Sales Representatives of Services, Except Advertising, Insurance, Financial Services, and Travel
41-3091.00
Bright Outlook Updated 2026

The occupation code you requested, 41-3099.00 (Sales Representatives, Services, All Other), is no longer in use. In the future, please use 41-3091.00 (Sales Representatives of Services, Except Advertising, Insurance, Financial Services, and Travel) instead.

Sell services to individuals or businesses. May describe options or resolve client problems.

Sample of reported job titles: National Sales Executive, Sales Representative (Sales Rep)

Occupation-Specific Information

Tasks

  • Consult with clients after sales or contract signings to resolve problems and provide ongoing support.
  • Answer customers' questions about services, prices, availability, or credit terms.
  • Develop sales presentations or proposals to explain service specifications.
  • Create forms or agreements to complete sales.
  • Contact prospective or existing customers to discuss how services can meet their needs.
  • Negotiate prices or terms of sales or service agreements.
  • Quote prices, credit terms, contract terms, or fulfillment dates for services.
  • Maintain customer records using automated systems.
  • Identify prospective customers using business directories, leads from clients, or information from conferences or trade shows.
  • Inform customers of contracts or other information pertaining to purchased services.
  • Emphasize or recommend service features based on knowledge of customers' needs and vendor capabilities and limitations.
  • Distribute promotional materials at meetings, conferences, or trade shows.
  • Monitor market conditions, innovations, and competitors' services, prices, and sales.
  • Compute and compare costs of services.
  • Attend sales or trade meetings or read related publications to obtain information about market conditions, business trends, regulations, or industry developments.
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Occupational Requirements

Work Activities

  • 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.
  • Selling or Influencing Others — Convincing others to buy merchandise/goods or to otherwise change their minds or actions.
  • Establishing and Maintaining Interpersonal Relationships — Developing constructive and cooperative working relationships with others, and maintaining them over time.
  • Getting Information — Observing, receiving, and otherwise obtaining information from all relevant sources.
  • Thinking Creatively — Developing, designing, or creating new applications, ideas, relationships, systems, or products, including artistic contributions.
  • Updating and Using Relevant Knowledge — Keeping up-to-date technically and applying new knowledge to your job.
  • Identifying Objects, Actions, and Events — Identifying information by categorizing, estimating, recognizing differences or similarities, and detecting changes in circumstances or events.
  • Organizing, Planning, and Prioritizing Work — Developing specific goals and plans to prioritize, organize, and accomplish your work.
  • Processing Information — Compiling, coding, categorizing, calculating, tabulating, auditing, or verifying information or data.
  • Resolving Conflicts and Negotiating with Others — Handling complaints, settling disputes, and resolving grievances and conflicts, or otherwise negotiating with others.
  • Scheduling Work and Activities — Scheduling events, programs, and activities, as well as the work of others.
  • Analyzing Data or Information — Identifying the underlying principles, reasons, or facts of information by breaking down information or data into separate parts.
  • Working with Computers — Using computers and computer systems (including hardware and software) to program, write software, set up functions, enter data, or process information.
  • Communicating with Supervisors, Peers, or Subordinates — Providing information to supervisors, co-workers, and subordinates by telephone, in written form, e-mail, or in person.
  • Interpreting the Meaning of Information for Others — Translating or explaining what information means and how it can be used.
  • 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.
  • Making Decisions and Solving Problems — Analyzing information and evaluating results to choose the best solution and solve problems.
  • Judging the Qualities of Objects, Services, or People — Assessing the value, importance, or quality of things or people.
  • Developing Objectives and Strategies — Establishing long-range objectives and specifying the strategies and actions to achieve them.
  • Providing Consultation and Advice to Others — Providing guidance and expert advice to management or other groups on technical, systems-, or process-related topics.
  • Documenting/Recording Information — Entering, transcribing, recording, storing, or maintaining information in written or electronic/magnetic form.
  • 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.
  • 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.

Detailed Work Activities

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Work Context

  • Contact With Others — 97% responded “Constant contact with others.”
  • E-Mail — 88% responded “Every day.”
  • Telephone Conversations — 89% responded “Every day.”
  • Work With or Contribute to a Work Group or Team — 70% responded “Extremely important.”
  • Deal With External Customers or the Public in General — 67% responded “Extremely important.”
  • Face-to-Face Discussions with Individuals and Within Teams — 70% responded “Every day.”
  • Indoors, Environmentally Controlled — 82% responded “Every day.”
  • Coordinate or Lead Others in Accomplishing Work Activities — 55% responded “Extremely important.”
  • Importance of Being Exact or Accurate — 52% responded “Very important.”
  • Spend Time Sitting — 60% responded “Continually or almost continually.”
  • Frequency of Decision Making — 55% responded “Every day.”
  • Freedom to Make Decisions — 41% responded “Some freedom.”
  • Determine Tasks, Priorities and Goals — 40% responded “A lot of freedom.”
  • Impact of Decisions on Co-workers or Company Results — 42% responded “Important results.”
  • Importance of Repeating Same Tasks — 43% responded “Extremely important.”
  • Conflict Situations — 48% responded “Once a week or more but not every day.”
  • Dealing With Unpleasant, Angry, or Discourteous People — 39% responded “Once a week or more but not every day.”
  • Work Outcomes and Results of Other Workers — 32% responded “High responsibility.”
  • Duration of Typical Work Week — 82% responded “40 hours.”
  • Time Pressure — 43% responded “Once a week or more but not every day.”
  • Written Letters and Memos — 28% responded “Once a week or more but not every day.”
  • Level of Competition — 43% responded “Moderately competitive.”
  • Physical Proximity — 28% responded “Moderately close (at arm's length).”

