What Is Tech Sales and How to Get Into Tech Sales in 2024?
- Published on February 6, 2024
- Updated on August 29, 2024
Table of Contents
Did you know we are living in the middle of the greatest job opportunity many of us will ever have? Based on projections by the U.S Bureau of Labor Statistics, tech sales jobs are going to grow by a whopping 6-10% from 2018 to 2028. What’s more amazing is that the average salary for a technology sales professional with only a few years of experience is around $100,000 per year in the US give or take.
Have you ever felt overwhelmed trying to decipher terms like SaaS, PaaS, AIaaS? Let’s be honest – the tech world moves blindingly fast. Exciting innovations emerge constantly while new startups topple incumbents overnight. If engaging this thrilling landscape excites you while uncorking champagne bottles signifies a job well done, have I got the career for you!
In this guide, I will share everything from decoding tech sales job titles, assessing required skills, navigating interviews, and profiling insider career tips guaranteed to transform you from a tech sales padawan to a dealmaking tech sales machine earning those champagne showers in no time.
KEY TAKEAWAYS
- There are diverse tech sales positions – Main types of roles include software sales, hardware sales, and IT services sales. Each requires a mix of sales, communication, and technical skills.
- The work is fast-paced and exciting – The tech industry evolves rapidly, with new products launching frequently. Tech sales reps get first looks at cutting-edge innovations.
- Develop resilience to handle pressure – Tech sales has high-pressure quotas. Building resilience to rejection and setbacks allows reps to thrive despite tough metrics.
- Constant learning is crucial – With new technologies emerging daily, curiosity and willingness to skill up set top tech sales talent apart.
- Leverage networks and get experience – Networking, internships, and any type of sales experience helps candidates transition into tech sales.
- Specialized tech knowledge is key – While sales skills are crucial, prospects want to know reps understand solutions at a high level.
- Both soft skills and hard skills matter – Tech sales requires a mix of communication abilities along with technical literacy to position unique value.
- Focus on trusted advisor relationships – Guiding customers to the right solutions and building partnerships long-term is most rewarding.
What is Tech Sales?
Tech sales is the business of selling technology products or services. Tech sales reps work with clients to understand their needs and match them with the right solutions. This role is critical in the tech industry and requires a blend of sales skills, technical knowledge and the ability to build strong relationships.
| Tech Sales Position | Level | Experience | Average Base Salary | Job Description |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sales Development Representative (SDR) | Entry Level | 0 - 2 years | $50K - $60K / year | Sales Development Representative position in tech sales involves prospecting and qualifying leads coming from inbound channels. SDRs set up sales opportunities for Account Executives. Though high pressure, a tech sales SDR role offers career mobility to advance to Sales Rep or Account Manager. SDRs require sales skills like communication abilities, product knowledge, and resilience to handle rejection. SDR tech sales job enables developing customer relationships and sales pipeline for closing deals. |
| Business Development Representative (BDR) | Entry Level | 0 - 2 years | $50K - $60K / year | Business Development Representative in tech sales is an entry level sales role focused on lead generation. BDRs prospect potential customers through cold calling, email outreach, social media, and other methods to spark interest and set up sales meetings. Though high pressure, a BDR tech sales job enables building a sales pipeline and relationships to feed the sales team. BDRs require resilience, communication abilities, sales knowledge, time management and prospecting skills to be successful. BDR role is pivotal for bringing in new sales opportunities and revenue growth for tech companies. |
| Inside Sales Representative | Entry Level | 0 - 2 years | $50K - $60K / year | Inside Sales Representative in tech sales handles selling products and services remotely through phone, email, chat, and other channels. Rather than meeting customers face-to-face, they build relationships and close deals from the office. Inside sales reps require resilience, prospecting abilities, product knowledge, and communication skills to drive revenue growth. Though high pressure, an inside sales role in tech enables leveraging technology to efficiently broaden reach and reduce costs. With competitive base pay and commission bonuses, inside sales offers a path to advance into sales leadership roles. |
