Sales Representatives, Wholesale and Manufacturing, Except Technical and Scientific Products
41-4012.00
Bright Outlook Updated 2026

Sell goods for wholesalers or manufacturers to businesses or groups of individuals. Work requires substantial knowledge of items sold.

Sample of reported job titles: Account Representative, Customer Account Technician, Inside Salesperson, Outside Sales Representative, Route Sales Representative, Sales Consultant, Sales Professional, Sales Representative (Sales Rep), Salesman, Salesperson

Occupation-Specific Information

Tasks

  • Answer customers' questions about products, prices, availability, product uses, and credit terms.
  • Recommend products to customers, based on customers' needs and interests.
  • Estimate or quote prices, credit or contract terms, warranties, and delivery dates.
  • Consult with clients after sales or contract signings to resolve problems and to provide ongoing support.
  • Prepare sales contracts and order forms.
  • Provide customers with product samples and catalogs.
  • Monitor market conditions, product innovations, and competitors' products, prices, and sales.
  • Perform administrative duties, such as preparing sales budgets and reports, keeping sales records, and filing expense account reports.
  • Contact regular and prospective customers to demonstrate products, explain product features, and solicit orders.
  • Identify prospective customers by using business directories, following leads from existing clients, participating in organizations and clubs, and attending trade shows and conferences.
  • Negotiate with retail merchants to improve product exposure, such as shelf positioning and advertising.
  • Check stock levels and reorder merchandise as necessary.
  • Plan, assemble, and stock product displays in retail stores, or make recommendations to retailers regarding product displays, promotional programs, and advertising.
  • Negotiate details of contracts and payments.
  • Prepare drawings, estimates, and bids that meet specific customer needs.
  • Obtain credit information about prospective customers.
  • Forward orders to manufacturers.
  • Arrange and direct delivery and installation of products and equipment.
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Technology Skills

Hot Technologies are requirements most frequently included across all employer job postings.
In Demand skills are frequently included in employer job postings for this occupation.

Occupational Requirements

Work Activities

  • Selling or Influencing Others — Convincing others to buy merchandise/goods or to otherwise change their minds or actions.
  • Getting Information — Observing, receiving, and otherwise obtaining information from all relevant sources.
  • Making Decisions and Solving Problems — Analyzing information and evaluating results to choose the best solution and solve problems.
  • Updating and Using Relevant Knowledge — Keeping up-to-date technically and applying new knowledge to your job.
  • Establishing and Maintaining Interpersonal Relationships — Developing constructive and cooperative working relationships with others, and maintaining them over time.
  • Communicating with Supervisors, Peers, or Subordinates — Providing information to supervisors, co-workers, and subordinates by telephone, in written form, e-mail, or in person.
  • Identifying Objects, Actions, and Events — Identifying information by categorizing, estimating, recognizing differences or similarities, and detecting changes in circumstances or events.
  • Working with Computers — Using computers and computer systems (including hardware and software) to program, write software, set up functions, enter data, or process information.
  • Monitoring Processes, Materials, or Surroundings — Monitoring and reviewing information from materials, events, or the environment, to detect or assess problems.
  • Operating Vehicles, Mechanized Devices, or Equipment — Running, maneuvering, navigating, or driving vehicles or mechanized equipment, such as forklifts, passenger vehicles, aircraft, or watercraft.
  • Communicating with People Outside the Organization — Communicating with people outside the organization, representing the organization to customers, the public, government, and other external sources. This information can be exchanged in person, in writing, or by telephone or e-mail.
  • Documenting/Recording Information — Entering, transcribing, recording, storing, or maintaining information in written or electronic/magnetic form.
  • Thinking Creatively — Developing, designing, or creating new applications, ideas, relationships, systems, or products, including artistic contributions.
  • Performing for or Working Directly with the Public — Performing for people or dealing directly with the public. This includes serving customers in restaurants and stores, and receiving clients or guests.
  • Processing Information — Compiling, coding, categorizing, calculating, tabulating, auditing, or verifying information or data.
  • Organizing, Planning, and Prioritizing Work — Developing specific goals and plans to prioritize, organize, and accomplish your work.
  • Resolving Conflicts and Negotiating with Others — Handling complaints, settling disputes, and resolving grievances and conflicts, or otherwise negotiating with others.
  • Performing General Physical Activities — Performing general physical activities includes doing activities that require considerable use of your arms and legs and moving your whole body, such as climbing, lifting, balancing, walking, stooping, and handling materials.
  • Performing Administrative Activities — Performing day-to-day administrative tasks such as maintaining information files and processing paperwork.
  • Handling and Moving Objects — Using hands and arms in handling, installing, positioning, and moving materials, and manipulating things.
  • Judging the Qualities of Objects, Services, or People — Assessing the value, importance, or quality of things or people.
  • Scheduling Work and Activities — Scheduling events, programs, and activities, as well as the work of others.
  • Evaluating Information to Determine Compliance with Standards — Using relevant information and individual judgment to determine whether events or processes comply with laws, regulations, or standards.
  • Estimating the Quantifiable Characteristics of Products, Events, or Information — Estimating sizes, distances, and quantities; or determining time, costs, resources, or materials needed to perform a work activity.

