# Sales Representatives, Wholesale and Manufacturing, Except Technical and Scientific Products

> Sell goods for wholesalers or manufacturers to businesses or groups of individuals. Work requires substantial knowledge of items sold.

- **SOC code:** 41-4012.00
- **Canonical URL:** https://singulariki.com/roles/role-41-4012-00
- **Also known as:** Outside Sales Representative, Sales Consultant, Sales Representative (Sales Rep), Salesman, Account Representative, Customer Account Technician, Inside Salesperson, Route Sales Representative
- **Frame:** "AI exposure" means task overlap (how codifiable the work is), not jobs lost or a forecast. Every figure below is traced to a named public dataset.

## What this work is

**Core tasks** (O*NET):
- Negotiate with retail merchants to improve product exposure, such as shelf positioning and advertising.
- Check stock levels and reorder merchandise as necessary.
- Plan, assemble, and stock product displays in retail stores, or make recommendations to retailers regarding product displays, promotional programs, and advertising.
- Answer customers' questions about products, prices, availability, product uses, and credit terms.
- Recommend products to customers, based on customers' needs and interests.
- Estimate or quote prices, credit or contract terms, warranties, and delivery dates.
- Consult with clients after sales or contract signings to resolve problems and to provide ongoing support.
- Negotiate details of contracts and payments.
- Prepare sales contracts and order forms.
- Provide customers with product samples and catalogs.
- Monitor market conditions, product innovations, and competitors' products, prices, and sales.
- Perform administrative duties, such as preparing sales budgets and reports, keeping sales records, and filing expense account reports.

## Skills, tools, capabilities

**Knowledge, skills & abilities** (O*NET, highest importance first):
- Sales and Marketing _(knowledge)_
- Customer and Personal Service _(knowledge)_
- English Language _(knowledge)_
- Active Listening _(essential_skill)_
- Speaking _(essential_skill)_
- Oral Expression _(ability)_
- Mathematics _(knowledge)_
- Oral Comprehension _(ability)_
- Speech Clarity _(ability)_
- Social Perceptiveness _(transferable_skill)_
- Persuasion _(transferable_skill)_
- Negotiation _(transferable_skill)_

**Skills in demand:**
- English Language _(Common Skill)_
- Active Listening _(Common Skill)_
- Mathematics _(Common Skill)_
- Speech Recognition _(Specialized Skill)_
- Social Perceptiveness _(Common Skill)_
- Negotiation _(Common Skill)_
- Microsoft PowerPoint _(Common Skill)_
- Microsoft Outlook _(Common Skill)_
- Microsoft Excel _(Common Skill)_
- Critical Thinking _(Common Skill)_
- Reading Comprehension _(Common Skill)_
- Writing _(Common Skill)_

**Tools & technology:**
- Microsoft Excel _(hot technology, in demand)_
- Microsoft Office software _(hot technology, in demand)_
- Microsoft Outlook _(hot technology, in demand)_
- Microsoft PowerPoint _(hot technology, in demand)_
- Salesforce software _(hot technology, in demand)_
- Adobe Acrobat _(hot technology)_
- Adobe Creative Cloud software _(hot technology)_
- Adobe Illustrator _(hot technology)_
- Adobe InDesign _(hot technology)_
- Adobe Photoshop _(hot technology)_
- Apple macOS _(hot technology)_
- Autodesk AutoCAD _(hot technology)_

## AI exposure & outlook

- **AI task-overlap index:** 89th percentile (High) across all occupations — composite of current-era exposure studies (ai-exposure-index-v1).
- **Overall AI exposure (Felten et al.):** 68th percentile (High) — source: felten_aioe.
- **LLM task exposure, γ (OpenAI / Eloundou):** 95th percentile (High) — source: eloundou_gamma.
- **AI assistant applicability (Microsoft):** 89th percentile (High) — source: microsoft_applicability.
- **Frey–Osborne (2013, historical computerization estimate):** 71st percentile — kept separate from current-era studies.
- **Remote-capable (Dingel–Neiman):** yes — task structure, not who actually works remote.
- **Projected employment (BLS 2024–34):** 0.3% growth (About average); 114.8k annual openings; 1,310.5k → 1,314.9k jobs.
- **Pay & employment (BLS OEWS, May 2024):** median $66,780; 1,266,860 employed.

## How people actually use AI here

Anthropic Economic Index — measured AI conversations mapped to this occupation's tasks:

- **Automation vs augmentation:** 40% automation, 55% augmentation (usage-weighted).
- **Autonomy median:** 3.0 (higher = AI acts more independently).
- **Dominant collaboration mode:** directive.

**Tasks most handed to AI here:**
- Answer customers' questions about products, prices, availability, product uses, and credit terms. _(12.6% of measured AI use; learning)_
- Recommend products to customers, based on customers' needs and interests. _(1.1% of measured AI use; task iteration)_
- Perform administrative duties, such as preparing sales budgets and reports, keeping sales records, and filing expense account reports. _(0.8% of measured AI use; directive)_
- Identify prospective customers by using business directories, following leads from existing clients, participating in organizations and clubs, and attending trade shows and conferences. _(0.5% of measured AI use; directive)_
- Monitor market conditions, product innovations, and competitors' products, prices, and sales. _(0.4% of measured AI use; directive)_
- Prepare sales contracts and order forms. _(0.4% of measured AI use; task iteration)_

**Example prompts (honest phrasings of the tasks above — starting points, not endorsed instructions):**
- Help me answer customers' questions about products, prices, availability, product uses, and credit terms.
- Help me recommend products to customers, based on customers' needs and interests.
- Help me perform administrative duties, such as preparing sales budgets and reports, keeping sales records, and filing expense account reports.
- Help me identify prospective customers by using business directories, following leads from existing clients, participating in organizations and clubs, and attending trade shows and conferences.
- Help me monitor market conditions, product innovations, and competitors' products, prices, and sales.

## Sources

- **O*NET** (30.3) — U.S. Department of Labor / National Center for O*NET Development. https://www.onetcenter.org/database.html
- **BLS Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics (OEWS)** (May 2024) — U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. https://www.bls.gov/oes/
- **BLS Employment Projections** (2024–2034) — U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. https://www.bls.gov/emp/
- **Anthropic Economic Index** (v4 (2026-01-15) + v2 (2025-03-27)) — Anthropic. https://www.anthropic.com/economic-index
- **Microsoft “Working with AI”** (working-with-ai) — Microsoft Research. https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/research/
- **“GPTs are GPTs” (Eloundou et al.)** (arXiv 2303.10130) — OpenAI / academic. https://arxiv.org/abs/2303.10130
- **AI Occupational Exposure (AIOE)** (Felten, Raj & Seamans) — academic. https://github.com/AIOE-Data/AIOE
- **Frey & Osborne (2013)** (frey-osborne-automation) — academic. https://www.oxfordmartin.ox.ac.uk/publications/the-future-of-employment/
- **Dingel & Neiman (2020)** (dingel-neiman-workathome) — academic. https://github.com/jdingel/DingelNeiman-workathome

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_Generated from Singulariki's joined dataset; data snapshot 2026-06-02T21:00:32.945303+00:00. https://singulariki.com/roles/role-41-4012-00_