Blog ▸ Candidates ▸ What to expect over the next 5 years in a Tech and Software Sales Career Path

What to Expect over the next 5 years in a Tech and Software Sales Career Path

By Vahid Haghzare & Armae Garcia Managing Director & Marketing Associate,
Silicon Valley Associates Recruitment

One of the top IT Recruitment Agencies in Hong Kong, Dubai, Shenzhen, Shanghai, Singapore, and Japan, SVA Recruitment is an IT and employment agency that provides jobs, executive search, and recruitment services.

Tech and Software sales are one of the fastest-growing sectors in the tech industry. With plenty of opportunities, vast earning possibilities, and job stability, it could be the career path for you.

The information technology and High-Tech sectors are expected to create jobs at a 13% rate by 2026. The vigorous growth of the tech industry is a reliable indication of healthy demand for even more new software sales jobs over the coming years.

If you’re already in or thinking of getting into software sales, here are some tactics that may help you. Be reminded that it's a specialized field, and once you are in the industry, you can look forward to a long career staying inside it.

A Career in Software Sales

An actual background in Tech can help you stand out from the other candidates, whether you’re starting out or already in an IT/software sales career. There are many types of tech-related degrees or courses that will set you off on a good start, such as computer science, software engineering, database administration, web development, and even just working a non-sales job for a company in the tech industry.

But if you’ve already majored in another field, then sales experience in another relevant industry is the next best preparation. For example, if you aim to work in Fintech, then industry experience in banking / financial services would be the next best bet to help transition into a Fintech post.

If you do not have a Tech background or relevant industry, the next best option is achieving high performance in meeting sales quotas from whatever industry, product, or service you are in, as this will get the interest of any hiring manager. Ultimately high performance is a high performance, no matter the industry or product.

But keep in mind a software sales professional is all about being a consultative seller, where you will guide clients in determining their software needs and link them to suitable products and services. So keep in mind if your sales are more transactional or box-selling, this may actually hinder your applications.
Your skills in other aspects, encompassing soft skills such as team collaboration and time management are also transferable in a software sales career.

Software Sales Jobs

There are lots of software sales jobs you could look up, in this way you can know what position you fit into. Here’s a list of some areas in Technologies which employers and IT Recruiters might be able to offer you:

SaaS (Software as a Service)
Customer Relationship Management (CRM)
Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP)
Business Intelligence (BI)
Supply Chain Management
Financial Technology (Fintech)
Education Technology (Ed Tech)
Artificial Intelligence (AI)
Robotics
Internet of Things (IoT)
Database and File Management
CAD/CAM Software

Here’s a sample of positions for Software sales jobs:

Business Development Manager
Account Executive / Manager
Field Sales
Partner / Channel Sales
Sales Engineer / Technical Sales / Pre-Sales
Alliances Manager
Sales Manager (leading a team)
Sales Director (leading multiple sales teams and managers)

Software Sales Salaries

According to a tech website, the annual average salary for software sales professionals is a fixed monthly pay plus commission based on actual results, along with some extra year-end bonuses. Sometimes components like profit sharing and equity can also be provided if the company is smaller.
Typical industry commission is based on providing you a 10% cut of the annual fee from a new client you introduced to subscribe on a one-year contract. Other commission offerings to you usually include a 5% cut of the annual fee from a client resubscribing again for another year.

Your Software Sales Career Path

Excelling when it comes to closing deals and increasing the company’s net income is having a successful sales track record.

But if your aim is beyond just spurring your earnings and develop your career, a considerable way is a promotion to team leader and management roles. And that means besides doing excellent in the “sales” part, you should also work on being a strong team and company player to help you boost your career path internally. Collaborative selling with the rest of your teammates, providing training and coaching to new joiners, passing on other leads and contacts, providing consistent feedback from customers on product or service improvement, and being proactive in helping motivate and push others (without stepping on their manager’s toes) are strategies to show leadership your potential to do more than just sales.

In summary Software sales is a tremendous way to merge your background and knowledge in technology or experience in sales, and ride the wave of a high-demand field with obvious growth over the long term.

Visit our Job page for more Job opportunities and the Current Candidate page for available candidates.

-----------

Silicon Valley Associates is ideally positioned to support the continual demand from tech companies and IT Departments looking to hire in Hong Kong, Asia, and Worldwide. Please let us know if you would further advise on the above topic or your hiring needs