nemix

SDR

Why do managers think experience outside of Tech is irrelevant?

4-5 years of selling Insurance over the phone and killing it, recently left the industry to try something new and have been talking with tech companies on AE positions, and for some reason they completely don't value my insurance background even though it's probably one of the hardest markets to be in.

Any vets wanna give some insight on why this is?

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60 comments

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BmajoR

Arsonist

Account Executive

That's just the way it is, we don't want to share all this gold with everyone.

Find an earlier stage company that will take a chance on you. Or, find an opportunity to be an SDR and crush it for a year and get promoted.

nemix

Politicker

SDR

I ended up getting an SDR role at a start up, but I was just finishing out my interviews.

BmajoR

Arsonist

Account Executive

Did they give you a timeline to AE?

I know it sucks, but you will learn so much as an SDR that will transfer with you as an AE in tech.

nemix

Politicker

SDR

Yes, the people were extremely straightforward. I'm honestly just bitching about my experience finishing interviews where I applied for AE and got told my sales experience was irrelevant lol.

BmajoR

Arsonist

Account Executive

Trust me, I know the pain. I had to start at the bottom and get promoted and it was worth it.

What was the timeline they gave you to become an AE?

nemix

Politicker

SDR

6 months assuming I don't shit the bed.
Which i'm happy with.

BmajoR

Arsonist

Account Executive

That's exactly what I was told, and I held them to it. Just make sure you give every month 110%, have weekly check-ins, and work with your manager or director to establish a clear roadmap to AE.

Incognito

WR Officer

Master of Disaster

What kind of insurance? This will answer your question.

JDialz

Politicker

Chief Operating Officer

Bingo.

funcoupons

WR Officer

👑

Because nobody cares about insurance, right @Incognito

Incognito

WR Officer

Master of Disaster

Hell yeah.

Incognito

WR Officer

Master of Disaster

@funcoupons im about to give up on explaining what I do lol.

Everyone assumes I’m a Flo or Jake and imma stab someone

funcoupons

WR Officer

👑

sO caN u sElL mE sUm tRavEl InsUranCe

MCP

Valued Contributor

Sales Director

Perhaps you should try not wearing the khakis. Everyone knows that’s what Jake wears.
Additionally, maybe try adding clarity into the type of insurance.
End of line.

Incognito

WR Officer

Master of Disaster

cAn YoU hElP mE wItH mY cAr InSuRaNcE? dEm BaStArDs Iz ScAmMiNg Me FeR $20!!!!!!

funcoupons

WR Officer

👑

I HaVe a BrOkeR NoT A SalEsGuY

FinanceEngineer

Politicker

Sr Director, sales and partnerships

Such a Jake thing to say.

selling insurance is fairly similar to SaaS products, so I can understand the frustration

Incognito

WR Officer

Master of Disaster

“i Iz nOt InSuRaNcE sALes. i Iz RiSk AdViSoR”

JDialz

Politicker

Chief Operating Officer

I get it. Don’t sweat the haters haha

Diablo

Politicker

Sr. AE

I think it also depends upon how you are communicating your experience with team.

braintank

Politicker

Enterprise Account Executive

I think this might be the issue. It's all about how you spin it to the recruiter.

babby816

Contributor

Sales Manager

I was in the same boat! I think it’s partly because they’ve never been in any other sales industries. I was in auto sales and am now a sales manager for a marketing sales team. Just have to find the right timing, company, and really focus on how you can make an impact

SaaSam

Politicker

Account Executive

It's kind of stupid because what you don't know about tech sales can be taught pretty easily. IMO if you're a killer sales pro it doesn't really matter what the industry is. You can either sell or you can't.

nemix

Politicker

SDR

Regardless of how people feel, I've sold other things before and the sales process is always the same no matter what you're selling.

Incognito

WR Officer

Master of Disaster

Hard disagree here.

I would not be suited to high volume, low revenue sales. However, I’m a killer whale hunter.

UrAssIsSaaS

Arsonist

SaaS Eater

Big like here. Ive only worked in tech and even within this world the 3 different things I have sold or managed selling have pretty different processes.

Yes at its core sales are the same if you break it all the way down but the things it takes to close enterprise SaaS/Insurance like @Incognito sells/cyber security are wildly different than slinging ads for google/facebook/yelp etc

SaaSam

Politicker

Account Executive

I don't disagree, my point is that these things can be taught pretty easily. They boil down to process changes. IMO at it's core selling is selling and if you're good at it the transition can be made.

Granted B2B and B2C are completely different in many regards and you can be great at one but suck at the other.

I guess what I'm trying to say is what you have experience selling isn't as relevant as who you've sold to.

Incognito

WR Officer

Master of Disaster

Ya like I gotta be an accountant AND a lawyer AND a salesperson

I never have to deal with procurement or legal or anything. Just convince the owner or CFO to hand me millions of dollars NBD

funcoupons

WR Officer

👑

I get what you’re saying. I think that if you have natural talent plus the drive to do well in any kind of sales, you can quickly learn and become successful in other types of sales.

SaaSam

Politicker

Account Executive

Yes ma'am

nemix

Politicker

SDR

You're doing the same fundamentals no matter what item or person you're selling to.

funcoupons

WR Officer

👑

Agreed. Certain industries require more technical knowledge or patience or successful in person networking skills but at the end of the day sales is sales.

SaaSam

Politicker

Account Executive

A toll's a toll and a roll's a roll. And if we don't get no tolls, we don't eat no rolls.

FinanceEngineer

Politicker

Sr Director, sales and partnerships

Coming over from finance where I sold (and structured) ABS and CLOs, I always get a kick out of putting my contracts together to save the turnaround time needed. I can also sneak in t’s and c’s which help with renewals and upselling after implementation.