| Outside Sales Representative | Entry Level | 0 - 2 years | $60K - $70K / year | Outside Sales Representative is a tech sales role focused on selling products and services through in-person meetings with potential customers outside of the office. Outside sales reps travel to visit prospects and clients to demonstrate products, answer questions, negotiate deals and close sales. Outside sales requires resilience, product expertise, communication abilities and travel availability more than inside sales. Though outside sales is typically more costly than inside sales, meeting face-to-face enables building strong relationships and trust to boost revenue. |
| Account Executive | Account Management | 1 - 3 years | $70K - $100K / year | Account Executive is a senior sales role focused on acquiring new clients and growing revenue from existing accounts. Account executives manage the entire sales process from lead generation to closing deals, requiring resilience, product knowledge, prospecting, and communication abilities. Though quota-carrying, an account executive tech sales job offers high earning potential with a base salary around $100K and commission bonuses. It is a relationship-driven, complex and stressful but rewarding sales position pivotal for driving business growth through maintaining strong customer rapport. |
| Technical Sales Account Manager | Account Management | 1 - 3 years | $90K - $120K / year | Technical Sales Account Manager is a post-sales role focused on ensuring client success and loyalty by providing ongoing product support and training. Requiring technical expertise and communication skills, they assist customers in properly implementing and optimizing usage of products to meet needs. Technical Sales Account Managers collaborate with sales teams to convey user feedback for refining the sales process and products. Though not directly sales-facing, they are pivotal for retaining accounts, securing contract renewals and enabling cross-selling opportunities. |
| IT Sales Account Manager | Account Management | 1 - 3 years | $60K - $80K / year | IT Sales Account Manager is responsible for overseeing and growing key customer accounts by ensuring satisfaction and loyalty. Unlike sales reps focused on acquisition, account managers handle post-sales responsibilities like responding to requests, providing product support, conveying user feedback to refine offerings, and securing renewals. Requiring resilience, customer service skills and communication abilities, the IT sales account manager role is pivotal for account expansion, cross-selling, boosting retention and maintaining strong client relationships over the long term. |
| Sales Manager / Director of Sales | Sales Leadership | 2 - 5 years for a Sales Manager role. 5+ years for a Director of Sales. | $100K - $150K / year | Sales Manager or Director of Sales holds a senior leadership role managing a team of sales reps and the overall sales function. Key responsibilities include establishing sales strategies, hiring and training reps, monitoring team performance, and taking actions to motivate and boost productivity. Sales leadership adapts plans based on market conditions to achieve growth targets. Requiring resilience and excellent communication abilities, sales directors and sales managers serve as the bridge between frontline sales reps and company executives. |
| Vice President of Sales | Executive Level | SMB 5 - 10 years. Large coporation 10+ years. | $150K - $350K / year | Vice President (VP) of Sales is the senior executive leading the tech sales organization with full strategic and operational responsibility over the sales function. As the face of sales, key duties include establishing tech sales strategies and targets, recruiting and developing key sales talent, securing major accounts, conveying market insights to inform product development, and presenting performance data to company leadership. VPs motivate large sales teams to drive exponential revenue growth and expand market share. An effective tech VP of sales has experience driving growth in software and SaaS businesses, expertise leading complex sales organizations, and skills to mentor sales teams and foster a high-performance culture. |
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3 Main Types of Tech Sales Positions
When eyeing a career in tech sales, getting familiar with the main job categories can help narrow your focus. But with so many positions carrying confusing titles, how do you even tell them apart? Don’t sweat it – I’ll walk you through the three core types any prospective tech salespro should recognize.
1. Software sales.
Let’s start with software sales. This means selling, well, software! Whether it’s a SaaS platform, mobile apps, AI tools – you name the technology, and there’s a software sales job selling it. In this exciting role, you get to pitch cutting-edge solutions and close deals with C-suite executives at enterprises across every industry imaginable. Not bad, huh?
2. Hardware sales.
If hammering out complex SaaS contracts isn’t your speed, hardware sales could be your jam. We’re talking physical tech here – servers, laptops, routers, printers. Anything with an on/off switch that companies need to run their technology stack. As a vendor rep for brands like Dell, Cisco or HP, you’ll consult with IT directors to optimize their tech procurement and infrastructure strategy. Corporate tech budgets are massive, so expect some big sales commission checks!
