If you’re currently exploring your job options, have you considered a tech sales career?
If not, there are several reasons why you should consider joining the ranks at a software or technology company and using your skills to help them continue to grow and make an impact.
Why? Here’s everything you need to know about why a tech sales career is worth considering.
What is Tech Sales Anyway?
In a tech sales position, you’ll be responsible for connecting consumers (individuals or other businesses) with technology that can help them solve a specific problem.
Exactly what type of tech you’re selling—from actual hardware to software or other services—will vary depending on the kind of company you work for.
But, regardless of the specifics, in this customer-facing role, the critical thing to know is that you’re tasked with connecting with and educating potential customers—and ultimately closing the deal.
For some added clarity, you should check what Ralph Barsi wrote about SDR job descriptions and what they’re REALLY telling you.
Tech Sales Job Description Example:
Here’s a look at a tech sales job description example. Below is a posting for aSales Development Representative role with Wrike, a project management software solution:
6 Reasons to Consider a Tech Sales Career
We know your next question: Why even start a career in tech sales? Well, plenty of benefits make this a particularly appealing career path. Here are four to consider.
1. The Demand is High
Considering that sales are quite literally what keeps every company’s doors open, it makes sense that there’s a lot of security and demand in this career field.
But, as technology continues to become even more prevalent in our day-to-day lives, tech companies, in particular, are aggressively adding people to their teams who can get their solutions and products in front of a wider audience.
A recent study from ToutApp—which surveyed 300 HR managers at U.S.-based technology companies with at least 200 employees—found that 80% of respondents stated that they intend to invest more in recruiting and hiring sales talent.
While others may worry about things like automation or online capabilities replacing the need for their jobs, that’s not the case for sales—where human interaction still carries a lot of importance.
Research from the Harvard Business Review found that direct interactions with providers influence B2B purchasing decisions more than anything else. Demand for tech sales professionals is high (and will likely stay that way). So, it’s an incredibly secure and lucrative path to pursue.
2. The Pay is Great
Speaking of lucrative, the salary is another big draw for many tech sales professionals. While the tech industry is known to pay hefty sums to the people who fill the more technical roles, you can also earn a great living in sales.
Bridge Group’s 2015 SaaS Inside Sales Survey Report shared that the compensation for inside sales roles rose to record highs in 2015.
The company discovered an average base salary of $60,000 with average on-target earnings of $118,000—proving that technical roles aren’t the only ones who earn the big bucks.
While a paycheck isn’t everything regarding your job satisfaction, knowing that a career path in tech sales quite literally pays off makes it worth considering.
3. The Career Opportunities Are Seemingly Endless
Nobody wants to reach a limit on their career, which is another thing that makes tech sales so appealing: There are seemingly limitless opportunities for growth and advancement.
Many tech leaders got their start in sales—because it’s a great way to gain familiarity with the business and customers while also making a measurable impact on the organization’s success (you need revenue!).
So, as you gain more experience, continue to close deals, and prove your worth, you’ll likely experience rapid progression in your career.
Take a look at LinkedIn’s data as an example. LinkedIn pulled together a list of the most promising jobs of 2017—the ones with the highest median salaries, strong job openings, and year-over-year growth.
Which job appeared third on that list? A sales engineer proves that pursuing a career in tech sales could mean bright things for your future.
4. The Barrier to Entry is Low
The tech industry can be intimidating and leave many wondering how to get into software sales without experience.
Fortunately, this is another upside of a career in tech sales: There’s a shallow barrier to entry.
“There’s often no formal education and training programs for sales pros; it’s something many people discover as a career by accident,” explains Sharon Florentine.
This means these roles are challenging for recruiters to hire—but it also means that people with diverse backgrounds and experiences can make a name for themselves in sales positions.
We all know tech is the future (and the end is now). Hence, as time progresses, technological solutions may take more “traditional” jobs that will not surprisingly need salespeople to sell them.
Unlike many other industries at the whim of a physical good’s supply and demand cycle, technology, specifically tech sales, are often roles that can be done with little resources and even remotely if needed.
Both technology and sales are never going away, so if you are worried about your current industry’s longevity, you won’t need to worry so much about tech.
6. It’s Exciting Work
Having a job that pays well is one thing, but having a job that interests and stimulates you mentally is another. In the world of tech sales, there are endless opportunities to find niches that work for you, your interests, and your passions.
You often get to help others solve their problems using a unique solution you have to offer, and in learning about your product, you may even find ways to improve it. So if you are going to start fresh looking into a job in tech sales, start looking in the industries that you are personally interested in to help fuel that inner fire of excitement and motivation.
Ready to Get Started?
Now for the final question: How do you get started? Create a profile on Rainmakers, a career marketplace explicitly designed for salespeople.
Use your profile to highlight your skills, share your history, and prove your value to inspire interested employers to contact you. You’ll be well on your way to a tech sales career in no time!
https://www.rainmakers.co/blog/wp-content/uploads/2018/03/career-in-tech-sales.png9241640Michael Fergusonhttps://rmblogdev.wpengine.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/11/logo.pngMichael Ferguson2018-03-09 01:16:292023-07-10 17:37:146 Reasons Why You Should Be Pursuing a Career in Tech Sales:
Should I quit my sales job? This is a question all sales professionals ask themselves at some point in their careers.
This is a guide on when it’s time to leave your current sales job and look for a new one. This guide is written specifically for SaaS and other technology sales reps who work at venture-funded companies, but it can be applied to different verticals.
Working in B2B sales is hard. If you’re at a small company where generating new revenue means keeping the lights on, the company’s existence depends on your performance. That’s a lot of pressure. Likewise, at a medium-sized or large company, being in sales means constant competition with the entirety of your team for a limited amount of available promotions. That’s also a lot of pressure.
But sales, with its clear-cut metrics, is an excellent way for career-driven individuals to prove themself in the workforce. Not to mention salespeople in Silicon Valley often make six figures within three years of graduating. Oracle’s highest-performing sales reps make over $500,000 a year. Being good at sales will help your career, but knowing when to change jobs strategically will allow your sales insight to deliver the highest return.
First, we’ll go over the main paths of ‘success’ a sales career can take. Then, based on which of these paths you find most appealing, we’ll help you identify whether or not your current job is an opportunity worth staying at.
The 3 Sales Career Paths
According to Mark Roberge, professor at Harvard and CRO of HubSpot, here are three typical paths a sales career can take:
1) Moving into sales management.
This is an excellent path for people who are passionate about leadership, teamwork, and strategy and like to see the big picture. Sales leaders at medium and large-sized technology companies are always richly compensated.
2) Remaining as an individual contributor, working on larger and more complex deals.
This is an excellent path for people who enjoy independence and competition and appreciate the detail. For example, salespeople in the top 20% at SaaS and technology companies typically earn between $250,000-$500,000 a year.
3) Moving horizontally into marketing or customer success.
This path is for people who use sales as a short-term or medium-term stepping stone. For example, many successful marketing and customer success executives began their careers in sales.
This guide will focus on the first two paths and show you some signs to help you determine when it’s time to leave your current role.
Individual Contributor Path
If your goal is closing the largest and most complex deals possible, changing jobs from time to time is almost a necessity. This is especially true if you begin your career working at startups (as opposed to somewhere like Oracle or SAP). Two primary factors determine the size and complexity of a deal — the size of the company with whom you are doing business and the complexity of the technology you are selling. Let’s further review sales career pathing via the lens of this growth chart, courtesy of our friends atInsightSquared.
Most SaaS salespeople begin their career in the bottom left of this graph, selling relatively simple software to small and medium-sized businesses. However, at the top row of this graph, you have Silicon Valley’s highest-paid salespeople, selling complex technology to large institutions, a.k.a. enterprise salespeople. This is where you want to get with your career as soon as possible.
