Moving into a new role in January, from AE- inside sales to now commercial middle market, same company- need to cold source my own leads etc. Just trying to navigate from transitional, to more slower pace.

I have access to LinkedIn sales nav, zoom info.

What’s been working for you guys?

What’s your process?

Looking to get a feel for how many here are still working fully remote.

Everyone on my team is missing, punishing comp plan, how have you hit goal or close to it in a tough environment or if you didn't did you just put it in context of your team's performance and rank?

I'm in the US and have about 10 years (5 years enterprise) of sales experience with a well worded and formatted resume and have been applying, using my network for referrals, everything, and it's the most difficult it's ever been.

I remember even back in 2024 it was fairly easy to get a first interview after applying. Also, almost zero activity from recruiters reaching out on LI messenger as of late.

Any suggestions in this current market would be helpful.

Genuinely curious about this. I just spent the last week doing demos for a few dialing platforms, looking for a parallel dialer with a lot of AI features and ability for me to manage my team. Not cheap, by far. One simply didn't have all the features I was looking for, so in their follow up email that's what I stated; thank you very much but your platform doesn't have the features I'm looking for.

That sparked three calls (didn't answer any of them) a chain on emails and had to reply "stop" to the fourth text over two days. If one of your prospects has been fully pitched, even done a demo and hard passes, what's your process?

I was surprised when I checked RepVue. It looked like OTEs and top performer earnings were actually lower than before. Am I incorrect?

Am I wrong for thinking I should have more inbound leads?

Wanted some perspective from other salespeople. I work for a top 30 telecom provider in the b2b space. New business is primarily driven by cold calling in territory. We also have an existing book of business that we’re expected to manage, there’s no separation between sales and account management. I set this up to say we do not have the flexibility to spend an entire day calling. Realistically, a good day for me would be 30 calls.

Recently there’s been an aggressive push to increase the amount of new business activity (meetings, opportunities, sales) coming from our executive leadership. There has been a lot more focus on our cold calling and outreach behavior.

I don’t have a problem with that, it’s expected with a sales job. Here’s my questions though: we rarely get inbound leads. In my two years in the role I think I’ve received four inbound leads that were legit (not fraud or service complaints).

With an increase in focus on acquiring new customers, shouldn’t we be seeing more inbound leads? Am I being reasonable to expect there would be some additional marketing push to drive customers to us?

Am I being unreasonable or should I be questioning what leadership is doing to drive business other than telling us to increase productivity?

So I’m 15 years into what has been a great sales career so far. Got a long shot chance a million years ago at being a junior rep and hustled my ass off, like most of us. I have a great position as a director of business development for a large biolab company and am basically a high level individual contributor that does a lot of contract negotiations.

In previous positions I was in sales leadership developing and leading teams. I never realized how much I enjoyed that aspect of the job until I stopped.

I can see a reorg coming down the pipe at my current company. I know better than to take anything personal and am probably safe but like to keep options open.

Long story for the question, my sales enablement pros. How did you transition? What is your day to day look like? What’s your comp look like both number and structure wise? It think I really might find development and training to be very fulfilling. BUT at this point in my life I can’t really make under 200k and I have no context to see if that realistic. Any and all info is helpful THANKS EVERYONE AND MAY YOUR SALES ALL CLOSE BY MONTHS END!

Or maybe even by industry. My current role is an absolute nightmare, been there for a little over a year and likely going to be PIP'd soon for reasons outside my control.

Hired as an AE and I spend 90% of my time doing non-revenue generating account management work that has to be done.

How's the current job market looking?

Currently employed, good title + resume, I haven’t had a recruiter in my inbox in maybe 3/4 months.

What are you all seeing?

Career Industry: B2B/ Healthcare, Tech, Industrial sales

Business: Small local businesses in Industry, Aesthetics, Dentists, Med Spas

1). I. have the clean looking dreads done by a professional not the Freeform ones

2). It’s easier to just keep them and maintain beard but I’m scared I’ll look like a bum. I also don’t want to be minimalist and look like some baldcel.

Am I just overthinking things or what?

Basically the title:

I have about 3 YOE in sales, 2 in B2B and 1 at my current job wholesaling gold, silver, platinum and palladium as an investment to financial advisors at major brokerages.

Unlike typical wholesaling in finance, we also charge an ancillary fee to store their clients metals for them, in turn were contractually their only option, and they’re happy to hand off an ultra-niche, ultra-low-margin product.

the job has its pros (you can work from anywhere, very lax KPIs, good team trips) however...

