Need advice to break into Enterprise Sales

Hey all you Chads and Stacey's of the Enterprise tech sales world.

I'm currently stuck in SMb hell, trying like mad to break into Emterprise, but even with an interview I get shot down because I don't have "enterprise experience"

Hell I'd be down for just a simple Mid Market role that I could get into the 300k range but SMB just sucks. 

I don't want to straight up lie on interviews, but any tips on how I can get around the "don't have enterprise" experience obstacle?
🧠 Advice
🎯 Career Development
☁️ Software Tech
13
NotCreativeEnough
Big Shot
7
Professional Day Ruiner
its much simpler to work for a company that offers growth from within. Getting promoted internally to enterprise will be a lot simpler than trying to find somewhere to bring you on with no experience. They don't want to have to teach you both the product/industry and the sales cycle/processes. 
braintank
Politicker
3
Enterprise Account Executive
Agreed. I went from a mid role to enterprise in 4ish years via internal promotions.
TennisandSales
Politicker
4
Head Of Sales
I agree with @NotCreativeEnough . Gotta get promoted from within. 

OR 

Have a contact on the inside of another company. 

thats what helped me. 

I had a few connections that knew my skill set and helped me get into ENT sales. 

but i would not be afraid to find companies that do what you want to do and interview for that role, or the role below and communicate that you want to get promoted into an ENT role in the future. 
jefe
Arsonist
3
🍁
It's definitely easier to get promoted from within, that's how I moved from SMB to mid-market. But you also have to put your time in.

Are you finding opportunities to get strategic, growing accounts? Gaining the expertise that would help you in that role? And the stories to tell to help you get there?
0PercentCloseRate
Politicker
3
Oh boy
I started as an SDR for an enterprise B2B product and got promoted from within. Like other answers on this thread, if you don't have that you gotta know someone. It tends to be a pretty small world so a good reference is worth its weight in gold.
braintank
Politicker
1
Enterprise Account Executive
How long have you been doing SMB? 
JohnnyDamone
Opinionated
0
AE Inside Sales
5+ years. I recently joined SMB at a new company, but path to promo for enterprise is looking like 10 years. Crazy long
SaaSam
Politicker
1
Account Executive
Sorry to say, you've got to play the long game with this one. Internal promotion is going to be pretty much the only way.

Would you hire someone as a bodyguard for your family whose only experience was backing up their buddies in bar fights?
CuriousFox
WR Officer
1
🦊
How long have you been in smb? How many enterprise roles have you interviewed?
JohnnyDamone
Opinionated
1
AE Inside Sales
Been in the space 5+ years. I guess maybe I should jump to mid market first and then enterprise.
Gizmo
Politicker
1
AE
Best route is to progress internally to an Enterprise role then jump ship. I was one of the top team members in mid market and told my manager that I didn’t find the work engaging and wanted to challenge myself in enterprise. Stuck it out for a year, hit my number and bounced to a role that paid a lot more. 
Pachacuti
Politicker
0
They call me Daddy, Sales Daddy
You need to demonstrate process and quality over quantity.  That's the biggest difference between SMB and Enterprise.  

Also demonstrate you have been encroaching on Enterprise level accounts as you work SMB so the leap to 100% Enterprise level isn't really a big deal.


JohnnyDamone
Opinionated
1
AE Inside Sales
Hard part is my smb role is pushing hard on a monthly quota with more of a sales mindset than business mindset. There is 1-2 deals that I’m working deep on, but I think I get your point
Pachacuti
Politicker
0
They call me Daddy, Sales Daddy
You need to be able to juggle multiple short term and long term deals in order to demonstrate competency for the Enterprise roles.
JohnnyDamone
Opinionated
0
AE Inside Sales
So, you're saying I need to ditch my current role and find a better role that will let me do that? ;)
Pachacuti
Politicker
0
They call me Daddy, Sales Daddy
You've bought in to the SDR ->AE ->SMB ->Mid-Market ->Enterprise  concept.  Some companies have bought into that too.  There are certainly different skill sets needed when you compare SDR & Enterprise.  But there are many skills shared between all these titles.

One option: You may want to find a small company to work for which blends all these so you can get experience working all sizes of companies.  

Or you can figure out how to get bigger account experience at your current job.  Talk to your manager and demonstrate that you want to be working bigger accounts.  OR skip your manager and source those bigger accounts yourself and work them.  
JohnnyDamone
Opinionated
0
AE Inside Sales
I'd love to source bigger accounts, but im stuck in the "SMB" crap with people who don't even know their digital marketing strategy or what a CRM is.
migisamoneymaker
Member
0
Sr Account exec
The enterprise reps I know got in through working the channel at a VAR.  They built relationships with SW companies directly and then joined. 
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