7 Lessons from 2.5 years in Tech Sales
I was recently promoted to a Sales Executive position at the tech company I work for. I’ve been reflecting on the road to this point, and figured I’d share what I’ve learned from the past two and a half years in this crazy space.
Let me acknowledge that 2.5 years is not really that much experience, and, as always, I have an infinity of things to learn. Also, this recent promotion is my first time in a closing role, so I’m now just starting the real sales grind.1
I’m not trying to position myself as some sort of sales guru with this post. This is partly for myself to keep in mind going forward.2 There are few things more gross than fake macho-man scammers pretending to be sales greats on the internet. Besides, the people I’ve observed killing it the most are trustworthy people solving real problems.
With all that said, let’s dive in.
1. Focus on your maximum leverage point
Being fluent in Spanish is the number one thing that makes me different within the company, and is therefore the number one thing I’ve leveraged since day one.
It didn’t take long for me to basically become “the Spanish guy.”
People send me leads and accounts to call on if there are language barriers with an interested prospect, and I’ve always been happy to help. I’ve also hopped on meetings with executives to translate, including during product demonstrations and pricing negotiations.
One of the biggest reasons I got this recent promotion was so I can cover the Miami market, aka North Latin America. In getting this position, I even leapfrogged an entire position in between the position I was just in and the one I’m in now.
My takeaway from all of this is that whatever your biggest leverage point and strength is, you should double, triple, and quadruple down on it.
2. Understanding over memorization
An idea I live by: you don’t want to believe, you want to understand. You don’t want to memorize, you want to understand.
Memorizing lines without actually knowing what they mean doesn’t help you in the end. Doing this in a sales context is like memorizing the sounds of words in another language, and saying them to someone without knowing what their definitions are. Sounds insane, right? Almost like you wouldn’t be able to have a real conversation?
From this perspective you realize how important building genuine knowledge of what you sell is. It helps to be extremely curious through realizing that your ignorance will always be infinite. Whenever I sync with high performing Sales Executives, or managers and senior people, I pepper them with questions. It’s so obvious yet it needs to be said: learn as much as you can from the experienced, older people in your company.
3. Volume, volume, volume, and more volume
The number one contributor to consistently exceeding my quota was volume. Yes, even in a world of AI slop mass emails and robo calls, volume has been key. My lifetime quota attainment in the previous four positions I was in is 123.7%. Cast a wide net. Shots on net. Give yourself a chance to get lucky. Whatever you want to say, the point is the same.
I’ve observed some BDRs and SDRs focused on things that don’t really matter, when they could be focused on just doing more calls.
Dials, bro. The bell curve meme in this post couldn’t be more true.
4. Actually listen to what people say
Two ears and one mouth for a reason, as the Stoic saying goes.
5. Avoid drama and gossip
There is literally nothing to be gained from engaging in any company drama and gossip.
6. Don’t take the work too seriously but prepare intensely
You don’t want to have your identity or self-esteem tied to work outcomes, while at the same time putting serious effort into ensuring you have good outcomes.
People doing the reverse are making a costly mistake for both their finances and their soul.
7. Literally just be confident
People want to be charmed.
The bar to do it is pretty low nowadays. You don’t have to be James Bond. In a remote sales context, it comes down to stupidly simple things: wearing a collared shirt, having a good background and decent lighting, smiling, cracking a joke or two.
Good energy and tone goes a long way. Nobody wants to listen to someone who isn’t confident.
I say “real” sales grind because instead of only converting inbound leads and doing outbound prospecting (BDR/SDR work), my quota will be an actual dollar amount, because it is a closing role. I’ll be doing initial meetings, demos, pricing calls, negotiation etc.
As is pretty much everything I write, selfishly.