3. IT services sales.
Lastly, we have IT services sales. Got a client struggling with cloud migration? Help them move. Cybersecurity giving them fits? Offer your security services. Essentially you’re selling book-smart tech consulting to unravel today’s business technology challenges. With every company now Software dependent, demand has never been greater for managed IT services and solutions.
IT Sales vs Tech Sales
If you’re considering a sales career centered around technology, you’ve probably come across jobs listed as “IT sales” or “tech sales”. What exactly is the difference, and does it matter? I had the same question starting out!
Essentially, IT sales and tech sales refer to similar roles focused on selling technology products and services. However, tech sales is a broader term that encompasses IT sales jobs plus additional technical sales positions.
IT sales specifically focuses on selling information technology to business clients. This usually means solutions for managing or enhancing a company’s software, hardware, networking, cloud, security, data and other IT infrastructure. Some examples of IT sales roles include selling cybersecurity software, cloud hosting plans, laptop fleets, servers, IT managed services, etc. You’re strictly selling products or services catered to a client’s IT department and technology stack.
Meanwhile, tech sales serves as a wider umbrella covering IT sales, plus sales jobs around emerging technologies. Roles here might include selling cutting-edge tech offerings related to artificial intelligence, Internet of Things (IoT), augmented reality, data analytics, quantum computing, robotics and more. So in addition to selling IT, you may be introducing clients to sci-fi-esque tech they’ve never seen before!
The upshot is that tech sales professionals can usually fill IT sales positions, but the reverse isn’t always true. Selling bleeding-edge technologies requires keeping up with a torrent of innovations that someone exclusively focused on IT infrastructure may not follow as closely.
That said, the most in-demand sales skills around consultative selling, relationship-building, presentating and negotiating apply evenly to both sectors. Tech sales simply requires staying on top of more types of technology. For those interested specifically in selling IT solutions, an IT sales career offers exciting potential to deliver huge value as organizations increasingly depend on complex IT systems.
In practice, “IT sales” and “tech sales” job listings are often used interchangeably. Typically the main difference lies in whether a role focuses more narrowly on IT or includes next-gen technologies.
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Pros of Working in Tech Sales
When I first started out in tech sales, I’ll admit the earning potential attracted me. But after closing complex deals and guiding customers to solutions that solved real problems, I realized this career offers so much more in terms of impact and growth.
1. High earning potential.
In my early days struggling to pay off student loans, those six-figure tech sales salaries definitely caught my eye! According to Glassdoor and Zippia, tech sales representative salaries in the United States vary quite wildly, $40,000 – $200,000 per year. Many entry-level roles in tech sales offer around $50,000 – $60,000 base pay right out the gate. Not too shabby.
With commission and bonuses based on deals closed, OTEs (On-Target Earnings) the pay can quickly double or even triple for top performers. I still remember the rush of landing a big software deal in my first year that earned me a $7,200 commission check. As you build skills and relationships, promotions to senior or management roles with even higher earning potential will be in reach.
But while tech sales offers an undeniably lucrative career path, the human impact and problem-solving aspects stay most rewarding for me. Guiding a small business to solutions that help them grow or watching a customer’s face light up when a new tech rollout succeeds – those moments make the hard work worthwhile.
The tech landscape grows more complex each day, so skilled and passionate sales professionals who can connect clients to the right tools for their needs will always be in high demand.
2. Exciting, fast-paced tech industry.
Have you ever felt bored or stuck in a job where things rarely change? Well, let me tell you – that won’t happen in tech sales! With so much constant influx of new products and innovations, it seems like game-changing technologies are launching almost daily. I’d often get first-look demos of tools that wouldn’t hit the broader market for months. I find it thrilling to glimpse into the future. But it also keeps me hustling to stay on top of the latest capabilities I could showcase to prospects.
A great question I often get asked is “How did you manage that non-stop learning curve in tech sales?” Well, besides spending late nights and weekends studying new software products, I found that collaborating with our software developers and product experts was crucial. Setting up briefings where I could ask any questions without judgement.