Thus there are two directions you have to move. You have to move up from SMB to Mid Market to Enterprise. And you have to move towards the right, towards more complex technology. Using this paradigm, it becomes relatively easy to determine when you should leave your sales job.
How to know when it’s time to quit your sales job
Your company doesn’t sell to MM or Enterprise accounts; you’ve been a top 20% performer for 9-15 months and have nowhere higher to go.
Your company isn’t growing fast enough to promote salespeople to higher brackets.
Concerning selling more advanced technologies:
Once you’ve made it to Enterprise sales, if you’re company is selling a simple, easy-to-sell product, the next move should be towards a company with a more expensive and difficult-to-sell product (thus a higher commission)
If you love your job and don’t want to leave, there’s no need to. However, if your goal is to maximize your revenue as quickly as possible, using the above criterion to determine when to leave a job can be very helpful.
The best option is to leave for a promotion (i.e., leaving a mid-market sales role for an enterprise sales role).
If this isn’t possible, a significant next step would be to leave for another company growing fast enough to support your growth.
When doing this, it’s essential to understand your new employer’s expectations, i.e., what must be done to secure a promotion. If possible, secure an agreement in writing (if I achieve X metrics in Y amount of time, I am awarded Z promotion). Note that this is often only possible with early-stage startups and more difficult to broach with a developed company.
Sales Management Path
If you’re passionate about leading a sales team, one major thing you have to look for in a company is growth.
If a company’s sales team triples in size, it will have to hire managers to help keep things in order. If your company’s sales team isn’t growing, there’s no need for them to hire more managers, and you should look elsewhere to further your career.
There are three types of companies that can move you into management:
Large, stable-sized companies.
They aren’t growing rapidly, but every once in a while, someone retires, is fired, or leaves. These promotions take a long time to achieve.
Medium-sized, rapidly growing companies.
Some contemporary examples are Flexport and Mulesoft. These companies already have senior management in place, but teams are growing so fast that regional leaders are often promoted from the rank and file of sales reps.
Small startups with high potential.
Often, an early Account Executive of a small startup will have an opportunity to lead the sales team if significant growth happens.
If you’re looking to move into sales management, you first need to evaluate if you’re in one of the three above situations in your current role. If you’re not, it’s time to find a new job.
If you are in one of the above situations in your current role, you’ll need to gauge the likelihood of securing a promotion. Here are some things that will help you evaluate your changes:
Do you have good relationships with your team members, managers, and other superiors?
If the answer to the above questions is yes, then you have a relatively good chance of securing a move into management. Now it’s worth engaging with your boss to see where they stand and let them know it’s a priority for you.
If the answer to one (or both) of the above questions is no, on the other hand, you likely won’t move into management at your company. So at this point, it may be worth looking for other opportunities where you’ll be more likely to succeed.
Other reasons to leave your sales job
Ideally, we leave our sales job strategically to advance our careers. However, sometimes you’re stuck in a bad situation, and it’s worth going regardless. Here are some reasons we think salespeople should leave their jobs:
Poor management:
This can be anything from an ineffective sales strategy to unfair personal treatment. If your boss or CEO prevents you from doing your job well, it’s most likely not worth sticking around for.
Company doesn’t value salespeople:
Low-paying commission plans, unrealistic quotas that no one hits, and not taking salespeople’s feedback are all signs that your company doesn’t value salespeople. Therefore, it’s better to work for a company that does.
You don’t believe in the product:
If market adoption of your product is slumping or your company is failing to improve the product continuously, it’s time to look for a new role. As a salesperson, you only want to sell the best products — selling a product you don’t believe in is soul-sucking.
Conclusion
Navigating your career through Silicon Valley’s sales world can be daunting. With so many companies being born, rising, falling, and stagnating. It’s essential to evaluate how your employer’s interests align with yours constantly. You’ll have an incredible career if you can consistently perform well at solid and growing startups. Transitioning companies at the right time is a skill that’s necessary for salespeople to be in front of those career-changing opportunities.
Too often, people leave their company without a clear goal; worse, they make their decisions emotionally rather than logically. Consider this guide a piece of empirical-based advice to refer to when comparing your current situation with the situations described above. Use it to know when it’s time to leave your job so you can constantly maximize the return of your talent and hard work. Then, please find the job that will get you where you want to be.
Are you ready to quit your job and start a new career? Apply nowwith Rainmakers and start looking at new opportunities!
https://www.rainmakers.co/blog/wp-content/uploads/2018/02/should-i-quit-my-sales-job.jpg8531280Michael Fergusonhttps://rmblogdev.wpengine.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/11/logo.pngMichael Ferguson2018-02-23 13:37:402022-12-07 11:25:57Should I Quit My Sales Job?
In this article, we’ll explain how to contact a hiring manager about a specific sales role—without coming across as desperate or overly aggressive.
After scrolling through a seemingly endless list of job postings, you finally found a sales role that seems perfect for you.
You polished your resume, drafted a tailored cover letter, and submitted all necessary application materials.
Everything you need to do to be considered is done. But, you’re also eager to find a way to make a more personal connection—to go beyond the anonymity of the hiring process and put a face with your name.
One of the best ways to do this? By reaching out to the hiring manager with a friendly, professional, and un-pushy message.
Did that very thought make your palms clammy? We know—putting yourself out there during your job search can be intimidating. Even though you work in sales, selling yourself is still challenging.
So, let’s dive in!
But First… A Word Of Caution
Reaching out to connect personally with somebody at the company can be a smart move.
However, it should never be a replacement for going through the application process outlined by the employer.
For that reason, it’s wise not to reach out to the hiring manager about a specific role until after you’ve followed their instructions for officially tossing your hat into the ring.
Ignoring the steps they’ve mapped out and instead opting to get in touch with a general, “I’m very interested in this position—please consider me!” message will only make you seem lazy and disrespectful.
So, make sure to heed the directions for applying (seriously, every last one) and then consider reaching out to the hiring manager as a secondary step to elevate your candidacy.
It’s great to be proactive about forging relationships—but that doesn’t mean you can skip necessary steps and make up your own rules.
How to Find Hiring Managers
With that disclaimer out of the way, how do you find the hiring manager for a specific role? You can implement a couple of tactics to zone in on the right person to contact.
1. Search the Company Website
Depending on the company’s size, you might be able to identify the appropriate point of contact directly on the website.
Click through the “About Us” or “Team” pages to see if the company lists team members individually. If so? Look for someone with a job title related to hiring, recruitment, talent management, or human resources.
From the LinkedIn homepage, begin by typing the name of the company you’re applying to in the search bar. Then, if that employer has a LinkedIn profile, you should see it in your search results.
Once you’re on that company’s LinkedIn page, you’ll see a link that says “See All Employees on LinkedIn.” Click that, and you’ll be brought to a page that displays the LinkedIn profiles of that specific company’s employees.
For this example, we’re looking at Google’s LinkedIn profile—meaning there are thousands of employees. If the company you’re applying to isn’t nearly as large, you’ll have a much easier time zoning in on the appropriate contact.
But, if not? Use the filters to help you narrow your results. For example, click the “Filters” button and then type in a keyword (i.e., “talent” or “hiring”) to see only people who have that term in their job title.
How to Contact Hiring Managers
You’ve found the person that you want to contact. Now, there’s another big question hanging over your head: What do you say? What sort of message is polished and professional—without seeming pushy?
After you’ve submitted your application, your best bet is to send a connection request (along with a personalized message) via LinkedIn.
Why is LinkedIn better than email? Well, for starters, it’s a social network—meaning it’s a far more casual and low-pressure way to reach out.
Secondly, because it’s a social platform, it makes for an effortless way to stay in touch. A simple “like” or “comment” on that contact’s activity will keep you at the forefront of their minds—without having to send formal or purposeful emails.
When you do send a personalized connection request, keep things short (you’ll have limited characters anyway) and somewhat general. Remember, this isn’t your opportunity to get into a lengthy discussion about the role. Instead, your goal is to make an introduction and demonstrate your interest in the position.
