Sales account manager to technical sales representative
A sales account manager already meets 27% of what the technical sales representative role asks for. The move turns on 19 required skills not yet in the profile.
78.7/ 100
1 How much of what a technical sales representative is expected to do is already part of a sales account manager’s work. Directional: the figure for the reverse move differs, because moving into a speciality is not the same problem as moving out of one. 2 Every skill the technical sales representative role is recorded as needing, required and optional together. What these numbers mean.
Why this move works
A technical sales representative role treats 9 of its required skills as things a sales account manager already does. You would walk in with these on day one.
- characteristics of products
- characteristics of services
- ensure client orientation
- implement customer follow-up
- keep records on sales
- produce sales reports
What stands in the way is 19 required skills the profile does not yet cover. Table 3 groups them; Table 4 says which to take first.
Table 2 · What you already bring
Of the 12 skills that carry over, these are the ones fewest other occupations ask for. A technical sales representative role needs them, and most people applying for one will not have them already. This is the part of a sales account manager background worth leading with.
- already held perform customers’ needs analysis communication, collaboration and creativity
- already held keep records on sales information skills
- already held implement customer follow-up communication, collaboration and creativity
- already held consumer protection services
- already held use customer relationship management software working with computers
- already held prospect new customers communication, collaboration and creativity
All 12 carried skills, including the 9 the technical sales representative role treats as required.
Table 3 · What you may need to learn
The 44 missing skills fall into 11 areas of the ESCO skill hierarchy, numbered in the order worth working in. Areas carrying the most required skills come first, and inside each one the required skills sit above the optional ones. Nothing here is a verdict on you: it is a list of what this particular job asks for that your current one does not.
- still to learn contact customers required
- still to learn demonstrate products' features required
- still to learn implement sales strategies required
- still to learn maintain relationship with customers required
- still to learn answer requests for quotation required
- still to learn apply technical communication skills required
- still to learn communicate with customers required
- still to learn implement marketing strategies required
- still to learn respond to customers' inquiries required
- optional, not held address problems critically optional
- optional, not held create solutions to problems optional
- still to learn demonstrate motivation for sales required
- still to learn supervise sales activities required
- still to learn manage schedule of tasks required
- optional, not held issue sales invoices optional
- still to learn guarantee customer satisfaction required
- still to learn ensure compliance with legal requirements required
- still to learn provide customer follow-up services required
- still to learn record customers' personal data required
- still to learn keep records of customer interaction required
- still to learn sales promotion techniques required
- optional, not held e-procurement optional
- optional, not held international commercial transactions rules optional
- optional, not held market pricing optional
- optional, not held office equipment optional
- optional, not held sales activities optional
- optional, not held sales strategies optional
- optional, not held credit card payments optional
- still to learn have computer literacy required
5 further areas in the appendix
Table 4 · Where to start
The 3 entries a technical sales representative role is least likely to hire without. The ordering is computed from the skill data, not from what pays.
- 01 contact customers practise this
- 02 demonstrate motivation for sales practise this
- 03 demonstrate products' features practise this
Each entry opens a course search for that skill. Career Overlap earns nothing from these links.
