By Louis Telford, Large Enterprise Account Manager at Gartner
Connect with Louis on Linkedin
Tech sales roles offer an exciting opportunity for graduates. This blog provides a view of life in the role, and how you can be successful in this field.
What do I do?
I have worked as an Account Manager for tech companies since graduating in 2017, and currently work for Gartner. Account Management in the tech industry is all about sales! In my role, I am tasked with strengthening the relationships with my existing clients, as well as selling new services into prospect organisations. The clients I work with are large enterprises with revenue of over $1bn.
Why did I choose Tech Sales?
Tech sales stood out as a good option for me for several reasons. Initially, I wanted to work in a fast-paced and innovative environment, and Tech certainly offers that! Organisations need to continually innovate and drive digital transformation in order to be successful, which means that tech companies need to always be offering new and improved solutions. Whether it’s AI, quantum computing or cloud services, tech companies are at the forefront of innovations that have huge impact.
Secondly, I wanted to learn a skill that was transferable. Every corporate job role requires a form of selling, whether you’re in Marketing, looking to get buy-in for a new advertising campaign, or in Finance, looking to get budget for a new hire. Sales teaches you to be disciplined and organised, and how to tap into the things people care most about. The role therefore gave me a platform to build my skills, and gave me the option to move roles more easily.
Lastly, I wanted a job that gave me the potential to earn good money. Often including commission, tech sales offers the rare opportunity to directly tie your success in the job to the money you bring home. This means you can earn large, often uncapped, amounts early in your career. Of course, this requires a lot of hard work, and in most cases a portion of luck, but it is a real possibility, which was important to me.
What was the interview process like?
The application process for my role at Gartner was a 4-stage process and included interviews and mock-selling scenarios. It was tough, but Gartner give you support and advice along the way which makes the process more achievable.
What skills are important in this field?
When looking at skills, the first important thing to note is that there is no such thing as a standard salesperson. I have seen equal success from those who are extroverted to those who are introverted. Having said that, there are some common skills that will help you be successful, as below:
1) Organisation – being organised and staying on top of your sales pipeline is critical for success.
2) Communication – you will need to be able to uncover your clients challenges and demands, as well as presenting the benefits of the products and services you are selling.
3) Resilience & Perseverance – you will face a lot of challenging rejection in any sales role, so being able to accept challenges and move past them is important.
4) Drive & determination – having the hunger to be successful is important, and will get you through those tough days of prospecting to new prospects!
What are the pros and cons of this role?
My career so far in sales has been fantastic and has surpassed my expectations. That being said, there are challenges that are worth noting. As a salesperson, you will have a target that you need to hit. Being judged against this constantly adds pressure to the role. You will also lose more deals than you win. Losing deals that you’ve worked on for months can be very disheartening, and it’s vital you recover quickly so you can bounce back. You therefore need to have a cool head and be able to deal well with adversity to be successful.
And when you are successful, working in tech sales is fantastic. Not only do you get to work with the most senior people in your client’s organisations, but you also get great commission, recognition, and perks. I’ve just come back from an all expenses paid trip to Lisbon, which is an incentive for salespeople who exceed their targets. This kind of incentive trip are standard practice in the Tech industry, and is a fantastic motivation. The trip was great and made me very glad to have picked this career!
And finally...
Ultimately, whilst not for everyone, tech sales is a fantastic option for a first job out of university. With the right combination of optimism, resilience, and drive, you can be really successful. Please feel free to reach out if you’d like any further advice, or if you require support on job applications and interviews, I’m very happy to help!