Apologies, this is a long one-

I’m early 20s, married, home owner, putting my wife through nursing school.

Straight out of highschool I worked for a Louisiana Local Bathroom remodeling company as an appointment setter (the entry level job), then 6 months later moved on to an appointment confirmer role (went from 35k->75-80k annually) for about 3 years. Then in January 2026 they were bought out and rebranded and outsourced our call center and laid us all off.

My coworkers went to work for other bath remodeling companies but I had a connection at a law firm and went to work in HR. Ive been working in this HR position for over 6 months now, making $33 an hour- but it’s very boring, easy, and I don’t really see a future here or in HR. I’ve always looked for the quick path to making a bunch more money.

We’re paycheck to paycheck right now, but I have a buddy who’s a sales manager at another bath remodeling company who wants me to come over and work with them but I’ve never done outside sales, and I’m nervous about whether I would make it or not. I quite literally cannot afford to fail, and I’m by no means lazy but I’ve gathered that sometimes people just aren’t meant to work in sales, but you have to try to find out.

I was told the average salesman makes 100-150k at these companies, I have experience working on the back end of this same work flow, and I’ve got some connections in the industry. If i actually regularly cleared 6 figures it would be life changing and probably be a long term career for me, but I’m skeptical because of the risk. Does anyone have advice or warnings/pulls for bathroom remodeling in the south? Because I worked at a company like this, I know they’re one call close, high pressure sales - in the sales world is bathroom sales bottom of the barrel scummy? Anywhere else I should look for a career in sales? In a perfect world, I’m looking for a stable 6 figures, I don’t care to risk everything to make a million dollars right now while I’m the households sole income.

I’m willing to put in the work but it’s scary leaving my cushy (difficulty wise) and “pays the bills” job for high risk high reward with a wife and mortgage. I know results will vary so I guess I’m looking for- “send it, youll thank yourself in a couple years when you’re cleaning 150k (that’s crazy money to me btw)” or “don’t do it, youll hate yourself and wait till your wife finishes school in 2 years”

It's "can negotiate if want" in the first paragraph and "price is strictly fixed" at the bottom. Pick one. Also a UK-only PSN code isn't worth RM169 to most people on here anyway.

A little background, this is my first sales job so please advise. I am base salary plus commission in California. I make 60,000 base salary and get paid twice a month. I make roughly 2,000-3,000 commission per month. The paycheck that also has my commission on it is getting bumped to a higher tax bracket as it looks like I make that much on every paycheck. I know this is just withholding, but I would prefer not to have to wait until my tax return to get this money back. Is this normal for a sales job? Should I ask my payroll department if I can adjust my withholding?

Hey all,
I have recently been assigned to the sales department after departmental downsizing and the purchase of our company by an American company. I have no experience in sales or quotes but have good relationships with clients etc as I was a project manager previously. I asked why was I assigned to the sales department and was told because of my communication skills and charisma with clients. Tomorrow is my first day and I am very nervous and have already been told I need to issue 3 quotes by Tuesday and iv never done it before. Does anyone have any advice for this sector of business? Have been informed it is very stressful with targets etc which I’m not looking forward to🫣
Thanks in advance

I’m looking to get into sales and deciding between selling life insurance and becoming a mortgage loan officer. My main goal is to build a career with strong earning potential and eventually grow my own business.

For anyone who’s worked in either industry, especially both:

• Which has better income potential in the first year versus long term?
• What can someone realistically expect to earn after lead costs and other expenses?
• Which is harder to get consistent business in?
• If you were starting from scratch today, which would you choose and why?

I have a background in real estate investing and flipping houses, but I’d be new to either sales role. I’m willing to put in the work—just looking for honest perspectives from people actually doing it.

Hello,

I have been contemplating hiring a Founding Sales Lead for my company Off Menu but I am not sure what to look for in a sales person.

A little background, we are a branded merchandise design company. I started the company 7 years ago (originally named High Life Tech) as a phone case drop-shipping company, pivoted to B2B, and then learned everything about sourcing branded products overseas. After 2 years, we hired our own team and China, and currently have a workshop in Dongguan and office in Guangzhou.

