Decade in IT support/senior technie - Move to sales?

agnes

agnes

agnes

Soldato
Joined
1 Dec 2006
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Amsterdam, NL
Sup, I've had a good little career in IT, but I want to move on, and I'm tempted by a sales role...

I'm 28, so think I'm still young enough to search for a new career.

Has anyone made the move into sales before? It's an IT software company so I'll have knowledge of what they're selling.
 
Can you move to a pre-sales role first? Do you have experience delivering presentations, talking to large groups etc? Experience filling in RFQs, RFPs etc..

Then again depends on the sales role - some roles in software can simply be phone monkey/call centre type work selling 3rd party software no need to go through RFP/RFQs, travel to clients and deliver demonstrations, pitches etc...
 
I sort of did this about 3-4 years ago, moved from more support, services, advisory type roles into tech pre sales rather than pure salesman and haven't looked back to be honest, wish I'd done it sooner. (At a large vendor)

At the time I wasn't sure of the move to a sales orientsted role but it's been great, couldn't have worked out better for me in a lot of ways.

Whilst I'm tech pre sales and not the 'proper' salesman I still do a lot of the sales work!

As above get comfortable with public speaking, weirdly before this job I wouldn't have said I was a confident speaker but since doing it I just get on with it and actually feels pretty good fun :)

Phone is always ringing from recruiters now, really good way to get your name about going to see and speak to lots of customers.
 
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Funnily enough i just found myself in this situation 6 years experience in IT climbing the ranks through operations and project delivery and then started work at a upcoming software vendor as a sales engineer. I gave it a shot for a few months but decided it wasn't for me and i was told it would take some time to get used to it but how long that takes i don't know, as a more technical minded person i found the sales part tough too much tactical and strategy around how to deal with the customer and there is some risk around not performing but you are less vulnerable than those account managers and inside sales guys.

I ended up looking for that next step which for me was an architect role. Needless to say i am very happy now.
 
I am currently in sales and actually looking to change career.

30 year old here and been doing it since around 18-19 year old in a couple of different industries, although not IT related.

I want out as just sick of the chase and it is getting much harder and just not enjoying it anymore.

Don't get me wrong, the buzz you get from getting that large order is great. However I really hate cold calling! I guess if I worked for bigger firms with marketing teams, cold calling teams etc it will be much better but it just seems to be getting worse!

Not done too bad from it as it allowed me to get me onto the housing ladder, and then later down the line move into a great family home however money isn't everything!

The main thing is, you have knowledge of the product which helps greatly so you come across as a genuine guy and not someone who will say anything just for that commission cheque.

Think long and hard, do you have the option of going back to a similar role elsewhere if you do not like it?
 
I did a couple of years in a sales tech roles, it's a pretty good gig to be honest.

You're the good cop in the tech/salesman duo, and you're pitching greenfield, ideal world and usually with the latest technology, without any of the ball-ache of actually having to deal with real systems day-to-day and support dross :)
 
A friend of mine ended up in IT sales, I don't know the in's and outs of what he does or how he ended up there, but I do know he loves his job, is damn good at it and makes a serious amount of money, the git!! :p
 
I did this a couple of years ago. Had spent 5-6 years in technical roles and now in sales. It's a VERY different environment, it's not about talking around a product/service it's about developing relationships.

Personally I love it and very glad I made the move. The money is MUCH better, too.
 
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