How to get a tech sales job in 2021

Check out our updated version: How to Get a Tech Sales Job in 2023!

 

So, you want to work in technology sales? Well, you have come to the right place. In this blog, we’ll outline exactly how you can land a job in tech sales even if you have no prior experience.

 

Step 1: Create a tech-focused sales resume

 

First and foremost, you should begin with a strong resume, just like you would with any other employment. Consider your previous sales experiences and compile a list of the most transferrable sales skills you can apply to your new role.

Unsure what those related skills are? We’re here to assist you, so don’t worry.

To begin, if you have any sales expertise from previous employment, that is an excellent place to start. Whether you’ve sold technology or not, much of the selling process is the same if you’ve ever sold anything.

You’ll still be gathering as much information as possible about your potential customer to figure out what they want or need and then connect the dots between that need and your product or service.

What if you’ve never worked in a sales environment before?

Don’t let that stop you. At the end of the day, sales is nothing more than the art of persuasion. In a recent survey undertaken by Pulse Recruitment, we posed the question “What makes a good salesperson?”. A massive 23% of people answered “persuasiveness”. Just remember, you’ve almost likely had to persuade others, no matter what kind of employment experience you have. That being said, if you can’t think of any circumstances where you’ve had to persuade someone, you might want to think twice about pursuing a career in sales.

So, you’ve finished building and polishing your resume. What’s next? The next step is obtaining job interviews.

 

Step 2: Get Started on Your Job Search

 

There are a variety of approaches you can take. If you have a specific company in mind, you may go straight to their website to seek open opportunities, but more often than not, you’ll need assistance choosing which business you’d like to work for.

Job boards and recruiters can help in this situation. You can find many online, including job boards and recruitment agencies dedicated particularly to tech sales, if you do some searching. Of course, we at Pulse Recruitment specialise in tech sales, so we can assist you as well. Just check out our Job Search page for more information.

 

Step 3: Make sure you plan ahead of time for your interview

 

Before you walk into the room with a potential employer, there are a few things you should do.

• Do some research on the company itself.

• Find out when they were established.

• Learn about their products as well as their one-of-a-kind value proposition.

• Find out what sets them apart from the competition in the market.

• Find any other details that seem to be significant and aware of.

• The company’s recent news and announcements.

 

Step 4: Research the sales process of your target company (And Picture Yourself In It)

 

Above all, you should become well acquainted with a companies sales process.

 

Prospecting:

You must have a thorough understanding of the following:

• Who are your likely customers, and how will you locate them?

• What tools or services are you planning to use?

• If you’re unsure, this could be a good question to bring up during your interview.

• What tools and services does the organisation now employ?

• Why did they choose those specific tools to bring in?

 

Engaging:

Self-examination questions:

• How are you going to connect with your prospects and reach out to them?

• What is the rationale behind your strategy?

• What strategies do you believe will be most effective based on the company’s target industry, market, and client profiles? And why is that?

 

Discovery:

Here’s how you should proceed:

• Make time to talk with your prospect so you can learn more about them.

• What is their current situation?

• What issues do they have to cope with?

• Consider how you can best express how your company’s products or services may ease those pains based on what you learn.

 

Closing:

The demo is usually the next step in technology sales after the discovery.

As the sales representative, this is where you have the opportunity to clearly demonstrate to your prospect how your product or service can improve their lives. This is accomplished by connecting the benefits your organisation delivers to the issues they raised during the discovery phase.

There may be some back and forth in terms of negotiation and the need to interact with a procurement team after that, but you’ll want to close the sale as quickly as possible after the demo. At this point, your prospect and the other parties involved have decided to do business with you and are ready to put pen to paper.

 

Step 5: Review and Master the Sales Funnel Stages

 

An excellent approach to think about this process at a high level is to imagine it as a funnel. In fact, in the realm of technology sales, the concept of a sales funnel is relatively common, and it’s something you’ll probably want to learn about as well.

You can easily look up this term on the internet to gain a fast knowledge of what it is and how it might be used in business. In a nutshell, it’s the idea of collecting a vast number of leads, qualifying them as prospects based on a set of criteria, and then converting them into customers through the sales process.

After reading up on the sales funnel process, all that’s left for you to do is to ace your interview!

 

Step 6: Achieve Success During the Interview

 

There is a wealth of information available on how to approach an interview, but here are a few tips to get you started.

Be on time: Always arrive on time or a little early to give yourself some breathing room. Trust me when I say that having a little additional time before the interview to compose yourself can only be a huge asset.

Keep in mind that most hiring managers are looking for three main characteristics: competency, character, and the ability to learn.

Competency is merely a measure of your ability to complete the task at hand. Would you be someone the firm can rely on to get things done correctly if given the chance?

Character is crucial because, like it or not, we spend a lot of time with our co-workers. As a result, your potential manager is likely to assess whether you’re someone he or she can tolerate being around and, more significantly, if you’re someone, he or she can trust.

The ability to learn is the last attribute you want to portray to the person on the other side of the table.

You might also consider emotional intelligence as a plus. As a sales professional, this will help you become more empathic, which is something that employers value highly. Sure, it’s great if you’re a good person who’s capable of doing the job, but it’s not the only thing that matters at work. Change is inevitable in all parts of life, including your working life. Your manager will want to know that, if necessary, you’ll be someone who is open to new ideas and willing to adjust to changing situations rather than someone who is set in their ways.

Again, there’s a wealth of information available on other things you can do to ace an interview, but keep these tips in mind, and you’ll be on your way to landing your ideal career in tech sales in no time.

 

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Pulse Recruitment is a specialist sales recruitment agency, designed specifically to help find sales staff within the highly competitive Australian and global market. Find out more by visiting our hire staff page!