Business support and tool provider, Gartner, found that there has been a 6.9% increase in demand for sales and business development talent in the US this quarter compared to last quarter.
With such an in-demand role, there’s likely to be competitiveness when offering salaries and at TechSalesJobs, we know that salary plays a huge part in attracting sales talent.
That’s why we’ve put this article together to provide you with a full breakdown of what makes up inside sales representative salaries.
How Much Do Inside Sales Reps Make?
All salary data is correct as of December 29th, 2022
Glassdoor places the total median salary for an inside sales representative at $ 70,076 per year. This is calculated by the estimated $51,468 base pay, plus additional pay of $18,608, which includes commission, bonuses, and tips.
When gathering their data, they found that the most likely salary figure ranged from $56k to $89k.
Factors That Influence Inside Sales Representative’s Salaries
Years of relevant experience
A strong history of sales success will result in a higher salary if you can prove you close deals, hit targets, and reach your KPIs.
According to Glassdoor, you can apply to become an inside sales representative with no hands-on experience as long as you have a bachelor’s degree under your belt. In this instance, you would start your career as an entry-level inside sales representative, which has a median salary of $60,771.
Education
To start a successful career as an inside sales representative, a bachelor’s degree in business, marketing or communications is required by many employers, especially for more technical sales roles.
Holding certain certificates and completing training can also prove your skills, knowledge, and competence. They set you apart from the competition and in some cases, can be the deciding factor in the hiring process.
If you’re in a position where you’re negotiating a salary with an employer, providing evidence of recognized certificates and a history of training will certainly work in your favor. Below are a few certificates that could move you up the payscale:
- Certified Sales Professional (CSP)
- Certified Sales Representative (CSR)
- Certified Professional Sales Person (CPSP)
- Sales Management
- International Accredited Business Accountant (IABA)
- Certified Inside Sales Professional (CISP)
- Certified Sales Executive (CSE)
Seniority
The preconceived notion that seniority ranks affect salaries is true. If you’re working as a mid-level inside salesperson, you’re likely to earn $55k-$91k compared to being an entry-level salesperson who could start off on as little as $41k.
This isn’t just down to the level of responsibility you’re expected to have, but you’ll also have a couple of extra years’ experience behind you in a mid-level role.
Region
As an inside sales representative, you can carry out your job remotely so your salary will be based on where you live rather than where your company is located.
If you live in an area where the cost of living is typically higher like New York City for example, you can expect to be paid more than if you lived somewhere like Colorado.
According to Salary.com, the cost of living in Colorado is 49.1% lower than in New York and this is reflected in the salaries for inside sales representatives. Below are images of the estimated salary figures for an inside sales representative in New York and Colorado.
As you can see, you could make an estimated $15k more if you were working as an inside sales representative in New York compared to if you were working in Colorado. Bestplaces.net calculates that housing costs in New York are 231.4% higher than in Colorado so a higher salary is a must if you’re working in a state where the cost of living is significantly higher.
Industry
A salary for an inside sales representative varies across industries because of the difference in value of the products you’re selling, the target audience, and the knowledge required.
Let’s compare an inside sales representative salary in the IT sector with the retail industry.
In the IT industry, you’ll be required to have extensive tech knowledge and a full understanding of the different software available to your customers.
Some niches you might be expected to have experience in include things like cyber security, cloud-based services, and data backups. So to actually sell your products, IT, mathematics, and computing knowledge is essential on top of your previous sales experience and degree.
Also, IT support is something every business can benefit from whereas only a fraction of businesses will benefit from retail products, so the demand for IT products is much greater.
If you apply for an inside sales representative position in IT, Glassdoor estimates you’ll earn over $17k more than if you work in the retail industry. Based on the comparison we’ve given above, we’re not surprised by the difference as much more technical knowledge and expertise is required to work in the IT industry.
Negotiation
If you’ve successfully secured your new sales role, you can always negotiate your salary if you think you deserve more. We understand this can feel uncomfortable, especially when you’re talking to a new employer, but it can be worthwhile. It’s also important to note that many employers class this as a normal part of the job offer process. As long as you’re respectful during the process, and you aren’t asking for an outlandish salary, employers are happy to negotiate.