This means that your messages should hit on three key things:
Your name
The position you just applied for
Your enthusiasm for finding out more about the role
With that in mind, your finished message could look something like this:
Hello Susan,
My name is Kat, and I just applied for the Sales Director position with Dunder Mifflin. I know my skills are a great match for what you’re searching for, and I’m really looking forward to finding out more about the opportunity.
In the meantime, I’d love to keep in touch on LinkedIn!
Best,
Kat
This message is friendly and concise. But, perhaps most importantly, it doesn’t make an ask. It doesn’t beg for an interview. It doesn’t ask about the hiring timeline. There’s no action that the recipient needs to take other than to accept your request.
That’s important. Much like when prospecting, the more straightforward (and less desperate) your message is, the higher the likelihood the hiring manager will accept your connection request and perhaps even respond.
When that happens, you have a foot in the door and a personal connection with that company—which can help you stand out from the competition and land an interview.
Over to You
Getting in touch with a hiring manager about a specific role can be a smart move to help you make an impact after you’ve submitted your application. After all, being able to put a face with your name (and your impressive experience) will make you all the more memorable for employers.
However, there’s no denying that step can still be nerve-wracking.
If you want to skip it altogether? Create a profile on Rainmakers. You can share your history, showcase your skills, and have interested employers directly contact you—rather than the other way around.
Does that sound way too good to be true? We promise it’s not. So apply now to get accepted and set up your profile.
https://www.rainmakers.co/blog/wp-content/uploads/2018/02/how-to-contact-a-hiring-manager.jpg8531280Michael Fergusonhttps://rmblogdev.wpengine.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/11/logo.pngMichael Ferguson2018-02-19 11:00:012022-08-04 11:56:55How To Find & Contact Hiring Managers About A Specific Sales Role (Without Seeming Desperate)
In sales, a rainmaker is known as a person who flourishes in business development and wins new deals at an impeccable rate. Rainmakers are A-Players that typically outperform every person in the organization.
Anyone serious about building their career in sales has thought about or asked, “what is a rainmaker” in sales – and how do I become one? Top performers in sales are equipped for maximum performance in life and business.
They have a range of skills and abilities to understand, form alliances, and challenge and push for the proper outcomes to create success. Those who can make this happen are not only top performers in sales, but they can quickly climb the career ladder.
Establishing The Rainmaker Mindset
People argue about how salespeople are either born or made successful. Is it in their DNA, or are they taught?
I believe it’s actually about your mindset and attitude as a salesperson.
If you speak to prospects as though they are just a stepping stone toward achieving your own goals, you’ll get no cooperation from the prospect. This is why I think it is so important to think very clearly about what sectors and industries you actually care about.
Having this understanding will stop you from trampling over prospects and prospective clients. But if you have invested genuine interest in the sector the prospect is in and work for a company solving their problems, you will act in a way that works toward solving their problems. You’ll think of the prospect before your own needs.
If you care about something, you’ll put in the work, too. Salespeople have the unique ability to put in more work and get more return from it if they do things right. If you care about the niche or sector, you’re helping, what better motivation to put in the extra hour or two after everyone else has already gone home for the day?
Developing The Rainmaker Skills
Let’s breakdown the skills of a Rainmaker into four categories:
Listening
Expertise
Ability to ask great questions
Control
The emphasis today on personal and professional development has never been higher.
I invest hours – day and night – learning new things.
You don’t have to sit on your laptop and go through an expensive course, but there is so much content available at your disposal.
I listen to sales podcasts instead of music while I work most days, and even when I am taking some time to relax at the weekend, I’ll use my phone podcast app to listen to a few episodes whenever possible.
Make the most of the times when you have silence. For example, when I drive, an audiobook can be played. When at the gym, podcasts or audiobooks can be consumed.
If you have time to read, check out these essential sales books for building a rock-solid foundation in your career.
1) Listening
First and foremost, you must listen to what prospects say. If you don’t hear anything when they talk, how can you tailor your message and solution, let alone the conversation, to help them as best you can? Listen to what is said by a prospect, and understand their problems, reasoning, and goals. What is the need, and why is there a need? If you know the answers to these questions, however essential they may seem, you can at least tailor your response to get into the heart of the problem and solve it. There is nothing less engaging in sales than a generic-sounding, almost scripted salesperson talking.
2) Become An Expert
The natural second part of listening to a prospect is to have a great understanding of the market and the problems they have. Your product/service knowledge must be exemplary. There is no excuse not to have the best knowledge of what you sell on your team – if you haven’t got the best knowledge of it, you operate at a disadvantage.
Nobody wants to speak to a person who can’t help them. You must understand how to direct and guide clients from their current situation toward a successful outcome. This requires a level of skill, knowledge, and experience. If you feel you lack any of those three factors, do whatever you can to build on them. For example, ask to watch how a client is onboarded and serviced if you feel the experience lacks. Or brush up on your product knowledge if you can’t answer tricky questions well.
3) Questions
Asking great questions is an art you need to learn. You must prepare these questions before any call but be able to adapt should things not play out how you think they will. The art of asking great questions revolves mainly around quick but considered thinking.
You must ask a question that extracts the information you need from the prospect and moves them to think about the situation differently so they can see the right path to solving the problem. Get them to see things in a new light. It is much like solving a moving puzzle, but nobody said sales was easy!
Before going into a call, think about this: if the prospect knew the right way to get to the outcome they wanted in every situation, they would have done it already. The salesperson wouldn’t need to add any value or solve any problems. So, think about what the real problem is or what the real solution is. Then, educate and consult on how the prospect and account can reach the outcome. It is your job to have them realize the correct way to get the goal.
4) Control
It is vital to remember in the world of sales today that control is key. You will wait forever for the perfect prospect to stumble into your pipeline who books your following calls for you and asks to have your AE join the next call at the right stage. Sales is like training to be a tennis player. In many ways, the salesperson is the instructor dictating the speed and direction of the rally or the conversation. They adjust what they do according to how the other player works, but ultimately, they are the instructor. The instructor is there to teach the other player and help them break through the walls and steps they need to get through to succeed.
Recap: Becoming A Rainmaker
Of course, this must be done tactfully. For example, there is a level to which you can’t tell your prospect the next call WILL be at a specific time and date, and they WILL bring their VP on the call, etc. It would help if you established the control cleverly by explaining why the VP needs to be on the call, for example. After all, if salespeople had zero control, they would spend all their time talking to lower-level employees who couldn’t implement a change at the senior level.
https://www.rainmakers.co/blog/wp-content/uploads/2018/02/how-to-be-top-salesperson.jpg8541280Michael Fergusonhttps://rmblogdev.wpengine.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/11/logo.pngMichael Ferguson2018-02-12 12:00:112022-12-07 11:43:03What Is A Rainmaker In Sales? (And How To Become One)
Negotiating a salary raise can be tough, even for the most experienced negotiators. In this article, we’ll break down how to do this in the context of sales, but the principles of negotiation can be applied to any role or industry.
Let’s face it, we all want more money in our job, but very few people (if anyone) enjoy the negotiating process.
Just thinking about it makes even the most seasoned pro break out in sweat. However, it need not be this way. By preparing ahead of time, you have a much better chance of achieving your negotiating goals.
A key point to consider: research says salespeople who negotiate earn 7k more on average each year than their counterparts who do not. Over a career, this can add up to nearly a quarter of a million dollars.
The trick to any successful negotiation is to be prepared, so roll up your sleeves and get ready to negotiate.
6 Things To Do BEFORE The Salary Negotiation
Research is key. Know more than your boss about every aspect of your career. How much would it cost to replace you? What do others make in similar industries?
Visualize the encounter- what are the objections? Write them down and have a researched answer for each one.
Reach out to recruiters in your field and find out what your contemporaries are paid. Ask them for advice in the negotiating process. These are people who negotiate every day.
