADP
- National average salary: $69,849 per year
Medical device sales executive
Primary duties: Medical sales executives are professionals tasked with working on behalf of medical device manufacturers to promote and educate healthcare professionals on a variety of medical products, such as stethoscopes, tongue depressors, gloves, thermometers, medical implants and prosthetics. They are charged with answering questions, offering advice, providing samples and placing orders on behalf of customers.
- Companies with this position: Cyberonics, Abbott Laboratories, Medline Industries
- National average salary: $81,230 per yea
Real estate agent
Primary duties: This is one of the most commonly encountered professionals on this list, real estate agents are people who help other people or businesses buy or sell properties, such as houses, apartments, condos, office space, and more. They take clients on property tours, answer questions, communicate concerns to both parties, discuss sale conditions, negotiate pricing, schedule property inspections and draw up contracts on behalf of the clients.
- Companies with this position: Keller Williams Realty, Coldwell Banker, Redfin
- National average salary: $83,126 per year
Sales engineer
Primary duties: Sales engineers are tasked with using their technical knowledge of the product to translate complicated information into easily understood product pitches. They attend meetings with prospects and existing clients to answer questions, negotiate sales and make suggestions to improve results from product or service usage. They are also tasked with representing their employer at trade shows, conferences and corporate events.
- Companies with this position: DXC Technology, Eaton, Siemens AG
- National average salary: $92,040 per year
Sales director
Primary duties: A sales director basically works for larger organizations and is tasked with the responsibility of overseeing all sales efforts and ensuring the sales department is adhering to the company objectives. They are responsible for motivating sales teams, assisting with the rollout of new processes, procedures, and new product or service launches. Depending on the hierarchy of the organization, they are responsible for supervising sales managers or directly managing all sales staff.
- National average salary: $109,261 per year
