Top Skills for This Career
BLS identifies these as the three highest-rated skills for this detailed occupation. TrustInEd adds the plain-language explanations so visitors understand what each skill means.
Adjusting effectively when priorities, conditions, tools, or expectations change.
Communicating clearly through speech while listening carefully to understand others.
Identifying problems, considering possible solutions, and choosing appropriate actions.
How Do You Prepare for This Career?
BLS describes the typical preparation for this occupation. Requirements can vary by employer, state, licensing rules and individual circumstances.
How to Become One
How to Become a Wholesale or Manufacturing Sales Representative Sales representatives of scientific or technical products, such as pharmaceuticals or medical instruments, typically need a degree in a field related to the product sold.
Education
al requirements vary with the type of product sold. If the products are not scientific or technical, a high school diploma is generally enough for entry into the occupation. If the products are scientific or technical, sales representatives typically need at least a bachelor’s degree. Education A high school diploma is typically sufficient for many positions, primarily those selling nontechnical or nonscientific products. However, representatives selling scientific and technical products usually must have a bachelor’s degree. Scientific and technical products include pharmaceuticals, medical instruments, and industrial equipment. A field of degree related to the product sold, such as agriculture or biology, is sometimes required. Many sales representatives attend seminars in sales techniques or take courses in marketing, economics, communication, or even a foreign language to improve their ability to make sales.
Training
Many companies have formal training programs for beginning wholesale and manufacturing sales representatives. These programs may last up to 1 year. In some, trainees rotate among jobs in plants and offices in order to learn all phases of producing, installing, and distributing the product. In others, trainees receive formal technical instruction at the plant, followed by on-the-job training under the supervision of a field sales manager. New employees may be trained by going along with experienced workers on their sales calls. As they gain familiarity with the firm’s products and clients, the new workers gain more responsibility until they eventually get their own territory.
Licenses, Certifications & Registrations
Although not required, some wholesale and manufacturing sales representatives choose to earn professional certification. Information on certifications is available from CareerOneStop. Advancement Frequently, promotion takes the form of an assignment to a larger account or territory, for which commissions are likely to be greater. Those who have good sales records and leadership ability may advance to higher level positions, such as sales manager, sales supervisor, district manager, or vice president of sales.
Your Next Step
Compare colleges and education options that can support the typical entry-level education for this career.
Pay
the median annual wage for all workers was $50,980.
Job Outlook
Job Outlook Overall employment of wholesale and manufacturing sales representatives is projected to decline 0 percent from 2025 to 2035. Despite declining employment, about 123,400 openings for wholesale and manufacturing sales representatives are projected each year, on average, over the decade. All of those openings are expected to result from the need to replace workers who transfer to other occupations or exit the labor force, such as to retire. Employment Projected employment of wholesale and manufacturing sales representatives varies by occupation (see table). A rising total volume of sales, as well as a wider range of products and technologies, will create demand for sales representatives. Wholesale sales are increasingly being conducted online. These online sales are mostly expected to complement, rather than replace, face-to-face selling. Advances in artificial intelligence (AI) and integration with automation technologies, such as chat bots, may limit employment growth for sales representatives. Wholesale and Manufacturing Sales Representatives Percent change in employment, projected 2025–35 Total, all occupations 3% Sales representatives, wholesale and manufacturing, technical and scientific products 1% Sales representatives, wholesale and manufacturing 0% Sales representatives, wholesale and manufacturing, except technical and scientific products -1% Sales and related occupations -1% Note: All Occupations includes all occupations in the U.S. Economy.
What They Do
What Wholesale and Manufacturing Sales Representatives Do
Wholesale and manufacturing sales representatives sell goods for wholesalers or manufacturers to businesses, government agencies, and other organizations. They contact customers, explain the features of the products they are selling, negotiate prices, and answer any questions that their customers may have about the products.
Duties
Wholesale and manufacturing sales representatives typically do the following:
- Identify prospective customers by using business directories, following leads from existing clients, and attending trade shows and conferences
- Contact new and existing customers to discuss their needs and explain how specific products and services can meet these needs
- Help customers select products to meet customers’ needs, product specifications, and regulations
- Emphasize product features that will meet customers’ needs, and exhibit the capabilities and limitations of their products
- Answer customers’ questions about the prices, availability, and uses of the products they are selling
- Negotiate prices and terms of sales and service agreements
- Prepare sales contracts and submit orders for processing
- Collaborate with colleagues to exchange information, such as information on selling strategies and marketing information
- Follow up with customers to make sure that they are satisfied with their purchases and to answer any questions or concerns they might have
Wholesale and manufacturing sales representatives—sometimes called manufacturers’ representatives or manufacturers’ agents—generally work for manufacturers or wholesalers. Some work for a single organization, while others represent several companies and sell a range of products.
Unlike retail sales workers, who sell goods directly to consumers, wholesale and manufacturing sales representatives deal with businesses, government agencies, and other organizations.