Appendix · The rest of the record
All 12 skills that carry over
- already held characteristics of products knowledge
- already held characteristics of services knowledge
- already held ensure client orientation skill
- already held implement customer follow-up skill
- already held keep records on sales skill
- already held produce sales reports skill
- already held product comprehension knowledge
- already held prospect new customers skill
- already held use customer relationship management software skill
- already held consumer protection knowledge
- already held perform customers’ needs analysis skill
- already held speak different languages skill
The 5 learning areas not shown above
- optional, not held electronic and telecommunication equipment optional
- optional, not held hardware, plumbing and heating equipment products optional
- optional, not held industrial tools optional
- optional, not held machinery products optional
- optional, not held mining, construction and civil engineering machinery products optional
- optional, not held textile industry machinery products optional
- optional, not held types of aircraft optional
- optional, not held types of maritime vessels optional
- optional, not held electronic communication optional
- optional, not held ICT software specifications optional
- optional, not held e-commerce systems optional
- optional, not held electronic business optional
- optional, not held agricultural equipment optional
- optional, not held multimedia systems optional
- optional, not held chemical products optional
25 supplementary skills, helpful but not required
- optional, not held ICT software specifications optional
- optional, not held agricultural equipment optional
- optional, not held chemical products optional
- optional, not held e-commerce systems optional
- optional, not held e-procurement optional
- optional, not held electronic and telecommunication equipment optional
- optional, not held electronic business optional
- optional, not held hardware, plumbing and heating equipment products optional
- optional, not held industrial tools optional
- optional, not held international commercial transactions rules optional
- optional, not held issue sales invoices optional
- optional, not held machinery products optional
- optional, not held market pricing optional
- optional, not held mining, construction and civil engineering machinery products optional
- optional, not held office equipment optional
- optional, not held sales activities optional
- optional, not held sales strategies optional
- optional, not held textile industry machinery products optional
- optional, not held types of aircraft optional
- optional, not held types of maritime vessels optional
- optional, not held address problems critically optional
- optional, not held create solutions to problems optional
- optional, not held credit card payments optional
- optional, not held electronic communication optional
- optional, not held multimedia systems optional
22 held skills the technical sales representative role does not ask for
- not needed by the target role accounting techniques knowledge
- not needed by the target role adapt to changing situations skill
- not needed by the target role apply company policies skill
- not needed by the target role build business relationships skill
- not needed by the target role company policies knowledge
- not needed by the target role competition law knowledge
- not needed by the target role consumer goods industry knowledge
- not needed by the target role customer service knowledge
- not needed by the target role deliver a sales pitch skill
- not needed by the target role employment law knowledge
- not needed by the target role forecast account metrics skill
- not needed by the target role maintain customer records skill
- not needed by the target role manage contracts skill
- not needed by the target role maximise sales revenues skill
- not needed by the target role negotiate price skill
- not needed by the target role perform data analysis skill
- not needed by the target role perform market research skill
- not needed by the target role pose questions referring to documents skill
- not needed by the target role relationship marketing knowledge
- not needed by the target role study sales levels of products skill
- not needed by the target role use communication techniques skill
- not needed by the target role use content management system software skill
23 gaps that are knowledge rather than practice
Knowledge gaps usually close through study. Practical skill gaps usually need something you can point at.
- still to learn sales promotion techniques required
- optional, not held ICT software specifications optional
- optional, not held agricultural equipment optional
- optional, not held chemical products optional
- optional, not held e-commerce systems optional
- optional, not held e-procurement optional
- optional, not held electronic and telecommunication equipment optional
- optional, not held electronic business optional
- optional, not held hardware, plumbing and heating equipment products optional
- optional, not held industrial tools optional
- optional, not held international commercial transactions rules optional
- optional, not held machinery products optional
- optional, not held market pricing optional
- optional, not held mining, construction and civil engineering machinery products optional
- optional, not held office equipment optional
- optional, not held sales activities optional
- optional, not held sales strategies optional
- optional, not held textile industry machinery products optional
- optional, not held types of aircraft optional
- optional, not held types of maritime vessels optional
- optional, not held credit card payments optional
- optional, not held electronic communication optional
- optional, not held multimedia systems optional
Other moves recorded from sales account manager
- ICT account manager 51% covered · moderate
- technical sales representative in office machinery and equipment 31% covered · substantial
- technical sales representative in chemical products 31% covered · substantial
- technical sales representative in agricultural machinery and equipment 31% covered · substantial
- technical sales representative in hardware, plumbing and heating equipment 31% covered · substantial
- technical sales representative in mining and construction machinery 31% covered · substantial
- technical sales representative in the textile machinery industry 31% covered · substantial
- technical sales representative in electronic and telecommunications equipment 31% covered · substantial
Common questions about this move
Can a sales account manager become a technical sales representative?
Yes, and it is a career change move. A sales account manager already covers 27% of what a technical sales representative is expected to do: 12 skills carry over, 9 of which the technical sales representative role treats as required.
What skills does a sales account manager need to become a technical sales representative?
19 required skills are missing, plus 25 optional ones. They fall into 11 areas of the ESCO skill hierarchy, led by communication, collaboration and creativity. The single most important is contact customers.
How hard is the move from sales account manager to technical sales representative?
Its learning distance is 78.7 out of 100, which is the career change band. That accounts for both how much is missing and how specialised those skills are.
How this record was compiled
Both occupations are taken from ESCO, which lists the skills and knowledge each occupation is expected to have and marks every one required or optional. Nothing here is a prediction about hiring, and nothing here knows that a particular employer wants a particular certificate. Treat Table 3 as a starting point for your own research rather than a syllabus. The full method states what these figures can and cannot tell you.