RE to Tech Sales?

Also been debating this. Currently got a pretty good gig on a high producing Investment Sales team. Wondering if I'm crazy for thinking about this.

Could look into the larger RE shops that are acquiring/developing proptech like JLL.

no more modeling and soft skills vs hard skills 

if you don't have sales experience you probably aren't going to be able to come in and actually sell stuff, you will be a cold calling monkey (base plus bonus for each meeting set) who sets up meetings for the other salespeople (base plus bonus based on commissions from deals closed) who will close the deals. after 1 or 2 years you might get promoted to an account executive who is the person handling everything after you set the meeting for him until the deal is closed. you will face more pressure to perform in sales than you would face in a support role (you might like this if you are competitive, not saying it's a bad thing just providing some information). if you join a company that is in its early stages - the advantage is that you might have more autonomy or faster promotion, the disadvantage is that the company might not have a good playbook in place for how to sell the product yet. if there is not a good playbook in place you may struggle to demonstrate the value of the product, if you can't demonstrate the value of the product then you are not going to sell anything, remember that for the most part you are talking to people who you cold outreached trying to convince them that it would be worth buying something that you are selling, these are not people who came to you so that they could buy something from you. I would wager that there is more right place right time right product associated with tech sales than there is associated with a non sales job or even other types of sales jobs (you will be at an extreme advantage if you are selling a product that is new to the market that is extremely value add that everyone is going to start adopting - if sector trends are in your favor), especially if you are at a newer stage company (also if you are at a newer stage company and don't have high profile customers then it will be harder to land customers I would wager). I would wager that it would be easier to sell a product that can be trialed at a free or low cost than it would be to sell a product that it is difficult to trial or requires an investment that you can't get rid of if it doesn't work. if you are already an associate 2, you would be leaving your path which you have already progressed along to jump on a new path, a new path that is not necessarily more lucrative. think carefully before you do this and do due diligence on the company that you are thinking about joining.

I have to say that I've also contemplated this route. Where I tend to get hung up is progression in tech sales... sure you can make solid money being an account executive, but at some point you want to move up in the company, right? Where do you go? VP of Sales? Then what? For me, being a senior level broker offers much higher upside. I think the principal side probably has the most upside, and at senior levels (if you can make it) has a pretty cush lifestyle.

With that said, I honestly don't know enough about tech sales, so I may be wrong. This is purely from my observations/seeing friends work in the industry. I'd be happy to hear from anyone with more knowledge in this arena.

Honestly was considering this when I graduated. I know multiple people a year out of college breaking 6 figures working 9-5 and a couple people making 250K+ a few years after graduation. The perks are definitely there as well. It seems like the environment is more laid back and coworkers tend to be younger than that of CRE. Personally, I don’t like the fact that CRE sales is an “old boys club.” It’s mainly working with older men and that tends to lead to a more stuffy environment. A lot of tech sales OTE right off the bat are pretty high as well if you’re working for one of the larger companies. But, as a previous comment mentioned, I believe the upside to be more in Real Estate. As one begins to broker deals and form relationships, it can give the confidence and knowledge to grow ones own portfolio i.e. net worth. If it means anything, that’s what keeps me motivated. I think life’s too short to make someone or something else’s success flourish. I think RE is the best way for ME to achieve those goals. Funny though because statistically speaking the tech sales route would probably be the best choice cause there’s less turnover and more stability. I don’t know, tech sales seems pretty sweet tbh lol.