Salesman -need career advice please!
Discussion
Hi all,
I am in my late 20s and have been in sales for 9 years. I have worked for medical industry multinationals since I started and currently find myself working for a prominent Orthopaedics company selling hip and knee implants to surgeons.
I have a good track record and want to know what options I have for making more money. I am sure many of you PH'ers have already trodden this path successfully. I am all ears to any advice and experience you have.
I have always been amazed by the options for making money that I never even knew existed! Any super sales roles around???????
I will be looking to move on in 12-15 months time.
Thanks
I am in my late 20s and have been in sales for 9 years. I have worked for medical industry multinationals since I started and currently find myself working for a prominent Orthopaedics company selling hip and knee implants to surgeons.
I have a good track record and want to know what options I have for making more money. I am sure many of you PH'ers have already trodden this path successfully. I am all ears to any advice and experience you have.
I have always been amazed by the options for making money that I never even knew existed! Any super sales roles around???????
I will be looking to move on in 12-15 months time.
Thanks
Edited by 10speeduk on Monday 16th November 22:27
ha ha. No, but should be end of nxt yr. But then where? I heard a collagues mate sells nuclear weapon software, £250k+ but has to be driven around with a black bag on his head...as he sells to different countries...conflict of interest etc...! Not sure I want to go down that route as I think its a bit unethical. or rather I would not feel comfortable with it. Saying that, not having to brush my hair in the morning could be a plus.
Rob13 said:
How do you get into IT sales? Surely its not an industry with a generic sales background but someone who has come from within the sector i.e network engineers?
No need to be a techie to get into IT sales. Infact, most IT sales people I have worked with know the bare minimum, they understand the logic/theory, but wouldn't know the difference between a donut and harddisk if they were asked to put a PC together. After quoting the theory if a client asks them a slightly challenging question they stumble. Havin said that, to earn six figures in IT you need to have contacts in IT already, as they say, it's who you know.
If you want more money, I suggest you stear clear of IT, well, hardware at least. Software is a different bag, i've only touched on this. But to be honest, just look at Vista, loads of problems!! Windows 7 comes out and its in the news with problems within a couple of weeks.
Software is a pain in the ass, not a fun sell!! However in my opinion, if you can't stand the hassle, the IT big bucks is in software not hardware.
Financial software and legal software and good places to start... Mainly legal, solicitors firms on £150+ per hour seem to be pretty easy to sell to, providing the solution is genuinly a good one.
I'm reading this thread with interest as I was in software sales for years (EDI, supply chain etc) during the mid 90's onwards and through the dotcom boom - great times.
I have been thinking about returning recently and have been trying to remember the name of an industry magazine I used to get which had many jobs advertised at the back, many of them directly by the employer rather than through an agent and for the life of me I can't think what it was called, it may not even exist now - any ideas?
I have been thinking about returning recently and have been trying to remember the name of an industry magazine I used to get which had many jobs advertised at the back, many of them directly by the employer rather than through an agent and for the life of me I can't think what it was called, it may not even exist now - any ideas?
Enterprise Software or Large scale IT (hardware) sales.
Typical OTE £120k (half basic half commission) and the really good sales guys can earn well over £250k, I know of a £1m+ year for one of my friends. Having said that, normal/good sales guys will just about make their OTE.
The key to finding the right opportunity, is looking for a sales led organisational culture, a good product in a growing market - preferably the company should be a top 3 player. Sometimes its better to work for the No. 2 company that is aspirational over the No. 1 company that is complacent - your sales effort will be higher valued. Also, look for something that has a quick sales cycle and a compelling return on invenstment model for the customer. It makes it quicker get to the required run rate to make your quota. ERP makes money, but you have long sales cycles, and only a few opportunities a year - so, if one or two go pop, your left with a bad year. Finally, in software, particularly if you work for US organisations, "your only as good as your last quarter" as a saying holds if not literally, at least reasonably true.
You don't have to be a techie to be an 'IT' sales guy. In fact, I would say the opposite, the best sales guys I know are the ones who can barely opperate their laptops. Its all about the business benefit.
Typical OTE £120k (half basic half commission) and the really good sales guys can earn well over £250k, I know of a £1m+ year for one of my friends. Having said that, normal/good sales guys will just about make their OTE.