Experience Requirements

Job Zone

Title
Job Zone 1-2: Very Little to Some Preparation Needed
Education
Usually requires a high school diploma or GED, though some occupations may not.
Related Experience
Some occupations may need little or no previous experience; others require several months to a year of experience. For example, landscaping and groundskeeping workers might require very little training or previous experience, while agricultural equipment operators can benefit from on-the job training.
Job Training
Ranges from a few days to one year of on-the-job training.
Job Zone Examples
These occupations involve following instructions and often involve using your knowledge and skills to help others. Examples include dishwashers, landscaping and groundskeeping workers, counter and rental clerks, dental laboratory technicians, and security guards.
SVP Range
(Below 6.0)

Training & Credentials

State training
Local training
Certifications
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State licenses

Apprenticeship Opportunities

Start your career and build your skillset. Visit Apprenticeship.gov to learn about opportunities related to this occupation.

Worker Requirements

Software 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.

Essential 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.
  • Reading Comprehension — Understanding written sentences and paragraphs in work-related documents.
  • Active Learning — Understanding the implications of new information for both current and future problem-solving and decision-making.
  • Critical Thinking — Using logic and reasoning to identify the strengths and weaknesses of alternative solutions, conclusions, or approaches to problems.
  • Writing — Communicating effectively in writing as appropriate for the needs of the audience.
  • Monitoring — Monitoring/Assessing performance of yourself, other individuals, or organizations to make improvements or take corrective action.

Transferable Skills

  • Negotiation — Bringing others together and trying to reconcile differences.
  • Persuasion — Persuading others to change their minds or behavior.
  • Service Orientation — Actively looking for ways to help people.
  • Social Perceptiveness — Being aware of others' reactions and understanding why they react as they do.
  • Time Management — Managing one's own time and the time of others.
  • Complex Problem Solving — Identifying complex problems and reviewing related information to develop and evaluate options and implement solutions.
  • Judgment and Decision Making — Considering the relative costs and benefits of potential actions to choose the most appropriate one.

Knowledge

  • 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.
  • Administrative — Knowledge of administrative and office procedures and systems such as word processing, managing files and records, stenography and transcription, designing forms, and workplace terminology.
  • 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.
  • Administration and Management — Knowledge of business and management principles involved in strategic planning, resource allocation, human resources modeling, leadership technique, production methods, and coordination of people and resources.
  • 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:

  • 72%
     
    Bachelor’s degree required

Worker Characteristics

Abilities

  • Oral Comprehension — The ability to listen to and understand information and ideas presented through spoken words and sentences.
  • Oral Expression — The ability to communicate information and ideas in speaking so others will understand.
  • Speech Clarity — The ability to speak clearly so others can understand you.
  • Written Comprehension — The ability to read and understand information and ideas presented in writing.
  • Speech Recognition — The ability to identify and understand the speech of another person.
  • Near Vision — The ability to see details at close range (within a few feet of the observer).
  • 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.
  • Inductive Reasoning — The ability to combine pieces of information to form general rules or conclusions (includes finding a relationship among seemingly unrelated events).
  • 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).
  • 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).
  • 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.
  • Selective Attention — The ability to concentrate on a task over a period of time without being distracted.

Interests

Interest code: ECS
Want to discover your interests? Take the O*NET Interest Profiler.
  • 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.
    • Sales — Work involves selling goods or services.
    • Business Initiatives — Work involves creating strategic plans or taking actions to expand an organization's business or market share.
    • Public Speaking — Work involves speaking before an audience to educate, entertain, or influence the listeners.
  • 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.
  • Social — Work involves helping, teaching, advising, assisting, or providing service to others. Social occupations are often associated with social, health care, personal service, teaching/education, or religious activities.

Work Styles

  • Self-Confidence — A tendency to believe in one's work-related capabilities and ability to control one's work-related outcomes.
  • 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 (2025)
$33.65 hourly, $69,990 annual
State wages
Local wages
Employment (2025)
1,272,700 employees
Projected growth (2025-2035)
Average (3% to 4%)
Projected job openings (2025-2035)
115,700
State trends
Top industries (2025)

Source: Bureau of Labor Statistics 2025 wage data and 2025-2035 employment projections . “Projected growth” represents the estimated change in total employment over the projections period (2025-2035). “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
Regional Associations
Accreditation, Certification, & Unions