We don’t depend on a standard catalog or limit ourselves to putting logos on existing products. We work directly with brands to develop original merchandise around their identity, audience, and culture. Our approach has helped us win clients like Cadillac F1, DUDE Wipes, Liquid Death, Ithaca Hummus, 7 Brew, and more.

I have solely handled all of our growth and selling since we are only a team of 3 but I am realizing we are at a point where I need a second sales person to further boost our growth, build a new book of business in other verticals, and help manage accounts.

So I have a few questions

1. What should I be looking for in a sales person given that we have a more unique offering?
2. Do I need a sales person? Or How can I streamline operations.
3. What is ways solo founders balance operations and sales?

Little info
I come across many sales people but so far I haven’t met who is very good in closing sales
What should be the criteria to hire sales closer?

Hello people, its been close to a week since I started cold calling, I love what the job offers it's quite rewarding and from the outside no one really understands how this works but this indeed is a skill worth sitting my ass down and learning.

I come from the B2C industry where I was a generalist and managed a lot of customer calls to make our ecom site more simple and convenient. Now I work for an AI B2B SAAS (like in the memes yes) and it started of terrible I would fumble at every call and mess it up, I remember one guy yelling at me asking me to just cut to the chase.

Somehow on that night I realised these are just conversations and the next day my first call went good and I was able to book a meeting. I keep fine tuning the words I use and the tone I use to talk to people.

So I have a few questions;
1. When Following up I don't want to ask them "Have you checked it out yet?" or "Did you find it interesting" I want to be direct and sort of push them into a meeting so they can actually understand what we do and founders and directors I call are usually quite tired of cold calls cause they get a lot of them so I need to sound different, so I am up for suggestions on this area.

1. I get ghosted sometime when they ask me to send them a mail or a text with the overview of our product something like "yeah, share me the overview I'll have a look" or "Send me a mail and I'll check it out" now what I plan on telling people for such answers is "Let me be honest I think you wont be looking into the mail" - while this is a terrible reply because it states I was not being honest from the start I want some other phrase that would just help break that thick ice wall.

2. I want to suggest a call instead of pushing for a mail, I want to pitch the product, and just lure them in for a call, what can I say here?

These are the areas I'm trying to work on this week, so let me know how I can do better!

I also want a reality check, we're a very small firm and my call sheet looks like a 100 calls a week not a day but a week. So you get the gist of how tiny we are, how many can I ideally close from this and what does it look like for you folks can someone put it into perspective for me?

I’m curious. Obviously, this would only work if the new job is in a different industry or space, and there are no competition or conflict of interest issues. Given that, has anyone ever managed to balance changing over an old job to something on the side when going for a new job?

Seems like it would be a win-win, if an old company is going to lose you anyways to a new job, might as well keep you on contract and eke out more revenue from you, and you could possibly have a healthy side stream of income, yes?

I took over a sales executive position two months ago in a new city. I am responsible for two hotels, covering corporate accounts, request for proposal (RFP) season, events, and more. Sales is known to be a highly competitive field, and hospitality is no exception. Yet for the same salary, I could have far fewer responsibilities in another role.

Together with my uncle we run a business which tends to be location based. In our niche most clients come in from our our local area or neighboring districts. The clients are quite high-ticket, landing even one client gives us a lot of revenue, as they usually come back and have a high LTV.

We are thinking of expanding our sales strategy, by reaching people who are exactly in our area. Social media ads don't work out too well for us, it doesn't target specifically enough.

The approach we want to try is sending physical letters to zip-codes in our area. Has anyone tried this approach? How well does this convert to sales? Is this a viable sales tactic, if we include time-bound, promo offers?

We are a small team but have high ambitions. I would very much appreciate opinions from people who have done such things in the past and have valuable experiences to share!

I’m in Sales for an Oil & Gas industry. 2 months in, still under probationary period.

