From Exercise Physio Degree To Business Sales Career At Aussie Cloud Marketplace

How Sam Phuong found his dream sales career in his late 20s.

Age

Prior sales experience?

Professional background

Retail

The Challenge

Throughout high school, Sam played rugby union and enjoyed PDHPE as a subject.

In 2013, he started an Exercise Physiology degree at the Queensland University of Technology with ambitions of becoming a physio, fuelled by his passion for sports.

However, after graduating in 2017, Sam knew that being a physio wasn’t for him due to the work hours and pay.

Sam took some time off to explore other areas such as hospitality and retail and discovered an interest in the craft of sales.

He loved talking to people and felt motivated by striving towards a target.

By late 2023, he had exhausted his career progression in retail and was looking to start a longer term career in sales.

But without any prior experience on where to start, he felt confused on the best types of products and industries that would allow him to develop his sales craft further.

The Solution

Sam learned about Earlywork through a high school friend that worked in business sales.

After attending an Earlywork Business Sales Group Interview, Sam knew that business sales was for him.

His biggest reason?

There was more upside in developing his sales skills selling to other businesses over more consumer products such as insurance and real estate.

Here’s more context.

In Australia, entry level business sales roles earn an average of $95k per year*.

Within 4-5 years of starting in business sales, you could be selling to 1000+ employee companies and have a total package north of $250k+ per year.

But why are packages in business sales so high?

It all comes down to what you’re selling - business-to-business software tools (ie: UberEats).

Sales is the second most in-demand role for most companies with clients that are businesses (behind product specialists) as reps are responsible for finding new business customers to adopt their tools.

Yet, there’s a distinct skill shortage as many job seekers think they require a business background or previous sales experience to get started - which simply isn’t true.