First, by yourself in front of a mirror. Watch to make sure your body and face look calm. Remember to breathe and smile, even when you receive bad news. Make good eye contact, but do break away, and look out the window for seconds at a time. This will allow your boss to relax and really hear you.
Practice closer to the real date with a close friend. Get feedback on your body language and your verbal pitch.
Prepare visual content that speaks to your point. We are visual creatures, and you want to speak quickly and effectively to your points.
20 Steps To Follow DURING The Salary Negotiation
Try owning the space you negotiate in, i.e., taking your boss to a new restaurant, one that you know well. This is a time to impress. You might even order for the both of you. You are showing your “take charge” nature, something that is a winner in sales.
Know the whole picture, base salary, commission, vacation days, upward mobility track, 401K etc. Be able to discuss with research where your current job fits within the industry standard.
Be able to prove how valuable you are: numbers, culture, training, etc. These need to be in either spreadsheet or graph form, big enough that your boss can see it at a glance. Paint the entire picture — if you bring donuts on Tuesday, remind them.
Show the problems the company is facing in the coming years, and how you will help.
Resist the urge to badmouth your fellow workers. Take the high road and be above the petty office gossip.
Come with urgency, you don’t want a raise down the road, or “one day” You want it now!
Imply that recruiters have reached out to you, but that you are loyal. “I know that loyalty is important to you.” You don’t need to lie but be able to prove with evidence how recruiters are looking for people with your skill level.
Use silence, if your boss says no, nod your head, you hear it, but then be silent. He who speaks first loses.
Be prepared to talk about your successes and try to use that as leverage. For example, if you have a strong personal brand, explain how you might leverage that in your sales process.
Try being creative, “What if you paid me more for 3 months, and if I didn’t make my numbers, I would go back to my old salary? “Remember this is a negotiation, where ideas are passed back and forth. Don’t accept any answer, but keep the information flowing.
Try laughing, keeping the meeting light, remind the boss of good times. A lighthearted worker is valuable for the energy they bring to an office.
Agree as much as possible, when you disagree, say things like, “I see what you are saying there, but…” You are showing your ability to listen and have your own ideas.
Ask where you fall in the scale of salespeople? Or know it, what would be the effect of you leaving?
Know the industry: Where are the struggles? Where is the growth? Who are the big players? Who is the competition?
Be prepared to give as well as take. If they can’t meet your salary, can they give you higher stock options? Could you telecommute 1 or 2 days a week?
Could you train new salespeople for an additional bonus?
Don’t be afraid to bring some personal information into the meeting, talk about your plans for building a house, or moving your mom to live with you. These make you look like more than just a worker.
Show how you could grow into management, how you could help the boss retire early. Or work less.
If you have made mistakes, missed quota, or had other office problems, be the one to bring them up. Show how you have grown as a result.
4 Things To Do AFTER The Salary Negotiation
Pick up the check, this can go miles in proving how generous you are. When your boss objects, say “You can always grab the next one.”
Be prepared to be watched like a hawk the next few days as your boss thinks about what was discussed. Let your work reflect your words.
Write a thank you letter to your boss for meeting with you. Cover the main points that were discussed, and what, if any, agreements that you came to.
Be prepared for the idea that it may take more than one meeting to get your raise. Be in for the long game.
By learning to negotiate we can get more of what we really want in life. Most people give in too easy here, and we let others dictate what we get.
However, the master negotiator doesn’t, and as a result they make more money and are more satisfied in their sales careers.
https://www.rainmakers.co/blog/wp-content/uploads/2018/01/negotiate-salary-increase-current-sales-job-feature-image.jpg12002000Michael Fergusonhttps://rmblogdev.wpengine.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/11/logo.pngMichael Ferguson2018-02-05 12:00:082019-06-03 17:24:49How To Successfully Negotiate A Salary Increase In Your Current Sales Job
Should you tell your boss you’re looking for a new job? This article is explained in the context of sales, but it can be applied to any profession. Let’s dig in.
Opportunities seem to be everywhere. Your friends and colleagues are leveling up, and you’re starting to feel like it’s YOUR time to do the same.
One question always arises: should you tell your current employer or boss that you’re looking for a new position?
Let’s look at the Pros & Cons of both sides of the question…
Your current boss is actually a close friend.
PRO:
Is your relationship with your boss good? Can it handle something like this? Oftentimes we have developed deep positive relationships with our boss. He/she has trained us, gone to bat for us when things are wrong, and been a mentor for our careers. It would feel like betrayal to go behind his/her back.
Example:
Mary would have never started her Real Estate Sales career without the assistance of her boss, Mark, who recognized aspects of her personality that he thought were “sales” material. The thought of even talking with a recruiter seemed like plunging a knife into Mark’s back.
CON:
Your network is everything, but you don’t want this to damage the relationship. Your boss is nice to you, but that’s how she acts to everyone who works there. Be mindful, however, that this doesn’t mean you need to tell her everything.
Example:
Richard really enjoyed working closely with his boss, Nick, and they even enjoyed a relationship outside of work. Three years into the position, Richard became bored and jumped on a new opportunity when it came along. There was a point at which he thought about telling Nick, but since there was no other position in the company that could reignite his interest, Richard gave his two weeks with little explanation. Three years later, he has no regrets and even sees Nick as a friend.
Your boss might be an ally and help you find something that fits.
It costs so much time and money to hire and train a new employee, so your boss will be grateful if you are honest.
He/she may even help you find something at your current business that is more in line with what you’re seeking.
So many people just quit, so you will appear different and unique by doing sharing your needs in respectful way.
Even if you are fired, you will come out looking better for your honesty. You won’t use the company’s time or resources to look for new opportunity.
PRO:
Your boss will respect your honesty and reward it.
He constantly watched the clock and dreaded each Monday. When he unexpectedly got a chance to train the new hires, Danny was excited about work for the first time.
He approached his boss, whom he considered a close ally, with a plan to split his day into part AE/part sales trainer.
His boss, who was initially reluctant, realized that Danny was not fulfilled and if he didn’t give him this opportunity, he would leave to find it elsewhere.
CON:
If you stay in the same field, you are in direct competition with your old company. Going head-to-head with the people who gave you a start in a particular field is troubling.
Example:
Linda wouldn’t even be in this line of work, had her boss, Tammy, not seen something in her and pushed her hard. She was on the bottom rankings for months, but Tammy still believed in her. When the recruiter reached out, Linda was flattered but made it clear that she would never go head-to-head with Tammy’s company. She eventually found another line of work she liked better that didn’t conflict with her loyalty.
It’s not about the job, it’s about the culture.
Sometimes our desire to leave has nothing to do with the boss. Rather, it’s a toxic company culture that is pushing us to go. It might be the line of work itself or our fellow workers. Whatever the cause, work is no longer fulfilling. We just aren’t enjoying work, so we know we need a change.
PRO:
We can’t change company culture. We can either adapt or leave.
Example:
When Pete first started at Company XYZ, he loved the loud sales floor and all of the chaos that was his job. As time went on, this kind of work drained him.
After visiting his friend’s job, where the sales floor was silent, that seemed like a better fit for him. He thought about approaching his current boss about a shift in his position; however, there was not a position that wasn’t directly involved with the loud floor except for accounting. Pete knew he would have to leave.
As nice as his boss was, Pete knew that his boss thought this was the only way to run a sales floor. He had trained this way, run his floor the very same way, and was resistant to any changes. Pete applied for the new job and left his current position without any guilt. He is two years into his new position, which he loves.
CON:
Company culture is something we learn to adapt to, and it’s a chance for growth.
Example:
Nora was always the quiet one, so FinTech was a hard place for her initially — especially with a loud sales floor and a bell that rang after each sale. She thought about quitting, but the pay was too good. After a few months of ringing that bell herself, something shifted inside of her, and now Nora is an A-Player that loves the loud atmosphere and has fully embraced the ruckus attitude.
