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First question is just as the subject reads. For any experienced sales reps out there, how hard is it to change industries?
Second question: I recently had a Skype interview for an entry level position in software sales. I am an outside sales rep and they are looking for an inside rep (which I also have experience doing). In the interview, they were quizzing my knowledge and questioning whether I would be able to understand software (one person in the interview was admittedly on his first day on the job, lol).
Is it just me or was this a dumb question? IMO, a good salesman should be able to sell anything. Also, I already know the basics of what the software does and this company does NOT sell to other tech companies (they sell to doctors, dentists, etc). In other words, the chances of a potential customer asking me about things like the API key is highly unlikely. I thought a good salesman sells the sizzle and not the steak? Now I realize that I should have the technical knowledge at some point in order to answer any potentially difficult questions, but if this is an entry level position, why would they expect me to know that material right out the gate? I sell fasteners and have absolutely ZERO engineering experience, but I do learn with each new situation.
I went to school in Northern California with a lot of CS majors and I never knew any of them that wanted to do sales so I wonder why a company would expect someone applying for an entry level position in software sales to have a technical background? If this were an isolated incident, I wouldn't mind, but this is not the first time that my background has been called into question.
You are correct that sales is its own animal. A great salesperson can peddle pretty much anything. Your true industry is sales, not the fasteners of tech products or windows or whatever you happen to be selling.
On the other hand, let's turn it around for a minute. Let's say you are the hiring manager of a technology firm. You have two candidates in front of you. They both have a proven track record of success in sales--if that wasn't the case, you wouldn't have interviewed them in the first place. One has a deep knowledge base in the field and the other has a layman's understanding of the product. You know you would choose the one with the relevant knowledge every time.
That certainly doesn't mean you should get depressed or throw in the towel. You just have to keep plugging away until you happen upon an opportunity where you are not competing against Mr. Knowledge Base Excellent Salesman.
I feel your pain. I am in sales, too, and I am trying to make what seems like a very rational/minimal move to me: going from being a middleman to being directly employed by a vendor within the same field. Even in my situation it has proven difficult to make the leap. I have gotten several interviews where the hiring manager raves about my numbers and my attitude but in the end they decide to go with someone who has experience in that exact kind of role. And if I am being honest, I can't say I blame them. It can be frustrating, but I am confident that I will make it there eventually.
I'm not in sales but I will tell you what I've seen over the years. A good sales person of products can sell other products and a good sales person of services can sell other services. They're viewed as two different animals according to the people I've known who head up sales departments.
When a question is asked that makes me raise an eyebrow, I have to wonder if they've been burned before and that's why they're asking. We forget, sometimes, that the knowledge we have isn't the same knowledge others have. You may think the question was unnecessary but I'll bet there are people out there who don't grasp the concept of software, and that's why they ask.
You are correct that sales is its own animal. A great salesperson can peddle pretty much anything. Your true industry is sales, not the fasteners of tech products or windows or whatever you happen to be selling.
On the other hand, let's turn it around for a minute. Let's say you are the hiring manager of a technology firm. You have two candidates in front of you. They both have a proven track record of success in sales--if that wasn't the case, you wouldn't have interviewed them in the first place. One has a deep knowledge base in the field and the other has a layman's understanding of the product. You know you would choose the one with the relevant knowledge every time.
That certainly doesn't mean you should get depressed or throw in the towel. You just have to keep plugging away until you happen upon an opportunity where you are not competing against Mr. Knowledge Base Excellent Salesman.
I can understand your reasoning if we're talking a position that requires 2-5 years of experience, but we're talking about entry level. Does entry level no longer imply NO experience? I feel like the company is basically saying, we don't want to train you if they're looking for someone that knows software with no experience.
In my field, I occasionally deal with engineers. If they sold the product, companies would go bankrupt. It reminds me of the scene in Office Space when they ask the guy what he does. His reply was, "I deal with the goddamn customers so the engineers don't have to. I have people skills!" I don't think this was supposed to be taken seriously, but I agree with his response.
