Best Tech Sales Jobs Ranked By Compensation
Although there are several factors to consider when determining the “best” tech sales jobs, the obvious one is money. Having a “good” job is almost synonymous with having a high-paying job.
In this post, we’ll start by ranking the tech sales job titles that pay the most across the entire industry, irrespective of each company.
Then we’ll look at tech sales companies that pay the most, irrespective of job title.
Then we’ll combine those two and look at specific tech sales jobs at specific companies that pay the most.
Want to find out how to get a job in tech sales? Subscribe to get our emails about tech sales and how to break in.
Highest paying tech sales job titles
The highest-paying tech sales jobs are executive leadership positions (e.g., Chief Revenue Officer, VP of Sales).
However, if you’re just getting started in tech sales, you most likely won’t start your tech sales career as an executive. If you do, let us know your secret. 🙂
So let’s start by looking at tech sales compensation broken down by job title, from entry-level all the way up to senior leadership level.
We’ll use San Francisco as an example. You can view the same compensation data broken down by job title here.
OTE range by tech sales job title in San Francisco in 2022
|
Rank
|
Job Title
|
OTE in San Francisco (thousands)
|
|
1
|
CRO / VP of Sales
|
340-520
|
|
2
|
Sales Manager / Director of Sales
|
240-400
|
|
3
|
Enterprise Account Executive (5-10 Years)
|
240-400
|
|
4
|
Account Executive (3-5 Years)
|
180-250
|
|
5
|
SDR Manager
|
170-210
|
|
6
|
Account Executive (0-3 Years)
|
150-220
|
|
7
|
Sales Engineer
|
150-200
|
|
8
|
Sales Operations
|
110-220
|
|
9
|
SDR (6+ Months)
|
80-100
|
|
10
|
SDR (Recent Grad)
|
75-90
|
Notes:
- The data in the table above comes from the 2022 Compensation Guide by Betts Recruiting.
- The data is for tech sales jobs in San Francisco. You can find compensation data for other cities on the Betts website here.
- The OTE column is in thousands, so 340-520 means the OTE range is $340,000 to $520,000.
- In the parentheses next to the SDR and AE positions is level of experience.
Highest paying tech sales companies
Now we have a sense of average compensation by tech sales job title across the industry.
Next, we want to find out which specific tech companies pay the highest compensation to salespeople.
For this, we’ve gathered data from Sales Trax and Rainmakers.
Top 10 “companies paying software salespeople the most,” according to Sales Trax
|
Rank
|
Company
|
|
1
|
Salesforce
|
|
2
|
Oracle
|
|
3
|
Microsoft
|
|
4
|
Slack
|
|
5
|
SAP
|
|
6
|
Cisco
|
|
7
|
Dell
|
|
8
|
IBM
|
|
9
|
Asana
|
|
10
|
Zendesk
|
Click here to view the full list of the 25 companies paying software salespeople the most.
Top 10 “tech companies paying the highest salaries for salespeople,” according to Rainmakers
|
Rank
|
Company
|
|
1
|
SAP
|
|
2
|
Cisco
|
|
3
|
CA Technologies
|
|
4
|
EMC Corp
|
|
5
|
Symantec
|
|
6
|
Microsoft
|
|
7
|
Salesforce
|
|
8
|
Adobe
|
|
9
|
Avaya
|
|
10
|
IBM
|
Companies on both lists
These five companies made the top 10 on both lists:
- Salesforce
- Microsoft
- SAP
- Cisco
- IBM
Tech companies that pay the most for each specific tech sales job title
Now we know which tech sales job titles have the highest compensation (on average, across the industry) and we also know which tech sales companies pay the most (irrespective of specific job title).
Next, let’s figure out which tech sales companies pay the most for each specific tech sales job title …
If you’re breaking into tech sales, Sales Development Representative (SDR) and Business Development Representative (BDR) are the two most common entry-level tech sales jobs.
Click here to view tech companies that pay the most for Sales Development Representatives (SDRs).
If you already have some experience (e.g., you’re a salesperson from another industry transitioning to tech sales), you might be able to get an Account Executive (AE) role, which is typically a more senior role.
Click here to view tech companies that pay the most for Account Executives (AEs).
Money isn’t everything
Money might be one of the most important factors to consider when you’re looking for the best tech sales jobs, but it’s not the only factor.
Promotion opportunities, benefits, company culture, company growth trajectory, diversity and inclusion, and work-life balance are all important factors as well. ❤️
If you want to take these other factors into consideration as part of your tech sales job search, check out this other post that lists the best tech sales companies to work for.
Ready to get a job in tech sales?
Our online course with almost 4 hours of video content covers EVERYTHING you need to get into tech sales …
Resume tips, LinkedIn strategies, interview prep, and much more!
We’re so confident this course will work for you that we’re offering a full money-back guarantee for 30 days!
If you finish the entire course, follow all the instructions, and don’t get at least one tech sales job offer within 30 days, we’ll give you a full immediate refund. No questions asked.
So what are you waiting for? Click here to enroll in the course!