Some people don’t handle this kind of rejection well.
Your “secrecy” might be your best weapon. Some people feel their current boss hasn’t earned their loyalty or the right to know the “truth” about the way they feel about their job.
Has your current boss earned the “truth”? Perhaps the company culture is such that even a new position with the current company will not be satisfactory.
PRO:
You would tell the boss you are dissatisfied and looking for something new, but they will just punish you for honesty.
Example:
Laura had seen her boss not handle job dissatisfaction in her coworker very well. “Don’t let the door hit you in the backside,” was a constant refrain. He was the kind of boss who you were either with or against. Laura had been dissatisfied for a year now, but there was never anything better on the horizon. When a new job opportunity materialized unexpectedly, she naturally jumped on it.
CON:
Even if the boss yells and doesn’t handle it well, you have to be honest.
Example:
Clint wanted to move up to AE from his current SDR position, but he knew that his boss would just tell him it was too early. When the recruiter called and sent him the AE job offer, Clint confidently showed his boss. Fireworks and slammed doors ensued, but Clint knew that his boss knew that Clint would one day be an AE.
Honesty won’t work because the boss can’t hear you.
It has been said that running a business is like attending to a screaming baby. Your career is more than your job; it is your livelihood. A good boss can see you beyond your current position. She can see where you need to be.
PRO:
They say telling the truth to someone who can’t hear it is like telling them a lie.
Example:
Mark loved his boss, but every time he approached her about moving up, or learning new skills, she waved him away saying, “You are my best SDR.” Mark believed her, but the thought of being an SDR in two years made him sick to his stomach. He knew he could, and would, make an excellent AE. When a recruiter finally approached him, Mark scheduled a sick day to meet. “I got the job, and quit with no notice and no regrets,” he remembers, “This is not just a job; this is my career.”
CON:
You would like to be able to use this job as reference, but if you just quit, that will never happen.
Example:
Jen was stuck in her sales job, never in the top rankings, but never in the bottom. She knew just leaving would mean that her dream of working for X Company would never happen. She decided to stay and push harder for high rankings. It took several years, but she proud of her decision to stick it out.
Conclusion: Should You Tell Your Boss You’re Looking For A New Job?
It is a moral and personal decision whether to tell the boss you are looking for a new job. Some people will have regrets while others have none. Either way, it is a decision we make and then live with for the better – or worse – of our careers.
https://www.rainmakers.co/blog/wp-content/uploads/2018/01/should-tell-boss-looking-new-sales-job-feature-image.jpg12002000Michael Fergusonhttps://rmblogdev.wpengine.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/11/logo.pngMichael Ferguson2018-01-29 14:54:322019-06-03 17:16:52Should I Tell My Boss I’m Looking For A New Sales Job?
In this article, we’ll break down the top 5 critical sales skills essential for high performance in tech sales.
When it comes to sales professionals, there are the good ones, the bad ones, and the ones that are simply great at what they do.
The bad ones are easy to spot. They’re the ones giving the profession a bad name and tend to fit in with the negative stereotypes we see and hear about in the media. Bad salespeople tend to focus only on themselves and what they stand to gain in making a deal happen. They give little thought, if any, to how the deal will impact their customer. They’re also usually very disorganized and sometimes even outright dishonest about the terms of the agreement.
All this amounts to a horrible customer experience and one that will not keep them around for very long. This commercial about a badger personified as a used car salesman, though fictional and exaggerated, provides a perfect example of what a lousy salesman is likely to act like:
Good salespeople are a little different in that they don’t work with customers in a way that leaves a bad taste in their mouths. They’re usually pretty friendly and diligent in getting their work done. They deliver on what’s promised and do their best to live up to expectations but where they fall short is in failing to go above and beyond. Most average salespeople are just that. Average. These are the guys that, as most would say, go through the motions. They approach their work as something that needs to be done rather than taking pride in the fact that they’re able to provide value to their customers.
That’s where great salespeople set themselves apart. Great salespeople take pride in what they do and live for the mission of continuing to provide that value. So how do you go from being an excellent salesman to a great salesman? Of course, many factors affect what makes a great salesperson, and those factors will likely vary depending on who you ask. However, a targeted list of critical sales skills will go unequivocally up your sales game if you focus on developing them.
1. Grit
According to Angela Lee Duckworth, grit is the most significant predictor of success and even more important than IQ. Grit is the ability to continue pushing yourself to work hard despite seemingly insurmountable odds. People with high levels of grit can keep themselves going even when others have lost hope and given up.
This is directly relevant in the world of sales because let’s face it, sales is a numbers game. There may be lucky streaks where you find a series of wins in a short time, but more often than not, you’ll have to comb through a hundred “no’s” before you make it to that elusive “yes.” Those hundred “no’s” can start to feel like an eternity.
What often happens is that after hearing no for the first 30 or so times, many salespeople start to lose their fire. Each failed attempt seems to chip away at their hopes of success, leading them to lose vigor. Even more so, some salespeople also seem to give up from simply being unable to get a hold of someone and assume that a lack of response means a lack of interest.
Great salespeople go to great lengths to ensure they get an answer from their prospect, whatever that answer might be. They’ve developed a thick skin and can persevere in the face of all these difficulties, knowing that it’s only a matter of time until all their hard work pays off and they land that one colossal success that makes it all worth it. They don’t let the small losses affect them because they understand that these are minor roadblocks in their inevitable path to success. They’re professionally persistent and optimistic that an opportunity always exists until there’s definitive proof that demonstrates otherwise.
2. Emotional Intelligence
Great salespeople are also very effective at understanding their customer’s needs. The reason they’re so great is because of something that’s widely known as emotional intelligence. They can put themselves in their customer’s shoes to understand what’s important to them. What are the needs versus the wants? What are the most significant pain points and challenges the customer is facing? What are the risks involved with going forward or not in the future with the deal from your buyer’s perspective? These are all questions that a great sales professional should easily be able to answer when evaluating a deal.
They understand that the customer is not concerned with how extensive the commission check will be and are more focused on the value they will recognize from buying the product or service offered. The greats can realize that if they correctly identify this value, they can quickly use that knowledge to close business with agreeable terms.
Another reason that great sales professionals develop their emotional intelligence is that they understand that there’s a premium associated with trust. Trust will beat price any day, which is why brands people know and love are valuable. Unless the price is the most critical factor in your prospect’s criteria, building trust and value is the best way to increase your odds of winning that deal. On the other hand, if the price difference is marginal, the customer will almost always go with the vendor they’ve developed the most trust with during the buying cycle.3.
3. Time and Task Management
Being busy does not always mean that you’re being productive. So you’ve made a hundred dials today and had 15 or so conversations? So what? If those 15 conversations were with the wrong people or companies that don’t fit your ideal customer profile, you might find out in a few weeks that those opportunities may never amount to anything.
In sales, there truly is a benefit to working smarter and not harder. Therefore great salespeople know how to effectively manage their time and recalibrate their focus on the most critical priorities. They identify the target companies and prospects with the highest likelihood of bringing in business and focus extensively on those.
Those highest on the leaderboards are also very aware of the health of their pipeline. They recognize that even if they have a ton of deals currently in the works if nothing is filling up the top of the sales funnel, they’ll eventually find themselves with a dead pipeline somewhere down the road. Therefore these guys are ALWAYS prospecting, no matter what. Additionally, suppose they work at an organization that doesn’t provide business development support. In that case, they find the time to put in even a few hours each week to ensure they find ways to continue feeding their pipeline. In doing this, they can keep their results consistent, unlike the average sales professional who may fall victim to more streaky sales due to improper pipeline management.
4. Navigating an Organization
This may seem straightforward, but a little finesse is required to navigate an organization effectively. Most people probably think you need to get a hold of the proper titles with the right message, and everything will be golden, but that’s not always the case.