Detailed Work Activities

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Work Context

  • Contact With Others — 100% responded “Constant contact with others.”
  • Telephone Conversations — 100% responded “Every day.”
  • Deal With External Customers or the Public in General — 92% responded “Extremely important.”
  • Work With or Contribute to a Work Group or Team — 92% responded “Extremely important.”
  • E-Mail — 80% responded “Every day.”
  • Frequency of Decision Making — 89% responded “Every day.”
  • Face-to-Face Discussions with Individuals and Within Teams — 71% responded “Every day.”
  • Indoors, Environmentally Controlled — 72% responded “Every day.”
  • Determine Tasks, Priorities and Goals — 67% responded “A lot of freedom.”
  • Freedom to Make Decisions
  • Coordinate or Lead Others in Accomplishing Work Activities — 65% responded “Extremely important.”
  • Duration of Typical Work Week — 66% responded “More than 40 hours.”
  • Impact of Decisions on Co-workers or Company Results — 44% responded “Very important results.”
  • In an Enclosed Vehicle or Operate Enclosed Equipment — 61% responded “Every day.”
  • Level of Competition — 43% responded “Highly competitive.”
  • Time Pressure — 45% responded “Once a week or more but not every day.”
  • Importance of Being Exact or Accurate — 54% responded “Very important.”
  • Dealing With Unpleasant, Angry, or Discourteous People — 45% responded “Once a month or more but not every week.”
  • Importance of Repeating Same Tasks — 39% responded “Extremely important.”
  • Spend Time Sitting — 39% responded “Less than half the time.”
  • Written Letters and Memos — 64% responded “Once a week or more but not every day.”
  • Conflict Situations — 31% responded “Once a month or more but not every week.”
  • Work Outcomes and Results of Other Workers — 36% responded “Limited responsibility.”
  • Physical Proximity — 61% responded “Slightly close (e.g., shared office).”
  • Exposed to Contaminants — 30% responded “Never.”

Experience Requirements

Job Zone

Title
Job Zone Four: Considerable Preparation Needed
Education
Most of these occupations require a four-year bachelor's degree, but some do not.
Related Experience
A considerable amount of work-related skill, knowledge, or experience is needed for these occupations. For example, an accountant must complete four years of college and work for several years in accounting to be considered qualified.
Job Training
Employees in these occupations usually need several years of work-related experience, on-the-job training, and/or vocational training.
Job Zone Examples
Many of these occupations involve coordinating, supervising, managing, or training others. Examples include real estate brokers, sales managers, database administrators, graphic designers, conservation scientists, art directors, and cost estimators.
SVP Range
(7.0 to < 8.0)

Training & Credentials

State training
Local training
Certifications
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State licenses

Apprenticeship Opportunities

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Worker Requirements

Skills

  • Active Listening — Giving full attention to what other people are saying, taking time to understand the points being made, asking questions as appropriate, and not interrupting at inappropriate times.
  • Speaking — Talking to others to convey information effectively.
  • Negotiation — Bringing others together and trying to reconcile differences.
  • Persuasion — Persuading others to change their minds or behavior.
  • Social Perceptiveness — Being aware of others' reactions and understanding why they react as they do.
  • Critical Thinking — Using logic and reasoning to identify the strengths and weaknesses of alternative solutions, conclusions, or approaches to problems.
  • Reading Comprehension — Understanding written sentences and paragraphs in work-related documents.
  • Writing — Communicating effectively in writing as appropriate for the needs of the audience.
  • Active Learning — Understanding the implications of new information for both current and future problem-solving and decision-making.
  • Complex Problem Solving — Identifying complex problems and reviewing related information to develop and evaluate options and implement solutions.
  • Coordination — Adjusting actions in relation to others' actions.
  • Judgment and Decision Making — Considering the relative costs and benefits of potential actions to choose the most appropriate one.
  • Monitoring — Monitoring/Assessing performance of yourself, other individuals, or organizations to make improvements or take corrective action.
  • Service Orientation — Actively looking for ways to help people.
  • Time Management — Managing one's own time and the time of others.

