MoneyMan

Cool A$$ Ex Banker

How to transition from high level banking gig to an equivalent AE role??

So.. I’ve been in banking over 13 years and decided to make the switch to Tech. My last banking role was at BOA, carrying a 4MM annual lending quota. Closed out my last year there at 10MM, then took a sabbatical to focus on the switch and help out a friends startup. My issue is no one seems to want to give me credit for my banking experience, although I’m use to carrying quotas 4x over standard 1M+ quota AE roles. Crazy thing is most are wanting me to start as SMB AE and even SDR roles, when I’ve seen kids get Ent AE roles with nowhere near my experience. OTE at BOA was 200k, 105k base. What approach should I take to land something on par?

👥 Hiring

28 comments

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TennisandSales

Politicker

Head Of Sales

first off thats some SOLID experience. dont waste your time with companies that dont value it.

BUT you will get lots of companies that want to discredit it.

what ive told lots of ppl is try to find tech companies that care about your background.
What tech companies sell to banks, sell to lenders, or who are in some sort of similar industry.

I dont have any names off the top of my head but thats how I would think about it.

Also make sure to make your resume read like a tech AE resume. not a bankers resume.

Nail down:
1. average deal size
2. average sales cycle length
3. your prospecting approach ect.

jefe

Arsonist

🍁

SOLID points from @TennisandSales

TennisandSales

Politicker

Head Of Sales

🙌🙌

MoneyMan

Fire Starter

Cool A$$ Ex Banker

This is very helpful! I appreciate you!

I have switched my resume to read like an AE but didn’t include those three bullet points. Thank you!

TennisandSales

Politicker

Head Of Sales

your welcome. I broke into saas after working in financial services for 4.5 years, so i had similar challenges.

Sunbunny31

Politicker

Sr Sales Executive 🐰

This is some really great advice.

TennisandSales

Politicker

Head Of Sales

🙏🏼

ReadTheScript

Politicker

Sales Manager

This is the right answer.

CuriousFox

WR Officer

🦊

Why do you want to switch?

MoneyMan

Fire Starter

Cool A$$ Ex Banker

Burned out. It’s not fun for me anymore. Plus, I’m having to do so much cross selling, customer service, and many other things that my OTE should be much higher. Especially compared to AE roles. 4 million is a lot of loans to close for 200 OTE. Hell, I’d be making 350-500k probably hitting those same numbers in an AE role, so that’s another reason why I’m transitioning.

saaskicker

Celebrated Contributor

Enterprise AE

AEs are selling a product/service/software - loans are selling money. Be ready to flip that script.

antiASKHOLE

Tycoon

Bravado's Resident Asshole

If you think you have the experience and the skills to get the ENT role, then start networking and applying to those roles.

MoneyMan

Fire Starter

Cool A$$ Ex Banker

Makes sense. Will definitely do that! Thank you.

Sunbunny31

Politicker

Sr Sales Executive 🐰

I don't have the exact experience that TennisandSales and Loudmouth do, coming from the industry, but I did want to point out that your experience selling into medical (aka "Life Sciences" in the tech world) as well as being in finance (or "FSI") means that you can talk about how you know those two industry verticals as well.

MoneyMan

Fire Starter

Cool A$$ Ex Banker

Thank you for this! Very helpful!

Sunbunny31

Politicker

Sr Sales Executive 🐰

Knowing the language and how to sell into industries is a huge plus. Highlight that. Honestly, you have a great CV. You should be pursuing AE roles.

Loudmouth

Valued Contributor

Director - Sales Enablement and Inside Sales

Banks like BOA and Chase have a built in customer base and recognition that feeds into your quota.

I was only in banking for a few years, but I brought in an additional $2mm in new investments (towards a $500k quota) on day one just because I asked someone if they needed help when they walked in.

It’s a very different game and I think you should take that into consideration before giving up a $200k OTE.

You might need to come in as a BDR or SMB AE. I don’t think you’re going to easily find a lateral move to tech.

MoneyMan

Fire Starter

Cool A$$ Ex Banker

You’re totally right about the walk in traffic, but I worked a corporate role. 100% on the phone, cold calling an existing book of business and hunting brand new business.

It’s very rare to get windfalls like that 2MM investment, even working inside a branch. But I definitely agree, it’s a different game, but in many ways banking is actually much more difficult, especially on the level I left.

