Question

Topic: Career/Training

Shifting Towards A Sales&marketing Career

Posted by Anonymous on 4/20/2005 at 3:43 AM ET 250 Points
I am a technical support specialist working for the pat 2 yrs with a reputed MNC. I want to make a career in sales & marketing.Could u please tell me is it possible for a person who doesn't have any exp in the above field can do that.What are the possible reasons for a person to make such a shift. How do i answer a question of the type WHY SALES & MARKETING
To continue reading this question and the solution, sign up ... it's free!
SUBSCRIBE
Or, SIGN IN

RESPONSES

  • Posted by ROIHUNTER on 4/20/2005 at 10:53 AM Member
    majumdars,

    Yes it is possible. I worked 11 years in IT at a Fortune 200 company before making the switch. But I do not believe that because it is possible it can be done by everyone.

    I think your abilities, skills, personality and drive could eventually overcome experience issues, but I think there would be some lean years ahead of you.

    Hope that helps.
  • Posted by Peter (henna gaijin) on 4/20/2005 at 3:24 PM Accepted
    Why switch - as Randall said, you are answering that from your heart. Think about why you want sales and marketing, and that is your answer.

    How to switch - it can be done. Tech support gives you excellent insight in to the products and customers, which is valuable in sales and marketing. The sales or marketing side can be learned by reading or taking classes. You need to sell people on the customer and product knowledge you have gained and how it would be beneficial to have that knowledge in sales or marketing.

    One possible route - many companies have intermediary positions which may allow you to bridge over to sales or marketing. Examples would be sales engineers or product marketing engineers. These folks handle the technical/product side of sales or product marketing.

    Note - I think most people here would agree with me when we say that sales and marketing are very different positions. Both are aimed at getting a customer to buy, but sales focuses on 1 on 1 deals with the customer (such as sales calls, etc.), where marketing is trying to find ways to affect many people at once (such as by using advertising, creating literature, etc.).
BACK TO TOP

Post a Comment

Related Discussions

Community Info

Top 25 Experts
(Career/Training)