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Three Things I Learned In Saas, Sports, Tech & Live Events
Should I take a Ticket Sales?
Should I take an SDR job in tech?
Should I take a Ticket Sales?
Should I take an SDR job in tech?
A common piece of advice when starting your career is to find what you love and get your foot in the door. There are a lot of examples - Jack Welch at GE, Erik Spoelstra of the HEAT, Bill Belichick of the Patriots, Barry Diller etc.
Businesses and teams use these inspirational anomalies to recruit large swaths of impressionable kids and underpay them.
Is it the path for you?
I started in a Ticket Sales job and I've managed SDR's for 15 years. Three things I learned about taking a ticket sales/tech SDR job
Is it the path for you?
I started in a Ticket Sales job and I've managed SDR's for 15 years. Three things I learned about taking a ticket sales/tech SDR job
1. If you don't want to sell for your career - not *in* your career- *for* your career, do not take an SDR job. The most common mistake made is a sure fire way to fail. It's okay to not love sales and there are a lot more ways in than sales. Don't believe the pitch.
If you look at the leadership teams of most teams and businesses in sports and tech, you find the vast majority did not start as SDRs or in ticket sales, but started in strategic roles - oftentimes from outside of sports or outside of the business
2. Stay away from the Hunger Games. A common, and lazy, approach to sales is to hire a large class of usually terribly underpaid kids and promise the top one or two will get promoted - oftentimes using those inspirational stories we've already mentioned.
Even if a fair shot was assured, this would be a bad proposition. Add in the fact these call centers are filled with gossip, favoritism and nonsense, and it makes them death traps for careers.
Inbound leads drive the majority of sales, especially in a ticket sales office, and those in charge will find ways, sometimes without hiding it, to get the people they're pulling for to the top of the board. I've seen hundreds of these situations.
As we've stated in a past three things, fare is what you pay to ride the bus. If you get in a situation with limited upside and it's not fair, you could get in a terrible spot.
3) Nothing matters more than reputation - both the company's reputation with other firms and the SDRs reputation internally.
At many firms, SDRs are viewed as second rate citizens. Sales monkeys from some movie be it "Boiler Room" "Wolf of Wall Street" or "Wall Street."
At many firms, SDRs are viewed as second rate citizens. Sales monkeys from some movie be it "Boiler Room" "Wolf of Wall Street" or "Wall Street."
At my two ticket sales stops I had terrific bosses who looked out for us. But we were still second class. Ignored on the social calendar and overlooked time and again for other positions in the company. We were grovelers. Coin operated phone jockeys, not strategic thinkers.
Teams, and companies, have reputations. It's tempting to take whatever gig you can - especially if it is local - to break in. Do not. If you ask veterans, they can give you advice as to which teams are well thought of in the industry.
It is the same in tech. Brand matters. People want to hire others from successful organizations. Take your time and work for the Apple, Google, Amazons.
It is possible, and common, to find places where revenue drivers are treated like royalty. StubHub changed my career and there are many tech orgs where salespeople pull in seven figures and have seats at the table.
I could go on for days about the entry-level sales world. If you have questions, my DM's are open. I can't assure I'll respond quickly, but I will do my best to.
