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Join nowIt's all about long-term relationship building, so you can match the right solutions to the right people and organizations.
Kristen Handler, Senior Account Manager, Red Argyle
June 13, 2025
Tech is still a growing industry, always moving forward. Innovation drives business — just look at the huge changes brought by even the earliest days of generative AI. In fact, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics , tech is predicted to be one of the fastest-growing industries in the next decade. As the tech market continues to expand, there's an ongoing demand for new salespeople. But there's also a ton of competition, which can make it hard to land a job.
Worried you don't have the experience to break into tech sales? Even if you don't have a sales background, you might have the right skills. Take it from me — I was a food server and bartender before I broke in, and now I've risen to be a senior account manager helping with Salesforce solutions. And I can help you demonstrate your value and land a job in tech sales.
Tech sales refers to selling technology as a product or service. These solutions take a few different forms:
Using myself as an example, one of the product areas that I sell consulting services for is Sales Cloud. This is a software product that helps sales teams collaborate, manage their sales pipelines, forecast their revenue, and manage their customers and their upcoming touchpoints. In a way, my job is like working in a mirror because it's the same tool I use while selling it.
While tech sales can fall into many categories and subcategories, IT sales tend to be specifically focused on IT services and infrastructure and are usually sold exclusively to other businesses. Notable examples of sellable IT services are:
You might notice some overlap, and it's similar to the relationship between a rectangle and a square. Most IT sales could be classified as general tech sales, but many types of tech sales couldn't be called IT sales.
A career in tech sales is more than just getting people to sign up for product and service subscriptions. Even more than other kinds of sales, it's about solving problems. At its heart, "tech" means a tool that bridges a gap between where a customer is and where they want to be to accomplish goals. Like any sales job, it can be lucrative, but the reasons I pick selling technology over other types of sales are:
Tech sales is a gateway to a career that blends strategy, innovation, and financial success. If you enjoy solving problems, working with people, and being part of a high-energy environment, you might just like it as much as I do.
So, what are jobs in tech sales like? At the end of the day, they're about long-term relationship building so you can match the right solutions to the right people and organizations. But there are lots of pieces to that puzzle. Check out the tasks and skills expected of workers in tech sales to figure out if this career might be right for you.
In tech sales, you will be expected to:
When I moved from a 10-year career in food service to sales, I had little direct experience with putting together a deal or cold calling. After all, every "lead" who walks into a bar is a hungry or thirsty one. But I had a lot of transferable skills, such as perseverance, maintaining a cheerful attitude, and plenty of upselling and relationship building. You may also have complementary skills for the job, such as:
Tech sales roles are as varied as the technologies sold. Each requires some amount of people skills, salesmanship, and passion for technology. However, depending on your previous experience and interests, you can choose a path that truly suits you. The types include:
Many entry-level salespeople start out as BDRs, which can mean a lot of grinding, especially at first. But it's more than worth it for those who stick it out as they pick up skills and learn to hustle, make deals, and start working through complex-solution selling. A common path is to begin by selling to small- to medium-sized businesses, then mid-market, then enterprise — each tier having fewer deals with much higher value.
The quotas and technical understanding might seem like big barriers, but there are tried-and-true steps you can take to land a tech sales job without years of experience. Try the following.
There's a popular saying in sales that your network is your net worth. Colleagues help you when you're down, mentors teach you what you don't know that you don't know, and every random connection could help you open a door to a new role or decision-maker. Here are a few ways to start building your network:
Learn from salespeople already in the game in specific discussion boards and sites: One of my personal favorite places to network is the Salesblazer Community, where salespeople connect and learn together.
Certifications signal your commitment to leveling up your skill set and a willingness to dedicate time, money, and effort to educate yourself. Try these types:
Your skills and experience matter to a potential employer because they need evidence you can do the job and be part of the team that helps grow their company. Highlighting the transferable skills discussed earlier is a great way to showcase what you can bring to the table, even if you're coming from another industry. How are the skills and experience listed on your resume related to the job you're applying for? Be prepared to talk about that in an interview with relevant examples that relate to sales.
