I'm hoping to get some advice for paths forward in my career.

I'm hoping to get some advice for paths forward in my career. I'm about 7 years deep in my current role (across several organizations). I'm regularly traveling to customer sites and doing Sales demos and trainings, and I'm essentially one of our customers' first points of contacts in terms of support.

I like working directly with customers, but I don't want to be on the road constantly like I am now. I also like the idea of moving towards Product Management/Development or Business Development because I really like the idea of influencing future product development and/or product line expansion, but I don't LOVE the idea of being beholden to metrics alone. It seems like BDM roles are quite significantly linked to sales metrics, same with PM roles (not as sure on the PD side).

My current role is somewhat severed from our sales metrics (though I do make a commission based on sales, my job isn't necessarily in jeopardy if we don't hit our quotas). Are there any roles that I'm not considering that might be a good fit, based on what I've described above?

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2 Comments

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  1. Anonymous

    Hi! I don't personally have too much experience in the sales industry but have you tried posting in the Women in IT sales group? https://fairygodboss.com/groups/thaU7er3R/women-in-it-sales

  2. Becca Carnahan

    Account Management and Customer Success may pull you a bit away from commission-based compensation while still having client interaction, just more on a relationship management basis. Doesn't totally hit the mark on influencing new product decisions but could if the company you're working with is big on soliciting employee feedback from customers.

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