Five Tips to Achieving a Fulfilling Career: Advice from a Salesforce Account Exec
Salesforce Careers
May 31, 2022
To be a member of the Salesforce sales team, you don’t have to fit a cookie-cutter profile. And you don’t need a technical background. In this blog, Olivier ‘t Kint shares his journey to Salesforce Senior Account Executive, explains why teamwork is so important in sales, and reveals his top five tips for achieving a fulfilling and successful career.
No typical day in enterprise sales is the same
Olivier ‘t Kint has been helping companies in Belgium’s financial services sector to optimise customer relationship management since 2019. As an Account Executive in Enterprise Corporate Sales, he’s responsible for building customer relationships, planning sales strategies, and executing them.
"My week is very varied – from internal alignments with the team and brainstorming with specialists, to creating sales presentations and meetings with customers, no two days are the same."
Olivier continues, “I have to be an industry expert and a trusted advisor to my customers, so I also spend a lot of time researching the sector and ensuring I’m up to speed on the latest Salesforce solutions.”
Olivier’s career path
Olivier’s sales career took off when he joined Salesforce in 2019. Before that, he studied International Relations at KU Leuven in Belgium, worked in business consultancy at the Belgian embassy in China, and spent a brief spell employed by a global logistics company. But it was at Salesforce that Olivier found his true calling.
“Joining Salesforce has been a very enriching experience. I’ve met inspiring people from all over the world, learnt the fundamental skills of being a good sales person, and found the career path that I was looking for.”
During his first few weeks in business development, Olivier enjoyed travelling to Madrid with colleagues from across the globe to attend Salesforce bootcamp. This hands-on week-long event involved team-building events, workshops, sessions with the leadership team, and everything else needed to start learning the job.
After just 18 months at Salesforce, Olivier was promoted to team lead. “As a Business Development Manager, I assisted with forecasting, helped select and onboard new team members, and got a taste of management,” he explains.
After a year, Olivier switched to an Account Executive role in Belgium, where he works closely with customers to help them get the most from their Salesforce solutions, and has ambitious plans to progress his sales career as a manager.
The importance of teamwork and a willingness to learn
Working in sales can be challenging, but with his customer focus, perseverance, and eagerness to learn, Olivier is flourishing. "When I first started, I was often at the edge of my comfort zone, but as I’ve pushed my boundaries, I’ve become more confident,” he admits. “You have a lot of autonomy as an Account Executive, but there’s always plenty of support and you have a whole team of Architects, Engineers, and more senior sales specialists to support you and help you make the right decisions."
As Olivier has discovered, the job is about teamwork more than anything else. “It’s impossible to do it on your own, you have to trust your team and reach out for assistance when needed. It helps to be competitive, but being a team player is vital.”
Five top tips for achieving a fulfilling career
Following Olivier’s success, we asked him what advice he would give to others eager to pursue a satisfying and rewarding career.
Tip 1: Do something that you’re passionate about
The average person will spend 90,000 hours at work over a lifetime, so make sure your job is something that gives you energy and makes you happy. “In every job there will always be a part that you find dull or hard – whether it’s making cold calls or admin – so ensure that the good bits make up for it.”
Tip 2: Never stop learning
It’s important to stay curious and not to let that wane as you progress in your career. “A willingness to constantly learn is possibly the most valuable trait in sales, and I’m sure in most other roles,” says Olivier. “Learning from the people around you is exciting on both a personal level and for career progression.”
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Tip 3: Understand your weaknesses - and share your strengths
“When you work as a team, your strengths and weaknesses tend to all balance out,” explains Olivier. “But it’s important that you understand your weaknesses so you know when to ask for help.”
Similarly, you also need to be willing to share your strengths. Whether it’s helping out a colleague, training new talent, or acting as a mentor, sharing your skills and abilities can be hugely satisfying and help you learn even more in the process.
Tip 4: Embrace failure
Don’t be afraid to make mistakes – it’s how you’ll learn. “It’s okay not to hit your targets once in a while,” reveals Olivier. “Sometimes, you need to take a moment to reflect in order to become better at your job in the long-term. Resilience can be hard, but by being open to feedback and listening to constructive criticism, you can turn a failure to your advantage.”
Tip 5: Maintain work/life balance
It can be tempting to put a lot of pressure on yourself, particularly if you’re very ambitious and want to progress your career quickly. “It helps to pause and take stock every now and again – remind yourself of what’s important to you, what you want to achieve and why, and to be grateful for what you’ve achieved so far,” advises Olivier.
“Take time out and enjoy whatever you’re into outside of work – whether it’s travel, spending time with friends and family, or doing something creative or sporty.”
It takes all kinds of personalities, skills, and qualities to build a Salesforce sales team, so if you’re interested in a career that’s exciting, rewarding, and satisfying, you can find out more about careers at Salesforce here.