I was closing 300-1MM+ deals all the time working with CEOs. Convincing them to switch banks, moving millions over to BOA and cross selling the hell out of them. Like, how could they want me to start as a BDR with that type of experience. It’s insane.

Loudmouth

Valued Contributor

Director - Sales Enablement and Inside Sales

I kind of found the easy transfers to be the norm. I think over 18 months I brought in something like $20mm and almost never made cold calls. And I was still only 3rd highest in my district.

That being said, I’m thinking maybe your resume and your interviews aren’t conveying your work in a way that’s favorable. Those numbers are solid.

The toughest question you’re going to face is “ok, so you sold a product to someone that already used a product that’s almost identical. How do you sell to someone that doesn’t even know this type of product exists?”

MoneyMan

Fire Starter

Cool A$$ Ex Banker

Ahh, sound like you were on the investment side. I was a business banker selling primarily to the medical industry.

You know, my resume and interviews very well may be the reason why.

My approach has been to find a wound, rip it open and give them the medicine they didn’t know they need. Creating synchronicity in my presentation with a sense of urgency and a pinch of scarcity always got the job done.

JDialz

Politicker

Chief Operating Officer

Have you considered selling BOLI/COLI? With your experience and existing relationships it sounds like you would do very well.

Investments could be a great option as well! Our monthly target is $10MM/mo, which inevitably leads to opportunities for insurance including BOLI/COLI.

MoneyMan

Fire Starter

Cool A$$ Ex Banker

No I haven’t but will definitely look into it!

LocoSales

Politicker

Jr. Sales Manager

Don‘t get me wrong, you certainly seem to be knowledgeable, and all, but Tech and Banking are two very different worlds, especially Enterprise Tech. Sales. You will not only have to have the technical understanding and the ability to convince CEOs but also the various teams that are directly or indirectly affected by the product, such as the procurement, legal team and the actual users of the product/service and lead the whole process from RFI to POC to signing the deal. Most companies in such a space take a tremendous risk in hiring AEs and therefore are very demanding when looking at someone‘s profile. Hence, I believe you should possibly consider taking an SMB position, especially considering that the talent pool is getting more and more competitive with all the layoffs.

MoneyMan

Fire Starter

Cool A$$ Ex Banker

Hmm. That’s a good point, but what folks are missing is that I worked with CEOs all the time… in fact, I’ve helped them on a more personal level than simply selling them a product. I know everything.. remember, your banker has privileged information about you.

I’ve saved companies.. helped them grow.. refined their processes.. CFO work if you really think about it. I have a different, yet deeper (imo) understanding of them, psychologically. I mean, getting someone to send you three years of their business and personal financials, selling them a multimillion dollar expansion/working capital loan, PLUS getitng them to move their bank accounts, change payroll companies, etc is a skill set not many possess.

Once I’m in, I’m gonna kill it. I know it. And the company that hires me will be extremely happy.

LocoSales

Politicker

Jr. Sales Manager

Happy to hear that you are so confident, and I wish you all the best. I would be interested to see an update from your side once you have transitioned. I was also extremely confident when switching from Pharma to Tech, and the first 1-2 years were really tough to adjust and build the skillset to become good at it and establish myself.

MoneyMan

Fire Starter

Cool A$$ Ex Banker

I appreciate you. Will definitely share an update once something solidifies. I do understand that the transition will be challenging, but nothing I can’t handle. I’m getting close. I can feel it!

YoursTruly

Politicker

Account Executive (SaaS)

I came from lending and worked at bofa. My wife managed people in your role at a different bank. The quotas are not equivalent. The sales cycles and processes are not equivalent. The type of prospecting you’ll do is not equivalent.

The reality is you have no idea what you’re in store for as a saas enterprise seller. Its not remotely close to what you did at bofa. That’s why you need to start at mid market or smb.

I held out for a mid market role with a salary weighted 135k ote. Crushed it for two years and moved to a better company still doing mid market with a 200k ote.

There’s a path and you won’t get to skip the line because those people who you think don’t have as much experience, have more experience doing something you’ve never done. Sell software.

MoneyMan

Fire Starter

Cool A$$ Ex Banker

Interesting prospective, but as @tennisandsales stated: find a company that values my expertise.

It’s not about “skipping the line” it’s just everyone doesn’t take the same path.. I have faith that I will land the role I want very soon.

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MoneyMan

How to transition from high level banking gig to an equivalent AE role??

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