Starting a career in Tech Sales

Are you looking to break into the exciting world of tech sales? You've heard about the great perks, unlimited earning potential and low barrier to entry and thought why not?

I'll start by telling you all the reasons why you should not go into tech sales.

It is an incredibly goal driven and high stress environment.

There will be daily, weekly, monthly, quarterly and annual goals set by the company to achieve a certain revenue growth rate. Your performance is only as good as the revenue you're delivering, there is no way to hide from it. To rub salt to the wound, a couple of bad quarters and your job could be at risk with a performance improvement plan.

To compound things even further, about half your income will be commission based so it really is feast or famine! Oh and don't forget, getting rejected will just be a daily occurrence - you'll get over that quickly. 

If this hasn't put you off the idea completely yet then you might have a lasting chance in the profession. It is a high risk - high reward profession.

As someone who has been through the highs and lows of the profession, I'll continue by telling you why I've stuck around and decided to continue down this career path. 

Life-long and irreplaceable skill

Early on in my sales journey, I was worried this profession would pigeon hole me. My concern was I would develop these soft skills and be left behind with no technical knowledge. Meanwhile, my peers were starting as analysts, building their technical prowess and becoming subject matter experts in their line of work.

At the time, my flatmate was a Big 4 consultant and pivoted into a boutique change management firm. We were discussing our career paths and how it differed, despite both studying accounting. This was when I realised the value of the skillset I was learning. Consultants early in their career were measured on billable hours and customer satisfaction.

As they progress into mid-level roles, there is a bigger emphasis on revenue influenced and won. In this particular firm, your career would accelerate if you were excelling in all three - billable hours, customer satisfaction and influencing revenue. 

Learning this, my perspective changed - starting a career early in sales allowed me to skip to the fun part and build a high value skill set which can be adapted to any industry.

Autonomy to own your own schedule

You can choose your destiny and how you get there. Don't take this as an excuse for being lazy. No it's completely different, you will get out what you put in.

If you wanted to live a comfortable life, you could easily never work beyond the 9-5pm schedule and build a balanced life outside of work.

I have a close friend who spent a year working from a van. That's right, he was a corporate professional, driving from town to town in Australia surfing the best waves in between meetings. He was able to do this because he demonstrated mastery in his role and built an incredible relationship based on trust with his manager. 

Contrastingly, I have another friend who was laser focused in his early 20s. His focus and dedication allowed him to earn millions before he turned 30. There was probably a bit of luck involved as well but with the right ingredients, it is totally possible. 

Unlimited earning and learning 

The title gives it away here. The industry standard is uncapped commissions and combine that with the right product/market fit, timing and territory - you could earn a salary equivalent to a C-Level executive. It's not uncommon for top reps to earn more than their managers and directors off the back of a good year. 

Oh and the learning opportunity. You'll be working with senior stakeholders who want to drive major organisational changes to boost revenue, drive productivity or reduce risk. These conversations can be highly strategic and intellectually stimulating for those with a business brain. 

Now the decision is yours. Is this a career path you see yourself going down?

For the tenured sales professionals out there, curious to hear what's keeping you in this profession?