Another exciting part to look forward are company’s products launches. When we released our AI-powered features, I knew it would be game-changing for many prospects. We had been working on it for about a years in stealth mode. And you know what? This new offering helped me meet my OTE much much faster!
The tech sales landscape will only get more complex. But if you’re curious and willing to constantly upskill yourself, it pays off in the long run.
3. Career mobility and career development opportunities.
When I started in sales, I’ll admit – I had dreams of working my way up to VP of Sales one day. You gotta dream big, right? And tech sales does offer that clear progression path from entry level positions up to sales leadership if you want to climb the tech sales ladder.
If management isn’t your cup of tea, tech sales builds amazing transferable skills for career mobility across industries. For example, my experience of complex deal negotiations helped me develop the ability to influence stakeholders and communicate more effectively. Skills like that can serve any tech sales representative or account manager well.
Another great question I get asked is ” What’s the biggest skill you built in tech sales that prepared you for broader success?” I’d say that tech sales taught me resilience in the face of rejection and setbacks. Between tough prospecting days with zero meetings booked to losing a major contract I poured months of work into, I built determination and the ability to bounce back.
Those skills helped me approach any obstacle in roles beyond tech sales with resolve and level-headed problem solving. Whether handling a tough client or overcoming internal roadblocks, staying solution-focused is key.
Being in tech sales also allowed me to build up a strong professional network across the industry. Maintaining contacts with customers, partner companies, startups, and beyond, opens doors to new opportunities.
4. Remote work.
One exciting advantage of tech sales roles is the growing remote work opportunities. Especially since more companies recognize top sales talent can thrive and drive results regardless of physical location.
At one point, our entire sales development team worked fully remote across different time zones. Leveraging collaboration tools like Slack and Google Meet and stay aligned through regular check-ins and meetings. This flexibility empowers each tech sales rep to customize their home office setups and schedules in ways that optimize productivity. Personally, I love being able to take breaks to walk my dog or hit the gym without worrying about commute times.
For me, the ability to work from anywhere with an internet connection tops the list. Last year, I spent a month working from Europe while handling my existing clients’ accounts. As long as you communicate proactively and meet (or exceed!) quotas, your sales team lead will only care about results.
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Cons of Working in Tech Sales
Are you prepared to lose a sale after months of work due to factors fully outside your control? Can you keep up with the lightning pace of changing technologies relevant to your role? The high highs and low lows of tech sales life aren’t for everyone.
1. High pressure environment and quotas.
Hey, I won’t sugarcoat it – tech sales CAN BE an extremely demanding field in terms of quotas and high pressure to produce results. The compensation potential attracts top performers who thrive under pressure. But the constant targets also lead some to burnout.
For example, a friend of mine in her first Business Development Representative (BDR) role at a rapidly scaling SaaS startup almost burned out. Her sales leadership preached that missing quota was unacceptable, no excuses. As an ambitious young BDR, she liked the competitive environment and routinely put in 10+ hour days prospecting to smash her meetings booked goal.
But after a year, I noticed her dreading Monday mornings, exhausted before the week even began. She wasn’t alone. The company churned through BDRs quickly as many hit their limit coping with the unrelenting sales goals.
While some thrive under the pressure cooker environments, others may prefer roles with more work-life balance. So before jumping into tech sales, please please evaluate your temperament and motivations! The high commissions reward those able to handle the heat – but it undoubtedly sizzles.
2. Tech sales got a steep learning curve.
I’ve seen way too many people underestimate just how steep the learning curve can be. Keeping pace with new technologies and solutions launching almost daily can be daunting. Even as an eager recent grad, I struggled at times with the buzzwords, industry jargon and product capabilities expected in client conversations.
It’s crucial to maintain credibility with technically-savvy prospects. So I highly recommend, new tech sales reps to devote 10-15 hours weekly to skill up. But the constant treadmill of research, webinars, and training can be super draining at times.
I’d advise new sales reps not to hesitate asking questions when unfamiliar terms or acronyms come up. Just chat with your tech support guys or software developers when you get the chance. Building fundamental literacy pays off. Creating a culture of collaboration beyond just the sales team is invaluable.