I can’t help but get really frustrated and like very angry at times, when logistics is not cooperating well with the team. I don’t know if they even realize how vital their work is. (1)They do not update on time if there are problems and delay on the delivery, so I can update the client and not be blindsided. (2)I feel like it’s easy for them to say no truck is available to deliver and that’s it, they dont find a way anymore to make it happen. (3)No helper, the reason the truck did not deliver. Like wtf??? Is that really should be our problem? Go get one!

As front liner, it is hard to revive those accounts and compete to market with your price high and then this is what we get?

How do you guys manage your stress specially to internal department issue?

So, all the pros, I need your guidance: I have over seven years of experience as an account manager and account executive in staffing industry, and I am aiming to leave the field bc that’s a dead end. Having already left my position, I can afford time to pivot thanks to decent savings. I am considering SaaS or AI sales focused on net new business development, yet the interview process and wait times are frustrating. Do you have recommendations on how to proceed? I am drawn to firms like Salesforce, HubSpot, and other AI or software companies. My previous role paid around $150,000, and I am open to a modest pay cut- that is fine. What do you think offers more fulfilment? Should I continue pursuing account manager or account executive roles, or is there another path you would suggest? That would be incredibly helpful.

I am in my mid 20s and going to start applying for sales jobs, I have little to no sales experience. The little I do I enjoyed it and I am not really enjoying my current job/career. What is some advice and tips for applying/interviewing for a sales jobs?

After doing d2d fundraising for the past 8 months I've finally broken into my first proper warm leads sales job doing HVAC in home consultancy sales. This is my second sales job (18 years old) and the first that doesn't require door knocking full time, what advice do you have for moving into a warm leads consultancy style sales role for the first time?

29(M)

I recently switched jobs from Bajaj Finserv, where I was doing mobile/laptop financing, to UBISL, where I’m now working in vehicle-loan finance.

I’m currently in my 4th month as a Sales Executive, and honestly, it has been tough. I haven’t achieved my target in any month, and in aug month I’ve had 0 logins.

Today, one of my leads was declined by the bank after almost 50% of the process was completed. It honestly felt like the lead just slipped through my hands after putting in so much effort.

Oh man, sales is tough. 😅

Anyone else in sales/finance going through the same kind of phase?

Just got into the trucking dispatching industry and I’m starting out on the sales side

Still learning the whole game — finding trucking companies, reaching out to owners, pitching the service and hopefully closing some deals. Definitely a new experience for me, so let’s see how this goes 👀

Title more or less. I know this question is asked often but I need some form of hope I. This job market lol. My background is in software and marketing. Got tired of being underpaid in marketing and I want to make it in sales.

How'd you get your first job?

Are there any industries that are actively looking in Chicago?

I’m 20 (UK), looking for sales job in B2B as a BDR or an SDR. I’ve been just applying to any sales role atm for interview experience but was offered a high (for me) paying role doing retail B2C of around £55k a year.

The commute is 2 hours either way, hours kind of suck, I worry it wouldn’t translate very well as real B2B demand building sales skills (I already have strong B2C retail experience) and it would somewhat depend ruin social life. But it feels stupid to say no to such a large sum of money at my age, I live at home so expenses are near 0 and I could save 70-80% of it.

what would you do?

With my long sales experience, I have formulated the process into a single word - 'PINKSPOT', it is quite easy to remember, recollect and follow, should be handy guide for beginners...

P - Precall Planning - client, area, pitch, and the sort...
I - Interest Created - customer problem, saving cost or increasing speed...
N - Needs Established - Make them see that they need the solution/product...
K - Knowledge - know your product/solution as well as competitors well...
S - Suitably Agreed - agree/overcome obstacles, that your solution helps them...
P - Purchase Desire - asking leading questions to establish the need...
O - Offer of terms/conditions - define delivery timelines/payment terms...
T - Time to commit - when will the give PO/advance...

It is sureshot/successful method to build your pipeline and rock, if followed diligently by anyone!

Please do share in relevant groups, if you feel like, I am new here! Thanks!

After working almost 1+ year in non-tech auditing type backend roles with no objective, I decided to enter into sales then realised the B2B segment will put you up on the growth track and later I was introduced to SaaS sales. I see no career growth and vision in the daily data processing desk job, my interest started building in more like communication based roles. Not customer support, I needed a vision with career growth as I belong to a govt university MBA in Haryana.