Let's say one of your skills is being a team player, and you're coming from a job as a restaurant server. On your resume, mention that you worked with a team of servers to improve the restaurant's ordering system. In the interview, share a story about your experience collaborating with the team to install the system and the personal on-the-floor perspective you contributed.
One approach to telling your story is to align it with the hiring company's core values. Most companies will showcase their values in the "About" section on their website. Choose a value that connects with your skills and practice talking about how you exemplify it. Some common company values include things such as diversity, trust, accountability, and sustainability.
For example, when I transitioned from serving to sales, I applied to a company with a "customer-centric" value, which I linked to my personal drive to never leave anyone waiting, even on a crowded night.
Do your homework and research your target company. Showcase your knowledge in your application, correspondence, and interview. One area to zero in on is the company's competitors and how your target company is unique in the market.
Here are some good resources to help with your research:
To give you an idea of what daily life in a tech sales job is like, I've adapted a real job posting similar to those used for entry-level positions.
Job description
You'll be selling our customer relationship management and sales automation platform to many verticals, including financial services, health care, consumer goods, and automotive. Our sales organization is dedicated to providing lasting value to all our customers, and our business development representative team is a core part of that. Your focus will be generating new business through outbound prospecting. It's a fast-paced team that provides plenty of personalized training and career growth opportunities for well-organized self-starters.
Day-to-day duties
Preferred qualifications:
As with any job, there are positives and negatives to tech sales you'll want to consider before diving in. Let's look at some of the pros and cons.
Whether you want to transition into tech sales from another industry or are just starting your sales career, you need to emphasize the skills hiring managers are looking for. Do your research, and come prepared to interviews to talk about why you want to be in tech sales. If you do your homework, hiring managers will notice an eager candidate, ready for success.
The most common path for a sales rep in tech sales is really similar to any other industry. Most typically start as a business development representative (BDR) or sales development representative (SDR). These individuals are often entry-level sales professionals who handle prospecting and engagement with inbound leads. If successful in these roles, sales pros can move up to account executive (AE), owning customer relationships and leading deals through the close, and eventually to sales management or specialist roles.
This isn't necessarily required, but it's definitely an asset when applying for sales roles in tech businesses. Depending on the hiring team, there may be flexibility on this as a requirement if candidates can show a willingness and ability to learn the technical details of a product quickly.
There are many benefits, including competitive compensation (compared to sales roles in other industries), opportunities for career advancement, the chance to work on cutting-edge products, and working in a professional space that is always evolving.
Tech sales careers involve selling (or supporting the sales of) technology products or services. This includes things like software, hardware, software-as-a-service (SaaS) products, cloud-based solutions, technical support, and other associated products/services. These careers can be more dynamic than other sales careers as the technology industry changes frequently.
Aspects of tech sales are similar to sales in other industries. Fundamentally, a sales professional in this space must know the technology they're selling — including its technical components — so they can speak to value and impact when working with customers. They need to be able to position their product as a solution to customer pain points, and handle objections deftly. They also need to stay up-to-date on the latest industry trends and customer needs in order to be able to sell effectively and close quickly.
Tech sales offers many benefits that attract talent across the world. Some of them include very competitive salaries, being on the frontline of cutting-edge tech development, and working in a constantly-changing field. This offers tech sales pros a challenging and engaging environment with ongoing learning and growth opportunities.
As with many professional arenas, tech sales will likely be disrupted by developments in AI, especially autonomous agentic AI (like Agentforce). This cutting-edge innovation can free up tech sellers' time by handling tedious manual work with minimal or no human input, giving reps more opportunity to engage in relationship-building and strategic work. Of course, tech sellers will need to develop skills to both sell this new technology and use it impactfully in their own work.
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