Career Overlap Transition record Edition 1 · ESCO v1.2.1
Table 1Transition record

technical sales representativetosales account manager

A technical sales representative already meets 41% of what the sales account manager role asks for. The move turns on 12 required skills not yet in the profile.

From technical sales representative
41%
Overlap1
To sales account manager
12 Skills carried over
12 Required, not held
60.2 Difficulty2
Career overlap Partial match

41%

Learning distance Substantial retraining

60.2/ 100

1 Share of the sales account manager role’s weighted skill requirement already met by the technical sales representative profile. Required skills count in full, supplementary skills at 0.35. Directional: the figure for the reverse move differs. 2 Combines what is missing with how specialised it is, so a gap of general skills scores easier than the same number of narrow ones.

Why

Why this move works

A sales account manager role treats 10 of its required skills as things a technical sales representative already does. These are the ones it depends on most.

  • characteristics of products
  • characteristics of services
  • ensure client orientation
  • implement customer follow-up
  • keep records on sales
  • perform customers’ needs analysis

What stands in the way is 12 required skills the profile does not yet cover. Table 3 groups them; Table 4 says which to take first.

Table 2

Table 2 · What you already bring

Of the 12 skills that carry over, these are the ones fewest other occupations ask for. A sales account manager role needs them, and most people applying for one will not have them already. This is the part of a technical sales representative background worth leading with.

Skill the target role also needs Area
  • 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 10 the sales account manager role treats as required.

Table 3

Table 3 · What you would need to learn

The 22 missing skills fall into 5 areas of the ESCO skill hierarchy, numbered below in the order worth working in: the areas carrying the most required skills come first, and inside each one the required skills sit above the supplementary ones.

Skill to acquire Tier
01 communication, collaboration and creativity 4 required, 4 supplementary
  • required, not held build business relationships required
  • required, not held manage contracts required
  • required, not held maximise sales revenues required
  • required, not held negotiate price required
  • optional, not held deliver a sales pitch optional
  • optional, not held adapt to changing situations optional
  • optional, not held pose questions referring to documents optional
  • optional, not held use communication techniques optional
02 business, administration and law 3 required, 4 supplementary
  • required, not held company policies required
  • required, not held customer service required
  • required, not held relationship marketing required
  • optional, not held accounting techniques optional
  • optional, not held competition law optional
  • optional, not held consumer goods industry optional
  • optional, not held employment law optional
03 information skills 3 required, 1 supplementary
  • required, not held forecast account metrics required
  • required, not held maintain customer records required
  • required, not held study sales levels of products required
  • optional, not held perform market research optional
04 working with computers 1 required, 1 supplementary
  • required, not held perform data analysis required
  • optional, not held use content management system software optional
05 assisting and caring 1 required
  • required, not held apply company policies required
Table 4

Table 4 · Where to start

The 3 entries a sales account manager role is least likely to hire without. The ordering is computed from the skill data, not from what pays.

Each entry opens a course search for that skill. Career Overlap earns nothing from these links.

Appendix

Appendix · The rest of the record

All 12 skills that carry over
Skill Type
  • 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 perform customers’ needs analysis 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 speak different languages skill
10 supplementary skills, helpful but not required
Skill to acquire Tier
  • optional, not held deliver a sales pitch optional
  • optional, not held accounting techniques optional
  • optional, not held adapt to changing situations optional
  • optional, not held competition law optional
  • optional, not held consumer goods industry optional
  • optional, not held employment law optional
  • optional, not held perform market research optional
  • optional, not held pose questions referring to documents optional
  • optional, not held use communication techniques optional
  • optional, not held use content management system software optional
44 held skills the sales account manager role does not ask for
Skill Type
  • not needed by the target role ICT software specifications knowledge
  • not needed by the target role address problems critically skill
  • not needed by the target role agricultural equipment knowledge
  • not needed by the target role answer requests for quotation skill
  • not needed by the target role apply technical communication skills skill
  • not needed by the target role chemical products knowledge
  • not needed by the target role communicate with customers skill
  • not needed by the target role contact customers skill
  • not needed by the target role create solutions to problems skill
  • not needed by the target role credit card payments knowledge
  • not needed by the target role demonstrate motivation for sales skill
  • not needed by the target role demonstrate products' features skill
  • not needed by the target role e-commerce systems knowledge
  • not needed by the target role e-procurement knowledge
  • not needed by the target role electronic and telecommunication equipment knowledge
  • not needed by the target role electronic business knowledge
  • not needed by the target role electronic communication knowledge
  • not needed by the target role ensure compliance with legal requirements skill
  • not needed by the target role guarantee customer satisfaction skill
  • not needed by the target role hardware, plumbing and heating equipment products knowledge
  • not needed by the target role have computer literacy skill
  • not needed by the target role implement marketing strategies skill
  • not needed by the target role implement sales strategies skill
  • not needed by the target role industrial tools knowledge
  • not needed by the target role international commercial transactions rules knowledge
  • not needed by the target role issue sales invoices skill
  • not needed by the target role keep records of customer interaction skill
  • not needed by the target role machinery products knowledge
  • not needed by the target role maintain relationship with customers skill
  • not needed by the target role manage schedule of tasks skill
  • not needed by the target role market pricing knowledge
  • not needed by the target role mining, construction and civil engineering machinery products knowledge
  • not needed by the target role multimedia systems knowledge
  • not needed by the target role office equipment knowledge
  • not needed by the target role provide customer follow-up services skill
  • not needed by the target role record customers' personal data skill
  • not needed by the target role respond to customers' inquiries skill
  • not needed by the target role sales activities knowledge
  • not needed by the target role sales promotion techniques knowledge
  • not needed by the target role sales strategies knowledge

4 further entries not listed here

7 gaps that are knowledge rather than practice

Knowledge gaps usually close through study. Practical skill gaps usually need something you can point at.

Skill to acquire Tier
  • required, not held company policies required
  • required, not held customer service required
  • required, not held relationship marketing required
  • optional, not held accounting techniques optional
  • optional, not held competition law optional
  • optional, not held consumer goods industry optional
  • optional, not held employment law optional
Index

Other moves recorded from technical sales representative

Full index of moves from technical sales representative

Note

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.