So you’re thinking about a role in software sales, but you’re not sure it’s right for you.
Well, we’ll be the first to admit it’s not for everyone, but if you’re ambitious, proactive and ready to drive your own success, then working in software sales can be hugely rewarding, and there’s a lot of room to progress and grow your career.
We spoke to three employees from across Capita Software to discover what kind of opportunities there are for learning and development in this area and what you need to do to make sure you make the most of them.
Start by being a sponge
No matter which role or area of Capita Software you start in, there will always be initial basic training to familiarise you with the software. Each area of the business has a different specialism, so there will be wider business specific information to learn too. For example, when Claire Worrall began her role with Eclipse Legal Systems. At the time, she didn’t have any knowledge of lawyers or how personal injury cases worked. So on top of the software solutions, she had to learn everything else as she went along. That’s why she believes it’s best to be open to learning right from the get go.
Claire said: “I essentially had to be like a sponge and take on board all the information that was given to me. You’ve got to be open to learning and not judging, especially at Eclipse Legal Systems, because when you’re learning the Proclaim software there’s so much to learn. You’re already trying to get your head around ‘Why am I doing this, when I could be doing that?’, but it’s important to know that we’ve structured our induction in a specific way for you. So I’d recommend that you just go with it and remember to spend time with all the different groups within the office to introduce yourself. You’ll learn a lot more that way.”
Never stop learning
There’s always something new to learn. We have such a wide range of software, right across Capita Software, and the systems we work on are constantly evolving. It’s important for us to keep up with these changes, so that we always know how the systems work. That’s why we have access not only to a range of role specific training, but to ongoing systems training, which you can continue to build on over time.
Rachel Mason, an account manager with Pay360, has recently been undertaking some of the more specific training in the form of a management summary writing course and a course specialising in Gazing training.
Rachel said: “Gazing training is all about where you are in the sales cycle, what the individual points in the cycle are and what you can do to overcome barriers. It’s all about the kind of questions you should be asking and what kind of information you should be looking for. We’ve had several of these sessions now and they’re really useful because they’re tailored to our specific role. One size does not fit all when it comes to sales training, and especially for us where we’re selling to Local Government, it’s important to have tailored training for that environment.”
Learning from others
It’s not all about being in the classroom either, as Tristan Spencer, sales and marketing director for Capita Education Software Solutions, explains: “Here at Education Software Solutions, we’ve just put all of our salespeople through sales training. It’s something we’ll always continue to do, year-on-year, to develop the skillsets of our teams. While some of the training happens in the classroom, a lot of it comes from coaching too. With sales training it’s more relevant to have on-the-job coaching, from the manager.”
How can our training help you develop and grow in your role? Here’s what Tristan had to say about the diversity of opportunities available at Capita Software:
“Across the education business alone, we have a huge range of sales roles. We have everything from entry-level sales roles to account management and new business. For the right salesperson, they have the chance to develop through the levels and have a great sales career within the Education business. And as part of Capita Software, we are one of a huge variety of other software sales businesses. So really, if you wanted to work your way up through various sales roles within Capita, you could. There are so many areas to explore and solutions to learn about that you’d still be growing your skillset, the size of sales you’re making and your earnings – there really is a lot of variety here.”
Software sales roles
If you’d like to find out more about the opportunities at Capita Software and search our current job roles, head over to our software sales page.