TABLE OF CONTENTS It's just a job. Grass grows, birds fly, waves pound the sand. I beat people up ....
Muhammad Ali
Learn how to position yourself to make the change to being a salesperson.
Understand what you should expect as you make the transition.
Discuss how to make the change work successfully.
There comes a time in the career of every SE when, after watching a series of sales representatives stumble through the sales process year after year, they decide, "I can be a salesperson too." This process is known as "crossing over to the dark side," and some SEs will be highly successful while others will not.
The first action to take is to conduct an internal discovery session to determine your motivation for wanting to make this career change. Is this something for which you have already been planning and preparing? Or is it an act born out of frustration with either your current position or the salespeople with whom you work? In some cases, SEs become fascinated with the financial rewards, which is exactly the wrong reason to cross over.
A significant portion of this book has dealt with building up both technical and business skill sets with a future career path in mind. Every SE should be prepared to answer the question "Would you like to sell?" when it is posed to them. The opportunity may be the result of careful planning, or, as happened to one of the authors, a matter...
