A design-build sales representative meets families who want to add on, rework most of their house or build new, and sells them the paid design phase first. They stay close to the family through months of design, then sign the build contract the crews will work from.
By the HireBus team · Updated · Pay data: BLS, May 2025
Annual pay: 10th percentile $34,830, middle half $48,830 to $100,890, 90th percentile $157,630. Source: BLS Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics, May 2025.
Reports to
Sales Manager
Department
Sales
Schedule
8 to 5, some evening or weekend meetings · 8 AM to 5 PM, plus occasional evening or weekend meetings when the whole household can come, and regular site trips
Responsible for presenting integrated solutions and closing deals in the design-build industry while nurturing long-term client relationships to drive business growth. Plays a critical role in expanding market share by understanding client needs and delivering tailored proposals that combine design, engineering, and construction expertise.
2. Essential Duties and Responsibilities
Present integrated solutions to clients, ensuring a clear understanding of our design-build capabilities.
Close sales deals efficiently while maintaining high customer satisfaction standards.
Develop and nurture long-term relationships with key clients and industry partners.
Collaborate with internal teams to align sales strategies with project deliverables and market demands.
3. Key Tasks / Daily Activities
Conduct client meetings and deliver persuasive presentations detailing integrated service offerings.
Follow up on leads, schedule appointments, and manage an active sales pipeline daily.
Coordinate with design and project management teams to ensure client requirements are met.
Monitor progress toward sales goals and adjust strategies to achieve targets.
4. Key Performance Indicators (KPIs)
Revenue per hour: $150.
Client meeting conversion rate: 40% or higher.
Customer satisfaction rating: greater than 4.8 stars.
New leads generated per month: at least 30.
5. Required Qualifications and Skills
Bachelor’s degree in Business, Marketing, or a related field.
Minimum of 2 years’ experience in sales, with exposure to the design-build or home services industry a plus.
Excellent communication, negotiation, and interpersonal skills.
Proficiency in CRM software and Microsoft Office suite.
6. Preferred Experience
Experience working within design-build or related home services sectors.
Proven track record of closing high-value sales and maintaining client relationships.
Familiarity with integrated solutions involving design, engineering, and construction.
Demonstrated ability to collaborate effectively with cross-functional teams.
7. Physical Requirements
Ability to visit job sites and participate in on-site meetings as required.
Comfortable working in varied environmental conditions including outdoor client meetings.
Occasional travel may involve carrying portable equipment up to 20 lbs.
Flexibility to adapt to both office-based tasks and field activities.
8. Work Environment and Schedule
Typical work hours from 8 AM to 5 PM with occasional evening or weekend client meetings.
Regular travel to client sites, industry events, and networking opportunities.
Office-based role with significant interaction in field settings.
Expectation to manage a dynamic schedule aligned with client and project needs.
9. Compensation and Benefits
Salary range: $50,000 - $70,000 per annum based on experience.
Competitive commission structure incentivizing closed deals and high performance.
Comprehensive benefits package including Health, Dental, and Vision coverage.
401(k) matching along with additional fringe benefits.
10. Company Culture and Overview
Our company thrives on innovation, collaboration, and a commitment to excellence in every project.
We foster a culture of growth, offering ample opportunities for professional development and career advancement.
Our team values integrity, creativity, and teamwork, all of which are essential for our ongoing success.
Join us and be part of an inspiring environment where your ideas and expertise make a significant impact.
11. How to Apply
If you meet the above criteria and want to be part of a growth-oriented company focused on customer satisfaction, please send your resume to [INSERT EMAIL HERE] or apply online at [INSERT WEBSITE LINK HERE].
Need help filling this role? HireBus posts the ad, Iris interviews every applicant by phone before you do, and you decide who to hire. Start hiring now
Here the rep sells the design phase before anyone knows the final price. The build contract follows months of design meetings, so the rep's work runs far longer than one pricing visit.
The design agreement needs a clear scope
Homeowners balk at paying for design when they can't tell what they're buying. The rep writes it down: measuring the existing house, how many design meetings and rounds of changes, 3D views, engineering, and the points where the client sees an updated budget. Explain how the fee is treated if they build with you, using the owners' rule. A design fee with no limit on changes is how designers lose weeks.
Two signatures, two chances to cancel
In the FTC Cooling-Off Rule's terms, a contract signed at the client's kitchen table, or anywhere else but your own office, is a door-to-door sale, invitation or not. A design client may sign twice: a design agreement at home, then a build contract months later. If the build contract is signed at home too, treat it as a new sale with its own cancellation paperwork. One signed at your main or branch office falls outside the rule's definition. State law may add its own rights. Source: eCFR: 16 CFR 429.0, Cooling-Off Rule definitions.
Staying with the family through design
The rep doesn't hand a signed design client to the designers and disappear. They join the budget reviews, note the dates that matter to the family, such as a lease ending, a baby due or a house to sell, and call when a meeting slips. A rep who vanishes after the first signature is a stranger by the time the build contract is ready.