I went from selling printing to selling software, but the company I worked for did not want their salespeople to have much tech knowledge. Told us to get our foot in the door, then bring in tech support if someone had questions we could not answer. We were selling software to car dealerships and other auto related industries.
Biggest issue might be going from outside sales to inside sales. I would give pause if I were interviewing you. Most outside sales people make lousy office employees. They are used to making their own schedule, walking in and out of the office to make calls, etc... Once you tie them to a desk, they often times can't handle it. I know that is the case for me.
Toughest thing for me in sales has been the elimination of most account management sales jobs. So I had to train myself to become more of a hunter than a farmer. Used to excel in having a base of customers and calling on everyone once a month to check up on them. Those jobs are rare to find these days.
I can understand your reasoning if we're talking a position that requires 2-5 years of experience, but we're talking about entry level. Does entry level no longer imply NO experience? I feel like the company is basically saying, we don't want to train you if they're looking for someone that knows software with no experience.
In my field, I occasionally deal with engineers. If they sold the product, companies would go bankrupt. It reminds me of the scene in Office Space when they ask the guy what he does. His reply was, "I deal with the goddamn customers so the engineers don't have to. I have people skills!" I don't think this was supposed to be taken seriously, but I agree with his response.
Unfortunately and in most cases, entry level no longer implies NO experience and has not for quite some time. Entry level today is more like "we want 2-3 years of previous experience, yes we would rather not train someone from the ground up and we will pay you an entry level salary".
Toughest thing for me in sales has been the elimination of most account management sales jobs. So I had to train myself to become more of a hunter than a farmer. Used to excel in having a base of customers and calling on everyone once a month to check up on them. Those jobs are rare to find these days.
Why on earth would they eliminate the account manager sales jobs?
Do they think a mailing list or something will do the job of an account manager?
Why on earth would they eliminate the account manager sales jobs?
Do they think a mailing list or something will do the job of an account manager?
The jobs are still out there, but not like they were 20 years ago. Now companies will send people to their website for re-orders, plus have CSR's to check up on customers. The last couple of account manager jobs I had, instead of going to see people once a month, I went once a quarter. More often if the CSR couldn't answer a question for the customer.
Didn't realize how good I had it 15 years ago when I would stop into 6-8 customers a day, make a few cold calls in between and head home at 2-3:00PM to type up orders.
I went from selling printing to selling software, but the company I worked for did not want their salespeople to have much tech knowledge. Told us to get our foot in the door, then bring in tech support if someone had questions we could not answer. We were selling software to car dealerships and other auto related industries.
Biggest issue might be going from outside sales to inside sales. I would give pause if I were interviewing you. Most outside sales people make lousy office employees. They are used to making their own schedule, walking in and out of the office to make calls, etc... Once you tie them to a desk, they often times can't handle it. I know that is the case for me.
Toughest thing for me in sales has been the elimination of most account management sales jobs. So I had to train myself to become more of a hunter than a farmer. Used to excel in having a base of customers and calling on everyone once a month to check up on them. Those jobs are rare to find these days.
I have an auto industry background currently and I've been thinking about doing auto related software sales as I think being bilingual in Japanese would help. But, region wise, I would like to get away from this part of the country and go back west where I'm from.
I did inside sales once, but I was a lead generator. I was actually pretty good, but I hated dealing with the reps. They talked and actually stopped me from doing my job most of the day. I also wasn't much of a fan of being near the boss. With that said, I may make my own schedule, but I'm very micromanaged. It's one of my biggest issues at work. I was told that I was free, but I'm micromanaged most of the time.
I will say that I was not a fan of being tied down to a desk all day. Hated it in most of my jobs, so I think something like outside sales would work for me.
In my business, most of the roles are account management. We do hunt, but most activity comes from farming.
It really depends on the product. As a salesperson you need to be an expert, advise how to best use it, how it will improve workflow etc. if it's something you don't know you'll probably fail.
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