To negotiate a new salary, you need to sell yourself. You should be able to prove you’ve got the skills and experience they’re looking for and that should hopefully encourage them to pay you more. Be sure to look through Glassdoor to check the median salary for someone with your skills and experience, as this will help you provide a relevant number for negotiations.
Do Inside Sales Representatives Feel Fairly Compensated?
Working as an inside sales representative presents many benefits like the ability to work from home saving on travel costs, the opportunity to earn a large sum of commission, and career prospects.
We looked into reviews left by inside sales representatives on Glassdoor to find out if they felt fairly compensated in their job. Out of 313k reviews, they rated an average of 3.4* for:
- Work-life balance
- Compensation and benefits
- Career opportunity
A common challenge inside sales representatives mentioned was the work/life balance as they could never switch off and struggled to separate work from their personal life.
Many of the employees on Glassdoor also highlighted that they’re presented with new challenges on a daily basis but they see this as an opportunity to learn and grow.
The overall consensus from the reviews is that if you’re able to challenge yourself to reach high targets, and self-discipline to keep work and personal life separate, an inside sales representative is a great career choice.
Inside Sales Representative Average Salary by Seniority and Years of Experience
Below are the estimated figures set out by Glassdoor for an inside sales representative for each year of experience.
The above figures detail the inside sales average salary across all seniorities. You can see that as the years of experience increase, they fall into more senior roles and therefore the salary increases to reflect this.
The most likely range seems broad however it takes into account location, industry, and relevant experience.
Total Inside Sales Compensation
Along with the base pay, bonuses, and commission, employers might offer you more perks to pique your interest. Some of the benefits included in our current job descriptions for an inside salesperson include:
- Employee well-being support for mental health, personal, financial, and workplace issues
- 401 (k) matching
- Health, vision, and dental insurance contributions
- Paid time off (sick, parental, training)
- Employee discounts
- Development programs
- Home office and internet reimbursement
- Pre-tax savings plan for healthcare and dependent care
How Do Inside Sales Salaries Compare To Other Jobs?
All data is available on Glassdoor. These are for comparable tech sales specific roles.
As you can see, an inside sales representative’s salary is only higher than that of a customer service representative. This is because of what the roles involve.
Let’s compare an inside sales representative role with an outside sales representative. Inside salespeople don’t have to travel for meetings with customers like outside sales representatives do and can sell their products and services over the phone or email.
They have smaller margins and can close a deal in just a few hours, whereas outside sales representatives require long sales cycles to close.
For more information on the different roles within tech sales, check out our Tech Sales 101 blog.
How Do Inside Sales Representative’s Salaries Vary Across Big Companies?
All data available on Glassdoor.
Out of the high-profile organizations listed above, we’re not surprised that Tesla offers the lower most likely range salary as they are the newest company out of the four.
Microsoft, IBM, and Google offer at least $101-$102k to their inside sales representatives which is $30k more than Tesla’s most likely starting point.
Tesla is a huge advocate for early career opportunities and invests heavily in their employees’ training, learning, and development programs.
Which, if combined with their most likely salary range, will almost bring them up to IBM, Google, and Microsoft’s figures.
However, if you’re looking to kickstart your career, having a name like ‘Tesla’ on your resume is bound to push you through the salary ranks.
How TechSalesJobs Can Help
If you want to explore the different salaries on offer for an inside sales representative, TechSalesJobs.org can help. We’re the largest and #1 trusted tech sales job site out there which is why top tech organizations use us to find passionate and talented candidates like yourself.
Conclusion
Hopefully you’re now feeling confident with comparing inside sales representative salaries and have an idea of the figure you’d expect to earn.
Salaries for one title will still vary across industries, regions, and market demand so always make sure you keep this in mind when exploring different roles.
To start applying for an inside sales representative role in your chosen location and industry, check our current job openings.