Would taking a position in sales for a year help a career?

Question

It has often been said that selling software is harder than writing it. With aspirations of having my own software firm one day I often wonder if I could sell the software I write and/or my services as a software developer.

I will be relocating soon and have been thinking about my options. One idea I have thought of is taking a job in software related sales for a year to develop some selling skills.

Has anyone else done similar and was it useful?

Some may think of this as not programming related but I think it's a question many programmers would be interested in.

Answer 1

If you want to have your own company in the future, it definitely helps.

But if the company depends on your development skills, be sure to keep your knowledge up to date.

Answer 2

I strongly recommend that you give this a try, if you have the possibility. You will probably learn a lot about yourself while at it.

It may even turn out that you notice that selling is not really your cup of tea. It is probably better to get this insight before you establish your own company, since then you can either forget about it, or find someone who can send the stuff that you develop.

However, as Gamecat said, do keep yourself up to date. Don't grow pointy hair too fast, unless you know you don't want to come back.

Answer 3

Definitely. Absolutely. 100%. But do it all, and not halfway.

Having sales experience will greatly improve your communication and people skills, and these skills are usually not fostered in a programming position. It will also give you a better perspective on the total effort needed to run a business.

I sold musical instruments for 3 years (after the .Com bust) and it taught me how to talk to people. I dont mean "open my mouth and speak", but to have conversations with people who aren't programmers (most of the world). When I returned to I.T., the sales and customer service experience helped me to work better with a project team (they are our 'customers' too), to actually listen and not just hear others, and to give more respect the work that others around me had to do.

To throw some sales-ese in here, its a "Win-Win".

Sales is not evil. Just what some bad apple salesmen do.

Answer 4

Other people said other way, so this can be a bit trollish but,

I think it's not a good idea, being a salesman for a while can improve your skills just like being pizza delivery boy or CEO of a company can. Any other job will help you to get some skills and salesman is even better which give you several good skills.

However if you decide to run your business you won't be your salesman it's about how to find a salesman even in a small company. You shouldn't confuse marketing and a being a salesman. Learn marketing it'll help you a lot, spending your time being salesman and getting rusty on your developer skills at the same sounds like a bad idea to me.