Interested in technology and data, computer security applications, data analytics, heat mapping or any similar background.
I hope your client finds a good candidate, but I can't imagine being good at these areas while at the same time wanting to work in sales. That being said, anyone that can bs the interview enough to make your client think that they're good at these obviously has a future in sales.
Because you have a shallow view of what makes a good salesperson.
Elon Musk and Steve Jobs are two examples of technically competent people who are good salespeople. Trump is another. His technical knowledge of engineering and construction is very strong.
How do you think complicated technical products are sold other than by people with an affinity for them?
I've worked in software sales. The best software salesmen are just good conversationalists who understand their client's industry and needs, or who at least show that they want to. You'd be surprised how much leeway a client will give someone who seems (and is) trustworthy. Commercial sales are far more about relationships and genuity than presentation pizzaz. Good b2b salespeople are good because they can sit down and talk to their clients like adults and not feel like they have to arbitrarily fluctuate their vocal inflections like Billy Mays.
There are some customers that you can shoot in a barrel when it comes to b2c sales. But not really in business sales, especially not in any sort of sales that involve a service relationship, which software sales almost
always do. The elevator pitch doesn't really have much of a part to play in long-term business relationships. You'll have far more success just being an authentic (unless your personality sucks) and congenial person with a good product to offer that you aren't shy about than if you burst into a room doing cartwheels trying to get executives excited. They've seen that before. They hate it. It's a waste of their time and it's embarrassing.
There's a stereotype about IT people being socially retarded. Really, it's just about being able to drop the unnecessary jargon depending on your audience. Tell the CTO all the ins and outs about protocols, scripts, code, etc. but just tell the CEO what it
does. Most executives don't care
how software works, they just want to know
what it does, and
if it will work. Most of the IT people I know are actually fairly adept at explaining to inquiring non-technical minds some thing or another about technology, and they know they have to use a different language to do so. All it takes is a little social awareness and intelligence.
Really, depending on the product, it would suffice to know virtually nothing about the actual technical specs so long as you can explain with competence and confidence the business terms of what the product does. That's more important (at least from my experience which isn't extensive but I did it for a few years) than being able to tell someone exactly how to move/change MX records or some other back-end, behind the scenes activity that doesn't really matter for general ordinary use.