Knowledge

  • Sales and Marketing — Knowledge of principles and methods for showing, promoting, and selling products or services. This includes marketing strategy and tactics, product demonstration, sales techniques, and sales control systems.
  • Customer and Personal Service — Knowledge of principles and processes for providing customer and personal services. This includes customer needs assessment, meeting quality standards for services, and evaluation of customer satisfaction.
  • English Language — Knowledge of the structure and content of the English language including the meaning and spelling of words, and rules of composition and grammar.
  • Mathematics — Knowledge of arithmetic, algebra, geometry, calculus, statistics, and their applications.
  • Transportation — Knowledge of principles and methods for moving people or goods by air, rail, sea, or road, including the relative costs and benefits.
  • Computers and Electronics — Knowledge of circuit boards, processors, chips, electronic equipment, and computer hardware and software, including applications and programming.

Education

How much education does a new hire need to perform a job in this occupation? Respondents said:

  • High school diploma or equivalent required for some jobs
  • Bachelor’s degree required for some jobs
  • Some college, no degree required for some jobs

Worker Characteristics

Abilities

  • Oral Expression — The ability to communicate information and ideas in speaking so others will understand.
  • Oral Comprehension — The ability to listen to and understand information and ideas presented through spoken words and sentences.
  • Speech Clarity — The ability to speak clearly so others can understand you.
  • Speech Recognition — The ability to identify and understand the speech of another person.
  • Written Comprehension — The ability to read and understand information and ideas presented in writing.
  • Written Expression — The ability to communicate information and ideas in writing so others will understand.
  • Category Flexibility — The ability to generate or use different sets of rules for combining or grouping things in different ways.
  • Deductive Reasoning — The ability to apply general rules to specific problems to produce answers that make sense.
  • Fluency of Ideas — The ability to come up with a number of ideas about a topic (the number of ideas is important, not their quality, correctness, or creativity).
  • Information Ordering — The ability to arrange things or actions in a certain order or pattern according to a specific rule or set of rules (e.g., patterns of numbers, letters, words, pictures, mathematical operations).
  • Near Vision — The ability to see details at close range (within a few feet of the observer).
  • Problem Sensitivity — The ability to tell when something is wrong or is likely to go wrong. It does not involve solving the problem, only recognizing that there is a problem.
  • Inductive Reasoning — The ability to combine pieces of information to form general rules or conclusions (includes finding a relationship among seemingly unrelated events).
  • Originality — The ability to come up with unusual or clever ideas about a given topic or situation, or to develop creative ways to solve a problem.

Interests

Interest code: EC
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  • Enterprising — Work involves managing, negotiating, marketing, or selling, typically in a business setting, or leading or advising people in political and legal situations. Enterprising occupations are often associated with business initiatives, sales, marketing/advertising, finance, management/administration, professional advising, public speaking, politics, or law.
  • Conventional — Work involves following procedures and regulations to organize information or data, typically in a business setting. Conventional occupations are often associated with office work, accounting, mathematics/statistics, information technology, finance, or human resources.

Work Styles

  • Initiative — A tendency to be proactive and take on extra responsibilities and tasks that may fall outside of one's required work role.
  • Self-Confidence — A tendency to believe in one's work-related capabilities and ability to control one's work-related outcomes.
  • Optimism — A tendency to exhibit a positive attitude and positive emotions at work, even under difficult circumstances.
  • Perseverance — A tendency to exhibit determination and resolve to perform or complete tasks in the face of difficult circumstances or obstacles at work.
  • Social Orientation — A tendency to seek out, enjoy, and be energized by social interaction at work.
  • Achievement Orientation — A tendency to establish and maintain personally challenging work-related goals, set high work-related standards, and exert high effort toward meeting those goals and standards.
  • Dependability — A tendency to be reliable, responsible, and consistent in meeting work-related obligations.

Workforce Characteristics

Wages & Employment Trends

Median wages (2024)
$32.11 hourly, $66,780 annual
State wages
Local wages
Employment (2024)
1,310,500 employees
Projected growth (2024-2034)
Little or no change
Projected job openings (2024-2034)
114,800
State trends
Top industries (2024)

Source: Bureau of Labor Statistics 2024 wage data and 2024-2034 employment projections . “Projected growth” represents the estimated change in total employment over the projections period (2024-2034). “Projected job openings” represent openings due to growth and replacement.

Job Openings on the Web

State job openings
Local job openings

More Information

Professional Associations

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National Associations
Accreditation, Certification, & Unions