Hiring for sales roles? Find out the average industry salaries on offer

Before you start recruiting for a sales role, it’s important to have a good sense of the sales job market and of current salary levels and expectations to make sure that your offer is competitive and compelling to candidates.

Even in this most challenging of years, sales professionals like inside sales representative position or a business development representative, have played a central roles in keeping UK businesses thriving across a wide range of industries, from software to finance. Sticking close to customers and prospects alike has been more important than ever for those high-performing business development teams that want to continue to drive growth and profitability. 

Despite the combined impact of the coronavirus pandemic and Brexit, our recent Salaryboard data suggests that London-based business development consultants actually saw an average 31% increase in salary from 2019 to 2020. For many companies then, sales talent is still being valued as key to business success.

To make sure you’re securing the best sales talent in the market, arm yourself with the knowledge to make appropriate salary offers to sought-after sales candidates, with the latest data from our salary calculator tool on the core roles:

Sales executives

What does a sales executive do?

Sales executives are responsible for delivering individually and as a team on personal and shared sales targets, enabling the collective to meet its overall sales goals.

What’s the average sales executive salary?

For sales executives with one year’s experience, candidates can expect to earn an average of £27,630.

This range can extend from £24,180 to £32,160, depending on the role’s location and exact job specification.

sales exec salary
sales exec salary

Account manager

What does an account manager do?

Sales account manager roles usually involve looking after a portfolio of advertising accounts, and, as such, sit at the core of acquiring new leads and boosting revenue. Project management, presentation and networking skills are important.

What’s the average account manager salary?

Those with the title of ‘sales account manager’ earn on average £26,310 with five years’ experience under their belts. 

As with all roles, the average can see some variation based on location and role scope. The bottom quarter average of the salary bracket for account managers sits at £24,320 and the top quarter average is £31,200.

account manager salary
account manager salary

Business development managers

What does a business development manager do?

Business development manager roles involve leveraging existing contacts and sourcing new customers, markets and relationships to create ongoing value for companies. They’re positions which involve a great deal of commercial awareness, a focus on targets and an ability to connect with others.

What’s the average business development manager salary?

Currently, the average business development manager salary in the UK is £56,690 for those with approximately five years' experience.

The bottom quarter’s average is £55,470 and the upper quarter average shows as £59,270.

business dev manager salary
business dev manager salary

Customer service professionals

What do customer service professionals do?

Customer service roles involve direct liaison with those who use the services of the organisation. Customer service professionals therefore serve as the face and the voice of the business they represent, so it’s critical to place the right candidate in these positions.

What’s the average customer service salary?

For candidates looking for customer service roles, the average salary in the UK is £22,040, based on individuals with one years' experience. 

The bottom quarter bracket for customer service professionals sees an average of £21,430 and the upper quarter bracket has an average of £26,900 for candidates with more experience and greater responsibility.

CS salary
CS salary

Looking to find out more?

Knowledge is power when recruiting new talent. Learn the current market rate for key job roles and locations with the Randstad salary calculator tool

Want to hire the best industry talent?

Your people are your greatest asset. Discover how Randstad can support you in attracting the best candidates to your organisation, with our workforce management offering; Randstad employer solutions.

Our bespoke recruitment solutions are tailored to your organisation’s unique needs. The result? A smoother hiring process which feeds directly into your business objectives.

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