IT, technical vs sales

I am looking for some input and advice in regards to these two aspects of information technology. I figure there may be some members here who may have some valuable information to share and it is worth asking. I currently work as an IT architect for a small company. As we are a small company I have worked with our sales staff and attended meetings to answer some technical questions our prospective customers may have about cloud technology and how we can make it work for them. As a result of my performance in these meetings and with our customers, the owner of my company has recently approached me about transitioning to the sales staff.

 

I have spoken with some individuals (friends/acquaintances) I know personally who are involved in either sales or the tech side. It seems like the tech guys (neworking and/or security) believe their jobs are the best and the sales people feel the same way, so it is difficult to get an objective answer. I believe both sides, like anything in life will have their pros and cons. It seems like a lot of the sales people make more money and have a higher ceiling, but are under a lot more stress and work odd hours. The tech guys seems to make good money, but not great and have a lower ceiling (roughly $150-200k/yr), but have better, more normal hours.

 

I live in the DC area so tech and sales jobs are abundant. I currently have a Security Plus Certification, CCNA, and will have the Amazon Web Services Global Cloud Certification in the next month. I have also studied for my CISSP, however I have to wait another year for my experience to meet the requirements to take the exam.

 

Any input and advice will be greatly appreciated. Thank you in advance.

I am looking for some input and advice in regards to these two aspects of information technology. I figure there may be some members here who may have some valuable information to share and it is worth asking. I currently work as an IT architect for a small company. As we are a small company I have worked with our sales staff and attended meetings to answer some technical questions our prospective customers may have about cloud technology and how we can make it work for them. As a result of my performance in these meetings and with our customers, the owner of my company has recently approached me about transitioning to the sales staff.

 

I have spoken with some individuals (friends/acquaintances) I know personally who are involved in either sales or the tech side. It seems like the tech guys (neworking and/or security) believe their jobs are the best and the sales people feel the same way, so it is difficult to get an objective answer. I believe both sides, like anything in life will have their pros and cons. It seems like a lot of the sales people make more money and have a higher ceiling, but are under a lot more stress and work odd hours. The tech guys seems to make good money, but not great and have a lower ceiling (roughly $150-200k/yr), but have better, more normal hours.

 

I live in the DC area so tech and sales jobs are abundant. I currently have a Security Plus Certification, CCNA, and will have the Amazon Web Services Global Cloud Certification in the next month. I have also studied for my CISSP, however I have to wait another year for my experience to meet the requirements to take the exam.

 

Any input and advice will be greatly appreciated. Thank you in advance.

 

If you are a tech guy, that is able to communicate well you can become a great salesman. However, too many tech guys can't achieve becoming a great salesman because of a few things.

 

 

1. Don't think everyone knows your tech lingo.. speak in their language.

2. Don't go off on a tangent like many tech guys do. You have to recognize how deep is too deep for a customer. If they start yawning, you went to deep and may not be able to recover.

3. Sometimes knowing all the tech data is too much. It can get you into trouble. This is where many people feel salesman are liars. However, you can actually build integrity by knowing the right things to say and being honest about them. A lot of times customers think they know better than you, and it's ok to let them talk. Don't always correct them. Once again sometimes they might think a. component is better than b. component, but you only have b. component in your product and you know it will work fine for their needs.. Don't mention you only have b. components if they don't ask.. Why? only because you truly know it will still fit their needs. If you knew it wouldn't fit their needs and you sold it anyways.. That is where salesman get their bad name..

 

Good luck with whatever you choose.. Many times hours seem crazy for salesman, but once you get good, hours are pretty much whatever you make them other than certain times.

 

It really depends on what you enjoy the most. I grew up doing sales and I have absolutely no interest in going back to that side of IT at this point. Being the engineer is steady and a much better fit for me at this point.

You don't have a lot of great certs at this point so I can't imagine you would be making great money with that. Sales can pay way more money in the long run. After you get more established you can make some pretty good coin on the tech side. In DC realistically you could make $140-$200K on the tech side if you are towards the top. In sales it has a lower bottom starting out but could greatly exceed $300K once you get way up there.

Im in a similar boat. Im work for a small IT Reseller now and on the Tech side. I have seen my salary is at the top right now. Im trying to get onto the sales side but the bosses wont let me. Its not easy on that side but the earning potential is endless. But if you make yourself 500k you make your boss probably $5M. But thats all part of working for someone. I would go for it if I were you. As soon as I get a shot at sales Im taking it without looking back.

Go a long on a few sales calls and see what it is like. If your boss as approached you take the opportunity to check it out while still having your safety net (engineering side) to fall back on. You are in a win-win!

