The Role of an IT Sales Professional
What is an IT Sales Profesional?
The role of an IT Sales Professional falls into three categories; pre-sales, sales and post-sales support.
Pre-sales incorporates the sales professional supporting pre-sales activities by giving detailed information regarding a product's technical specification and the ways in which they could meet the customer's needs.
The sales role involves the actual ‘sell’ where a client and supplier negotiate a commercial agreement for the benefit of both parties.
The post-sales support or more commonly known as after-sales care involves technical support to help clients to overcome faults or problems and help the end user to maximise their usage of the hardware/software and advise on appropriate training.
What qualifications do you need to be an IT Sales Professional?
To become an IT sales professional you do not always need to have specific academic qualifications. Whilst it is not essential to have a relevant degree, employers often prefer having a degree in a subject with a high level of technical knowledge.
For those without a degree, candidates will need to have good technical knowledge, computing aptitude and/or experience and the right personal qualities.
What skills do you need to be an IT Sales Professional?
In addition to the above requirements, employers also look for the following qualities in sales candidates:
- Self-motivation
- Competitive and results-driven attitude
- The ability to work under pressure
- Strong team spirit
- Attention to detail
- Excellent communication skills
- Ability to develop an in-depth knowledge of your product and market
What are some duties of an IT Sales Professional?
As an IT Sales professional your duties are likely to include:
- Meeting sales targets
- Developing new business opportunities
- Negotiating sales, prices, contracts and payments
- Promotion of new products and special deals
- Advising clients on technical queries relating to products, installations and relevant upgrades
- Developing strategic sales plans and effective sales pitches
- Maintaining contracts with existing clients
- Providing intelligence to Head Office on competition, product feedback, market trends etc
What career opportunities are there for IT Sales Professionals?
The career opportunities for an IT sales professional are extensive, but typically advancement in the profession involves moving on to handling more technically complex accounts or becoming involved in the selling of larger IT systems. Some may choose to specialise in certain industry sectors.
If you are interested in earning a six-figure salary in sales then IT gives you this opportunity. To reach these levels you are likely to be experienced in selling high-value and technically complex IT systems such as Enterprise Software.
There are thousands of opportunities for candidates to get into IT and software sales through junior sales roles, where the basic is relatively low but exceeding targets can provide high bonuses. The market is very results driven so you need to be able to handle pressure.
What is the average salary of an IT Sales Professional?
Most IT Sales professional roles advertised offer a basic salary plus an ‘on-target' earnings (OTE) commission structure. In addition to this, it is common for employers to include in the package a company car, mobile phone and a laptop.
- Starting salaries usually range from £15,000 to £25,000 per year (excluding OTE)
- With experience, a senior-level IT sales professional can earn a salary between £35,000 to £60,000 per year (excluding OTE)
- It is not uncommon for experienced IT professionals to earn over £100K p.a.