3. Dealing with rejection and losing sales.
I won’t pretend that handling rejection and losing out on sales is easy – even for tech sales veterans with thick skin.
I remember spending weeks nurturing a hot prospect at a fast-growing startup in California. I felt we developed great rapport and that our platform was a perfect fit. Then, they unexpectedly went with a scrappy competitor on price. I took it personally. All the time invested only to lose by a hair felt devastating. I replayed my demo calls and emails wondering what more I could have done.
It took me too long to realize some losses are out of my control. As technology advances, buyers today have endless options and negotiation power in the sales process. Even if you position value flawlessly, deals can crater based on factors like internal politics or budget changes.
While resilience is crucial, don’t hesitate to lean on mentors and peers in your sales team for support when you need it. The highs and lows tend to balance out over time. As long as you learn from the experiences, rejection gets easier to brush off and bounce back from.
4. Imposter syndrome.
I’ll be fully transparent with you, when I first transitioned into tech sales, I often felt out of my depth. In client conversations, I sometimes worried prospects could see right through my lack of technical knowledge. Even as I racked up wins, I still questioned myself if I really belonged in tech sales.
I’ve since realized nearly every sales rep experiences imposter syndrome at some point, even those with technical backgrounds. Specializing in a niche and collaborating cross-functionally helps. But giving yourself grace to learn on the job is key.
At the end of the day, customers care most about understanding how a solution addresses their business goals. Curiosity and willingness to ask questions goes a lot further than trying to fake your technical knowledge and prowess. Authenticity wins in tech sales.
5. Travel requirements.
While some tech sales roles are fully remote, others require extensive travel to potential customers sites for meetings, demos, equipment installations and more. I learned this firsthand when I transitioned from an inside sales rep to an outside sales rep covering most of the East Coast States.
Suddenly I was racking up frequent flyer miles crisscrossing my region for discovery days, project kickoffs and onsite needs assessments. Don’t get me wrong – I enjoyed meeting customers face-to-face and traveling to some fantastic places. But after a year or so living out of hotel rooms, my work-life balance started to fray.
So how would you maintain sanity with a heavy tech sales travel schedule? Having planned many multi-city sales trips, I suggest you learn to be strategic in routing flights and client visits to maximize efficiency. Make sure to schedule a buffer day after red-eyes before client meetings. And I always kept noise-cancelling headphones and melatonin gummies handy for restless nights!
Most importantly, take advantage of downtime on the road to recharge mentally – whether catching up with old friends in that city or tackling your personal to-do list.
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Top Misconceptions and Myths about Tech Sales
When I first told friends and family I was pursuing a career in tech sales, I got a lot of raised eyebrows. To this day I meet people who have all kinds of misguided notions about what a tech sales job actually entails. After over a decade in the field, I want to debunk some of those myths!
- You have to be an overly aggressive extrovert – I can be somewhat soft-spoken by nature. While confidence helps, aggression turns customers off.
- It’s a boring desk job – I can assure you, it is not! Between strategy sessions, demos, networking events and onsite client meetings, you will be out from behind your desk more often than not! The dynamic days keep things exciting.
- You don’t need technical skills – While sales engineers handle the deepest technical details, prospects want to know you understand solutions at a high level. So stay calm and keep learning.
- It’s just about hitting quotas – While metrics matter, you should be focused more on guiding customers to the right solutions to drive growth. Developing trusted advisor relationships is the most rewarding aspect.
- There’s no career advancement – From managing teams to executive leadership, the sales path offers unmatched progression opportunities for top performers.
The myths go on and on! But the reality is tech sales offers a lot for the right personalities.
Tech Sales Roles and Responsibilities
Tech sales professionals take on a wide range of responsibilities across the customer journey – from initial prospecting and needs assessments to solution configuration, purchase facilitation, and post-sales support.
