TennisandSales

Head Of Sales

Acclaimed Answer

Industry Experience vs Sales Experience - Whats more important?

curious on everyones thoughts here, because my opinion has changed a bit over the years.

I use to think that sales experience is more important than industry experience.

So if you are switching industries, your sales experience is still very valid and important and it should be MORE important than someone with less overall sales experience but more experience selling to the ICP.

I also started to see companies follow this as well. That was before the big "crash" when every company seemed to be doing layoffs.

Now, with companies more focused on being profitable, and more AEs being expected to be full cycle, and the re-evaluation of the SDR role overall, I think companies will start to value tenure in industry selling to the same ICP as a very very valuable thing.

You become a much "safer" hire, you should be able to learn quicker, and provide results faster.

I think once you get over ~$25,000 ACV it becomes even more valuable because under that amount its less likely you have to have a deep understanding of the industry / product.

What do yall think?

😎 Sales Skills

13

17 comments

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Filth

Politicker

5

Live Filthy or Die Clean

I truly believe that if you understand and can manage a sales process, you can learn all the industry/product you need. Even if you don't know what industry you're selling to or wtf your product does, a professional handle of the steps from disco to negotiation can outweigh industry knowledge b/c you have the ability to bring your org's experts into the fold. Until you become both sales and industry expert, it's easier to lean on the SMEs and product owners and play more like a project coordinator in the demo/presentation/proposal phases.

I guess then this all depends if an organization has the tools/personnel to allow this gap in knowledge or they expect a seller to be a one man army, then you have to have both sales and industry knowledge anyways and it's a moot point.

jefe

Arsonist

3

🍁

Hard agree on this. If you've got a half decent head on your shoulders, you can learn the new industry and leverage SMEs until then.

Can't really teach sales effectively.

TennisandSales

Politicker

2

Head Of Sales

as long as you have the SMEs and product owners who are able and willing to be in front of prospects haha

detectivegibbles

Politicker

4

Sales Director

Such a hard question and no clear answer IMO and depends more on the culture of the company.

You can have two companies that do the same exact thing but their approach and execution can be totally opposite of one another.

I'd probably still lean towards sales experience just because I find industry experience (in my market at least) type of people that are "stuck in their ways". Change is typically harder for these types of people.

Just my two cents, great question though. Does AI potentially change this in 3-5 years?

TennisandSales

Politicker

3

Head Of Sales

oh nice call about being "stuck in their ways" that is something that can be super hard to overcome.

I tend to find those traits in folks that have been in sales in a general for a while, good and bad things.

It will be interesting to see what AI can do, I would think AI has a better chance to replace general sales knowledge vs industry knowledge. since that can be a bit more nuanced.

Sunbunny31

Politicker

3

Sr Sales Executive 🐰

I'll agree that as you work your way upward in your career, you're going to acquire a fair amount of industry experience that will lead to roles that require more industry knowledge and lead to a bigger salary. I think some of that also comes with finding your niche and where you excel.

TennisandSales

Politicker

0

Head Of Sales

i totally agree with this and has for sure been my experience.

Pachacuti

Politicker

3

They call me Daddy, Sales Daddy

I think the consensus in this forum would be Sales experience is more valuable but in the real world recruiters are looking for a “best fit” which means same industry experience, but it reduces risk for them - or at least the appearance of risk.

Personally I’m divided. A smart sales person can get up to speed within a short period of time on just about any solution. I know this from personal experience. However most orgs and managers don’t have the time or patience to train so they want someone who can hit the ground running now - which isn’t always the best thing when they bring their bad habits with them.

Sunbunny31

Politicker

2

Sr Sales Executive 🐰

"Hit the ground running" is very much a comment you hear from hiring managers.

HVACexpert

Politicker

2

sales engineer

Some don’t have the money for the training either.

Space_Ghost20

Valued Contributor

2

Account Executive

Ideally, you want a good mix of both on your teams. People who know the industry inside and out and people with perspectives from outside that bubble and let everything cross pollinate. In markets like this one though, hiring managers tend to revert to "safer" choices. Not only because they're more likely to work out, but also easier to explain if they don't.

As for which is more important, I think it's complicated. If candidate A has 5 years of sales experience and only one is in your industry, and candidate B has 3 years of experience, all in industry, I'm more likely to go with B. But if candidate A has 15 years of experience, 2 in industry vs candidate B having 5 years of experience, all in industry, I'm going A. There's a whole lot of nuance with that too.

oldcloser

Arsonist

2

💀

The scope of the definition of what a good seller is, in the fucking KPI era, has crept. It's evolved into the best and most hardened process pusher with the most segment and ICP experience.

Today's SaaS slinger gets hired because they can run a deal, and push pipeline squares across the board diligently. Their ability to work a pre-prescribed and defined sales process in a given segment comes first. Hence, all of the deal size and sales cycle questions up front. ICP specific knowledge comes in the top 2. Hiring managers think that if they can find someone who checks both boxes they've got a winner.

In my world, none of this has anything to do with true sales talent. ICP specific knowledge matters, but it's a short-sighted view. Whether its bowling pins or travel expense management, it's only about a few months of vertical indoctrination that points directly to ramp time. And THAT is what causes all of this insanity. If they have ICP experience they'll ramp faster. So, yeah... 2nd box checked.

1. Process prowess
2. Projected ramp time

I'll just leave this tirade with this question: What does any of this have to do with sales talent?

SalesBeast

Politicker

2

Sales Leader

Industry experience is typically best. Then if you have that experience at a competitor or similar product and know info already about competition you are more valuable. Sales experience (number of yrs)is a close 2nd.

wolfofmiami

Opinionated

1

🐺

Sales is more transferable

LambyCorn

Arsonist

1

A mfkn E

imo its a no brainer - sales experience

HVACexpert

Politicker

1

sales engineer

Industry experience helps greatly in my industry, especially having a technical prowess to understand not only what you sell but how it fits into the hearing/cooling system as a whole. That being said if a company had a vetted out training program for new hires or someone from a different industry, I don’t think it’s too technical that it couldn’t be taught. Problem is no one wants (or even can) to spend the money or time to do this, so industry experience leads the way.

The training programs that do exist are created for hires right out of college, there isn’t much training associated for someone already with sales experience who has more to learn on the product/system side.

CuriousFox

WR Officer

0

🦊

Sales experience matters. You can always learn the industry.

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