I have a lot of technology sales experience, and Salesforce user experience, but no SaaS/software sales experience. Does SF hire candidates like this?

Question

Accepted Answer

It certainly helps to have SaaS experience, but it's not a deal-breaker by any means.  Definitely helps as well to be referred in by an existing employee, and that goes for any large company (not just Salesforce).  One very important note - if you're going to apply for a role, apply for the one that best matches your experience and skillset.  Don't apply for more than one position right away unless otherwise instructed by a member of the company's recruitment team.  That may seem like common knowledge, but you'd be surprised how many people apply to multiple roles right away.  It's not looked upon favorably.

Answer

They absolutely hire people like that. You may not get into a top tier AE position with zero software background, but with a proven background in sales you can probably leverage into a lower position.

Answer

Foundationally they want experience selling to business and understand/grasp business impact.  SaaS is a method of how you transact, doesn't impact the ability to craft a vision.
SaaS does help a lot (churn, renewal metrics, pricing) but I don't think is paramount.

Answer

Yes and I work with AEs who came from recruiting, finance, retail telco sales (kiosks in Costco kid you not), ex military, and HVAC OEM sales. Some spent time as a BDR but most of them went straight to AE because they have the business acumen and real world experience to sell and most importantly, handle the complex contracts that SF’s multiple products, discounting model, and time/usage based saas licensing produce. Also this is downmarket in SMB, as others have noted you probably won’t get in to sell to larger customers without some background in sales.

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I'm just in onboarding but I've been really surprised by the number of people coming in from other industries. The ent/strat BDR org is full of 30-somethings who are transitioning to SaaS

Answer

You would most likely be looking at a Business Development Role with no background in tech sales.  If that goes well, you can become an AE within a year or so.

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Anonymous Q&A

I have a lot of technology sales experience, and Salesforce user experience, but no SaaS/software sales experience. Does SF hire candidates like this?