IT Sales
Translated from Japanese https://type.jp/tensyoku-knowhow/ready/catalog/it-sales/
IT sales are a challenging job that requires specialized IT knowledge and experience in addition to sales skills.
We have summarized in a way that even inexperienced people can easily understand the work contents of IT sales, the motivation and the people who are suitable.
The main work of IT sales
IT sales is a type of job that involves sales activities related to IT business, such as information system development, software installation, web-based marketing, website, and content production.
Not only sales activity skills, but also specialized knowledge about the products and services is required, so it can be said that this is a highly specialized type of job.
The specific content of work varies depending on the company, but basically salesperson t is in charge of the business of selling and providing IT-related products and services. In many cases, communication with customers is entrusted to us, and we may also be in contact with internal and external technical personnel such as programmers, system engineers, and designers. Therefore, the amount of work-related to communication and project management tends to increase.
Since IT sales are often handled the tasks from customer negotiation to after-sales follow-up after-sales, apart from the ability of document creation and presentation is mandatory, it is a job category that requires humanity such as honesty and kindness. Since humanity often affects customer satisfaction, many companies seem to need human resources who can build trust with customers. Appropriately appeal your sales force based on the knowledge and experience you have acquired so far.
Motivations of IT Salesperson
・ Acquire advanced salesforce
・Leverage knowledge such as IT technology
・A sense of accomplishment that solves customer issues
IT sales utilize knowledge related to information systems, etc. to carry out sales activities, so specialized technical knowledge is required in addition to basic sales skills. In other words, through conducting sales activities, you will acquire a wide range of IT-related knowledge and knowledge about the products and services that you handle, and at the same time, your sales skills such as hearing, proposal, and negotiation skills will improve.
Persons who transfer to IT sales after passing technical positions such as system engineers and programmers will find it easier to apply the knowledge and skills they have learned to the new job. If you shift from a technical position to a sales position and utilize the knowledge and skills you have gained in the past to perform specialized sales activities, you may find it very rewarding. And if you’re new to IT, you’ll find the motivation to learn and gain knowledge through practice.
IT sales is an attractive job because it makes companies can use IT technologies to solve problems that they are facing, to reduce costs for companies, improve productivity and brand. In many cases, it will be clearly visible as a number, and it will give you a great sense of accomplishment.
Severity of IT sales work
・It may not be easy to get a contract
・ Frequent communication
・Many administrative tasks
It is not limited to IT sales, but even if you work hard, you may not be able to receive orders. If you don’t get rewarded for a long time, you lose confidence and become painful. However, even if you fall into such a situation, it is one of the rigors of IT sales that you must keep trying.
IT sales need to communicate not only with customers but also with stakeholders inside the company such as programmers and designers. In addition to communicating customer wishes, IT sales management must appropriately manage progress and the like. Since detailed and accurate communication and management abilities are required, people who are not good at such tasks may find it difficult.
Experience, skills, and qualifications that can be used in IT sales work
[Experience, knowledge, skills]
・Hearing ability/suggestion ability
・IT related knowledge and skills
・Management ability
[Qualification]
・Basic information engineer
・Applied information engineer
・Sales skill test
Who has experienced in conducting sales activities targeting corporations will have an easy-to-understand and reliable way of speaking, it makes their own ability to listen to customers’ issues as well as having a logical thinking ability and the ability to create materials that clearly show the steps to solve issues to customers. It will be a big appeal if you concretely show that you have various sales skills.
In addition, if you have a wide range of IT knowledge and skills, you will be able to give detailed explanations that give customers a sense of security when conducting sales activities.
There is no mandatory qualification for IT sales, but if you have the qualifications that support your knowledge and skills, it will be your appealing point. If you have a qualification related to information systems such as a basic information technician or a qualification that serves as an index of salesforce such as a sales skill test, list the qualification in the application form.
Those who are suitable for IT sales
IT salespeople have many opportunities to communicate with customers and internal stakeholders and are suitable for people who like to interact with people. In addition, it is a type of job where you can directly tough the insight of the customer for solving problems. Therefore, it is said that people who are not weak in humanity and who can find value in the joy of customers are suitable for IT sales.
In order to grow as an IT salesperson, it is essential to acquire a broad knowledge of IT technology. In that sense, it can be said that this type of job is suitable for people who are interested in IT technology and are willing to learn more knowledge.
Even you are a salesperson, there are many situations in which you have to manage the progress of related parties so skills and humanity suitable for management work are required.
IT sales career path
In IT sales, in the case of information system development, etc., there are many people who have experience in technical positions such as programmers and system engineers and would like to change jobs to sales positions. However, if you are a so-called online business IT salesperson such as website and content creation, it is a job that you can easily challenge even if you have no experience.
In the career path of IT sales, it is common to advance your career such as getting a management position at your organization, but you can change to a highly specialized and influential IT consultant job, and eventually become independent. Some people aim to do it. In that meaning, it can be said that this is a type of job that can aim for various careers if you continue to make active efforts.
Recent Trends in IT Sales
The IT industry is advancing, and the utilization of technologies such as AI and IoT is progressing increasingly. Therefore, the number of companies seeking IT sales personnel who can explain IT technology to people in various positions in an easy-to-understand manner is increasing, and it is expected that the needs will continue to increase.
In addition, as IT technology grows, IT sales are shifting to a situation where highly specialized knowledge and skills that can respond to the diversification of products and services and the emergence of advanced IT technology are required. Therefore, it is necessary to grasp the trend of the times and think about how to grow yourself and select a company or career.