In some situations, you may catch someone on an off day and, therefore, won’t be open to any messaging, no matter how it’s positioned. Additionally, there’s always the chance of something getting miscommunicated or misunderstood. Therefore it’s essential to understand how your prospective company is organized so you can use that knowledge to your advantage when trying to figure out who the best alternative people are to reach.
For example, let’s say you pitched to a Director at Company A, but for some reason, they didn’t buy into your value proposition as strongly as you would have liked. As a result, the deal cycle stagnates, and little activity is happening within the account. You’ve sent 15 emails and dialed them over ten times. Instead of nagging that same person and potentially souring the relationship, finding someone else who can champion your company internally may be better. However, there would be no point in reaching out to anyone else in the same team as it would roll back up to the same Director, and they will ultimately come to the same conclusion that your company’s value is questionable.
Instead, you should understand how the company is mapped out and find another relevant Director or someone at the VP level to re-pitch your product or service. Explain things to your new prospect in a way that makes sense to them, and let them convince your old prospect to change their mind. The same message can sometimes be received very differently depending on the source.
5. Storytelling
Of all the skills on this list, the ability to effectively tell a captivating story is probably the most important. Something about the human mind makes it easier for us to remember stories better than lists of facts. Great sales professionals use this to their advantage by weaving their value propositions and previous achievements throughout a story.
Where the average salesperson may come to a meeting to ‘show up and throw up, the seasoned professional will take a minute to bring some calm and comfort into the situation. Next, they’ll spend a few minutes building up rapport and then find ways to lead the conversation toward how their company works with or has worked with other clients for their benefit.
Compare the following two examples.
Example 1:
“Hello Mr. Client, thank you for your time today. I’d love to talk to you today about the new amazing features our product is capable of and how it will benefit you moving forward. With Feature X, your employees will be able to accomplish their daily tasks with 15% greater efficiency. Additionally in switching to our product, our other clients are also seeing cost savings as high as 5 to 10%, resulting in an average ROI of 135%. Most importantly, we keep our customers happy and can even prove it with our 95% retention rate.”
It might get a few people’s attention, so not bad. But…
Example 2:
“Hello Mr. Client, thanks for taking the time to speak with me today. I understand that you’re currently looking for a new solution that can help you save some money while also helping increase the productivity of your employees. Is that correct? Great. Let me introduce you to Acme Corp, one of our current clients. Their business isn’t exactly the same but it’s fairly similar to yours and they actually approached us because they were facing issues that mirror much of what you’ve been telling us about so far. They’re workforce was not as productive as they would have liked and they thought they were overpaying with their previous vendor. After switching to our product, they were able to increase their company’s productivity by 15% and save 8% on their yearly contract. After only 2 years of using our product, they realized an ROI of 135%. To this day, John, their CEO, says that he couldn’t be happier with his decision, which is actually not uncommon for us to hear given that we have a retention rate of 95%.”
Perhaps not the most eloquent examples, but I hope it makes my point. Given that it will likely be a few hours or even a few days before your prospect will have to share their thoughts with the rest of the team on what you’ve presented, it will be the second example that will be the easiest to remember. Unlike the first example, it juxtaposes the situation before and after the decision to do business with your company and does so in a logical manner that’s easy to follow.
There are, of course, many other skills an actual sales professional will likely want to develop beyond those on this list, but focusing on these five should be a good start for those looking to get themselves to the next level. So, if you’re lacking in any of these areas, spend the next few weeks working on developing these skills. You may be surprised at how quickly they will start to impact the success you’re seeing with your deals.
Are you ready to exceed expectations at your next sales job? Browse companies that are currently hiring and create a Rainmakers profile!
https://www.rainmakers.co/blog/wp-content/uploads/2018/01/most-desired-salesperson-skills.png9241640Michael Fergusonhttps://rmblogdev.wpengine.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/11/logo.pngMichael Ferguson2018-01-24 03:00:072023-02-21 16:55:03Top 5 Fundamental Skills Needed To Succeed In Tech Sales
Spin selling guides the sales conversation once a prospect is engaged. It helps the sales professional understand what questions they should be asking to conduct a compelling discovery call. First, Let’s’ take a closer look at each letter in this acronym. We recently did a breakdown of BANT, so check that out, too, if you’re curious.
S – Situation
S stands for Situation, and these questions help you better understand what’s going on in your buyer’s world. Through this line of questioning, you should be able to uncover what’s happened with the prospect historically and what led them to begin a conversation with you. It would help if, in addition, you were trying to identify the key facts that help you effectively understand the background of your buyer and their organization.
Here are a few examples of Situation questions you can ask on your next discovery call:
What are you currently doing today, and how does that compare to what you were doing in the past?
What’s leading you to explore a new solution now?
What tools are you using, and what does that process look like today?
Once you clearly understand the facts and where your customer stands, you can move on to the next part of the acronym, which is the P.
P – Problem
P stands for Problem questions, which should be used to have your customer divulge their pains to you. You should aim to learn what’s causing them trouble and push them to find a solution.
Much like the Situation questions, you are simply collecting facts. You want to get a solid understanding of what is bothering them and what it is they are trying to fix. After all, the job of a great salesman is to be a helpful consultant. How can you consult on an issue if you don’t know their problem?
Here are a few problem questions you can look at as examples of what you should be asking:
How much time are you spending doing this process manually?
Do you ever have instances where something falls through the cracks?
Is this issue hurting your business?
I – Implication
Now what comes next is I, which stands for Implication questions, and these should be used to highlight a cause and effect relationship based on your understanding of the buyer’s current Situation.
Truly skillful salespeople set themselves apart through their masterful use of these questions. By asking the right questions, the sales rep can bring the prospect to realize the severity and importance of the problem without explicitly telling the prospect. When done effectively, the customer will essentially come to sell themselves on the idea that something needs to be done and FAST.
To help you better understand what implications are and how you can use them, check out a few of the examples below:
If you don’t do anything to change your current process, what do you foresee happening to your business moving forward?
If you don’t address these inefficiencies, how much would that cost your business every year?
What’s the opportunity cost of not bringing in a new solution and addressing this issue?
If you’re good at utilizing this framework, you can even piggyback off your problem questions to lead into the implications.
Let’s take some of our examples from earlier to help illustrate what I mean:
How much time are you spending doing this process manually?
If you continue to go about this in the same fashion, would that negatively impact your other responsibilities?
Do you have instances where something falls through the cracks?
What was the business impact in those kinds of situations?
Is this issue hurting your business?
If you don’t do something about it now, what do you think the annual cost to your business will be?
N – Need Payoff Questions
N stands for Need-payoff questions. This means you should use these questions to highlight what the customer stands to gain by choosing to move forward with your product or service.
What are the benefits of working with you, and what do they stand to gain by doing so?
Below are a few examples of need-payoff questions to help you better understand what they are and how you can use them in your own sales processes:
By automating processes that you’re doing manually today, how much time do you think you’ll be able to save?
What are some ramifications you can foresee from having more freed-up time?
Understandably, you’d save a lot of money by implementing a solution to address this issue today. But what would those savings mean for your business?
Using a tailor-made system built just for your business will likely see a massive jump in efficiency and, ultimately, your business’s reputation, which is something you can advertise. Do you find value in having something like this as a competitive differentiator?
Conclusion: SPIN Selling
Granted, the examples I’ve provided may not be the perfect match for every situation and every product or service. Still, hopefully, it provides you with a basic understanding of what this framework is and how to use it. Using this simply as a model to guide your future sales processes, hopefully, you’ll be able to conduct highly effective discovery calls that will ultimately lead to more significant sales.