 

For what it is worth I have done both sales and tech side. I love both but for different reasons. It really depends on what gets you going in the morning. For the longest time I couldn't imagine going to the same office every day. Right now I can't imagine needing to go to the airport 2-3 times and week and not knowing where I will be more than a month into the future.

I made that transition recently. I'm a CCIE and I've done both sales and engineering work. More potential earnings on the sales side but you really need to think about if you'd be happy just selling. If you like to be in the middle of all the technology then you'll miss it. I was a pre sales engineer so my job was going to the sales meetings, answering customer questions and doing the designs for somebody else to implement. I had sales guys I worked with that did all the cold calling and setting up of all the meetings and all that, something you might think about if you're going into sales.

Great advice so far. I would just add that you should at least try since ur CEO is asking u to. It's a good thing!

Get yourself a CCIE, kick the ass out of it for a few years, buy a lambo, live happliy ever after. Go work at the mothership, take all the stock options. Buy more cars. It was different last century though !

 

 

Simon, CCIE #4774

Get yourself a CCIE, kick the ass out of it for a few years, buy a lambo, live happliy ever after. Go work at the mothership, take all the stock options. Buy more cars. It was different last century though !

 

 

Simon, CCIE #4774

 

When do we get the lambo? I'm still stuck in a Viper.

CCIE #21050

I wonder how applicable this discussion is to other areas of technical sales?

 

Being busy is ok.....traveling half the month or more may be an issue. I've had to do both in a technical role, so how much worse could it be in sales where you don't have fixed hours?

 

Grass is probably greener on the other side of the fence, but once you've built up a nice base of knowledge and can communicate well why wouldn't one want to eventually be on the sales side?

 

There's rarely ever a financial reward for being excellent and going above the call of duty as a technical employee, unless you call keeping your job a reward. It's a zero sum game as opposed to bringing in real money and taking a percentage.

 

Enlighten me on the downsides.

 

 

Im in a similar boat. Im work for a small IT Reseller now and on the Tech side. I have seen my salary is at the top right now. Im trying to get onto the sales side but the bosses wont let me. Its not easy on that side but the earning potential is endless. But if you make yourself 500k you make your boss probably $5M. But thats all part of working for someone. I would go for it if I were you. As soon as I get a shot at sales Im taking it without looking back.

 

Someone, somewhere will give you a shot.

 

Maximize what you can at your current gig and move on when time is right.

 

Your personal success and happiness is a footnote at best of your company's (any company's) goals.

Thank you to everyone who has posted in this thread. I really appreciate all of the input and advice. Also, to the two posters in this thread with their CCIE, congratulations! That is one hell of an accomplishment.

 

I have not responded to this thread because I have been working a lot recently, honoring my duties as a tech guy and taking on some tasks as a sales person. I have recently learned a lot about RFIs, RFPs, solicitations, contract vehicles, past performances, functional areas, core competences, etc. I do enjoy technology as well and attended the Federal Cloud Computing Summit in DC a couple of weeks ago, where the CIOs of some agencies discussed where they were headed with their organizations in regards to technology, which was very interesting. I should be attending some more events that are similar at the end of June and beginning of June which I am also excited about. I am gaining a much better understanding about the business, new technology and the direction some industry leaders want to go in the future.

 

I do find sales exciting, but then again most things that are new to an individual are exciting. I believe I am a hard worker and enjoy the fact that in sales I will be compensated for my hard work and rather quickly in the grand scheme of things. In all honestly, we all get up in the morning and go to work to make money. I want to put myself in position to make as much as possible, as long as it doesn't destroy my relationships and otherwise make me absolutely hate my life.

 

Have some of you guys going from sales to tech side experienced any issues in doing so? Major drop in salary? Hard time finding jobs?

 

I guess one of my main concerns is that I am worried that when I am a bit older, the odd hours and/or lack of stability could be an issue. I have spoken with some older (mid-40s-50s) guys who are sales managers and VPs of sales. While pressured, they love their jobs and the money they make. One of the guys I spoke with said, "Seldomly do rewards come without risk," which I agree with. I think I am going to give it a shot, especially since the opportunity is on the table and was suggested by the CEO, as DJantlive pointed out.

 

Thank you again everyone and I'd like to also apologize for my long winded posts. I think this could be a very helpful and informative thread, so if anyone has anything to add, please continue to contribute.

Best of luck to you in this. Either option will have positives and negatives. You should do very well though being a sales person that can do a deep dive and answer the technical questions as well.

Finding a good IT Sales guy is not easy to do. there are lots of sales guys out there, but not a lot of good ones.

 

If anyone knows of any good sales guys I am hiring.