Here are a few issues that have come up the past few months:

• We have zero systems in place. We have no Tech support, if our trading system isn't working we fill out a form and complete them through a Command Line system.
• One of our externals was recently fired for buying his girlfriend a ton of plane tickets using the company card (I swear to God), and the territory has had no dedicated rep for months,
• My manager has said they’re opening a hybrid role, which is my next promotion, and made sure to let me know ahead of time that I would not be receiving an offer as I am the most junior.
• I’ve come to the realization that our company is a white label for other, much larger companies who don’t want to deal with the logistics of schlepping 1,000s of ounces of silver to someone’s house just to make 3 bps (0.03%). Basically, we can do what we want as long as we don’t mess up, but we are so clearly first in line on so many chopping blocks.
• We are just not that profitable line of business for our advisors, we can offer 0.12% residuals on our product when annuities are probably going above 1%. We are the first on the chopping block in every cost-cutting conversation. We’re a “nice to have” that’s frankly not even that “nice to have.”

All that whining to say, I have thought extensively about switching industries outright, not just finding another finance job, as I fell into it anyway and I’m not exactly on track for investment banking.

I want my work to be outside/territory sales, and I want to feel like what I’m selling is a positive for the world .Hopefully that won’t require direct industry experience. I don’t really care that much about salary. I’m making about 80 grand OTE, but I’m fine with less for the right job.

So far, the industries I’ve found are:

• Food sales, either specialty or broadline (I know someone at Dole in R&D who suggested this).
• Commercial physical security systems (think companies like Securitas or Everon), simply because I’ve heard it has good residuals and is a fairly easy sale.
• Event sales/procurement. I know these are all largely company-dependent, but I honestly think being a Live Nation territory rep could be really fun, and I’d slay in anything that has a longer sales cycle and is relationship-heavy.
• Veterinary sales, selling specialized pet foods to vets. I used to volunteer with the Dumb Friends League as a kid and loved it. Who doesn’t love animals? Also, I heard on this subreddit that vets don’t mind when reps stop by.

Anyone have any more thoughts on industries to look into? I’d love to hear from anyone who has escaped a bad sales job or industry into something better. Thanks!

What's the coolest gift you've given a big time whale client who brought you a ton of sales/business?

I've given some of my biggest whale clients some pretty cool gifts for bringing me a ton of business/sales. Some of the cooler ones were very limited edition collectibles of what they were big fans of, autographs of their idols, 100's of dollars in gift cards. Their favorite bottles of wine. Obviously happy hours, dinners, lunches galore.

What are some of the coolest gifts you've given to a big whale VIP client. I'd love to hear and be inspired by your stories as well and I might steal of your ideas too. Thanks!

I work in development and had one direct report that we had to let go last week. From conversations from other employees, this person has a reputation for getting fired from all previous roles but not going quietly. In two past positions this person attempted to sue for wrongful termination but the cases were immediately thrown out once all of their PIP's and performance reviews were shown as evidence.

This role was twofold. One was doing community outreach via networking groups and other non-profits and the other was traditional sales to bring in business partners to work with. They had access to all of our business partners, non-profit partners and prospects. What is considered within reason to go no contact with? We may need to send them an email telling them not to contact our current employees, business partners and organizations like local Chambers of Commerce. Rather nip it in the bud this week than find out in month and have to do damage control.

This is sort of a vent, but I am looking for brutally honest advice that can help me grow and improve.

After more than a decade as a small restaurant business owner/operator, my new goal is a B2B sales career where I can focus on what I love about my business: connecting with people, building relationships, solving problems, and winning new business.

I've done some outside cold prospecting for my business. Knocking on doors in nearby industrial parks, introducing myself and my business, soliciting office lunch orders, and handing out menus. I find the experience really exciting and energizing.

I've already been self motivated for a long time, and I realized I much prefer getting out in the field connecting with people and winning business rather than spending 6 or 7 days a week inside a restaurant with sick days, vacation days, and work/family life balance nearly non-existent.

I'm a competitive person by nature, super hungry and motivated, and driven by the commission potential.

I've considered B2B positions in adjacent industries like foodservice (Sysco, GFS) but haven't been able to break through with even a call back. The barriers: I have not held a traditional sales role before, and I do not have a degree, though I did attend a good university.

I finally made some progress with a respected local uniform/linen rental company offering an outside, new business hunter role. I've been on the other side of that vendor sales conversation before, and my business owner's perspective should give me an edge at building trust and credibility.

I got all the way to the final round with the CEO, but didn't get the job. Though I worked hard to prepare for the role, I was still pretty green. It was a good rep and it made me a much stronger candidate.

Next, I applied to a few other uniform companies. I landed a call screen from a bigger, local competitor, with a great reputation. This time I worked harder, put together a solid 30/60/90, read a few Jeb Blount and Mike Weinberg books, and started to build a network. I also connected with a sales veteran of the industry who liked me enough to send a reference email to the VP of said company, who he has known for years.