Additionally, these are essentially just the fundamentals because we are condensing the book into a short blog post; if you want to dive deeper and expand your knowledge on how to use the SPIN selling technique most effectively,I’dd recommend picking up the book and giving it a read yourself.There’ss much more detailed information in there around the effective use of this framework that wearen’tt able to cover here.
https://www.rainmakers.co/blog/wp-content/uploads/2017/11/leads.jpg400820Michael Fergusonhttps://rmblogdev.wpengine.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/11/logo.pngMichael Ferguson2018-01-18 01:00:412022-09-23 12:45:36SPIN Selling: A Legendary Sales Methodology To Guide Your Discovery Calls
For a good reason, networking for sales professionals has long been considered sage advice. This best practice can open up many doors for you, whether in friendships, mentorships, new career opportunities, and even earning referral sales opportunities.
But What Exactly Is Networking? (And How Should You Go About It?)
To network is to cultivate people around you who can help you professionally. This may come naturally to some, but for most, and especially for those who are more introverted, the task can seem much more daunting than it is appealing.
Becoming proficient at networking is synonymous with mastering the art of making friends. At the end of the day, we’re all human beings and, as such, tend to want to help one another. This is a more accurate sentiment when those who need help are befriended.
However, this is much easier said than done. To walk into a room full of strangers, confidently present yourself and quickly find relatable topics of conversation to build relationships is no easy task. After all, it’s not like we’re mind readers.
Here are a few tips you can lean on to help make the whole process of transitioning from strangers to friends a more welcoming ordeal.
Step 1: Prepare A Personal Pitch
The first thing you’ll want to do to get ready for a networking event is to prepare a personal pitch. Your personal pitch is a short but exemplary description of who you are and what you do.
After all, the question you’ll probably have to answer the most at any networking event is, “Who are you? And what do you do?”
Having a quick answer to these questions that is easy to comprehend is key to helping keep your interactions smooth. Stumbling through trying to explain who you are can come off as unconfident and leave a wrong initial impression.
Part of your pitch will be driven by your event goal, which is a perfect segue to our next piece of advice.
Step 2: Have A Goal In Mind
Networking, like many other life endeavors, can prove ineffective without a clear objective in mind. When approaching a networking event, try and think to yourself what it is you’d like to get out of it. Are you trying to find a mentor? Are you looking for prospects to drive future sales? Or are you simply trying to meet more people in a particular field? Having a specific goal in mind will help frame your interactions and conversations.
Let your goal be your mission, let that mission drive you, and let that be clear. Then, just as you understand who the people you meet are and what they’re doing, they’ll also begin to know what you’re looking to accomplish. Even if the person you’re talking to at that moment isn’t directly relevant to your goal, they may have just met someone or know someone in their network that can help you get to where you want to be.
Step 3: Have A Few Ice-breakers Prepared Ahead Of Time
Even the most socially adept people in the world are bound to have a few harmful interactions. Simply put, it’s impossible to be on top of your game 100% of the time. Maybe you’re drained from a long day at work, or perhaps something is pressing that suddenly pops into your mind at the wrong moment. Whatever the case, it’s very easy for us to become mentally distracted; for some, it only makes finding a conversation starter that much more difficult.
As such, to avoid that mental stress and save your energy for keeping engaged with the ongoing conversations, it’s a good idea to have some ice-breakers saved in your back pocket. That way, you can fall back on them without much thinking and get people talking quickly.
The rules of topics to avoid in the workplace also apply here. For example, you don’t want to argue with someone you’ve just met with if you’re trying to win their favor. That means you generally want to avoid talking about politics, religion, personal gossip, death, or the myriad of other topics that may be controversial.
If your mind is running blank, here are a few suggestions to get you started:
Recent sporting events.
Plans for the weekend.
Reasons for attending the event.
Advice on small challenges that you’re facing personally or at work.
Listen intently.
It’s relatively easy for people to tell whether or not someone is genuinely listening to them. I’m sure we’ve all been guilty of this at some point, where we nod as someone is talking just to let them get out what they need to say, but we’re mentally checked out somewhere else. On the flip side, I’m sure we’ve been on the receiving end of this behavior at some point as well.
The moment someone realizes that you’re mentally checked out of the conversation, they’ll stop caring about you. Why? They probably feel you don’t care about them. So why should they take an interest in someone who isn’t reciprocating? Needless to say, it’s no way to make a good impression.
When someone is fully engaged in a conversation, there will be tell-tale signs that the person has been paying attention. Outside of body language, such as facing their direction and nodding your head, a good listener will occasionally rephrase parts of what they’re hearing and offer their thoughts on specific points. In addition, if you can relate some of the later topics of conversation to things mentioned earlier in the engagement, you’ll probably land a few bonus points there too.
Step 4: Bring A Friend
In fact, bring a few. Going to networking events as a group can offer several benefits over going alone. For one, as a group, you’ll be able to cover more ground because you guys have come as a unit. This inherently means that the group already understands each other’s objectives, increasing the chances that at least one of you will find the right person to connect with.
Secondly, you can leverage each other as a social crutch. For example, sticking together as a pack may draw others to grow your cluster and start conversations quickly. Additionally, because your group of friends is already familiar with one another, the rapport building amongst the group will probably feel more natural and suave, creating a comfortable environment for others to join.
Furthermore, interacting with strangers for an extended period can definitely prove to be a mentally draining activity. Therefore, if you need to take a break from all the action, you can rendezvous with your friends for some momentary relief.
Of course, there are many other things you could try to work on to improve your chances of making a great first impression, such as paying attention to the tonality of your voice and being conscious of your body language.
Why? Because we must emphasize how important it is to be aware of how we come across to other people when we first meet them. Your tonality and body language are some of the easiest things you can focus on if you’d like to get better at making an excellent first impression.
Just as you can use words to convey different meanings to compel people to feel specific ways, you can also use your body for that exact purpose. Through his research in 1971, Professor Mehrabian famously discovered the 7% rule, which is to say that words only contribute 7% to the importance of what is being conveyed. The other 93% comprises nonverbal elements such as body language and tonality; body language takes the lion’s share of that, with 55% and tonality accounting for the other 38%.
Step 5: Make Good, Solid Eye Contact
Working on eye contact is a quick and easy way to improve your body language. Though it may feel awkward for some, making eye contact is a great way to build rapport with someone you’ve just met quickly. Good eye contact conveys to the speaker that you are paying attention and are genuinely interested in what they have to say.
If you are one of those people who find making eye contact awkward or unnatural, as a general rule of thumb, where you want to be looking is the triangular area of a person’s face where their eyes and mouth act as the corners of that triangle. You also want to make sure that you’re breaking eye contact naturally with the flow of the conversation from time to time because otherwise, you might just come off as really creepy. You can even try focusing on one eye at a time and alternate between the two to see if it helps make things feel a bit less awkward.
Step 6: Practice Nodding Where Applicable
Another quick nonverbal tip that can win you some easy points is nodding as someone speaks. Just like eye contact, nodding indicates to the speaker that you understand what they are saying. This is somewhat of a mind trick, and feel free to test this out, but when someone starts nearing the end of what they intended to say, and you want to hear more, nod your head three times. This encourages them to elaborate further, which people often do.
Step 7: Remain Aware Of Your Body Orientation
Something else you might want to pay attention to is how you orient your body. For example, you generally want to be positioned so that your chest is facing the person you’re speaking to in a one-on-one engagement or towards the center of the group when in a group setting.
Even if you’re head is facing toward the individual you’re speaking to, if your torso is facing elsewhere, that person will get the sense that you are not giving them your full attention.
Slightly more advanced is ensuring that your feet are correctly oriented. Again, you want your feet to generally point in the direction of the person you are speaking to or towards the center of the group in a group context. Feet can say a lot about people’s intentions. When someone is about to leave a conversation, you can often tell because their feet will turn in the direction they intend to go before the rest of their body.
Step 8: Keep a Good Posture
Confidence is a massive part of making a good impression. When people congregate together in a room, it’s not the coy individuals on the side that everyone notices. No. The confident individuals in the center of the room catch people’s attention.
