Above: Tommy French (left) and Eoin Murphy’ (right),  founders of The Sales Circle

Anna Lelashvili

While business students often hear all about the glories of working in finance, consulting or accounting, most of us have probably never considered a career in tech sales. Tech sales is becoming increasingly popular in Ireland, with the rise of multinational technology companies establishing offices in Dublin. Tech sales offers great career progression and earning opportunities with graduates earning an average salary of €60,000. 

TBR’s Chief Finance Officer Anna Lelashvili spoke with Eoin Murphy, co-founder of The Sales Circle, to learn more about a career in tech sales and how The Sales Circle can help people looking to break into the field. 

The Founders

Co-founders Eoin Murphy and Tommy French met as business development associates at Salesforce, a cloud-based CRM company. According to Eoin, the two clicked instantly due to their aligned vision and aspirations of being successful. Both Eoin, who studied Business at DCU, and Tommy, who completed a Masters in Finance at Trinity, planned to work in Finance. They both gained experience in the finance field with Eoin completing a 9 month placement in banking and Tommy working as a financial consultant.  

After a quick Indeed search for summer internships, Eoin came across the Salesforce sales development internship and applied to it, not knowing what either Salesforce or sales development was. Although Eoin started working in sales at just 15 years old, helping his father at trade shows, he didn’t know it was a career you could pursue post-graduation until he started the Salesforce internship; a great example of what is meant for you, will not pass you. 

‘When I went into college it was never even a consideration of going into sales. I had never heard of tech sales. I was always going the finance route, same with Tommy. We never envisioned going down this route but I stepped in on the first day (at Salesforce) and said ‘this is what I am doing after college’. It was a hidden gem’.

The Sales Circle Origin

It all began when Eoin started posting content on TikTok, showing viewers the behind the scenes of cold-call filled ‘Day in The Life’ videos and being transparent about the salary in tech sales. In only 9 months he has amassed over 7,000 followers on TikTok and 4,000 followers on Linkedin due to his transparency and love for tech sales.

‘I always had the itch to start posting content. Being in Ireland I always had the fear of judgement, but when I moved to Australia I said ‘look I’m away from everyone, I’m gonna go for it’.

Following Eoin’s success on TikTok, an overwhelming number of people started reaching out to him wondering how they could get into tech sales and find success. While Eoin tried to juggle content creation with working and advising others, he realised that there was an opportunity to create something. He turned to Tommy, and the two started The Sales Circle, offering two-day intensive boot camps once a month. Each bootcamp sees 10 people receiving training and one-to-one support in their journey in breaking into tech sales.

The Sales Circle is unique as it not only helps participants get a job in the industry but also provides them with the resources to excel in their new role. Tommy and Eoin were both very high performers, citing ‘what we teach, we know works’. The Sales Circle is ‘hoping to change the recruitment space, creating a model of recruitment where people are trained by high performers in the industry’. As a result, participants are not only landing jobs quickly, with an average of only 30 days, but are also excelling in hitting their sales targets.

Eoin emphasised the importance of standing out and making yourself ‘the most obvious choice for the role’. At The Sales Circle, they ensure that participants do one thing to set themselves apart at every stage of the recruitment process. As well, they have created a partner network of companies who are interested in hiring high quality talent and hopefully secure your spot at a partner company. 

The Sales Talent of Tomorrow Programme for College Students

After seeing the huge demand from college students looking to get into tech sales, The Sales Circle is launching a new programme called the Sales Talent of Tomorrow Programme, which will see small, monthly cohorts of students receiving two weeks of intensive upskilling sessions on the fundamentals of being a high performing sales and business development representatives. They will also learn how to outshine the 200+ applicants they will find themselves competing against. 

Unlike most careers that students pursue post-graduation, there aren’t many graduate programmes in the tech sales sphere. Instead, there are entry level positions that graduates can apply for. This role is typically the Sales Development Representative role but the name varies across companies. As a result, most final year students begin applying to jobs towards the end of their degree in April. But not to worry, The Sales Circle ensures that “when you get to the end of your college year and you’re looking to apply to jobs, you are so far ahead of others,” according to Eoin.

A Career in Tech Sales

For those of you who have never considered a career in tech sales before, here are some benefits of working in the sphere:

1. Earning potential and career progression: On average, graduates can expect to earn about €60,000 in their first year as an SDR and can progress to an account executive role earning €100,000+ in 2 years. In contrast, the average graduate salary in Ireland is around €35,000. 
2. Soft Skills: Sales helps you develop resilience, confidence and communication skills, with Eoin describing it as “the single greatest job for building resilience”. As an SDR, you speak a lot to business owners, learning about their business models and pain points, which could be very beneficial to those considering starting a business themselves. You also face a lot of rejection from prospects and learn how to handle rejection. 
3. It’s fun!: Speaking to Eoin, you can see how much he really loves his job.

 ‘I was so worried coming out of college, especially when I was in my finance role, that I would hate life working and I could say with complete confidence that every single day, even if it was a tough day, I absolutely loved doing what I was doing in Salesforce, and tech sales in general. I loved the people, the job and everything that came with it. There wasn’t a day I wasn’t grateful that I went down that route.’

Tips to Break into Tech Sales

If you’ve been convinced to break into tech sales, here are some tips from Eoin to help you (as well as joining the Sales Talent of Tomorrow Programme, of course):

1. Reaching out to people: Reach out to people on LinkedIn who are in tech sales and have conversations with them! You learn so much and also make amazing connections in the process. Eoin suggests having a conversation a week with an SDR/BDR/Account Executive. By the end of the year, that’s around 40 connections! When it comes to applying to jobs, you have a network of people who can help you whether that’s through a referral or some tips and tricks for the interview.
2. Listen to podcasts: Recommendations from Eoin include 30 Minutes to President’s Club, Outbound Squad and Outbound Kitchen (formerly SDR Game). 
3. Read books: Recommendations from Eoin include Gap Selling, Never Split the Difference and Problem Prospecting.

Follow Eoin, Tommy and The Sales Circle!

TikTok: @eoinmurphyyy, Linkedin: Eoin Murphy & Tommy French, Website: The Sales Circle