Reading what an addition ties into
Before promising an addition, the rep looks at what it connects to: the electrical service, the heating system, the slope of the lot and, outside town, the well and septic system. Weld County, Colorado, is one example: there, a building permit that adds bedrooms to a home on a septic system needs an evaluation and inspection of that system. Note each item for the designer, so the design agreement covers the checks the family will need. Source: Weld County, Colorado (example): zoning permits and bedroom additions on septic systems.
How much design-build sales representatives make
The closest BLS group for design-build sales representatives is sales representatives of services. Sales representatives of services who work for building contractors earned a median of $34.41 an hour ($71,560 a year) in May 2025, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. That’s about the same as the $69,990 median for sales representatives of services in all industries. About 30,910 of the 1,256,010 sales representatives of services in that survey work for building contractors.
Commission sits on top of a salary in the template. Counting commission, the BLS median for sales reps at building contractors lands just above that salary range. Write down when commission pays, since the build contract can close months after the design agreement.
Building contractors
$71,560$71,560 median Middle half $48,830–$100,890 10th–90th $34,830–$157,630
All industries
$69,990$69,990 median Middle half $47,670–$100,480 10th–90th $37,980–$148,840
$0k$25k$50k$75k$100k$125k$150k$175k
10th–90th percentileMiddle halfMedianAnnual pay, May 2025. Source: BLS Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics.
Annual pay by percentile
Group
10th
25th
Median
75th
90th
Building contractors
$34,830
$48,830
$71,560
$100,890
$157,630
All industries
$37,980
$47,670
$69,990
$100,480
$148,840
BLS doesn’t publish pay for design-build firms on their own. These figures cover construction of buildings, which include them. Post a real range for your market in the ad.
The pay line in the template above is an example from our Role Blueprint. Set yours from these figures and what local companies pay.
Skills to hire for, and what you can teach
Hire for these
Has sold remodels, additions, custom homes or other work that takes several meetings to close
Explains what a paid design phase includes and why it comes before a price
Spots what an addition will connect to: power, heat, slope, well and septic
Keeps families engaged through design with a planned check-in after each meeting
Works alongside designers and lets them own the drawings
Teach these on the job
Your design agreement, fee rules and build contract
Reading floor plans and elevations
Your past project costs by type, for early budget talks
Permit, zoning and septic steps in the towns you serve
The CRM and the proposal tool you use
The rep carries a tablet with the portfolio and a sheet of past project costs by type, and logs every meeting and follow-up in the CRM. Reading the designers' floor plans, elevations and 3D views matters more than any gadget, since families ask the rep about them between design meetings.
Two of the 6 questions we'd ask, and what a strong answer sounds like. Ask every candidate the same questions, and rate each answer on your own before you compare notes.
Situational · Firm price requests
A prospect wants a firm construction price before signing a design agreement. How do you respond?
A strong answer: Explains why a firm price needs a design, offers a budget range from similar projects, and shows how the design phase controls cost.
Behavioral · Selling with designers
Tell me about a time you worked with a designer to win a client.
A strong answer: Explains how they split roles in meetings and how the designer's ideas and their own budget guidance won the client's trust.
A rep's build contracts are few and large, so judge the year rather than the month, and take targets from your own reps' records.
Revenue per hour
Add up every hour a rep spent on clients who signed or walked away: meetings, design reviews, drive time and proposal work. Divide the year's signed build contract value by those hours.
Client meeting conversion rate
Meetings where the client signed the agreement on the table, a design agreement or a build contract, out of meetings held for that purpose. Log check-in meetings that weren't meant to close on their own line.
Customer satisfaction rating
Completion survey scores for every job this rep signed. Add one question about the sale itself: did the design agreement and the build contract match what the family understood they were buying?
New leads generated per month
Leads that came from the rep's own contacts, such as a past client's friend or a contact from a home show, logged with the source the day they come in. Leads the office booked don't count here.
Plan on months. The design agreement may come soon after the first visit, but the build contract waits on drawings, engineering, selections and pricing, and for some jobs on a permit too. Say so plainly in interviews. Reps used to closing in one visit can lose patience, and a family pushed to sign before the drawings are done tends to fight every change later.
How much does a design-build sales representative make?
Sales representatives of services who work for building contractors earned a median of $34.41 an hour ($71,560 a year) in May 2025, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. The middle half earned between $48,830 and $100,890 a year. Pay also depends on your local market, experience and overtime.
How should a rep answer "we're getting three bids"?
Ask what the other bids are for. A builder's price on someone else's plans, an architect's fee and a design-build proposal each price something different. The rep explains what the design phase includes and when the family gets a firm price, offers past clients to call, and doesn't cut the design fee to win. Families who still want three builders bidding the same plans may not fit the firm.
What does carrying up to 20 pounds mean for a design-build rep?
Here it means carrying a laptop, sample boards and a laser measure into homes, walking yards and unfinished additions with clients, and meeting outdoors on a lot in any season. Name that work in the posting, and invite anyone who needs a change in how it's done to ask.
Should the rep visit the job during construction?
A few times, such as the framing walk and the final walk-through. Those visits keep the relationship warm for referrals and the next project. Plan every visit with the project manager, since a visit during a tense week, after a delay or a dispute over a change, can do more harm than good.
