How to Get into Technology Sales: All You Need to Know
Most people are talking about how to get into technology sales. Tech sales may be a terrific career path, regardless of whether you’re about to change things up or are just starting in your profession. In addition to the fact that there are many expanding businesses looking for talented salespeople. However, Anyone with a tech background—especially top-tier sales engineers and presales professionals—stands to make a lot of money
However, the tech sector is continually producing new goods for sale, and it needs skilled salespeople to explain the benefits of their goods to a market that is overrun with choices. It’s difficult, but not impossible, to get a solid job in tech sales. You may build a successful career in tech sales if you follow the tips in this article.
Table of Contents
- How Can Technology Increase Sales?
- How to Break into Tech Sales?
- Is Tech Sales a Good Career?
- What Skills Do You Need in Tech Sales?
- How Do You Become a Tech Sales Representative?
- Conclusion
How Can Technology Increase Sales?
Hence, even if your firm hardly uses technology at all, adopting a little bit of it here and there can significantly increase your overall sales. While this does not require you to overly complicate your business, it does mean that customers will grow accustomed to expecting a customer experience that comes with the simplicity of a technology-backed company. Customers are more accustomed to a digital, high-tech world. Here are some instances of how using technology to boost sales may be.
Productivity
In most circumstances, adding more technology to a company results in increased productivity, efficiency, and a reduction in wasteful spending and labor-intensive tasks. For instance, employing a free employee scheduling tool will significantly minimize the time managers and staff members spend managing the schedule. Employees can concentrate more intensively on giving clients a great experience or producing more work by leveraging technology to save time and energy, which will help them finish projects faster, save money, and eventually improve sales.
Internet/Social media
Every company in 2021 should put a high premium on optimizing social media and their website for sales. Building relationships with your target audience through targeted marketing is much more important than simply trying to sell to them. Developing relationships with potential leads and engaging your target market on social media takes time. Employing a freelance marketer or a marketing agency is something I would advise.
However, you should employ content that emphasizes visuals (images and videos) because our society is increasingly visual (stories). The customer is too busy to read a lengthy description of your product’s benefits. A chat pop-up program like Intercom or Drift can be a good addition to make your website more engaging. By asking a few simple questions, this tool enables you to converse with potential clients and determine their needs.
Smartphones and Apps
Numerous facets of the selling process have changed because 77 percent of Americans now own a mobile device, such as a smartphone or tablet. With the help of mobile technology, salespeople may instantly access information on products and services as well as other tools that improve the effectiveness of their sales presentations and the experiences of their clients. think about using a single location to communicate, share files, and use other tools with clients, vendors, or subcontractors. Emails simply couldn’t give the ordered format that Slack can use to bring all project stakeholders together.
Thus, make sure your apps are kept to a minimum. They shouldn’t include a ton of content since they aren’t websites. When a consumer wants assistance right away, they should be able to launch the app, hit a button, and they’re connected right away.
Customer feedback and advocacy
Customers should be involved in your marketing strategy because this is the era of consumer engagement, which will help you increase sales. According to Meghan Durett of Square 2 Marketing, an advocacy strategy is one in which you first identify your greatest brand ambassadors, then you make an action plan for their involvement in your procedure, keep track of it, and reward them for their work. This strategy can benefit from the use of software platforms like Influitive and Engagio.
How to Break into Tech Sales?
Hence, It can seem like tech sales positions have a lot of entry-level requirements, especially if you’re switching from another profession, because of the consulting skills, sales techniques, communication abilities, and several other duties that come with nailing the selling process.
However, there are several measures you may take to get a job in tech sales without having years of experience, a fancy tech degree, or even technical understanding.
Become an expert in the field you want to enter
Spend some time learning about the technology sector in general and the industry in which you are interested to understand how it operates, where it is trending, and which companies are being bought. Whose impending merger or acquisition is making news? Who will introduce the upcoming significant technological advancement? As soon as you are familiar with the sector, start compiling a list of potential employers.
Look into the history of every company you want to work with
Research the company as if you were a potential customer. Learn as much as you can about each employer where you might be interested in working. Providers of market research data like Crunchbase might be quite helpful in this area. Crunchbase provides insights to help you delve deeper into the workings of each company of interest thanks to its unique methodology for locating and publishing crucial corporate data and information. You’ll discover how they are financed, the identities of their founders and current executives, and the best ways to approach the appropriate people about a position.
Discover the sales procedures of the organizations you intend to target
Being a prospective consumer is the finest position to take to comprehend a company’s selling strategy. Learn about the goods and customer-facing strategies of each organization. Look for reviews and articles written by other sources praising the merits and shortcomings of each product when you read their inbound marketing emails and publications. Take a look at how the company’s sales funnel attracts prospects and leads them through a sales process that promotes sales and offers continuous support and assistance. When you enter a job interview, be prepared with the customer’s perspective so that you can discuss the product and sales process from an insider’s knowledge and viewpoint.
Learn the craft of communication
The key to sales is communication. Even if you are the most technologically savvy guy on the block, you won’t be successful in sales if you don’t know how to approach a prospect with assurance, empathy, and candor. You can take many classes and employ coaches to help you improve your communication abilities. Since public speaking is a common part of the sales process, you might want to consider joining a group like Toastmasters to improve your public speaking abilities.
Connect with professionals in the area
Speaking with others who have previously achieved success in the area is one of the finest methods to discover the hard and soft talents you’ll need to excel in tech sales and to be competitive when looking for tech selling employment. Even better, you can ask prospective companies for an informational interview to get their advice on how to break into the industry.
