From teacher to hi-tech sales and CS — Adi’s story

So you’re thinking about moving into hi-tech sales. But how will you get the credibility, confidence, and jargon down to take that big leap and be successful? Adi Meir, a graduate of the monday U Business Development program, is here to spill the hi-tech tea. 

How did you find out about monday U?

I joined a Facebook group of women in the hi-tech industry and people from the monday U team invited us to apply. That definitely got me curious and I knew I had to check it out. 

What made you interested in the Business Development program?

Right before the program, I was working as an English teacher in a high school. Before that, I worked in sales for a few years, but not in hi-tech. I wanted to take my skills and use them again but in a new way.

What made you interested in hi-tech as an industry?

The fact that work moves so fast and is changing all the time. It’s the kind of environment that suits my personality and empowers me to learn new things every day. 

How would you describe the experience of doing the program in 2 words?

Beneficial and life-changing.

I would say beneficial because since the program finished, I’ve gotten hired in hi-tech as a CSM or Customer Success Manager. 

I’ve found everything that I learned in the Business Development program really helped me understand the sales cycle that comes before I join the process of onboarding a new customer. It’s given me a fuller picture of the customer journey and experience overall. 

It’s life-changing having monday U on my resume and even being able to say that I’ve done a program run by monday.com is something that people are impressed by and that gives me a lot of credibility. 

Also personally, the program gave me a lot of information, knowledge, and experience I can use at work. Actually, after being in the CSM role for about 8 months, today I got promoted at work to be an Account Executive which will allow me to do more selling which I love. 

What do you see as the most rewarding part of working in a career in hi-tech?

The thing that’s most rewarding is that the managers and people that I work with really see me and my potential. 

They recognize my best qualities and know how to help me navigate my way toward professional growth and success. That includes giving me the feedback I need to improve how I work and become more professional. 

Overall, I feel I’m learning and evolving as a person, as a salesperson, and CSM person and that’s really rewarding. I’m really thankful for it.

Tell me more about your move from CSM to AE? How do you see them differing?

Actually, I don’t see being a Customer Success Manager and an Account Executive as very different.

They’re both really about being able to understand the platform that I work with and getting to know the people trying to implement that platform for their workflows. It’s all about figuring out what I can do to help them see its unique value in saving them time, money, or energy and then helping them get there.

Being hands-on as a CSM has helped me understand the complexity of my clients’ work. That in turn makes me a better AE because now I can really empathize with the customers and give them an assessment of how long it will take to implement the software and what we’ll need in order to make the software work best for their needs and goals. 

What advice would you give to someone considering making the move into tech?

I’ve found a lot of it comes down to the jargon. Try to learn as much as you can about the language used in the hi-tech industry, and specifically the role you’re interested in. Use keywords in your CV and don’t be afraid to adjust your job title to better match hi-tech titles.  

Where do you recommend people learn the lingo from?

I think most of the language that I learn is from going into interviews. I’d heard people talking or talking to me and then I realized that I have to use these terms! What’s really important is not being embarrassed to ask what terms mean.  

I also would read LinkedIn posts from people in the hi-tech world. Great for giving you relevant terminology but also fresh perspectives on best practices. 

You can also find communities of CSMs and Salespeople on Facebook so check those out and join, read the comments, and meet people! 

Also, read articles about sales and hi-tech just in general. See what maybe you don’t understand and ask people about it. That’s the best way to explore the language of hi-tech.