A commercial electrical sales rep sells lighting retrofits, tenant build-outs and service upgrades to general contractors, property managers and building owners. Each price has to fit the drawings and the site, and often beat other electrical subs too. The rep owns it from the first site walk to the signed contract.
By the HireBus team · Updated · Pay data: BLS, May 2025
Median pay, electrical contractors · BLS, May 2025
Serve as a key liaison between our commercial electrical solutions and prospective clients, preparing comprehensive bids, presenting tailored technical solutions, and closing high-value contracts that drive company growth.
2. Essential Duties and Responsibilities
Prepare detailed and competitive bids for commercial electrical projects.
Present technical and financial solutions effectively to decision-makers.
Negotiate and close commercial contracts with clients.
Maintain strong client relationships to secure repeat business.
Collaborate with internal teams to ensure project feasibility and alignment with client needs.
3. Key Tasks / Daily Activities
Conduct daily prospecting and lead generation activities targeting commercial clients.
Schedule and attend client meetings and site visits to assess project requirements.
Develop and deliver presentations that clearly communicate technical and financial benefits of the service.
Follow up on proposals and negotiate contract terms to secure agreements.
4. Key Performance Indicators (KPIs)
New Contracts Closed: Achieve a minimum of 5 new contracts per quarter.
Revenue Growth: Generate at least $150,000 in additional revenue annually from new contracts.
Bid Conversion Rate: Maintain a conversion rate of bids to contracts at 30% or higher.
Customer Satisfaction Rating: Achieve a minimum customer rating of >4.8 stars on post-project surveys.
5. Required Qualifications and Skills
Bachelor’s degree in Business, Engineering, or related field preferred.
Minimum of 2 years of experience in commercial sales or technical sales roles.
Strong presentation, negotiation, and communication skills.
Proficient in using CRM software and MS Office Suite.
6. Preferred Experience
Prior experience in commercial electrical contracting or related industries.
Demonstrated success in preparing and presenting complex bids.
Familiarity with electrical systems and commercial construction processes.
Established network within the commercial building and facilities management sectors.
7. Physical Requirements
Occasional lifting of materials and samples up to 25 lbs.
Ability to maneuver in office, client sites, and construction environments.
May require extended periods of standing during presentations and site assessments.
8. Work Environment and Schedule
Standard work hours with a requirement for occasional evening or weekend meetings.
Regular travel to client sites and project locations across the region.
On-call availability may be required during peak project periods.
Primarily office-based work complemented by site visits.
9. Compensation and Benefits
Salary range: $60,000 - $80,000 per year, commensurate with experience.
Attractive commission structure based on closed contracts.
Performance bonuses for exceeding quarterly sales targets.
Comprehensive benefits package including Health, Dental, Vision, and 401k.
10. Company Culture and Overview
We are a forward-thinking and growth-oriented company dedicated to excellence in commercial electrical solutions.
Our collaborative culture empowers employees to innovate and excel while maintaining a strong commitment to customer satisfaction.
We invest in professional development, ensuring our team has the skills and tools needed to succeed and grow within the industry.
We foster an inclusive and supportive work environment where every voice is valued.
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
The rep sells from drawings, site walks and bid forms, often to a buyer comparing several other numbers. Whatever the rep leaves out or assumes, the company pays for later.
On some public buildings, your name goes in the bid
Delaware, for example, makes a general contractor bidding a large public building job name the sub it will use in each listed trade. Electrical work is a typical one. A bid without that list is rejected. After award, a listed sub can be swapped only with the agency's written OK, for set reasons, such as not signing a timely, reasonable subcontract. So the rep gets a firm number to every bidding general contractor on time, and is ready to sign if listed. Source: Delaware Code, Title 29, section 6962: Large public works contract procedures.
Price the specified lighting, then offer swaps
On plan-and-spec jobs the engineer names the light fixtures, and that package can be one of the biggest material costs. A rep can win on a cheaper substitute and then lose money when the engineer rejects it at submittal. Price the fixtures as drawn. Put any substitute on its own line as a voluntary alternate, with cut sheets and the savings, so the owner and engineer can choose before award.
Owner-furnished fixtures still take labor
Retail chains and some owners buy their own light fixtures, signs or equipment and have the electrician hang them. The rep prices what that really takes: taking in and checking deliveries, storing them, chasing missing parts, and working around items that show up late or broken. The proposal says who orders replacements and who pays for the wait. A bare install price with none of that written down turns into unpaid hours.
Old fluorescent ballasts may hold PCBs
A retrofit bid in an older building needs a look inside a sample of fixtures, opened by an electrician, not just a count of tubes. EPA says only magnetic T12 ballasts may contain PCBs, that ballasts made before July 1, 1979 may contain them, and that one without a No PCBs label is best treated as if it does unless it's known to be newer. Leaking ones fall under PCB cleanup and disposal rules, and states can be stricter. Price their handling on its own line. Source: EPA: PCB-containing fluorescent light ballasts in school buildings.
The 179D deduction has a cutoff
The federal 179D tax deduction rewards energy savings from a building's indoor lighting and some other systems. The IRS says it can't be taken for property whose construction starts after June 30, 2026. A job begun before then may still qualify, but that's for the owner's tax adviser to say, not the rep. Take 179D out of proposal forms and handouts, and sell a retrofit on the savings the owner's own power bills show. Source: IRS: FAQs on changes to 25C, 25D, 25E, 30C, 30D, 45L, 45W and 179D under Public Law 119-21.
