The tech sales industry is on the rise. Landing a tech sales job can seem daunting, but with so many startups and innovative companies looking to create a sales team with top talent you just need to learn how to stand out. Even if you’re not at the level to dive directly into tech sales, there are still many things you can do to set yourself up for career success. Below are four tips you should follow when looking for a tech sales job.
#1. Frame Your Questions With Research
In a tech sales interview, one of the most important things a hiring manager looks for is research. How well do you know their company? How well do you know the greater industry? What can you specifically bring to the company’s current projects? The more you know about an organization, its product, and its effect on the market, the more personal and insightful your interview will be. Hiring managers look for key employees that are ready to jump into their business and immediately start making a difference. Especially when it comes to revenue generators, already having a working understanding of the product or service, and being able to articulate it, can set you apart from countless other candidates.
#2. Accumulate Domain Experience
If you know you’re interested in tech sales, focus your professional career in the right domain. Start your work experience with sales jobs that have quotas, hold you accountable for managing accounts, and other translatable skills. Trying to switch industries can be a lot more challenging if you have never learned the basic fundamentals. Instead of taking a step back, always put yourself in the right domain so you know your experience will move you forward. Even if you aren’t able to go immediately into your ideal role, make sure that any career step you take continues to point you in the right direction.
#3. Gather Your Metrics
For both the tech and sales industries, metrics are extremely important. Take the time to gather your metrics and be able to tell a story about your growth. How has your quota changed? How often are you over quota? How have you sped up processes? Have you managed a team? Do you lead accounts? Finding concrete numbers that represent abstract characteristics is integral to landing a tech sales job. These careers combine analytics and people skills, so knowing how you excel is crucial when interviewing.
#3. Learn the Specifics
Lastly, for tech sales specifically, make sure you learn the programs needed to excel. Whether it is learning to code for sales engineering, or focusing more on CRM systems for the sales side, these specifics are make or break. Find out what different techniques or platforms you need to know and put in the time to learn them. Although these programs are always changing, take the time to learn what is new an being widely incorporated in the high-growth companies in your ideal industry. There are countless boot camp programs available for a job seeker to bolster their knowledge. Showing initiative by learning these before an interview can demonstrate to a hiring manager that not only are you coachable but you are driven to succeed.