Here are some of the most common responsibilities I’ve encountered in my career in tech sales:
- Researching and evaluating competitor landscape and market trends to position unique value of products / services
- Using sales tools like CRMs to manage sales funnel and sales pipeline
- Conducting product demonstrations and presenting solutions tailored to customer needs
- Configuring quotes, negotiating contracts, and coordinating delivery / implementation
- Building long term relationships with clients over ongoing account management
- Traveling to customer locations for meetings, equipment inspections, installations etc.
While some smaller companies have one tech sales rep cover the full sales cycle, larger sales teams typically divide the responsibilities across specialized roles:
- SDR and BDR – Lead qualification and initial discovery meetings.
- Account executive – Managing deal cycles and closings
- Sales engineer – Providing in-depth technical expertise
- CSM (Customer Success Manager) – Ensuring adoption, satisfaction and expansion
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How To Get Into Tech Sales
Ever wondered what it takes to break into the coveted world of tech sales? Yep, it’s competitive all right. I’ve been in your shoes before, so allow me to let you in on the playbook.
1. Develop core sales skills.
Beyond just product knowledge, skills like, communication skills, persuasion, and sales pipeline management separate top performers in tech sales.
Strong listening and presentation skills allow you to discover customer needs and pain points to position solutions effectively. I recommend you invest time upfront roleplaying product demos and improving sales decks. That practice will pay off in landing meetings and closing deals later on.
You also need to master influence and negotiation skills to progress complex sales cycles. I personally used to struggle standing firm on pricing with aggressive procurement managers. Using an advisory approach that focused on costs and ROI helped me personally.
Leveraging CRM and sales technologies is equally important for optimizing productivity. Stay Disciplined. Log all client interactions. Track deal progress. I highly recommend you set aside time to update lead statuses and forecasts to stay focused on the highest potential sales opportunities.
2. Consider acquiring certifications.
A question often asked is “should I get certification?” Getting relevant certificates can definitely help you stand out. Certifications demonstrate motivation, commitment, and a willingness to develop the required skillset.
Snag a few certifications to wow hiring managers! Depends what you want to sell – HubSpot and Salesforce certifications work for software sales. Hardware roles? Cisco, Dell and HP shiny infrastructure badges. Point is, certified tech sales reps have a much higher chance of scoring higher pay, so do your due diligence. Check LinkedIn of sales reps that are already working at the company you’re looking to send your resume to. See if they have any certifications.
For most tech salesperson roles, focus on programs that help you master essential skills like consultative selling, objection handling, and presenting technical solutions. If you are going for specific tech sales positions in medical field then most likely you will need to get some niche certifications or even a science degree, etc.
3. Get sales experience.
Any sales experience helps big time! I know, you want to jump straight into slinging hot new SaaS. But here’s the thing – mastering the fundamentals separates the pros. Consider an entry level gig out of school to get your feet wet. Build those cold calling muscles, learn the art of closing, and soak up everything you can. Tech companies want to see you can sell before handing over their prized products!
When I was looking to get into tech sales, I knew hands-on sales experience would be beneficial even if in another industry. Tech companies want to see that drive before investing in extensive training.
Landing an internship at a tech company in sales or marketing can provide that exposure to the pace and processes. Honestly, any role from retail associate to financial services that gives sales experience and sharpens sales skills can apply. Communicating value, objection handling, and managing pipelines translate across verticals.
I have seen my friends transition successfully from selling cars, insurance plans, and even solar panels into software sales. Leveraging that existing sales experience while highlighting transferable skills for the tech industry can give you a leg up.
4. Prepare your tech sales resume.
Crafting a strong resume is critical for standing out in the competitive tech sales landscape. Here are some key tips on how to prepare a tech sales resume:
First, quantify past sales achievements by highlighting metrics and results: sales, lead conversion rates or customer retention rates. Numbers demonstrate the real business impact you’ve made. Even non-sales roles can highlight transferable skills like relationship-building.
Also show your motivation to continually skill up on relevant technologies. List any specialized tech training, certifications completed or self-guided learning. Showing that drive to understand tech is impressive.
Finally, don’s forget to customize your resume for each application. Research the company’s products and share specific reasons you’re passionate about pursuing sales there. Generic resumes get overlooked!
