Inside Technical Sales Representative Careers

Biggest Surprises

"The Perception Of Value Of IT In Business...
I am a sales engineer so I knew that I would be dealing with people. What I did not expect to find is that many people within the field are unhappy, or they want someone to fix their internal problems for free. Many companies also undervalue IT and so salaries and budgets can be constrained for the most part and expectations are extremely high due to technology being more mainstream within the user community (e.g. prevalence of iPhones, tablets, etc.) give a perception that IT is easy and should just work." (Sales Engineer - Software; 2013)

Career: 18 years of experience, currently based in Colorado, male
School: Studied Business With Information Technology Concentration at Colorado Technical University in Colorado; completed Bachelor degree in 2005

Best & Worst Things About This Career

Account Manager: "The best part of my career is that spend management is a very interesting and upcoming field. Many big players like Oracle and SAP are setting their feet into this. I have gathered experience in it, and I am sure to be benefited in the future. I have experience with client engagement and working on system improvement projects, hence I have a dual advantage. The worst part is that it tends to get hectic and I have to multi-task a lot." (2011)

Sales Consultant: "The best part of the job is being self-employed. As a mother it gives me great flexibility. It allows me to have an income and not worry about daycare and who will stay home with the kids during school vacations or when they are sick. It also gives me adult time. The worst part of my job is that sometimes people are not very nice or reliable. It is amazing to me how heartless people can be. A little courtesy goes a long way." (2010)

Career Background

Technical Sales Representative

  Salaries

Career Tips

"Rounding Out Your Core Skills...
I would recommend to learn as much coding (Python, Ruby, Java) and as well as HTML/CSS/PHP as possible in addition to knowledge about systems in general. Coding will give you more value and allow you to create custom solutions to problems to increase your personal value." (Sales Engineer - Software; 2013)

"Know What Clients Expect And Deliver...
1) Understand your client expectations of you. They have to be kept happy all the way. Proper communication with them is key. 2) Try and be proactive and read symptoms well. You have to have an eye for detail as if you can pick errors you can save a lot of invoicing snafus. 3) Experience in Recruitment process works to your advantage. 4) Effective written and oral communication are also a must." (Account Manager; 2011)

"Expect Rejection...
Don't take a 'no' personally. It's about business. It's nothing personal. Put into your business as much as you want to get out of it. If you make no effort you will not get anything out of it. If you do not open your mouth and try you will never know. I learned my lesson. Someone did not know I sold and went on the internet to find a representative. Luckily, it was me she picked but shame on me as she lived so close to me I could see her house. She did not know I sold and she was my neighbor." (Sales Consultant; 2010)