How To Get Into Software Sales
The first natural question is why join the tech space and pursue a career in sales. For one it is a lucrative career that is seeing huge growth. As tech explodes, companies inevitably need reps to push their products to hit aggressive revenue goals. Typically OTE (On target earnings) can easily be north of six figures after 2,3 years in the space.
Most sales careers begin in an SDR (Sales Development Representative) or BDR (Business Development Representative) role. These roles are the lowest on the totem pole and are typically occupied by people straight out of college or new to the industry. This is where you'll likely end up. The next natural question is how to break into a saas sales role.
1. You must think outside the box. There is always a back door. Sales as is life is a numbers game. If you apply to 10 roles on Linkedin and glassdoor you most likely will not hear back. Everyone is applying the same way to the same roles you need to think outside the box. For example, instead of applying through Linkedin reach out to alumni from your current school on Linkedin to set up networking calls. Once you have an informational call asking about the role, hours and generic questions you might have you should end the call asking, "who else it might be helpful to speak with?". They will let you know who the proverbial gate keeper is and who to get in touch with that is making the actual decisions. This will help you skip the line of resumes waiting to be read.
Another trick that has worked in the past is directly emailing and or linkedin messaging HR or talent acquisition reps at the company. You can typically find their emails on the internet or you can even create a free trial of ZoomInfo to pull their info. This shows your persistence and helps stand out in a role that requires the exact same tenacity.
2. Sign up for a summer internship at a company that you would like to eventually work at. This will allow you to gain skills as well as get into the company early which is helpful because you can move through the roles quicker if you're any good because companies like to hire internally. IF you do not have summer internship experience, take online courses that allow you to get a flavor of a sales role. How useful are these courses is up for debate but it can be a topic of discussion in interviews and show your interest in a sales career. Another useful exercise would be to learn up on different CRMs. The main one you would use are most likely SalesForce, Hubspot or Outreach. The CRM is your bible for everything in sales from prospect info to actual opportunities and deals won. Typically when a client is closed the account is then used by the customer success team. If you can get an early jump on using a CRM you are starting ahead of the curve.
Reading sales books are crucial to getting a good grasp on fundamental skills to learn. See more on our best sales books tab.
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