A Career in Tech Sales: Born to Make it Rain

Ever think you could start a career making $150K  annually just two years after college?  Most early-career professionals couldn’t dream of making that much money within five years of graduation, let alone two.  Shannon Pierce entered college like most, thinking her major should reflect her intended career path. But stepping out of her pre-med major to embark on her tech sales career journey would be the best decision she made to date.   A model representation of memoryBlue’s “elevate from within” principle, her determination to constantly compete with herself, rapidly progressed her career. She achieved her induction into the memoryBlue “High Roller” hall of fame by earning a whopping $13,000 monthly bonus only nine months into her role. How did she do it? Shannon shares tech sales industry secrets that made her a company front runner.

Learning Her Strengths in a Career in Tech Sales

Even Shannon’s parents knew she’d be a force to be reckoned with, no matter what she took on. Her knack for negotiating, coupled with her high-energy personality, certainly make her a perfect fit for any customer-serving job — especially sales and recruiting. By playing to her talents in an industry that offers handsome rewards for hard work, Shannon found fast-paced success. Not one for rote memorization and silent-study time, it’s no surprise that after one semester, her pre-med pursuits ended. In addition to failing chemistry, her outgoing personality made her ill-suited for lone late-night study sessions. Earning a BA in Marketing and Management from VA Tech proved helpful in gaining the necessary skills to conduct meaningful analyses of business operations, identify problem areas, and formulate growth solutions. Shannon explains:

“I do that every day now. If you are in tech sales, you have a product or software that does X, Y, and Z, and then by way of talking to people, you gather information and figure out how your product or service best applies to them, their needs, and their problems. Always be asking yourself — What avenue can I take to make this uniquely applicable to the prospect?”   

The real-life skills acquired getting her master’s degree in “Making it Rain,” from memoryBlue however, have driven her professional prosperity.

Stepping onto the Tech Sales Career Launchpad

How did this 2018 rising college senior transition from professional newbie to full-fledged career woman who can always buy a round of drinks for the room in just three years?  It’s simple — provide an extremely motivated, go-getter attitude with a clearly defined path to success, countless opportunities, and all the tools required to facilitate the climb, and they’ll end up scaling the mountain quickly. Shannon brought the right ingredients to the table when starting her tech sales career  journey, and memoryBlue supplied the rest. A match made in heaven, Shannon’s competitive nature pairs perfectly with the memoryBlue reward-based compensation model: In 2018, Shannon completed her internship, outperforming some full-time sales professionals at 100% quota attainment, and earned a position at memoryBlue.  By 2019, she cemented a reputation for crushing her quota at a lifetime average of 125% in her full-time role as a Sales Development Representative (SDR).  Within 5-months, she became a founding member of the now enormously profitable Direct Hire team, recruiting top-performing SDRs for our clients. She earned a $13,000 bonus in only ONE month in her new role with the Direct Hire team. After one year as a Sales Recruiter, she was promoted again to Account Executive on the Direct Hire team, bringing in new clients looking for top talent.   In fall of 2021, Shannon was elevated to Manager on the Direct Hire team, where she continues to teach recruiters the skills that propelled her career. With each promotion, her base salary and commission percentage increased; there seems to be no stopping this exponential gain-train.

How a Career in Tech Sales Measures Up:

Consider the average earnings of college grads new to the workforce in various other fields, as found on the 2021 Career Guide from Indeed:

Computer Science	$67,539
Math & Sciences	$62,177
Business	$57,657
Engineering	$69,188

It’s shocking when compared to Shannon’s six-figure earnings in her first year at memoryBlue. You may consequently find yourself reconsidering your next step. Shannon offers sound advice to the next top sales pro: “Find a company with a hyper-focus on continuous refinement of your craft and, most importantly, surround yourself with teammates that collaborate to help everyone be at the top of their own game.” Her innate ability to stay forward-thinking and avoid getting too comfortable powers her progress. When one deal closes, or she hits quota mid-month, Shannon doesn’t simply relish in her accomplishments. Instead, she sees it as an opportunity to beat her personal best, setting herself up for the next big win.

Elevating to New Heights

Although initially uncertain about her recruiting role on the Direct Hire team, her rapid mastery made evident all the reasons the Co-Founders chose her to lead this new line of business for memoryBlue. Now she’ll be the first to tell you: 

“Recruiting revealed itself to be something really cool. I love placing people, playing a small part in changing their lives for the better. Talking to them to find out what’s missing from their overall professional life and then finding what we have that can help make their job rewarding on multiple levels. Additionally, I’m really good at it.”  

At its core, the job – tech sales or recruiting – is really about helping people: solving problems, matching the right people with the right companies, and offering viable solutions for major pain points. While money definitely motivates Shannon, it turns out that enabling the next potential High Roller motivates her even more: 

“I love being the newbie, learning the ropes and mastering the game, then quickly becoming a guide for the next newbies in the process: helping them miss potholes and paving the way. Becoming a leader who positively shapes someone else’s experience is the real reward.”  

Invest in Yourself

So, what does the tech sales industry have in store for Shannon next? Maybe she’ll open a new memoryBlue office, reaching untapped markets. Who knows, but Shannon’s feelings are clear “Typically people come to memoryBlue to figure out what’s after memoryBlue. That’s what we pitch to people. It’s a stepping stone for the next thing.” Self described as the proverbial “black sheep,” Shannon  has no intention of ever leaving memoryBlue.

“What do people want out of a job? They want cool people to work with, they want good money, they want the opportunity for growth, they want to work in an industry that’s cutting edge. You usually don’t get all of those, but this job sets you up for a really lucrative future. It’s damn near perfect for those starting from the bottom of the food chain.” 

It’s easy to invest in a company when it has repeatedly invested in you. Shannon’s loyalty to memoryBlue is deeply rooted. And perhaps the seed responsible for budding such resolution comes from the fact that memoryBlue has always allowed and even encouraged Shannon to grow in a genuine and authentic way. Being able to be yourself every day in the workplace where let’s face it, you spend the majority of your time creates a culture where people truly care about one another, the collective success of the team, and the business.   In short, Shannon’s fast growth in her tech sales career inspires us all to always commit wholeheartedly, play to our strengths, never get too comfortable, and make sure to enjoy the rewards.  

Take Your Next Step

Interested in following in Shannon’s footsteps? memoryBlue is hiring multiple motivated Sales Development Representatives (SDRs) across each of our six offices in DC Metro, Austin (TX), Boston (MA), Denver (CO), Silicon Valley (CA), and Seattle (WA).

Jumpstart Your Career 

Start your sales career at memoryBlue where success is contagious.   Check Out Some Other High Rollers: Jack Klaas | Deng Phua | Kyle Gross