The key to finding the right opportunity, is looking for a sales led organisational culture, a good product in a growing market - preferably the company should be a top 3 player. Sometimes its better to work for the No. 2 company that is aspirational over the No. 1 company that is complacent - your sales effort will be higher valued. Also, look for something that has a quick sales cycle and a compelling return on invenstment model for the customer. It makes it quicker get to the required run rate to make your quota. ERP makes money, but you have long sales cycles, and only a few opportunities a year - so, if one or two go pop, your left with a bad year. Finally, in software, particularly if you work for US organisations, "your only as good as your last quarter" as a saying holds if not literally, at least reasonably true.
You don't have to be a techie to be an 'IT' sales guy. In fact, I would say the opposite, the best sales guys I know are the ones who can barely opperate their laptops. Its all about the business benefit.
Intresting topic for me, I have been in media sales for the last 5 years, bearing in mind im only 25, have been looking for the jump into IT sales, and actually might have a prospect through networking with someone on here.
However I have always been intrested to find out how you get into companies such as Sungard, Calypso etc.
They are my clients at present, but its always difficult to turn round to them and say can I have a job.
I sell to your clients all day long, therefore I must be able to sell your products to them just as easily as I am selling media to them.
However I have always been intrested to find out how you get into companies such as Sungard, Calypso etc.
They are my clients at present, but its always difficult to turn round to them and say can I have a job.
I sell to your clients all day long, therefore I must be able to sell your products to them just as easily as I am selling media to them.
This is a really misinformed thread.
Successful salespeople in IT sell solutions to business problems, not hardware or software.
Picking the product you sell, and doing your due dilligence on the fitness for purpose of the product, the strength of the marketing organisation, the effectiveness of the pre-sales consulting actually demoing what the client requires are all considerations.
You also need to be selling a product of value in a declining market - products which protect the bottom line will result in sales. Those which add to a supposed top line , in todays market, will not.
Products need to be enterprise software, not shrinkwrapped - any solution which does not drag through as much revenue in services is either a commodity product (sold by a £25k telesales rep) or is not sufficiently flexible to really meet the business needs. Businesses without granular demands for solutions to fit the established best practice functionality of the organisation buy cheap. These are the guys who buy open source, Sharepoint et al.
There are currently no successfuul sales people in ERP - SAP etc are in freefall, they have market saturation, frozen customer projects and budgets, and a client base generally wioth a bad taste in their mouths. The winners in this space moved on years ago.
Compliance and Risk Management software is the feeding ground today. Why? Because it is driven by regulation. Solutions for 21 CFR 11, Sarbox, OHSAS 18000, ISO etc are in demand. But will you make £250k? I think not. Not unless you are very very lucky in the territory and pipeline you inherit.
Successful salespeople in IT sell solutions to business problems, not hardware or software.
Picking the product you sell, and doing your due dilligence on the fitness for purpose of the product, the strength of the marketing organisation, the effectiveness of the pre-sales consulting actually demoing what the client requires are all considerations.
You also need to be selling a product of value in a declining market - products which protect the bottom line will result in sales. Those which add to a supposed top line , in todays market, will not.
Products need to be enterprise software, not shrinkwrapped - any solution which does not drag through as much revenue in services is either a commodity product (sold by a £25k telesales rep) or is not sufficiently flexible to really meet the business needs. Businesses without granular demands for solutions to fit the established best practice functionality of the organisation buy cheap. These are the guys who buy open source, Sharepoint et al.
There are currently no successfuul sales people in ERP - SAP etc are in freefall, they have market saturation, frozen customer projects and budgets, and a client base generally wioth a bad taste in their mouths. The winners in this space moved on years ago.
Compliance and Risk Management software is the feeding ground today. Why? Because it is driven by regulation. Solutions for 21 CFR 11, Sarbox, OHSAS 18000, ISO etc are in demand. But will you make £250k? I think not. Not unless you are very very lucky in the territory and pipeline you inherit.
Edited by Fat Arnie on Monday 7th December 23:47
Swerni, I'm looking to get into sales, but that post lost me in the jargon. Sounds like you know what you're talking about so i'd be grateful if you could enlighten me as to the markets which are showing huge growth at the moment. Unfortunately I'm not in the South East nor in the M4 Corridor so have to make the best of what we have up here.
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