Why SaaS Sales after uni is a great idea!

In 2012 I was ready baked from university with a degree in Finance, new to London, and slipped into the world of SaaS Sales. If you’re looking to make a slightly more informed decision, here are my top reasons for getting into tech Sales.

If you’ve ever met me in person, you know that I don’t come across as a “sales person” in the traditional sense. I am more intro- than extroverted and I am a lot more driven by intrinsic than extrinsic factors. In fact, I was widely known as the “Silent Assassin” at one of my old jobs!    

So let’s just start with saying that SaaS sales can be for you, even if you think it’s not. 

Some people are extroverted and great speakers in a group setting, and they can achieve amazing results. Some people are more on the quiet side but they may instead be great communicators in a one to one setting, or in text. They can achieve great results too. If you do get into sales, you will learn how to sell in a way that suits your personality.  Your buyers will all be different too.

What you do need is lots of persistence, grit and a good attitude (I am yet to meet anyone successful in sales who doesn't possess these qualities).

Still keen? Here are my reasons for why SaaS Sales after uni is a great idea.

8 reasons to get into SaaS sales

1. Your earnings are “limitless”

Yes, I am going to have to start here, with the cliché of how you can earn lots in sales. But truth be told, living is expensive. Travelling is expensive. Buying a home is expensive. Having kids is expensive. And so on. And these are all things you may want to have one day.

I know plenty of people with degrees in everything from architecture to accounting who are quite disappointed with their earnings a few years into their careers, and wish they’d have put a bit more thought into it while they could.

But the people I know who are in sales, tend to earn more earlier, and as a result are able to achieve many of their life goals so much sooner. Even if material things are not your priority now, it will allow you to create a buffer of savings, which in turn gives freedom, and that is pretty priceless.

Now the truth is that in an entry role you will need to start on a low base salary (mine was 22k over ten years ago), but the speed at which your salary and your commissions can grow throughout your 20s if you do well, makes it completely achievable to be earning well into the six figures in your mid to late twenties.

And often, there is no upper limit in comp plans so there is no reason that number can’t just keep growing as you progress your career. 

2. It's a great entry to other things

I once did a small exercise on LinkedIn of looking at the CEOs of some great tech companies that I admire. I was particularly interested in what professional journey they’d been on. 

And one thing that stood out to me was just how many of them had started their journey in sales. Even if your end goal isn’t to lead a business, you will need the skill of selling for whatever you choose to do later. Everyone sells. You don’t need to stay in SaaS sales forever and compared to a lot of other career paths, it’s not impossible to shift over into something else later.

After 8 years of SaaS sales, I got hired for an Entrepreneur in Residence role. I was chosen over people with MBAs, past founders and people with longer careers behind them. Because the learnings I had from selling complex SaaS in early stage companies had given me a wide range of skills that I could bring with me to that role. (I then moved to Partnerships and worked with Venture Capital). Anything is possible!

3. The early C-level exposure

I struggle to think of many other roles that would give you access to senior execs in big companies, so early on in your career.

Right from the get go as a BDR, you will be expected to be able to pick up the phone and with confidence be able to understand the challenges of people who may have been working in their industry for a good 20-30 years, and convey how you can make their lives easier. 

Once you work as an Account Executive you will be managing complex and long buying journeys. In my mid twenties I was traveling frequently, running meetings with people way more experienced than myself. Even if you have a senior exec with you as support, you will be expected to own and plan the execution and follow ups.

You’ll also likely be attending conferences and industry events, speaking with and learning from really seasoned professionals in your industry. I’ve always felt really grateful for the confidence that companies place in their sales reps to “just get out there” and represent them from day one.

4. It's measurable

Some of the roles in start-ups, and in workplaces overall, can be extremely hard work, without necessarily the right pay or gratitude given in return. 

Sales teams on the other hand do often receive plenty of praise and recognition, beyond just the commission and payslips. If you do well, even if you are not the loudest person in the room, numbers don’t lie and you will get the recognition, promotions and attention you deserve. 

5. You can get exposure to many different industries

I’ve so far worked in B2B solutions within finance, HR and marketing. Although the products have all been widely different (and you do need to upskill yourself pretty quickly on the jargon and vocabulary of each new industry) your skills of selling SaaS are super transferable.

You can even let your own personal interests and passion decide where to go, whether it's sports, sustainability, gaming or retail, there’s a SaaS solution out there for pretty much everything!

6. It's a team sport

Yes, you do typically have an individual target and some of the work you do is in silo. But compared to a lot of the roles out there where you might sit and work away on projects or reports on your own, SaaS sales is actually a team sport. 

You’ll be collaborating on a daily basis with other sales reps, sales engineers, data scientists, customer success and execs. This is especially true once you start working your way up towards managing complex enterprise deals. In fact, I’ve always thought of enterprise reps as being project managers, juggling multiple balls and people at the same time, to keep everything and everyone in check to maximise the chances of winning a deal. 

Also, your peers will be facing the exact same highs and lows as you, so you will be sharing and learning from each other all the time. More importantly, if you all do well as a team and hit targets, everyone benefits. If you are losing as a team, even if individual people are doing well, you are all losing out.

7. Your practice resilience every day

You will learn to get rejected, a lot. 

In sales there are wins and losses every day and you just have to learn to cope with rejection and to trust in your process, learn from your losses and chop away every day.

(Even when you do well you always start at 0 again the next month, quarter and year.)

8. The kick 

Finally, the one thing that I’ve found hard to replicate in other roles.

The feeling of a signed DocuSign landing in your inbox, the positive vibes after a meeting that you just know you nailed or that in-between the lines confirmation from your champion that this deal is definitely going your way. Whatever the moment is, the thrill is hard to beat and may just make you want to spend your whole career in sales.

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Are you in sales? I’d love to hear your key reasons for choosing it, or if any of these resonated with you.  And if you’re thinking of getting into sales and want to bounce ideas for 15 min, I’d be more than happy to chat.

My name is Stina Karkkainen and I help SaaS companies drive more revenue.