Some wholesale and manufacturing sales representatives work with nonscientific products, such as food, office supplies, and clothing. Other representatives specialize in technical and scientific products, ranging from agricultural and mechanical equipment to computer and pharmaceutical goods.
Wholesale and manufacturing sales representatives who lack expertise about a given product frequently team with a technical expert. In this arrangement, the technical expert—sometimes a sales engineer—attends the sales presentation to explain the product and answer questions or concerns. The sales representative makes the initial contact with customers, introduces the company’s product, and obtains final agreement from the potential buyer.
By working with a technical expert, the representative is able to spend more time maintaining and soliciting accounts and less time seeking technical knowledge.
After the sale, representatives may make followup visits to ensure that equipment is functioning properly and may even help train customers’ employees to operate and maintain new equipment.
Those selling consumer goods often suggest how and where merchandise should be displayed. When working with retailers, they may help arrange promotional programs, store displays, and advertising.
In addition to selling products, wholesale and manufacturing sales representatives analyze sales statistics, prepare reports, and handle administrative duties such as filing expense accounts, scheduling appointments, and making travel plans.
Staying up to date on new products and the changing needs of customers is important. Sales representatives accomplish this aim in a variety of ways, including attending trade shows at which new products and technologies are showcased. They attend conferences and conventions to meet other sales representatives and clients and to discuss new product developments. They also read about new and existing products and monitor the sales, prices, and products of their competitors.
The following are examples of types of wholesale and manufacturing sales representatives:
Inside sales representatives work mostly in offices while making sales. Frequently, they are responsible for getting new clients by “cold-calling” various organizations, meaning that they call potential customers who are not expecting to be contacted. That way, a representative can establish an initial contact. They also take incoming calls from customers who are interested in their product, and they process paperwork to complete the sale.
Outside sales representatives spend much of their time traveling to and visiting with current clients and prospective buyers. During a sales call, they discuss the client’s needs and suggest how they can meet those needs with merchandise or services. They may show samples or catalogs that describe items their company provides, and they may inform customers about the prices and availability of the products they are selling and the ways in which their products can save money and boost productivity.
Work Environment
Work Environment
Sales representatives, wholesale and manufacturing, except technical and scientific products held about 1.3 million jobs in 2025. The largest employers of sales representatives, wholesale and manufacturing, except technical and scientific products were as follows:
| Merchant wholesalers, durable goods | 33% |
| Merchant wholesalers, nondurable goods | 21 |
| Manufacturing | 18 |
| Wholesale trade agents and brokers | 9 |
| Retail trade | 6 |
Sales representatives, wholesale and manufacturing, technical and scientific products held about 292,000 jobs in 2025. The largest employers of sales representatives, wholesale and manufacturing, technical and scientific products were as follows:
| Professional and commercial equipment and supplies merchant wholesalers | 29% |
| Merchant wholesalers, nondurable goods | 19 |
| Professional, scientific, and technical services | 12 |
| Manufacturing | 11 |
| Wholesale trade agents and brokers | 5 |
Some wholesale and manufacturing sales representatives have large territories and travel considerably. Because a sales region may cover several states, representatives may be away from home for several days or weeks at a time. Sales representatives who cover a smaller region may not spend much time away from home.
Other wholesale and manufacturing sales representatives spend a lot of their time on the phone, selling goods, taking orders, and resolving problems or complaints about the merchandise. They also use Web technology, including chats, email, and video conferencing, to contact clients.
Workers in this occupation can be under considerable stress because their income and job security often depend directly on the amount of merchandise they sell and their companies usually set goals or quotas that they are expected to meet.
Work Schedules
Most wholesale and manufacturing sales representatives work full time and many work more than 40 hours per week.
Important Qualities
The following are examples of qualities that are important for these workers to perform their duties. For more information, visit the Employment Projections (EP) skills data page. Customer-service skills. Wholesale and manufacturing sales representatives must be able to listen to the customer’s needs and concerns before and after the sale. Interpersonal skills. Wholesale and manufacturing sales representatives must be able to work well with many types of people. They must be able to build good relationships with clients and with other members of the sales team. Physical stamina. Wholesale and manufacturing sales representatives are often on their feet for a long time and may carry heavy sample products. Self-confidence. Wholesale and manufacturing sales representatives must be confident and persuasive when making sales presentations. In addition, making a call to a potential customer who is not expecting to be contacted, or “cold-calling,” requires confidence and composure.
More Information
More Information, Including Links to O*NET
Learn more about wholesale and manufacturing sales representatives by visiting additional resources, including O*NET, a source on key characteristics of workers and occupations.
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Start with ED →Career data and occupational profile text are sourced from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics Occupational Outlook Handbook and Employment Projections program. Education requirements are typical entry-level requirements and may vary by employer, state, occupation or individual circumstance. View the official BLS profile.