Would you like to know how to maximize your technology career? If so, this video is for you.
Hi, my name is Michael Gibbs and I'm the founder and CEO of GoCloud Architects
and we're an organization dedicated towards building high performance
cloud computing and networking careers. I've been working in technology for over 25 years and I've
spent more than two decades helping people get their first tech job or get promoted in tech
and that's my favorite thing to do. So today we're going to talk about how to get promoted in tech.
We're going to focus on one thing and that's actually sales skills. And I'm going to tell you
that sales for engineers is one of the most critical things you can actually do to maximize
your technology career. And you know what, I'll tell you my story and I'll also talk about how
others that I've worked with that have learned sales have had incredible technology careers.
And if you want a great tech career, why you should learn sales.
See, when I got started in engineering, I was really lucky. I was given this advice
and I was told, "Learn sales." And guess what? I rejected it, but not for long.
See, when I started tech, I left practicing internal medicine. I started my first tech job and
I was Mr. Tech guru. I was reading a thousand pages a day. I had 10 routers sitting on my
desk along with a couple of switches and I was Mr. Tech. In fact, within six months
of my desire to start working in tech, I was a CCIE back when it was a two day near impossible
exam. In fact, my CCIE number is 7417. That tells you how long I've been in tech.
And all I wanted to be was Mr. Tech, but I noticed something. I kept noticing that all of us,
the few of us that were the senior architects, that were designing things, were working hard.
The engineers that are implementing things are working hard and all these non-technical people
kept coming in and they kept getting promoted and paid more and getting better positions.
And I was bewildered. I said, "Wait a second. Why not me the CCIE and the other two CCIEs here
and these people that are coming in that kind of know how the systems work together,
but they're real smooth, they're dressing better and they're getting promoted like this.
We're working hard." So you know what? I decided to figure out why. So what did I do?
I actually went over to the CIO and said, "Hi, it's Mike." And he's like, "Hi, Mike, how are you?
You are our lead architect." And I said, "Thanks so much." I said, "I'm curious
as to my career potential so I can do well." And he said, "Oh, let's sit down. Let's talk."
You see, I was very nice. I got to work with him. He was my manager's manager. I reported high up in
the chain because of my architecture career. And I said, "I've noticed that there's a lot of people,
they're smooth talking, they're well-dressed, but their knowledge
is very surface level. They're not like us lead architects." And he's like, "Yes." And I said,
"They keep rising to the top." And I said, "All of us that are really, really technical
are not moving up." And the CIO said, "Exactly." And I said, "Tell me what you need." And he said,
"I need you guys to make things work." And he said, "I can't operate without you." He said,
"But here's the thing. These other people can do different things for the organization then
you can do." And I was like, "Wat do you mean?" He said, "Look, you're an expense." And he said,
"Mike, we love you, but you're an expense." He said, "We spend money to pay you to do a
job and you're darn good at it and we couldn't function without you, but you are an expense."
He said, "Now I get other technology people that can do a business case and could do an ROI model.
They may not be great tech professionals, but they can show me how investing in this tech can
improve our business. They can find ways to shave costs. They can find ways to improve employee
productivity and they're the skills we need. I need people that know sales. I need people that
know ROI modeling. I need executives that are also tech people, just like you." He said, "The tech is
only going to get you so far." He said, "You're an amazing engineer. You're an amazing architect,
but if you want more, learn to be different. Learn to focus on these intangible skills."
And he told me the real truth and I was really grateful. And this changed my career and the
career of all my students. He said, "I need you to come and solve our problem." He says,
"It's in your head, Mike." He said, "I know you can do it." He said,
"I know you knew the business." And he said, "I know you understand Wall Street. And I understand,
you know this. So come to me with solutions that aren't just your tech."
And I said, "Okay." So I went back and I started thinking of the business thing.
He said, "Learn sales." I learned sales. Next architecture, I brought it back to the
executive team. I showed them how my tech solved business problems, promote increased trading,
which improves revenues, decreased downtime. And all of a sudden I was a hero. I learned sales.
In fact, sales, I would say, is probably the most critical [inaudible 00:05:08] in your career along
with your emotional intelligence and of course, your competency and your communication skills,
but sales is that important. And you know what? It's not just for sales roles.
Sales is not just for cloud architects and network architects and solutions architects.
It's beneficial in any role. But let's look at the role where sales is really critical. Solutions
engineering, sales engineering, solutions architects. So pre-sales solution architects,
pre-sales engineers, solution engineering, technical pre-sales solutions engineer. All
these terms are really the same thing. It's an engineer that's involved in the sales process.
So whether they call you a solutions architect or a systems engineer, or a pre-sales engineer,
if all you're doing is designing systems
and then documenting them and then presenting them to the customer, that's architect work.
Now, if you're working on building the systems all day, that's engineering work. But even if you
are, sales is still a valuable skill. Look at it this way. Let's take the things that are farthest
away from the business and show how sales matter. Think of the software developer. Let's say you've
got an exceptionally good software developer, but their skill is coding and they have an idea for
a big project and they want to get 20 of their buddies to help build it with them. You need to
sell the people into wanting to do the project with you. Or, you're an engineer and you need
$3 million of equipment to do a proof of concept. You've got to know how to sell it to management,
to give you the money. Without sales, you'll basically just be handicapped in your career.
So think about everything that you need to do. You want to build a project, you want to borrow
people from somebody else's team, sales. You want funding from the customer to buy something,
sales. You want to get your manager internally to do something,
sales. You want to be on the next big project that's going to get you promoted,
sales. So if you want a great career, learn sales. You'll be glad you did.
This is Michael Gibbs. I'm the founder and CEO of GoCloud Architects and I'm happy to be here
to assist you in your cloud competing career, your networking career, or your tech career in general.
I'm very excited for the opportunity to share knowledge with you. I have enjoyed an amazing
nearly 30 year technology career, and it's my turn to basically help all of you build the best
tech careers so you can have the best lives. Look forward to seeing you in another video, take care.
It was so nice having you join us for this video today.
Let me tell you about some free services we do for the cloud community. Twice per week,
we have a free "How to Get Your First Cloud Architect Job" webinar, where we tell you all
the things you need to do and know to get your first cloud architect job. In addition to that,
once per week, we actually have a free question and answer session on live on YouTube, where you
can come and ask us any questions you want about building your career related to cloud computing
or networking and we'll answer them in real time for you, because we want to get you to your goals.
Several more times per week, we have guests from industry. Industry experts that I've
known for decades that are movers and shakers that have changed the world that can give you
information so you can build the best career. I invite them periodically. They are on my show.
If there's a chance to do some free training on our channel, we'll do it live because we want
you to all to have the best skills for the best career. So please subscribe and hit the bell.
I look forward to seeing you and I look forward to assisting you in your technology career.
Thank you so much. This is Michael Gibbs from GoCloud Architects.