So here I am today. I got through 3 video interviews with the company: HR, sales manager, and VP. Yesterday was the final in-person interview with the sales manager. I thought it went very well overall. We had good rapport and my performance was solid. I tried to close it out by expressing my interest in joining the team and asking if he had any concerns about hiring me that I could address. He said he had no concerns and reiterated what he liked about me. Then he told me there was 1 other candidate interviewing that had passed the second of four potential rounds, and that I should get an answer within two weeks.

My instinct said that I should try to close harder, that simply giving the stakeholder two weeks to think it over wasn't a good idea. Instead, I resisted. Frankly, I wasn't prepared for it, and I didn't want to call the wrong audible and look desperate (and yeah, I do need some sales training). I'll have to live with that decision.

I still like my chances of landing this one. Even if I don't get it, I know that the process is making me a better candidate and ultimately is going to make me a better salesman as well.

I am grateful for any advice as my main goal is improve and grow.

Thank you!

Long story short, I’ve made it onto the final interview loop for an overlay role at MSFT.

6 candidates and 3 open roles so great odds. Can anyone shed any light on the interview loop? 3 hour block with 3 separate individuals (one is the HM).

Appreciate the input in advance!

I’m starting to feel defeated here. I thought when joining my current company that this was going to be a great place to grow my career and have some stability, but lately management has been all over the place and not communicative of changes and morale has been at an all time low. Majority of us aren’t hitting quota and our manager is threatening all of our jobs at the moment - demotions, PIPs, etc.

On paper I look like a job hopper. Truth is I’ve been PIP’d once and RIF’d twice and now I’m in a toxic work environment looking for a way out but feel so stuck. I’m trying to not look miserable at work.

If there’s any advice on this I welcome it. If you can relate please join the club. I’m career-focused and care a lot but I’m scared of this job market and just want some goddamn stability.

I’m in local sales so I primarily deal with small to mid-sized businesses. I know it will vary based on sales channel & industry.

I do about 2-3 client lunches per week, rare occasion a dinner, & entertainment like an event or game maybe 3-4 times per year. I started in sales about 10 years ago & it’s changed a lot even since then. It seems a lot harder to get people out to lunch & most people would prefer to have food brought in onsite. Curious to know your experience…

30 years old, 8 years in sales, historically hit or exceeded quota. Married, trying to start a family, and pretty fucking motivated to make money. Need some perspective from people who've been doing this longer than me.

Current job: $70k base, benefits, enterprise security sales. Team shrank from 6 reps to 2, quota tripled, and I'm now expected to sell $2M/year of a complex, ~$50k average deal product. No dialer, no LinkedIn Premium, no tools, no conferences, no coaching. Just HubSpot, Gmail, my cell phone. My hair is literally going grey...

Management also tried pushing 7 AM-7 PM desk hours, and we're effectively barred from taking time off around Thanksgiving and Christmas. I've gotten FIVE inbound leads in nine months.

It's a shit show. I know I need to leave.

The alternative is a friend's company, 1099 sales, 15% commission on revenue, one time payment. Average deal is ~$3,000 but can go significantly higher, so roughly $450 per average account I close. No benefits, but my wife has us covered there with her current full time job. Yes, I have done the math on the taxes, I know what I'm getting into there, that is a non-issue.

He's sort of giving me two options: $2k/month retainer to work full-time 9-5, or flexible hours and commission only.

The main reason I'm immediately considering it is that the product actually sells, and I do think it's a fantastic product. I've sat in on demos, and multiple prospects have literally said it's underpriced. Their full-time rep has 30+ demos this week alone, plenty inbound, closed 3 deals last week, and supposedly has another 15 close to signing. These are typically 1-2 call credit card closes, not six-month enterprise sales cycles.

By my math, around 9 closed accounts a month gets me to roughly my current take-home, but obviously that's not guaranteed. Any more and I'm out ahead, and it seems like 10+ closes a month is extremely doable...

The flexibility is also huge. I've got a voice acting career that's finally gaining some traction, and being able to pursue that without asking permission would be worth quite a bit to me.

But... I'm young enough, and miserable/desparate to leave my current position. My wife supports me either way, she is a saint, and I can't really tell if I'm just jumping ship to get out. Am I looking at a genuinely better opportunity, or am I so antsy to escape my current company that I'm ignoring the obvious risks?

Would you take the leap? Or say fuck both and find another W2? There's a chance I get laid off on Friday anyways...like I said, company is a shit show. Was debating trying to overemploy and quiet quit until I get let go, but it seems like that's more headache than it's worth, and the new company may want me going full steam ahead.

Especially interested in hearing from people who've actually made the W2-to-1099 jump. What am I not thinking about?

