GottaSellEmAll

Sales Manager

Does tenure really matter in sales roles or is it all about skills?

I recently was reached out to by a recruiter about an enterprise role where the minimum requirements were 7+ years in technical enterprise saas sales.

My initial thought was "I don't meet that tenure requirement, but I feel I have the skills needed for the role"

What required skills are gained with tenure only? Should tenure be a requirement?

What skills have you seen more tenured enterprise reps have that younger reps lack?

Should tenure be a requirement for enterprise sales roles?

Attached poll

Yes No

*Voting in this poll no longer yields commission.

🎈 Mentorship

👥 Hiring

🧢 Sales Management

19 comments

Sort by:

funcoupons

WR Officer

👑

ENT involves more complex cycles and decision making structures. Couple that with a highly technical product and it’s impossible that someone could just jump in and find success without starting lower on the totem, unless they came from an extremely similar competitor. It’s not just years spent in the role, it’s the knowledge and skills that time afforded you.

GottaSellEmAll

Big Shot

Sales Manager

Impossible is nothing. A quick learner that has experience mapping large orgs and working complex deal cycles could come in and learn a new product space. It definitely doesn't take more than a few years to learn how to effectively map an org and get buy in from a large organization No?

funcoupons

WR Officer

👑

Sounds like you already know everything boss, dunno why you asked us.

GottaSellEmAll

Big Shot

Sales Manager

Definitely didn’t mean to come off that way. Do you think it takes years to learn the skills necessary to succeed in an enterprise role? If so, why that much time and never quicker?

Pachacuti

Politicker

They call me Daddy, Sales Daddy

Don’t let number of years dissuade you from going after a job.

That said, there are some things only time on the job can teach you.

GottaSellEmAll

Big Shot

Sales Manager

That is my foundational question though, what are those things that you feel "only time on the job can teach you"?

CRAG112

Valued Contributor

Account Executive

It's an arbitrary number.

More often than not companies see everyone else asking for the same thing, so that's what they do. Believing there is true logic behind it is folly.

CuriousFox

WR Officer

🦊

Yes and no. Still apply and see what happens. 🤷‍♀️

FinanceEngineer

Politicker

Sr Director, sales and partnerships

Understanding the processes for each industry, and in some cases company, actually, matters. Combining that with the people that you meet that you can call on in the future, really does make the difference.

GottaSellEmAll

Big Shot

Sales Manager

I think the only thing there that scales with tenure is one's network "the people you meet that you can call on"

Knowing an industry, process, or company is learned in almost every case and my argument is that a tenure requirement for a role penalizes quick learners. Agree?

FinanceEngineer

Politicker

Sr Director, sales and partnerships

Maybe, but you learn by doing/failing. Not having those reps really makes a difference.

Sunbunny31

Politicker

Sr Sales Executive 🐰

1) yes, tenure matters. Companies may not have the bandwidth to bootstrap an inexperienced rep. That said,
2) some of what is in a job description is a wish list. They may be ok with 5 years experience rather than 7 if the candidate is right; the candidate will still have experience, maybe just not the requested amount.

If you do apply and they turn you down, assuming that you do have some years of experience, I'd be asking them why "7" is a magic number.

GottaSellEmAll

Big Shot

Sales Manager

Good point. And I'm definitely not suggesting that a brand new rep could step into an enterprise role and succeed. But I do think that a high performing, quick learner can step into most any sales role after maybe 2-3+ years and succeed.

Notmyrealname

Politicker

Laps of the sun are a decent yardstick for quick comparison but guarantee nothing. If you have the rest of the requirements why not go for it? Worst they'll say is no.

handysales

Politicker

Enterprise Sales Lead

Depends on the market and how complex the sales are. If it's super niche and everyone knows everyone, then tenure matters a ton. But if the whole industry is a revolving door and a year or two is all you need to get good at selling to that industry, then tenure doesn't mean much.

TennisandSales

Politicker

Head Of Sales

so as someone who has been in ENT sales for a little over two years I can tell you a few things.

1. Experience DOES matter...to an extent. Once you take your first prospect from demo to close and it was a 6 figure deal that took lik 18 months.....you realize its just different than non ENT sales.

2. I am a HUGE believer that just because you have been doing something for 7 years does not mean you at 7X better at it.

you could actually suck at it, but have slid by for 7 years.

3. I think companies should be asking for specific number of examples instead of years of experience.
"must have closed 4 contracts worth over X amount"
"has closed 5 deals that took over 12 months each"

something like that.

NotCreativeEnough

Big Shot

Professional Day Ruiner

I think it should be a requirement, but not to the degree that many companies want. Requiring someone have 7+ years of enterprise sales experience for a role is pretty crazy imo. It creates a wall that makes it hard for them to find someone, and impossible for anyone who is already in sales just not at the enterprise level to move up. Requiring sales experience in their industry would make much more sense than an arbitrary time requirement. What happens at 7 years of experience that you didn't have 5 years?

NoSuperhero

Politicker

BDR LEAD

Yes and no? I mean it's important but not a deal killer. I'd prefer to hire someone with both if I'm completely honest with you.

buckeyenation

Acclaimed Answer

If I had an SQL for every senior rep I met with horrible selling mechanics and no care for the customer, I'd never need to prospect again.

But they might know the game. Enterprise selling is a game you can't intuitively learn. You have to see it first, and then learn it. By nature, more ENT reps will be senior. Repeat cycle.

Bravado is a community of trusted sales professionals endorsed by their customers.

Products

The War Room Jobs Salary Guide Tech Sales U

Company

About Us How It Works Blog Bug Bounty

Contact

Press Careers

If you are hired as a contract sales rep by a Bravado customer, we may ask you to prove access to the employee email account provided to you by that customer. This data will be shared with customers to track your sales productivity; customers can use this data to confirm you meet the minimum activity requirements to pay out your ramp stipend and commission.