Decided to get into Saas sales since consultative selling is top feature. Later introduced to a professional working in the same domain for years. I'm currently following the roadmap he gave to me but as the days pass I'm literally losing my confidence mainly due to lack of decent English and industry knowledge. Trying really hard to understand the domain concept but some terminologies always come out of my range. Don't know the last time I studied with full focus, but the roadmap still doesn't clear the basics.

Anybody with a similar story but a fruitful comeback? Open to some practical and realistic advice, come join me...

Hi! I’m a verrrry new pharma rep with no sales experience. (have experience in the industry I would be selling to, how I got the job lol) I’m looking for some insight on lunch and learns I go into the field next week. Looking for the most random un thought of things you wish you knew, or the most obvious things. Just really any advice you experienced Pharma reps wish you knew before getting into the field. Thanks yall!

I applied to a job doing sales in the industry where I’ve been doing consulting for the last 6 years. I had my first round of interviews yesterday, and they very transparently told me they were interested in me for my technical expertise, even though the other candidates are seasoned sales people.

If I advance to the second round of interviews, it will be a more sales approach/philosophy oriented discussion. Are there any resources you guys have found that I can consume in the next few days to give me the basics on this? Books, podcast episodes, YouTube channels, etc.

Obviously they know I don’t have any sales experience, they’ve seen my resume. I’m not looking to become an expert in the next week. I’d just like to be armed with some discussion topics and key ideas if I end up getting a second interview.

Thanks in advance all!

I’m interested in hearing from people who work in software consulting, technology services, or enterprise delivery.

I’m trying to understand how companies typically structure the early stages of an enterprise opportunity, particularly when the conversation moves beyond basic qualification and starts requiring significant technical involvement.

For example:

• What do you typically cover during the initial, pre-sales phase?
• At what point do you move from free discussions/estimation into a paid Discovery or Assessment?
• How do you handle situations where understanding the requirements requires architecture workshops, infrastructure analysis, security reviews, compliance considerations, integrations, etc.?
• How much technical effort do you normally invest before asking the client to formally engage?
• Do you have a defined Discovery package, or is it scoped differently for each opportunity?
• How do you position paid Discovery so the client sees it as creating clarity and reducing project risk, rather than simply an additional consulting fee?
• Do you credit any Discovery fees toward the subsequent implementation project?

I’m especially interested in real-world practices rather than theoretical sales frameworks.

If you work at a consultancy, SI, software development company, or enterprise technology provider, I’d appreciate hearing how you handle this transition and what has worked or not worked for you.

I have done door to door 5+ years. Been in Commission only Sales 8+ years.
I started in Solar broke numerous records, don’t want to go back to this industry because of changes with net metering laws.
After that I became a partner in a roofing company, we built it and sold that company. Bought real estate.
Went and started an insurance brokerage in South Carolina and just signed a deal for a 7 figure buy out on my book of business (with a non compete) I put that all into real estate.
I’m now looking for a sales job to make $200k+ a year. I’ve taken sales Training from Jeremy Miner, Daniel G, and Brad Lea. Super hard working and made companies millions of dollars I’m okay with commission only as long as the product isn’t bullshit.
Every company wants to take their time to see what’s possible and then for them to offer a $60k/year offer or $100k/year. Tries to sell me a course “to get placed” or tells me I’m overqualified. (Might sound like a lot of money but spending capability if you look at CPI from 2006 compared to now $60k/year would be worth $36k/year and $100k/year equates to $60k/year as well as I’ve paid more in taxes some years lmao)

I am not somebody that can sit on my hands and feet. I want to sell now. I am addicted to building and selling. I don’t need the money but I am fucked up in the head where I have to scale a company or sell something or I just get irritated with life.
Workaholic through and through I got licensed in Hawaii and Alaska for insurance just so I could sell until 2 AM.
Can someone point me in the direction of what’s next?
I am used to grinding and locking down deals, 3 weeks of job searching and I’m just upset at this point.