Sales and Related
Sales Representatives, Wholesale and Manufacturing, Technical and Scientific Products
Sell goods for wholesalers or manufacturers where technical or scientific knowledge is required in such areas as biology, engineering, chemistry, and electronics, normally obtained from at least 2 years of postsecondary education.
MAY 2025 · OCCUPATIONAL WAGES
A wage reference for United States.
Published wage percentiles describe a distribution within the source occupation group. They provide context for a career decision; employer packages and job offers have their own terms.
Source wage group: Sales Representatives, Wholesale and Manufacturing, Technical and Scientific Products
This wage group may include multiple detailed occupations. The figures are for the source group, which may be broader than Sales Representatives, Wholesale and Manufacturing, Technical and Scientific Products. They are not an exact-title, employer, experience or seniority match.
May 2025 · USD · United States. Annual and hourly figures are shown only when the source publishes them; neither is calculated from the other.
U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics occupational wage data, distributed through the O*NET® OnLine service.
Median annual wage$104,920USD per year · Published 50th percentile
Median hourly wage$50.44USD per hour · Published 50th percentile
Annual wage thresholds
USD per year
Hourly wage thresholds
USD per hour
| Percentile | Annual wage (USD/year) | Hourly wage (USD/hour) |
|---|---|---|
| 10th | $52,600 | $25.29 |
| 25th | $75,030 | $36.07 |
| 50th · Median | $104,920 | $50.44 |
| 75th | $158,160 | $76.04 |
| 90th | $200,440 | $96.37 |
“≥” means at least the published amount; “≤” means at most that amount. These are bounds, not exact values. “Not published” means the source did not provide that figure. Occupational wages follow the source definition and do not establish an employer’s base salary, equity or total compensation.
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THE WORK BEHIND THE TITLE
What this career involves.
Occupation definitions describe common work. Responsibilities and requirements vary by employer and specific job.
Selected title examples
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Expand more title examples (48)
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Typical tasks
- Negotiate prices or terms of sales or service agreements.
- Prepare and submit sales contracts for orders.
- Visit establishments to evaluate needs or to promote product or service sales.
- Maintain customer records, using automated systems.
- Answer customers' questions about products, prices, availability, or credit terms.
- Quote prices, credit terms, or other bid specifications.
Expand more tasks (27)
- Contact new or existing customers to discuss how specific products or services can meet their needs.
- Emphasize product features, based on analyses of customers' needs and on technical knowledge of product capabilities and limitations.
- Compute customer's installation or production costs and estimate savings from new services, products, or equipment.
- Select or assist customers in selecting products based on customer needs, product specifications, and applicable regulations.
- Prepare sales presentations or proposals to explain product specifications or applications.
- Complete expense reports, sales reports, or other paperwork.
- Verify that delivery schedules meet project deadlines.
- Identify prospective customers, using business directories, leads from existing clients, participation in organizations, or trade show or conference attendance.
- Inform customers of estimated delivery schedules, service contracts, warranties, or other information pertaining to purchased products.
- Collaborate with colleagues to exchange information, such as selling strategies or marketing information.
- Provide customers with ongoing technical support.
- Advise customers on product usage to improve production.
- Study documentation or other information for new scientific or technical products.
- Stock or distribute resources, such as samples or promotional or educational materials.
- Attend sales or trade meetings or read related publications to obtain information about market conditions, business trends, environmental regulations, or industry developments.
- Sell service contracts for technical or scientific products.
- Demonstrate the operation or use of technical or scientific products.
- Provide feedback to product design teams so that products can be tailored to clients' needs.
- Arrange for installation and testing of products or machinery.
- Initiate sales campaigns to meet sales and production expectations.
- Verify accuracy of materials lists.
- Verify customer credit ratings.
- Consult with engineers regarding technical problems with products.
- Sell technical and scientific products that are environmentally sound or designed for environmental remediation.
- Visit establishments, such as pharmacies, to determine product sales.
- Present information to customers about the energy efficiency or environmental impact of scientific or technical products.
- Inform customers about issues related to responsible use and disposal of products, such as waste reduction or product or byproduct recycling or disposal.
Skills used in this work
- Persuasion
- Persuading others to change their minds or behavior.
- Speaking
- Talking to others to convey information effectively.
- 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.
- Negotiation
- Bringing others together and trying to reconcile differences.
- Social Perceptiveness
- Being aware of others' reactions and understanding why they react as they do.
- Reading Comprehension
- Understanding written sentences and paragraphs in work-related documents.
Expand more skills (29)
- Service Orientation
- Actively looking for ways to help people.
- Coordination
- Adjusting actions in relation to others' actions.
- 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.
- 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.
- 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.
- Time Management
- Managing one's own time and the time of others.
- Instructing
- Teaching others how to do something.
- Mathematics
- Using mathematics to solve problems.
- Systems Analysis
- Determining how a system should work and how changes in conditions, operations, and the environment will affect outcomes.
- Learning Strategies
- Selecting and using training/instructional methods and procedures appropriate for the situation when learning or teaching new things.
- Management of Financial Resources
- Determining how money will be spent to get the work done, and accounting for these expenditures.
- Management of Personnel Resources
- Motivating, developing, and directing people as they work, identifying the best people for the job.
- Management of Material Resources
- Obtaining and seeing to the appropriate use of equipment, facilities, and materials needed to do certain work.
- Operations Analysis
- Analyzing needs and product requirements to create a design.
- Systems Evaluation
- Identifying measures or indicators of system performance and the actions needed to improve or correct performance, relative to the goals of the system.
- Operation and Control
- Controlling operations of equipment or systems.
- Programming
- Writing computer programs for various purposes.
- Technology Design
- Generating or adapting equipment and technology to serve user needs.
- Operations Monitoring
- Watching gauges, dials, or other indicators to make sure a machine is working properly.
- Quality Control Analysis
- Conducting tests and inspections of products, services, or processes to evaluate quality or performance.
- Equipment Selection
- Determining the kind of tools and equipment needed to do a job.
- Science
- Using scientific rules and methods to solve problems.
- Equipment Maintenance
- Performing routine maintenance on equipment and determining when and what kind of maintenance is needed.
- Installation
- Installing equipment, machines, wiring, or programs to meet specifications.
- Repairing
- Repairing machines or systems using the needed tools.
- Troubleshooting
- Determining causes of operating errors and deciding what to do about it.
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