Breaking Into Tech Sales: Why Conversations Matter More Than Expertise
Does the idea of breaking into tech sales feel intimidating? If so, you’re not alone – many aspiring sales professionals feel intimidated by the industry, assuming they need to master every aspect and technical detail to be taken seriously. The truth is, sales isn’t about showcasing deep product knowledge or expertise in technology—it’s about building trust, understanding problems, and offering the right solutions. In fact, the less you focus on technical complexities, the more you can focus on what really matters: the person you’re speaking with and their specific challenges.
Hustle, Grit, and Humility
In 2015, at 29 years old, I started my journey in tech and sales development. At the time, I had no idea what I was doing. My biggest accomplishment up to that point was finishing my GED at 24, seven years after dropping out of high school. I could crack some jokes about how I was “pacing myself” in life, but the reality is I’d been living the cliché “work hard, play hard”—with an unhealthy emphasis on the “play hard”.
Stepping into the world of tech and sales development, I had never worked in a corporate environment, I knew very little about how businesses operated, and knew nothing about enterprise technology. The idea of talking to strangers about things I barely understood was terrifying. What I knew, without a shadow of a doubt, is I was going to stand in “rooms” where everyone was smarter than me.
What I did have — the third is equally as important as the first two — was hustle, grit and humility. Believe it or not, those three things were enough.
Becoming an Expert in Meaningful Conversations
The first piece of advice I received: “Don’t focus on being an expert in the technology or business, focus on being an expert in conversation”. This lesson is something that has been the foundation of my career for almost a decade now.
As I’ve gained more experience, I added my own spin to that advice: It’s not just about having good conversations—it’s about mastering conversations that aren’t focused on you.
Not to digress, this is where many salespeople miss the mark. We’ve over-engineered the sales process, designing it to scale quickly. In doing so, we’ve stripped away the autonomy and humanity from the conversation. We’ve focused too much on growth at all costs and failed to emphasize what it truly means to sell—to connect with someone, understand their problems, and offer solutions that genuinely matter to them.
Understanding Framework for Sales Conversations
Having held sales development roles for wide range of services and technologies, I’ve realized that the sales conversation is always the same. All you really need to understand before picking up the phone:
- What problem does the solution/service solve?
- What are some of the potential causes of that that problem?
- Who has that problem?
From there, the call opener might change, but the core of the conversation remains consistent. Here are five fundamental things I strive to understand:
- What’s important to the person I’m talking to?
- Why is it important to them?
- What are they doing about it?
- What are they trying to achieve by doing it?
- Where are they uncertain about getting it done?
The Wild Truth About Technical Expertise in Tech Sales
Here’s the wild truth: the less you know from a technical perspective, the better the conversation goes. Shocking, I know. Why?
It forces you to focus entirely on the prospect. You become more dependent on them to share about themselves to further the conversation. You don’t get caught up in proving how much you know. Instead, you rely on curiosity to ask the right questions and listen deeply to what they’re saying. It allows you to stay present and engaged, without overcomplicating things with jargon or unnecessary details.
Closing Thoughts
If I’ve learned anything in the last nine years, it’s that you don’t need to be a technical expert to succeed in this industry. Heck, most days, I can’t figure out my iPhone, let alone the intricate details of the technology I’ve sold.
I’ll leave you with one piece of advice I always tell my team: It’s just a conversation. Master the art of guiding your prospect on a journey through questions, rather than pitching. From there, the rest will fall into place.