Is Tech Sales a Good Career?
Today’s tech sales revolve around getting to know your customer, forging a bond with them, and aiding in the resolution of their issues. The new generation of digital sales professionals is intellectually curious and motivated not just by financial gain but also by a passion for and need to address important issues. A career in technology is worth considering for the following key reasons.
It’s intriguing and gratifying work
Everyone eventually desires more from their profession than only financial gain. The trick is finding work that stimulates and fascinates you. Tech sales can be an interesting field to work in. You get to interact with intelligent individuals, work on intriguing problems, and learn skills that will serve you for the rest of your life.
Numerous career options are available
Tech sales professionals have some of the highest prospects for career progression. Many millionaires and IT investors, like Mark Cuban and Larry Ellison, started in the sales of technology. To become an account executive, you’ll probably need to start as a business development representative. Between one and two years are typical for this.
In addition, your hobbies and skills will determine your destiny moving forward. The opportunities are endless because the skill set you gain will be so comprehensive. You could manage larger accounts, manage a team of salespeople, join the marketing team, or launch your own business.
The pay is excellent
One of the most financially rewarding careers in technology is tech sales, especially given the huge rewards offered for exceeding sales targets. Depending on the city and the company, salaries can vary substantially.
Personal growth and adaptability
Personal growth is something that everyone should pursue, and adaptability is also essential. What’s this? Both advantages are plentiful in a career in tech sales. You’ll have to deal with failure and rejection if you work in sales. When you begin working in tech sales, you’ll rapidly understand how important objection handling is as a sales talent. You’ll utilize it throughout your entire life.
Additionally, businesses frequently provide their staff with elaborate training programs to improve their thinking and sales acumen. If you have a good work ethic and are resilient, you’ll advance professionally and discover that your personal development is becoming better every day. Flexibility is essential for those who have families and time-consuming extracurricular activities.
What Skills Do You Need in Tech Sales?
Your technical experts must be particularly strong in the following areas to gett maximum client satisfaction and revenue growth:
Discovering new possibilities
Professionals view clients via a particular lens. Technical experts should look for ways the customer could be performing certain tasks more effectively. If possible, they should then discuss these ideas with the customer directly; if not, they should do so with account relationship leads and business drivers. Technical professionals are often excellent at account prospecting. However, it’s crucial to set up “prospecting” for technical expertise correctly. When you mention “prospecting,” they get hostile and fearful.
What would you change, though, if you had the power over that situation? if someone were to ask you that. They frequently have many insightful suggestions. Clients appreciate these concepts. According to our research, proactive opportunity creation by account managers increases client happiness.
Making the best recommendations
It’s remarkable that while less than half of The Rest do it, almost 4 out of 5 Top Performers “create the greatest solutions.” Doing a common task uncommonly well leads to success, as Henry Heinz famously said. This is one of our top 10 crucial selling abilities.
Hence, the majority of businesses claim to be adept in consultative selling, which usually entails concepts like grasping customer needs and developing the most effective solutions. The Top Performers, however, excel at consultative selling, as evidenced by our research: Core consultative selling skills are possessed by 75% of Top Performers compared to just 39% of The Rest.
How to remove implementation barriers
Additionally, it appears that Top Performers are vastly superior at overcoming implementation challenges. This can be a combination of attitude—Top Performers are more motivated to fix problems when they arise—and technical problem-solving abilities.
Thus, loyalty and post-sale satisfaction have a strong correlation. Your level of satisfaction will increase as you become more adept at identifying and resolving implementation issues. The outcome will be lower future sales.
Offering technical guidance and responding to technical queries
Generally speaking, most businesses are adept at providing precise answers to technical queries. Even when it comes to the technical expert role, this is very important for fundamental success and credibility but by no means adequate.
Although it frequently takes place behind the scenes, technical analysts on the buy-side occasionally come out and explain why something might not work. To prevent this, you need your technical expert to take aggressive action. The technical expert function is the one that is most frequently well-played across all businesses when it comes to expanding accounts. However, technological prowess by itself won’t close the deal.
How Do You Become a Tech Sales Representative?
A career in technology sales is comparatively easy to pursue. The position is also open to a wide range of people due to the low admission requirements. To become a successful tech sales representative, follow the succession of stages outlined below.
Completed formal education
However, even though the majority of IT sales jobs don’t require formal schooling, a bachelor’s degree might still be useful. Engineering, business, and marketing degrees are popular majors. If you can’t do that, you might want to think about attending a Bootcamp or taking several online courses to hone your tech sales skills. Additionally, you could look for more materials.
Develop your practical skills
Employers typically prefer to hire candidates who have practical experience or working expertise. Consider submitting an application for volunteer opportunities or internship programs that provide on-the-job training. Additionally, you can familiarize yourself with technological advancements and develop a background in engineering or technology.
Prepare a resume
Moreover, If your resume or CV is strong, you can gain an advantage over your employer and make a stronger first impression. When you can portray yourself successfully, your educational background is less important. Sell yourself to the hiring group like you would a potential customer.
Conclusion
There are several opportunities for career advancement in the tech sales industry. You can enter the sector if you take the time to develop yourself in that direction, even if entry-level employment is quite difficult to obtain and frequently has an incredibly high turnover rate.
Even those with the least experience can quickly transition from “amateur” to “hireable prospect” by investing in training. It only requires a positive outlook and commitment to learning.
