Thread: Software Sales?
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      08-30-2022, 03:56 PM   #6
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Quote:
Originally Posted by OkieSnuffBox View Post
What state are you moving to? I know Oracle is always looking for sales people.

Currently have a massive campus in Austin, and should break ground (if they haven't already) on another massive campus in Nashville. Of course, they have people all over the country.
Moving to North Carolina, Western part. I go down there a lot and every time I go, there are always projects happening, not Miami level, but new roads/highways, lux apartments, bunch of small local businesses. Looks like the biggest employers there are hospitals, which usually always need new tech.

Quote:
Originally Posted by zx10guy View Post
I'm in IT sales. Started as a networking specialist. Then transitioned into a "generalist". I'm the technical resource for the sales team so my title is Sales Engineer. With that said, getting into software sales is extremely broad. There are subsets of software which are very significant. You have security, mobile device management, applications, backup/data assurance, analytics, logging, systems monitoring, etc, etc. You need to pick which area strikes your fancy and which business sector you want to target. Yes, the industry/business sector is extremely important as one sector has specific needs that another won't care about. You have Fortune 500, state and local, Federal, SMB (small/medium business), etc, etc.

Having sales experience is a plus, but don't be surprised if you are slotted for a more junior position as you're just starting off in software sales. But this is with me not knowing what previous sales experience you've had.

The nice thing about software sales is the payout in commissions. With hardware, typically commissions are paid out when the product ships to the customer. And you can imagine that this is a huge challenge in today's climate with supply chain issues. I have sales with an OEM that have lead times/back logs going a year out. Software sales, you have none of that. You pretty much get comp'ed immediately as software is just a download with a license key. There are other nuances with IT sales in general which you'll get to understand such as comp differences on maintenance renewals and now the big battle with subscription models. Also, the push to cloud is affecting how sales are being driven.
Very good info, some things I didn't even think about! I don't know exactly what I would want to sell yet. I guess it depends on what the area is buying, correct? The part of NC I'm moving to has a few big fields, mainly hospitality and health care. Nowadays, I feel like every industry needs some sort of software boost.

My background is in Real Estate sales (before that construction management), since I'm going to a new area, my sphere of influence is obviously smaller, so I'll have to fight my way up again in Real Estate
world (everyone's mom and grandma is a Realtor now ). I'm in a decent position to just do Real Estate sales down there, but tech is obviously taking over and selling itself, so it might be a good idea to get in now. I do Real Estate investing as well, so I can stay in the field by doing the investing part.

The software sales industry is very broad, are there any forums/groups that help you narrow things down? Or get started?

Quote:
Originally Posted by aktif8 View Post
Yep, I've been in the space for 10+ years, presently on the exec side. I run a large (100+) team, and I'm still hiring, don't hesitate to pm me.

My current company tends to prize velocity and non-commoditized experience (eg if you're selling something right now that you have to create the need and urgency for, a la mortgage refi or other fs...You should definitely pm me.)

The usual path is to start in a cold calling (bdr) role and work your way up, but this is only really viable in your 20s.
Will PM. I have done my fair share of cold calling, cold texting, knocking on doors.. I'm pretty sure I'm done with that part of my life for good lol. Got a kid, another one on the way and a wife and cold calling just does not fit into my lifestyle right now.
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