Anyone ever jumped into a sales career and regretted it?

[347Mike]

This.

I am posting from Innisbrook Golf Club in Florida actually, we're here for our annual top performers sales conference. I opted for an hour massage on Friday instead of golf though, my game isn't good enough to be able to enjoy a PGA course yet, and I am in dire need of the stress relief.

So you got the Cuban special then?

[Hmbre97]

Yeah, I think I'm going to throw my resume their way and see what happens.

[Rreemo]

It's a niche role when you are talking IT...and there is a huge difference depending on what you are selling.....services, or products. I've been around it for a while now...15 years with the same company. A lot of IT guys don't have the social DNA required to be successful in a sales role. However those that do typically are quite successful....and they are usually the ones that come from experience in more customer-facing services roles.

I'm in field services...manage a team of Field Engineers who go on-site with customers to do Health Checks, Risk Assessments, Remediation Planning, Work Shops, Chalk Talks, etc. They also do some reactive work when remote technical support isn't working for a customer. I also have Field Architects who go out for longer-term engagements and are more "solution" design oriented....the proactive stuff like Migration/Deployment Planning, Operations Consulting, etc. We've had some folks that got a lot of field experience in our org and then moved out into services sales type roles, and were hugely successful....a lot of that is because they got that experience being out there and seeing why and how customers use what we offer...so they know the angle and therefore know the pitch too.

But it's not for everyone, and it can be VERY demanding. I know a guy that moved over to a services sales role and literally doubled his gross income the first year....he exceeded a half-million in gross compensation his second year, and maintained it for his third year. However, by the time he was in his 4th year his personal life literally fell to pieces....went through an awful (and surprised) divorce among several other things. They wanted him to refocus into a Sales Management role, but no longer in services....he went into product sales management, and that lasted less than a year.

He's back in our group now working as a consultant and MUCH happier...he's put his personal life back together and moved on.

[yellowstang]

If your wife convinces you to do it, she's a hell of a salesman!