Sales / Account Management Path
CRM, outreach, closing. The tools top salespeople use to smash targets.
Your Path
HubSpot CRM
FreeYour CRM is your brain. HubSpot's free tier is genuinely powerful, contact management, deal pipelines, email tracking, meeting scheduling. Learn it cold. Every sales manager expects CRM fluency on day one. If it's not in the CRM, it didn't happen.
Apollo.io + Gmail
Free tiersApollo.io is the prospecting engine, find verified emails, build lead lists, set up outbound sequences. Gmail for personalised outreach. The best salespeople don't wait for inbound leads. They create their own pipeline from scratch.
LinkedIn Sales Navigator
PaidLinkedIn is where B2B deals start. Sales Navigator lets you find decision-makers, track company signals, and warm up prospects before cold outreach. Build relationships before you pitch. Social selling isn't optional anymore, it's how top performers hit quota.
PandaDoc / Canva
Free tiersPandaDoc for professional proposals with e-signatures and tracking, know exactly when a prospect opens your proposal. Canva for one-pagers, case study decks, and pitch materials. Looking professional closes deals.
Loom
Free tierA personalised Loom video gets 3x the response rate of a cold email. Record quick product walkthroughs, personalised demos, and follow-up recaps. It builds trust before the first call. Top SDRs send 10+ Loom videos per day.
ChatGPT
Free tierDraft outreach emails, research prospects, handle objections, prep for discovery calls. ChatGPT is like having a sales coach on demand. Use it to personalise at scale, research a company, draft a tailored message, and send it in under 2 minutes.
Google Sheets + HubSpot Dashboards
FreeKnow your numbers cold. Conversion rates, average deal size, pipeline velocity, activity metrics. Google Sheets for personal tracking, HubSpot dashboards for team visibility. The salespeople who track obsessively are the ones who consistently hit target.
Your Complete Stack
HubSpot CRM
CRM. Free
Apollo.io
Prospecting. Free tier
Gmail
Email. Free
LinkedIn Sales Navigator
Social selling. Paid
PandaDoc
Proposals. Free tier
Canva
Pitch decks. Free tier
Loom
Video selling. Free tier
ChatGPT
AI assistant. Free tier
Google Sheets
Tracking. Free
What Hiring Managers Actually Look For
Track numbers obsessively
Sales is a numbers game. Know your metrics, calls made, emails sent, meetings booked, conversion rates. In interviews, quote specific numbers: "I averaged 50 calls/day with a 12% meeting conversion rate." Data-driven salespeople get hired.
Consultative selling wins
The "always be closing" era is dead. Modern sales is about understanding problems and offering solutions. Practice active listening, asking great discovery questions, and positioning value, not features. Consultative sellers outsell pushers 3:1.
HubSpot Academy certs are free
HubSpot's Inbound Sales, Sales Enablement, and CRM certifications are completely free and recognised by employers. They take a few hours each and look great on your LinkedIn. No excuse not to have them.
LinkedIn IS your portfolio
In sales, your LinkedIn profile is your CV, portfolio, and personal brand combined. Post insights, engage with industry content, build a network of prospects. Hiring managers will check your LinkedIn activity before the interview.
Average Salary Range
£25-50K base + commission UK / $50-80K base + commission US
OTE (on-target earnings) is typically 1.5-2x base salary. Top performers regularly earn double their base. Enterprise AEs and senior account managers at SaaS companies can earn £100K+ / $200K+ OTE.
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