Sales Career Path · Developing Your Sales Career

What hard skills are must haves to be a sales leader? What are nice to haves?

Shahid Nizami

Braze APAC Vice President of Sales • 3y

LIke most professions, you can not lead a team well if you haven't done the job yourself. Must Haves : You should have been a quota carrying sales rep for at least 3 t...

4,766 Views

What's the best way to break into the tech industry as a sales professional?

Scott Barton

Bluevine Head of Sales, Lending & Credit • 5mo

I'm a big fan of the B/SDR role. It's a great way to learn the basics of sales, including how to build pipeline. This is a skill that you can carry all the way to the C-s...

722 Views

What communications framework do you use when communicating strategy 1) up to C Suite or 2) out to stakeholders?

Scott Barton

Bluevine Head of Sales, Lending & Credit • 5mo

You can use the framework below when managing/communicating up to the C-Suite or to other stakeholders. With the C-Suite, it can sometimes be helpful to think of a TL;DR ...

1,226 Views

How do you think about AI and how best to keep up with it's evolution from a training and sales process perspective?

Helen D'Abreo

SurveyMonkey Director, Expansion Sales • 1y

In order for us to keep up with the AI evolution in sales we need to build AI in to the training of sales people and the sales processes. It needs to be managed in an eas...

737 Views

Where do you see the future of sales heading?

What skills will a future account executives need that they don't have today?

Jessica Holmes

Adobe Director, Adobe Sales Academy • 1mo

This is something I think about a lot — especially given my role in building early-career sellers. Sales is always evolving, but today it feels like the game is changing ...

333 Views

What is your favorite sales interview question and the best answer you've heard?

Maddy Hobbs

Figma Director of Sales, SMB • 8mo

I don’t have a single favorite question, but there are two traits I love to test for: curiosity and grit. Curiosity: In my mind, this is hands down the most important tra...

1,638 Views

What would you tell your 22 year old self just starting out in sales?

Jessica Holmes

Adobe Director, Adobe Sales Academy • 1mo

Here's what I wish I'd known earlier in my career: Your reputation is your longest-running asset. How you show up, how you treat people, whether you do what you say you'...

312 Views

As someone majoring in communication and economics, how would you recommend using that background and applying it to a career in sales. I’m interested in business development and and curious about how to break into the industry.

Jessica Holmes

Adobe Director, Adobe Sales Academy • 1mo

The combination of communications and economics is great because one (economics) really helps you understand how businesses work and make decisions, and the other (commun...

392 Views

What tools are you currently using to boost your productivity and sales?

Justin Offermann

ComfyUI Head of GTM • 4mo

For productivity boosts, I think setting up Clude and or ChatGT and or Gemini workflows is critical, if not necessary. I personally am pretty big on Claude for its integr...

427 Views

What are the most important skills (both tactical and intangible) that are must-have for account executives?

Justin Offermann

ComfyUI Head of GTM • 4mo

Not in any particular order: Curiosity Curiosity to learn (new tools, new processes, new techniques, new ideas). Resilience Sales has its ebbs and flows. Being able t...

409 Views

How do you avoid burnout as sales professional when you feel like you have to start over again each quarter and year?

Jordan Benjamin 🧘

My Core OS Chief Executive Officer • 1y

3 ways to manage burnout and prevent it as a seller. Focus on a purpose bigger than yourself. When you focus only on chasing your quota and on yourself, sales becomes re...

274 Views

What are the biggest frustrations you have as a sales professional?

Justin Offermann

ComfyUI Head of GTM • 4mo

My biggest frustration is hearing exactly what a customer needs and not being able to deliver it instantly. I’m not a one-person engineer/design/GTM team, and even in fas...

421 Views

What is your favorite sales question and the best answer you've heard?

Justin Offermann

ComfyUI Head of GTM • 4mo

“What happens if you don’t solve this?”Follow-ups I like:• “What does that cost the business?”• “Who feels the impact and where does it show up?”• “What are the long-term...

495 Views

What type of skill sets and experiences do I need to build in order to strengthen my career and move from being a sales manager to Director level and above?

What type of leadership career tracks do you see people continue their careers?

Justin Offermann

ComfyUI Head of GTM • 4mo

To move from Sales Manager → Director+ you need to shift from “managing a team to hit a number” to “owning a business outcome and aligning Sales to company strategy.” The...

512 Views

What's a typical career path for a sales professional?

Rachel Mayes

Carta Senior Director of Sales - Venture Capital at Carta • 1y

I don’t believe there’s a single "right" career path for a sales professional. Sales is an incredible foundation that can lead to countless opportunities because the skil...

1,107 Views

What metrics do you use to justify a pay raise?

Shahid Nizami

Braze APAC Vice President of Sales • 3y

I am a firm believer of meritocracy. So when it comes to pay raise especially in sales roles it should be very black and white for a sales rep to determine when would the...

2,494 Views

What framework do you use when assessing a new opportunity at a different company?

Jon Boyer

Blacksmith VP of Sales | Formerly Zapier, Postman and Slack • 3y

A mentor taught me to evaluate opportunities leveraging the VIP framework . The framework incorporates three inputs Vision, Impact and People. Here is a quick breakdown ...

2,037 Views

What are the fundamental differences between an account executive and a senior account executive?

What are some clear indicators that someone is ready to become a senior account exec role and the responsibilities that come with it? And, when in the senior account executive role, what are the key stages that distinguish the different levels of senior account execs.

Rachel Mayes

Carta Senior Director of Sales - Venture Capital at Carta • 1y

The main differences to me between an Account executive and a Senior account executive comes down to organization, pipeline management, and using a solid sales process li...

1,532 Views

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