An excavation sales representative walks builder lots and raw land, works out the digging, grading and clearing each job needs, and turns it into a proposal. They price builder lots from the company's price sheet, work up landowner and developer quotes with the estimator, and keep after each one until it's signed.
By the HireBus team · Updated · Pay data: BLS, May 2025
Median pay, other specialty trade contractors · BLS, May 2025
Responsible for evaluating job scope, presenting tailored excavation solutions, and finalizing excavation deals to drive revenue and customer satisfaction. Acts as the key liaison between clients and field operations to ensure projects are executed accurately and efficiently.
2. Essential Duties and Responsibilities
Evaluate project requirements and job scope to determine cost-effective excavation solutions.
Present customized proposals and excavation services to potential clients.
Negotiate and finalize excavation and site work deals with prospective customers.
Collaborate with field teams to ensure seamless project execution and client satisfaction.
3. Key Tasks / Daily Activities
Conduct on-site visits and customer meetings to assess job requirements.
Generate and follow up on leads, ensuring a steady flow of opportunities.
Prepare detailed proposals, cost estimates, and presentations for clients.
Maintain regular communication with project managers and field crews to ensure project alignment and timely execution.
4. Key Performance Indicators (KPIs)
New Sales Revenue: $50,000 per quarter.
Lead Conversion Rate: >20% conversion of prospects.
Customer Satisfaction Rating: >4.8 stars on post-project surveys.
Deal Closure Rate: >75% of presented proposals successfully closed.
5. Required Qualifications and Skills
Bachelor’s degree in Business, Marketing, Construction Management, or a related field.
Minimum of 2 years’ experience in sales, preferably within the construction or home services industry.
Strong negotiation, communication, and interpersonal skills.
Proficient in using CRM software and Microsoft Office Suite.
6. Preferred Experience
Experience in excavation, construction, or site work sales.
Familiarity with local building regulations and permit processes.
Demonstrated success in meeting or exceeding sales targets within the industry.
Previous experience working with and managing relationships with contractors and field teams.
7. Physical Requirements
Ability to visit job sites which may require walking on uneven surfaces.
Capable of handling a portable laptop and standard field equipment.
Occasional lifting of materials up to 25 lbs.
Comfortable working in variable weather conditions during site visits.
8. Work Environment and Schedule
Typical work hours are Monday through Friday, 8:00 AM to 5:00 PM.
Regular travel to client sites and project locations is required.
Some on-call duties may be necessary during project peak periods.
A mix of office and field-based work environments.
9. Compensation and Benefits
Base salary range: $45,000 - $60,000 USD annually.
Commission structure based on sales performance with potential quarterly bonuses.
Health, Dental, and Vision insurance provided.
401(k) plan with company match and additional fringe benefits.
10. Company Culture and Overview
We are a growth-oriented organization committed to fostering innovation, collaboration, and excellence.
Our culture emphasizes continuous learning, professional development, and rewarding contributions.
We strive to create an inclusive environment where every team member’s ideas are valued, driving success for both our employees and our customers.
Our mission is to empower our team to deliver top-notch services while advancing their careers within a supportive framework.
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
Builders order lots off a price sheet and want it applied right every time. Landowners buy once, need more explaining, and bring rules and paperwork of their own. The rep handles both kinds of sale.
An empty lot counts as away from your office
Landowners often sign on the land they plan to build on. The FTC rule for door-to-door sales can cover a sale a rep makes in person when the buyer signs anywhere but your office. For services a person buys mainly for their own household, it applies away from the buyer's home once the price reaches 130 dollars. So a family having a house pad dug for their own future home gets the written cancellation notice and a three-business-day window. A builder buying for lots it will sell does not. Source: eCFR: Door-to-door sale and consumer services, defined (16 CFR 429.0).
A new driveway can need a road permit
Take New Hampshire. Building a driveway onto a state-maintained road, or changing one in a way that substantially affects its size or grade, takes the state transportation department's written permit first. The landowner applies. For a home, the department has 60 days from a complete application to decide. Towns whose planning boards regulate street work can require the same for town roads. Ask if the permit is in hand before naming a start date, and price the culvert it calls for. Source: New Hampshire RSA 236:13: Driveways and other accesses to the public way (example state).
Logs on the lot carry value and paperwork
Clearing a wooded lot can turn up saw logs worth money, so the proposal says who keeps them: the owner, or the company for a credit. In New Hampshire, for one, the timber owner files a notice of intent to cut with the town. Cutting before the town signs it can be a violation for the owner, the cutter or both. The wood is taxed at a tenth of its stumpage value. Owners clearing their own land for a new use, permits in hand, are exempt up to set amounts. Source: New Hampshire RSA 79:10: Notice of intent to cut (example state).
Builder lots get walked before the dig
A builder's price sheet assumes a plain lot. Before a machine shows up, the rep walks each released lot with its plot plan. They look for what the sheet leaves out: a walkout basement, a long or steep driveway, no room to pile spoil, or a neighbor's foundation close to the dig. Each one gets priced from the extras list, and that price goes to the builder's purchasing desk before digging starts.
