IT Sales. What Do you Need to Be Aware Of before Starting?

We’ll find out who an IT sales manager is, what such a person does and what skills are needed to become one. Keep reading.

Where does an IT salesperson work and what does he or she sell?

Outsourcing is the transfer of functions or processes by a company that does not specialize in a field to a company that specializes in that field. That is, the client orders a mobile application and it is developed. Payment is made based on the fact of the work performed.

Outstaffing — providing the customer company with the necessary specialists to solve certain tasks by the performing company. That is, a developer provided by another company appears in the company. The payment is fixed, and the result of the work does not affect it.

SaaS (software as a service) — software as a service. The user (often by subscription) accesses the service remotely. For example, a client buys a bulk email platform to use in their business.

Now that we have figured out where the sales manager can work and what to sell, let’s go directly to the duties.

Responsibilities of IT salesperson

Responsibilities that are in the IT field and outside of it sound very similar, if not the same – to find customers, interest them in buying and convince them that life will not be complete without this product. However, there are still some differences.

Work with customers. Communication between a manager and a client never happens just like that, suddenly. Before talking to a potential buyer of a product or service, sales should get information about the company’s target audience, its pains, and goals. A professional will not even say “hello” until he or she has worked out options for developing the conversation.

Work is not with clients. A sales manager spends only part of his time working with customers. The rest of the time you are busy with other duties:

• Monitors the market and competitors.
• Maintains reporting on contacts and sales.
• Prepares documentation (for example, with the support of accountants and lawyers, prepares offers — commercial proposals with a description of products or services and benefits for the client).
• Analyzes sales data for the previous period.
• Develops a strategy for further sales based on the analysis of previous ones, and participates in improving the company’s products or services.

What skills are needed for an IT sales manager?

All you need is to have basic knowledge in IT in order to properly advise the client about the terms, budget, and future plan of cooperation as a whole.

Sales should know:

• Basic IT terminology.
• Stages of product development (planning, business analysis, design, development, testing, product launch, follow-up support).
• What programming languages, frameworks, and content management systems exist, and which of them are relevant to use for the development of a specific product.
• Basics of User Experience and User Interface.

Communication. If at first it is difficult to talk to customers by voice – on the phone, in Zoom, and for some reason, you were immediately appointed as a salesperson, ask the team leader to let you be a lead generator for a while. This person communicates mainly in writing. While working in this position, you will immerse yourself in the process and learn the terminology. This will lead to confidence and a desire to share expertise with clients.

Stress resistance. Yes, she is again. All work involves people, directly or indirectly. If we talk about sales in IT, then communication takes place directly with customers and colleagues, so you need to be ready for stressful situations.

Competent and confident speech. The whole company can be evaluated by the language of sales. If the person is unsure of the statements and gets lost when answering, doubt creeps in about the company as a whole.

We hope that after reading the article, it became clearer what salespeople do and whether this profession is suitable for you. If you’ve decided that IT sales is something you want to do, but lack the actual knowledge, there is a perfect solution for you, just visit The Skills Network website and start your learning.

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