MCP

Valued Contributor

Sales Director

There is a difference between B2B & B2C. Insurance is decidedly B2C. I once managed a team that included a former stock broker. He was good with B2C, highly active (hyper active, actually) so the founder hired him. While he had a lot of spunk, he was a terrible tech sales person. He just wasn’t able to grasp the difference. It’s those experiences that keep managers looking away.
End of line.

Incognito

WR Officer

Master of Disaster

Sir, you could not be more wrong (unless you’re talking about State Farm or life/health). I need to do BOTH B2B and B2C in my job.

funcoupons

WR Officer

👑

I’m in insurance and never have done B2C lol. Contrary to popular belief insurance is not just life insurance policies and home insurance. 💀

Incognito

WR Officer

Master of Disaster

Oh. Did I get my sales jargon wrong again? 😂

funcoupons

WR Officer

👑

B2C is selling to individuals lol I don’t think you do that

Incognito

WR Officer

Master of Disaster

Oh. But I sell to the CEO/Owner of the firm most of the time so I thought it was the same 😂

nemix

Politicker

SDR

I'd still consider that B2B lol.

Incognito

WR Officer

Master of Disaster

I don’t fucking know. I call a person, tell them to fire their broker and hire me and pay six/seven figures. Every year.

Its the same as my last industry TBH, including the mafia influence.

@funcoupons - would THAT have been B2C???????

funcoupons

WR Officer

👑

No, B2C would be working with individuals...doing personal lines or investments. As soon as you're working with business insurance it's B2B even if you're only dealing with one person.

Incognito

WR Officer

Master of Disaster

I mean horse sales but even then it’s murky cause the buyer often sets up a shell LLC

nemix

Politicker

SDR

Sounds more like a coaching issue.

MCP

Valued Contributor

Sales Director

More like a time management issue. These types are known to be giant time & resource sucks. Easier to pass them up & keep looking.
End of line.

JDialz

Politicker

Chief Operating Officer

My group writes tens of millions of BOLI & COLI a quarter. Deferred comp and KeyMan issues are a thing too. Some of our best institutional clients are NCAA athletic departments and banks. We do of course work with individuals as well.

A lot of retail brokers I have met often think they're something they're not, so your anecdote is not surprising to me.

MCP

Valued Contributor

Sales Director

I am the master control program. I am never wrong, even if hiring managers may be.
End of line.

Beans

Big Shot

Enterprise Account Executive

Different animal same beast.

nemix

Politicker

SDR

What the fuck does that mean Kobe bryant ?

Beans

Big Shot

Enterprise Account Executive

Absolutely nothing.

Your skills are transferable, I made the jump to SaaS/Tech from Med dev, it's all in how you position the sales cycle, and your skill set.

nemix

Politicker

SDR

You weren’t referencing the Kanye west commercial? Ooop

JDialz

Politicker

Chief Operating Officer

I’ve never worked in tech at all, but it may have something to do with the preconceived notions the recruiter has about what particular *kind* of insurance you were slangin. Did you sell for an IMO or an actual insurance company? Public, or mutual? P&C, life, investments, etc? The reputation of where you’re coming from and their core products will be attributed to you. If you’re killin it slangin IUL I wouldn’t hire you either. Otherwise, it may just be a lack of knowledge on their end that can be remedied by selling your resume better/differently.

nemix

Politicker

SDR

IMO, I started out with commercial and ended up doing the most volume on the L&H side. Them Medicare renewals hit different lol

SaaSniper

Tycoon

Enterprise Account Executive

TLDR: Thats the reality of it and it's not going to change. The right place will take a bet on you.
--
It's simple...I'll say it...

Us folks in tech think we're the superior breed. Not saying it's true, but it's def the vibe IMO.

Im comfortable saying it because I moved from non tech into tech, i've seen it first hand... I had a few years of high level retail sales management exp overseeing several $M in stores revenue and it meant nothing to the tech world. I finally got a shot on the tech services side and I had to start over by becoming a BDR. When I promoted to an AE and started making real money I wanted to get away from services and into SaaS/Software for the higher profit margins & commissions. I was hounded and told my services sales exp (Several 6-7 figure deals) wasn't relevant in SaaS (lol). Found my way in, fast forward, Enterprise AE, financial freedom, top performer on any team I've ever been on.

You need to find the right company. One that sees you're making a shift, but understands the value you can bring to the table. The interview is your chance to sell yourself, be genuine, and the right place will make that bet on the right person.

That said im now totally corrupted and it's Tech>Errrrythang

jbusiness

Catalyst

Sales Manager

What about leaning on your experience to sell insurance tech?

You could do that for 18 or so months to build an easily defendable bridge from the insurance world to the SaaS world.

nemix

Politicker

SDR

Fuck anything insurance, but I got a SDR job within two weeks of actively applying I was just bitching about my experience with sales managers.

LordBusiness

Politicker

Chief Revenue Officer

Cause most of them are brotastic idiots.

GDO

Politicker

BDM

It just a sad kind of chauvinism

Kamran

Opinionated

Mortgage Broker

I was in a similar situation as you a couple weeks ago coming from selling mortgages and insurances, never did SAAS/ tech and recently got offered 2 AE positions by selling myself. I associated everything I do to that of what others do in Saas AE roles...was a challenge for sure but avoided me having to be a BDR/SDR. Even though now I got good SDR role I'm considering because it's selling to enterprise accounts lol but totally feel you

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nemix

Why do managers think experience outside of Tech is irrelevant?

60 comments

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