How much excavation sales representatives make
The closest BLS group for excavation sales representatives is sales representatives of services. Sales representatives of services who work for other specialty trade contractors earned a median of $31.09 an hour ($64,680 a year) in May 2025, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. That’s below the $69,990 median for sales representatives of services in all industries. About 12,140 of the 1,256,010 sales representatives of services in that survey work for other specialty trade contractors.
Base pay alone, even at the template's high end, falls short of this chart's middle, so commission decides whether a rep earns a typical wage here. Pay it on landowner jobs once the work is done and paid for, and on builder accounts lot by lot as each one bills, so nobody is paid on lots that never get dug.
Other specialty trade contractors
$64,680$64,680 median Middle half $50,280–$87,510 10th–90th $36,450–$129,120
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
Other specialty trade contractors
$36,450
$50,280
$64,680
$87,510
$129,120
All industries
$37,980
$47,670
$69,990
$100,480
$148,840
BLS doesn’t publish pay for excavation contractors on their own. These figures cover other specialty trade contractors, 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 or estimated excavation, grading or utility work
Works out a basement dig from the plot plan, the floor elevation and the soils report
Spots what a lot needs beyond the builder's price sheet in one walk
Writes proposals that say who keeps the logs and who pulls which permit
Gets a builder's purchasing desk to approve extras in writing before the dig
Explains the cancellation notice to a landowner in plain words
Teach these on the job
Your builder price sheets and extras list
Which machine and crew suit each kind of job
Takeoff software for cut and fill quantities
Driveway, clearing and timber rules where you dig
Your CRM and proposal templates
Out on a lot, the rep's tablet holds the CRM, proposal templates, builder price sheets and plan viewing software, and the truck carries a measuring wheel, a hand level and a soil probe. Developer work adds a takeoff program for cut and fill, which the estimator may run instead.
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 · Handling price objections
A customer asks why your price is higher than another excavator's. What do you say?
A strong answer: Compares scope line by line, such as base depth, compaction, haul-off and erosion control, without trashing the competitor, and offers scope options rather than a cut.
Behavioral · Follow-up
Tell me about a time you followed up on an estimate that had gone quiet and won the job.
A strong answer: Describes a planned follow-up, a useful reason to call, and what made the customer decide.
A landowner may sign the week after the walk, while a developer phase can take a season. Keep the two apart, and set targets once last year's proposals are tallied.
New Sales Revenue
Signed value each quarter, counting builder lots as they're ordered under a price sheet and landowner and developer jobs at signing. Show the margin each one was priced at.
Lead Conversion Rate
Signed customers divided by prospects the rep met. Keep builders, developers and landowners apart, because a builder may take a year to hand you a first lot.
Customer Satisfaction Rating
Landowner and builder scores for this rep's jobs, sent once the lot is graded and seeded or the driveway base is down. Count the low ones that trace back to an extra the rep missed on the walk.
Deal Closure Rate
Proposals signed out of proposals presented, by type of job. A rep who closes nearly every proposal may be pricing low, so check the margin on those jobs too.
Career path
Equipment operatorKnows how long a dig takes and what the ground will do.
Excavation sales representativePrices lots, driveways and clearing, and gets the proposals signed.
Sales managerRuns the sales team and makes sure builder accounts stay with the company.
Project managerA different path: running the grading and utility jobs they used to price.
It can work well. An operator knows how long a basement takes and spots bad ground on a walk. What they often lack is the paper side: clear written proposals, logging every lead and calling back on time. Have the sales manager review their proposals for their first season, and keep them off the machine except in a real pinch, or the follow-up slips.
How much does an excavation sales representative make?
Sales representatives of services who work for other specialty trade contractors earned a median of $31.09 an hour ($64,680 a year) in May 2025, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. The middle half earned between $50,280 and $87,510 a year. Pay also depends on your local market, experience and overtime.
Can a rep dig a test hole to check for rock or water?
With an operator and a machine, yes, but file a locate ticket first, as for any machine dig, and get the owner's OK. Nobody climbs in. Note the depth of any rock or water and the soil you saw, photograph the hole, and backfill it the same day. On builder lots, ask first whether the builder's soils engineer already dug test pits.
What if the builder changes the plot plan after the lot is priced?
Ask for the new plan and compare it with the one you priced: the footprint, the garage and the floor elevation. A house dropped a foot or two lower means more cut and more spoil to haul, and an added walkout changes the dig. Send a revised lot price to purchasing before the dig, not after the bill goes out.
Does an excavation rep need equipment training?
Not to run machines, but to know them. A rep should see which machine a job needs and how it gets there: a mini excavator on a tag trailer down a narrow drive, or a dozer that needs the lowboy and room to unload. Have new reps ride along on a few moves and digs early on, so their proposals match what the crews will bring.
What do the template's uneven ground, 25-pound and weather lines mean on a site work sale?
Walking a wooded lot before it's cleared, over stumps, brush and wet spots. Crossing a raw subdivision phase between spoil piles and open footings. Carrying the tablet, measuring wheel and soil probe from the truck. Doing all of it in March mud or August sun, whenever the landowner can meet. Keep the template's wording and write those tasks under it in your posting. A candidate who needs one done differently can ask for a reasonable accommodation, and you talk it through.