How much commercial electrical sales representatives make
The closest BLS group for commercial electrical sales representatives is sales representatives of services. Sales representatives of services who work for electrical contractors earned a median of $33.95 an hour ($70,620 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 13,580 of the 1,256,010 sales representatives of services in that survey work for electrical contractors.
Base salary, commission on closed contracts and quarterly bonuses for beating targets, from the template. Write down how negotiated work, service accounts and change orders on the rep's jobs count toward commission.
Electrical contractors
$70,620$70,620 median Middle half $52,820–$102,330 10th–90th $42,440–$135,200
All industries
$69,990$69,990 median Middle half $47,670–$100,480 10th–90th $37,980–$148,840
$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
Electrical contractors
$42,440
$52,820
$70,620
$102,330
$135,200
All industries
$37,980
$47,670
$69,990
$100,480
$148,840
BLS reports residential and commercial electrical contractors together. 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 or estimated commercial electrical, lighting or building systems work
Reads electrical drawings, fixture schedules and spec sections well enough to spot gaps
Gets a complete number to several general contractors before a bid deadline
Writes up a site walk as a scope with every assumption stated
Keeps calling after bid day until each general contractor has decided
Teach these on the job
Your labor units and how your estimators build a number
Fixture types, lighting controls and the lighting agencies you buy through
How to spot T12 ballasts and other surprises in older buildings
How public owners in your states handle bids and sub lists
Your proposal format, alternates and approval limits
Reps work in the CRM, markup software like Bluebeam for drawings, and the proposals the estimating program prints. For site walks, bring a laser measure, a flashlight for looking above the ceiling, and a phone for panel directories and the ballast labels an electrician uncovers. Lighting agencies' quotes and fixture cut sheets round out the kit.
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 · Presenting to decision-makers
You're presenting to a building owner who cares about payback and a facility manager who cares about disruption. How do you handle it?
A strong answer: Addresses each person's concern directly (payback numbers for one, a work plan for the other), and keeps claims honest.
Behavioral · Closing
Tell me about a lighting retrofit or electrical upgrade you sold where the customer's biggest worry wasn't price.
A strong answer: Explains the real concern (keeping a business open, disruption, payback), how they shaped scope, phasing or after-hours work around it, and how they handled the hardest objection.
Commercial bids can take a season to award, so compare reps over two quarters. Track bids through general contractors and direct sales to owners as two separate streams, and set each target from the jobs you've won before.
New Contracts Closed
Signed subcontracts, owner contracts and purchase orders each quarter, counted when both sides sign. Note whether each came through a general contractor, a negotiated deal or a service account.
Revenue Growth
New contract value the rep brought in this year against last year, from signed contracts only. Put approved change orders on the rep's jobs in their own column, so they can't hide a slow year of new sales.
Bid Conversion Rate
Contracts won divided by bids sent. Count a building priced to several general contractors as one bid, won or lost, so the rate shows how often your number takes the job.
Customer Satisfaction Rating
When the job closes, have the owner, or the project manager at the general contractor, score the rep on three things: a clear scope, a price that held, and alternates explained well.
Career path
Assistant estimator or supply house inside salesLearns takeoffs, gear pricing and how contractors buy.
Sales representativePrices bids, walks sites, presents to owners and closes contracts.
Project managerSome move over to run jobs from the signed contract to closeout.
Sales managerTakes on the team, its price holds and the largest accounts.
To win electrical work at a price the crews can build for. Some of it is bid. The rep gets questions to the engineer before the deadline, often through the general contractor, and checks that what the proposal leaves out matches what the estimator assumed. Some is worked out face to face with owners and property managers who come back to a rep they trust. After a win, the rep walks the project manager through every promise the price rests on.
How much does a commercial electrical sales representative make?
Sales representatives of services who work for electrical contractors earned a median of $33.95 an hour ($70,620 a year) in May 2025, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. The middle half earned between $52,820 and $102,330 a year. Pay also depends on your local market, experience and overtime.
What should a rep bring back from a site visit?
Bring photos of each panel's directory and the nameplates on the main gear, plus the ceiling height and type, which decide whether crews need a lift. Open a panel door to read the directory, but leave the inner cover on; taking it off is an electrician's job. Write down where and when power can be shut off, whether the space will be occupied, and which old fixtures or wiring stay. The estimator prices from these notes, so anything missing becomes a guess.
What do owners want from a proposal presentation?
Owners and facility managers worry about downtime. Show when power will go off, for how long, and how the building keeps running, such as night work, a temporary generator or a phased cutover. Then walk through the price, what's included, the alternates and the schedule. For a hospital or a plant, a clear outage plan can matter more than a slightly lower number.
What changes when the rep sells straight to an owner?
With no general contractor, your company is the prime. The proposal must cover what a general contractor would: any permits beyond the electrical one, patching ceilings and walls, lifts, hauling off old fixtures, after-hours access and the owner's insurance needs. Some states tax prime contractors differently too. Check with the CFO before you price a direct job in a new state.
What do the standing and lifting lines mean here?
The rep presents standing up, walks sites for an hour or more, uses a stepladder to check above a ceiling, and carries a sample fixture or a box of brochures, all under the template's lifting limit. On job sites they wear the gear the general contractor requires. Put these tasks in the posting, and tell applicants you'll consider a reasonable accommodation for anyone who asks.