A good posture is one of the best ways to convey confidence. That means keeping your back straight and chin up. If you’re someone who happens to slouch often, trying to fix your posture can understandably feel awkward. Furthermore, some people may find even overcorrecting and strain their backs in a forced effort to keep it straight. You definitely want to use your back muscles to support your weight but not to the point where you feel uncomfortable when holding your form.
Also, keeping your chin high means not tucking in your chin too often. Someone constantly looking at the floor or otherwise in a downward direction comes off to others as shy and unconfident, which is the exact opposite of the message you want to send. This also shouldn’t be overdone to the point where you’re looking down on people, but it is something that you’ll want to pay closer attention to.
Step 9: Use Reciprocal Tonality
It’s not likely that this is a term you’ll find being used elsewhere, but the idea represents the use of tone to respond appropriately to what is being said. For example, if someone just told you about a fantastic weekend they had, it would be an excellent opportunity for you to add some excitement to your voice. This lets the speaker know they’re doing a fantastic job sharing their experience and makes them feel better being listened to.
Getting this wrong could significantly hurt your chances of making an excellent first impression. Not that I’d imagine anyone to do this, but if someone were to tell you they were ill, a proper response would not be to respond with, “Hey, that’s great!” Failing to respond appropriately could lead to a very awkward situation, so be mindful of how you respond.
Step 10: Have A Strong Voice
Again the goal in your interactions should be to come off as being confident. In addition to having good posture, another way to demonstrate that you are indeed a confident individual is to have a strong voice. As with all of the advice thus far, moderation is key.
You want to be loud enough to easily be heard by those you are speaking to but not so loud that you’re basically screaming at people. On the other hand, being too loud or soft in your speech can irritate some people. No one likes to be yelled at, and there’s nothing more frustrating than putting in more effort to try and make out what someone is saying.
Follow the Goldilocks Principle and find that perfect medium that will pave the path for you to sound like a complete rockstar.
Step 11: Use Hand Gestures Thoughtfully
Lastly, using your hands can be a great way to help make a lasting impression. Using your hands will allow you to be much more expressive in communicating your thoughts and enable others to remember what you’re saying more easily.
When using your hands to communicate, you want your gestures to match what’s being said. For example, when describing something small, a pinching gesture could do well to accompany your message.
Gesturing also helps you convey a sense of enthusiasm and confidence, which is precisely what you want to do when trying to network.
So, as a quick recap, you want to pay attention to eye contact, nods, posture, tone, volume, and hands. It may be a bit much to try and improve on all of these areas all at once, so I recommend focusing on just 1 or 2 at a time. Then, once you feel well-mastered in one place, move on to the next until you become a networking virtuoso.
Need help growing your network and connecting with potential employers? Join Rainmakers now!
https://www.rainmakers.co/blog/wp-content/uploads/2018/01/best-networking-tips-for-sales-people-now.jpg8541280Michael Fergusonhttps://rmblogdev.wpengine.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/11/logo.pngMichael Ferguson2018-01-12 02:55:442022-12-06 19:41:03Networking for Salespeople: 11 Steps For Achieving Personal & Professional Growth
Other emerging hubs are booming too though – like Austin, San Diego, Denver, Boston and New York.
What do you want?
#2: Build a List of Hot Tech Companies (Use a Virtual Assistant, Optional)
Build a list of all the possible companies that you think may be a good fit. You can do this yourself or hire someone on ODesk or eLance to do it for you.
I worked with a woman named Jane who lives in Costa Rica (she does great work).
This is the job description I sent her:
Hey Jane –
I could use your assistance to research available job positions at local tech companies.
Can you build a spreadsheet and find job positions available for “Sales Development Representative” and “Account Executive”.
– find local address closest to san francisco: on above websites or foursquare.com – find employee count and capital raised here: first on crunchbase.com or then angel.co – find sales role: on their home website under jobs or careers
Can you send this back to me as soon as possible? Like later today?
LinkedIn is all about story telling and highlighting your best self.
Present your story in a way that illustrates how all your past experiences have led up to the very moment you apply for a company.
Use the keywords from your word cloud above.
This will make your skills and experience more closely aligned with their job descriptions.
Plus, your profile is more likely to appear in recruiter searches.
Whatever you do, don’t be deceptive! It will come back to haunt you.
#5: Make Sure Your LinkedIn Profile Matches With Your Resume
Nowadays, most tech companies see your LinkedIn profile before your resume anyway.
Make sure you remain consistent across both channels.
Layout and design is important too. Many employers will disqualify you based on this alone (if you bomb it).
I’m serious. Choose a simple design for your resume. Somethings easy to read and understand. You can find plenty of quality resume templates at Creative Market.
#6: Reach Out / Engage With Members Of Your Network
Opportunities can be hidden in unlikely places. And you don’t want to leave any stones un-turned when you’re hunting for your dream job.
Steps one through five are all preparation steps before you can being outbound
But now, it’s time to send out a short 3-5 sentence email to your personal network.
Explain the type of company you want to join and your desired role. It’s hard for people to help if they don’t know exactly what you want.
Also, email your entire network on LinkedIn. You can easily export their contact info into a csv file (complete how-to instructions here). Then email each contact directly or in bulk.
#7: Make Alliances With Recruiters
I think recruiters are great. They are your second channel of warm introductions.
They help you prepare for interviews, they make introductions, and even schedule interviews for you.
A good recruiter should feel like a sidekick.
Here in San Francisco, you can refer to Rainmakers for new opportunities.
Just be honest and transparent when working with a recruiter.
Just tell them about the other opportunities you are pursuing.
That way you avoid any overlap or redundant outreach.
#8: Role Play Interview Over and Over
I’m so awkward during interview role plays. I don’t know why. But, there is one thing I can do about it. And so can you.
Practice. Practice. Practice.
Get comfortable telling your own story.
Role play phone interviews and in-person interviews with yourself first. Then with recruiters.
Trust me. This exercise will pay off.
#9: Book the Phone Interview
By now, your network and your recruiters will begin feeding you opportunities.
It certainly helps to supplement this activity with some direct outreach of your own. Especially to any high priority companies where you don’t have a warm intro.
As the opportunities flow in, start to schedule those phone interviews. Typically, I will schedule no more than 3 interviews per day.
#10: Convert the Phone Interview to an In-Person
Remember to tell a story. Here’s the basic story framework:
Then choose one experience each time to best represent the full range of your skills and abilities.
These stories should come more naturally once you complete steps one through ten here.
At the end, always ask for next steps. I wouldn’t get too caught up in “closing” people.
Just let them know you’re fired up about the opportunity and want to take next steps with them. And next steps are to meet in-person for an interview.
#11: Ace the In-Person Interview
Always wear a suit and tie.
That’s what you you’ve been told, right?
Well, I don’t recommend it for hot tech companies. A jacket is a nice touch, but nothing more is needed.
Remember, most people in tech love flannels and tee shirts. I advise you to dress slightly above your audience, but still look like you are part of the team.
When you sit down, pull out two copies of your resume and one copy of your cheat sheet. Casually, place them on top of the binder resting in front of you.
Engage with them, tell them your story and always ask for next steps.
#12: Receive and Negotiate Your Offer
You want to love where you work. And they want you to love it too!
So, gather as many job offers as you can. Until, you find the right one. Then negotiate that one offer to close.
Traditionally, there isn’t too much negotiating for junior roles. But as I understand it, the more valuable you become to an organization the more leverage you will have.
Conclusion
This takes work. I went non-stop for three weeks straight. I was booking 2-3 interviews per day.
And I’m confident, if you follow these steps above, you will find your dream sales job at a hot tech company too.
https://www.rainmakers.co/blog/wp-content/uploads/2017/12/how-to-get-tech-sales-job-fast-2018-feature.jpg12002000Michael Fergusonhttps://rmblogdev.wpengine.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/11/logo.pngMichael Ferguson2018-01-10 12:11:112023-01-13 15:21:07How to Get a Sales Job at a Hot Tech Company in a Ridiculously Short Amount of Time
