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highlyinadvisable profile picture

highlyinadvisable

SaLeS dEvELoPmEnT rEpReSeNtAtiVe

Opinionated
Contributor
Fire Starter
+1

Am I going after the wrong vertical from a career perspective?

Hey y'all--I'm thinking on something and could use some advice regarding career direction. This kind of goes out to some of the more seasoned folks out there


I'm currently SDR-ing for a company that has a highly technical product in a fairly crowded market. We have very little name recognition and very little ground cover from marketing (the latter is no surprise obvs)


I have a lot of friends and am seeing a lot of people find success in SaaS products which are not nearly as technical. My ICP is usually an IT leader with a MS/PhD in CompSci (I have a bio degree--this does not make things easier).


I want to stay for at least another 3-6 months as my boss (and the VP) here have been incredibly patient and helpful, and they did me quite a favor by bringing me on. But after nearly a year I'm wondering if a highly technical direction is the one I should be pursuing. I'm in this business only for the money, and I'm wondering if I'd have more luck in a field that's simpler to explain and understand from a business perspective.


TL:DR: Are technical/backend fields more lucrative than selling into other departments? At what point (if ever) do I become 'tracked' due to my background experience?



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cw95
Politicker
5
Sales Development Lead
So, I have a similar experience to you - as I imagine many people in the war room do as well.

I'd say, and I know it's not a long explanation at all, but see it out for a little longer. 

If you are selling a highly technical (and not simple) product, you'll hopefully, have a lot more opportunities in the future.

When you sell something really simple, all you are thinking about is the ease of getting paid and getting a simple commission. Anyone can do this? 

Selling something technical and going through the tough times creates a multitude of opportunities. People become sales engineers from this exact scenario.

However, I'm not saying do this as I don't know your company, I'm saying see it out as the HARD SELL gives you a good opp to a bigger role than an EASY sell does. 

Very vague but that's my two pence. 
Diablo
Politicker
4
Sr. AE
I agree.. Complex products have multi layer of decision making, long sales cycle and the ARR is worth it. 

Finding an easy job won't be a great deal provided you have made up your mind.
jefe
Arsonist
1
🍁
Wanted to add something, but I think you covered most of it.

Long game or short game. IMO long game is worth it.
cw95
Politicker
2
Sales Development Lead
Batters up! The long shot is the best shot. 
CaneWolf
Politicker
1
Call me what you want, just sign the damn contract
I would say that if you had a way to represent this visually, it'd basically be a reverse asymptote. As you pass a certain threshold for technical nature of the product, the increase in pay just sort of stops.
dcarb
Good Citizen
1
Account Manager
Seems to me that an SDR calling on the super nerds of the IT space is really challenging.  I've been doing it for 20+ years.   Here's the dilemma IMHO, the higher a person goes up the intellectual IT ladder, the more likely it is for them to be introverted and borderline anti-social.  That's not ALWAYS the base but it's pretty damn common.  My point is that what you are doing is HARD as shit. You are calling on dudes who don't answer their phone and seldom respond to emails! I had a Director of IT tell me one time that he would have the phone system admin delete his voice mail box once a month and then add it back.  He didn't check voice mail messages....period.  I agree with some others that  you should try and give it a little more time.  Technical sales takes longer to get some momentum.  Especially if your average sales cycle is long.  I've worked on deals for years before they came to fruition.  It can be a slow burn so you gotta be in for the long game.  Juss sayin...

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