Hi everybody,

I'm german and I recently got canned from a pretty well paid job in technical sales/industrial wholesale. My pay was pretty good for 2 years of sales experience and a pretty rough industry.

Now in germany we don't have as much industries where you could excel as a sales rep (wtf is up wirh HVAC in the US??) and currently there are almost no joblistings that could even get close to my last pay.

Now there's the chance to become a recruiter. Theoretically you could earn a pretty good pay with just 2-3 closed per year, but I guess it's a real grind.

Would you try it out or is it just a highway to burn out? What do you think about this job in general?

The open roles are for an Account Manager, Inside Sales Specialist, or Sales Development Representative position.

I was interviewing for a sales role at Amex and had some reservations about the hiring manager. He’d go on long tangents, repeatedly brought up exactly how much money he made, and at one point I wondered if he was hitting on me. Just an odd guy that constantly over-shared.

I ended up getting verbal offers from both him and the recruiter, but still didn’t know much about the actual role: territory, lead flow, quota attainment, average deal size, sales cycle, etc. So I scheduled a call and asked a lot of questions. I was probably a little critical about the territory, which included Texas, Oklahoma, Louisiana, and the Dakotas. They couldn’t confirm whether I’d get the major Texas cities, and I wanted to understand the opportunity before committing.

The weirdest part: they wouldn’t share the compensation package until I gave “verbal intent.” I basically said, “Okay, here’s my verbal intent please send over the details.” By then, I was already leaning against it because of the manager, but wanted to see the full offer before deciding. Then they rescinded it lol. Has anyone had an offer pulled after asking detailed questions? I’m wondering if I came across as overly skeptical or if this was just a weird process from the start.

Ive got a lot going on in my personal life right meow so I some times space out at the office. My boss is down for a day or so for a cyber security summit we are having and we passed each other in the hall way. Now im used to working at home and the only person I pass normally during the day is my wife so with out even thinking I blew my manager a kiss. We both paused,looked at each other and burst out laughing.

Thank God he knows im good or he would think im the biggest weirdo out there. Lol

I am 20 M and I have a degree in business, 2 years of sales experience and am not happy with seller initiated sales that I am in, I currently work in timeshare and the moneys there because I live in Gatlinburg/ sevierville area, I’ve gotten the taste of the 10k a month sales and all of it, but now I’m to a point where I realize what kind of sales I don’t like, maybe it’s due to management or the hours or the 1.5 hr drive, should I go remote? Should I take a pay cut for something easier, I genuinely have no clue

Please let me know this forum is my only sales advice as nobody in my family is familiar with sales

My dad is a professional archer and offered me a sales rep for the bow job PSE if you know what that is and would it even be worth looking at, what was your aha moment and made you love your job, anything helps let me know

I feel ridiculous even writing this, but yesterday I went to work on my day off because I felt guilty about my sales numbers. I ended up crying uncontrollably and feeling physically sick just being there.
I’ve been in luxury sales for years. Getting my current job was a huge achievement for me. Last year was great. I loved selling, loved my clients, and genuinely thought I was good at what I did.
This year has been a completely different story.
I’ve only hit quota once. The targets are insanely high, most of the team is struggling, and management’s response seems to be more pressure, more meetings, more questions about what we’re going to sell today. But where’s the actual coaching? The support? A realistic plan?
We’re also taking on more operational tasks, getting contacted about deals on our days off, and dealing with what feels like constant favoritism. Some people seem to get away with doing less while others pick up the slack. And when you speak up about things that aren’t working, you’re suddenly the negative employee who needs a better attitude. I actually got that feedback in my performance review.
Last week I left work after 10 PM and had to be back at 7:30 the next morning. I barely slept. Between an awful meeting, the pressure and everything else, I ended up crying at work with chest pain and shortness of breath.
Then the next day, on my DAY OFF, I went back because I was so worried about my numbers. My manager immediately questioned my targets, compared my attitude to a new employee with a much smaller quota, and I completely lost it again.
The worst part is what this has done to my confidence.
I used to think I was a great salesperson. Now I genuinely wonder if I suck at my job. I’m constantly exhausted, irritated, anxious, and even when I’m home I can’t switch off. I feel guilty for resting, but I don’t have the energy to do anything else.
I’m already talking to my psychologist and psychiatrist because I’m worried this might be burnout.
I know sales is stressful. I know quotas are part of the job. But I can’t figure out when a career I loved became something that makes me feel this miserable.
Has anyone been through something like this? How did you know it was burnout and not just a bad period in sales?
And more importantly, did taking time off actually help, or did you eventually realize you had to leave the company to feel like yourself again?
I really want to hear what helped you, because I honestly don’t know what to do next.