5. Use your network.
- Connect with tech sales leaders on LinkedIn – Tapping into your existing network is a great start. Making connections with professionals already in the industry provides valuable insights while expanding your opportunities. I spent time identifying tech sales leaders and top performers on LinkedIn to reach out to. Even a quick coffee or video chat to pick their brains proved worthwhile.
- Attend industry events and conferences – Attending tech meetups and conferences also allows you to organically nurture relationships. Always follow up with new contacts you met to continue the dialogue. You never know when one might connect you to an open sales role.
- Leverage your contacts and relationships – Lastly, don’t underestimate asking close friends, family members or past colleagues if they have any tech connections. My college roommate introduced me to a marketing leader at a cloud startup that needed an SDR. That personal reference landed me the interview that kickstarted my sales career!
Oh, and don’t forget to mix and mingle! I cannot stress this enough. Hit the events circuit, schmooze on LinkedIn, message people for coffee chats. Half of landing interviews comes down to having insiders bat for you. So, uh, know anyone at Salesforce? Ask your college buddy’s roommate who interned there last summer for an intro!
Even if you’re light on sales history, flaunt those soft skills. Communication chops. Creative problem solving. Resiliency and zeal. Tech sales lives on this stuff, so spotlight it prominently. At the end of the day, they’re seeking consultants as much as saleswhizzes.
Lastly, persistence pays off huge. Fire off 50 resumes if needed, follow up relentlessly, leverage your network for referrals. Oh, and open up that job search radius – virtual selling made location irrelevant.
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Conclusion
I’ve covered so much ground here! You now know those tricky tech sales job titles, what skills hiring managers hunt for, how to ace interviews, when to use Jedi mind tricks… kidding on that last part – or am I?
In all seriousness though, you’re now armed with insider tips to clearly convey your value and land a tech sales job offer. So first, pat yourself on the back real quick. With these tech sales insights, you stand leagues ahead of others trying to break into tech sales.
But (you felt that coming), we’re not done yet! Because here’s the thing – a plan without action is just a daydream. So what’s one step you can take this week? Reach out to that 2nd degree LinkedIn connection at HubSpot or Cisco? Polish up that sales resume? I’ll leave it to you.
Just know that I’m in your corner eager to see you transition into a rewarding tech sales career. Heck, someday after you’re making fat commissions I may hit YOU up for some pointers! So seriously, take action. Excited to see you crush it in tech sales. Now go wow some hiring managers!
FAQs
How do I get into tech sales?
To get into tech sales you need to build your technical knowledge and familiarize yourself with the tech industry. Connect with tech sales reps and hiring managers. Many tech companies offer entry-level positions, so apply even if you’re new. Certifications and understanding sales tools can also be beneficial.
What skills are needed for a tech sales job?
Tech sales reps must have strong communication skills to explain tech products and build relationships with customers. Tech knowledge is important but not mandatory. Skills like lead generation, closing deals and managing a sales pipeline are crucial. Effective problem-solving and working under pressure are valued.
What is the average salary for a tech sales rep?
The average base salary for a tech sales rep in the United States is approximately $71,000. However, this can vary widely based on factors such as experience, location and the tech sales position within a particular company.
Do I need a college degree to work in tech sales?
While a college degree can be beneficial for a tech sales career, it’s not always required. Hiring managers often value strong sales skills, technical knowledge, and the ability to build relationships over formal education. Many tech sales positions offer training programs for those new to the industry.
What are the challenges of working in tech sales?
Working in tech sales can be challenging due to the high pressure to meet sales goals, the need for constant learning to stay up to date with new technologies, and the competitive nature of the tech industry. Tech sales reps must excel in relationship building and adapt to the constantly evolving tech landscape.
About the Author
Our content team of sales, lead generation, and marketing experts provides industry-leading thought leadership on B2B sales and marketing, lead nurturing, and sales enablement strategies. With decades of combined C-suite and VP-level experience, we deliver actionable B2B sales and marketing content that gives B2B companies a competitive advantage. Our proven insights on lead management, conversion rate and sales optimization, sales productivity, and tech stack empower companies to increase revenue growth and ROI.
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