What are the specific industries that make the most money in sales? I thought this topic would be very interesting to research for this blog. What I found interesting was that different sites/articles explained that sticking to service-related or big-ticket/high margin item selling was key to a high paying sales job. Additionally, the odds of moving into a high-paying sales job diminishes with age, so entering into the field of sales as early as possible is key for a fast-pace success route.
The 8 highest paying sales jobs fall into these career categories:
- Consulting sales (Base salary = $120,000-250,000 & Commissions $25,000-$3Million)
- Consumer packaged goods sales (Base salary = $150,000-$180,000 & Commissions $100,000-$150,000)
- Digital Media Sales (Base salary = $170,000-$180,000 & Commissions $130,000=$220,000_
- Medical device sales (Base salary = $0-$70,000 & Commissions $200,000-$300,000)
- Outsourced services (Base salary = $150,000-$200,000 & Commissions $200,000-$500,000)
- Software sales (Base Salary = $80,000-$100,000 & Commissions $250,000-$1Million)
- Startup business development (Base Salary $150,000 & Commissions unlimited)
- Telecommunications Sales (Base Salary $70,000-$100,000 & Commissions $100,000-$200,000)
Something interesting I found while researching which careers in sales paid the most, was that many sources suggested that sales jobs specifically in consulting and consumer packaged goods, employers look for an MBA or recruit high-GPA students from select universities. For the software sales industry, a college degree and demonstrated aggressiveness such as a varsity sport or heavy involvement was suggested. Outsourced service selling is a career that sources said is commonly the easiest to enter into mid-career because companies actively look for people to sell in the specific area the candidate was recently involved within. Whether you’re motivated by the higher number salary or not, I think it’s interesting to have a baseline knowledge of what specific sales industries are booming with potential salaries!
BoweryJE22
These are all surprisingly large numbers… but you only listed different industries, not the positions themselves. These can’t be the numbers for the average Sales guy in each of these segments, right? Would these numbers correspond to the Head-sales-honcho? I thought it was interesting that those who enter into sales young do better especially since most young people take a sales position only as an entry job and abandon it for something else as soon as their able.
These numbers are staggering… Is this for real? Would you mind sending me the sources of those numbers? I might need to look more seriously into sales!