I’m writing this article because I’m tired of con artists on LinkedIn charging people money for “coaching” to “break into tech sales”. The concept alone is dumb. I’m not going to say any names (cough cough Cole Feldman), but this guy never truly worked in tech sales. He worked in transactional sales, yet he is working as a “consultant” helping naive college graduates get jobs in entry level tech sales positions. 

Maybe I’ll first start with the distinction between transactional sales and technical sales. Transactional sales is when you’re selling a product that can be sold in one interaction Ex. Advertising, insurance, solar, etc. Technical sales is when you’re selling a software product (commonly referred to as SaaS, which stands for software as a service) that will be sold over a period of time, as there’s a decision making process from your buyer that varies in complexity based on the size of the company and how much bureaucracy exists in the organization.

If someone is selling you on breaking into tech sales and you see that they’ve never sold a technical product, that’s the biggest red flag, bigger than China’s even. The truth is, even if they have the background, you DO NOT NEED help breaking into tech sales. It’s actually quite easy. I’ve seen people who were bartenders, personal trainers, etc. break into tech sales selling a highly technical product without any prior experience. It’s not rocket science. You should NEVER pay anyone even a dollar to help you with it. 

The role of an entry level salesperson is entitled Business Development Representative (BDR) or Sales Development Representative (SDR). They are one in the same. 

I’m going to first start with some of the intangibles you need, then move to more tangible things you’ll have to do. 

Intangibles: 

1. Hunger – The most important thing is that you have to be hungry. Not for fast food, but for money. Where does hunger come from? I don’t know. I just innately was willing to grind for the bag. Hunger is hustle. Are you willing to do whatever it takes to make it? If so, sales is for you. I’m not saying you’ll have to discard your ethics. I’m simply saying are you willing to outwork the guy or girl next to you consistently, no matter what? You need this mentality, it’s fundamental. There’s no quality more important in a salesperson than hunger. No debate here. 

2. Social Nature – If you aren’t social, I can’t imagine why you’d want to do sales. Now the great Cole Feldman actually did a post saying you shouldn’t be introverted in sales. Well I’ve done way more than that turd in this field and I’m definitely introverted. That said, I still enjoy talking to people. I just don’t gain energy from it. Still, if you have zero interest in engaging with people socially, sales isn’t for you. 

3. Ambition – Sales is the rare career where your output will directly translate into career growth. If you have big dreams and goals, and you come into a job with hunger and the willpower to make a real impact, you can grow your career rapidly. 

4. Grit/Persistence/Resilience – I’d go as far as to say you need to be stubborn to some degree. In sales, the number one answer you hear is no. It can come in many forms, such as “fuck you”, or “never call me again”, or “how did you get my number?” Sales is not for the weak-minded. You’ll have to dig deep on a daily basis, chase people who you know are a good fit for your product and who might not see your vision, and just grit your teeth through the pain. Sales to me is like chasing a high. When you get that yes, it’s a great feeling, then it’s back to square one. This is why hunger is #1 on the list. Your hunger will feed all of these qualities listed in this section. 

5. Balls – Ok this is a joke. You can also have big clit energy. I’m just getting bored of writing this article. I’ve given enough sauce already. Now take my sauce. Onto the tangible section.

Tangibles: 

1. Job hunting – Beginning to find a job in tech sales should seem impossibly daunting. That’s why the Cole’s of the world exist. I get it. There’s a million tech companies, where do you start? Well first I’d figure out what whets your appetite. There’s highly technical tech, such as tech that involves Kubernetes, AI, Data, Cybersecurity, etc. With these types of technologies, as a non-technical person, you’ll have engineers that aide the sales team, so even a person with zero technical knowledge can still thrive at these types of companies. Then you’ve got your low-tech SaaS, where as a salesperson you’ll be able to sell the product entirely on your own. Examples would be sales software, marketing software, human resources technology, etc. I personally get off to working with highly technical shit, but I’m silly. You can make plenty of money in either. So you’ve picked either high-tech or low-tech, now what?

2. Identify companies of interest – This is the part that can seem overwhelming. What I recommend is setting up a Crunchbase free trial. Crunchbase is a tech blog and information hub that offers search features that allow you to look up tech companies. The free trial allows you to search for companies with a wide variety of filters. For someone new to the space, I’d recommend joining a slightly mature startup, like Series C or later. Worth noting, funding rounds go in alphabetical order. Ex. Series A is the first round of funding, Series B the second, and so on. The first round is oddly enough called the Seed round. I don’t know why. But anyways, definitely look at Series C or later if you’re jumping into sales for the first time imo. That said, if a team from an earlier stage company looks interesting to you, go for it! This Crunchbase trial only lasts one week though, so you need to use the shit out of it. Make a master list of companies that have received funding in the last 2-3 years, and get to applying.

3. How to apply – Of course if the company you find off your list you made from Crunchbase (see above) has a job posting listed, that’s a great place to start. That said, it can be painful to submit a resume and have no way to follow up. Enter LinkedIn. LinkedIn is the ultimate hub of salespeople. Your LinkedIn page is your resume and essentially your storefront. It is where you’ll be judged, one of the main avenues where you’ll contact people, and is one of the most important things. Do have a resume as well of course to submit, but most jobs I’ve gotten were found by reaching out to sales leaders or recruiters on LinkedIn, and then sending my resume when they ask. For the entry

4. What to send on LinkedIn? – This can be daunting to someone new in tech. How should I try to engage someone? If you have no experience,  I would focus on the intangibles I listed above. Of course don’t write them verbatim, but here’s an example of what I’d write to someone if I was brand new to sales.  Example:

“Hey ____, I saw you lead the Business Development team at ____.  I saw your team does ___ and was impressed by ____. My background of ____ aligns well with this role. If your team is actively hiring, I believe I’d be the perfect candidate for the role, and would love to connect.”

After this message, continue to follow up periodically. More frequently at the start, maybe 3-5 days after the first few messages, then start to space it out further. You want to appear interested, but not desperate of course. The number of days between messages is arbitrary, so just do what feels natural to you. 

5. Conclusion – If you follow the above methodology in the tangibles section, you will find a job in tech sales. Obviously this won’t work 100% of the time, just like your outreach to prospective customers in sales won’t. For your first role, I’d expect to interview with at least 10-20 companies to improve on your interviewing skills. For interviews, I’d highly recommend recording them with a Voice Memo on your iPhone, and go back after the interview and study the questions asked and analyze your answers to improve. Interviewing is a muscle. I would even try to interview at the beginning of your job hunt with companies you’re less interested in, so that you’ll get a hang of interviewing before you interview with your dream company.