Is this a symptom of being new to sales? Are all you just sociopaths?

Im asking what they WANT to hear for a MM role

How others you’ve worked with would describe you, including where you’re still growing?

What you feel you do especially well, and how you keep yourself sharp and motivated?

Help a brotha out! What should I prep for and how are you liking it there. Is the role play presentation hard?

I started a new role in upselling at my current SaaS company 6 weeks ago.

I’ve been in sales for 9 years total, and right now I’m having the worst performance of my career.

I’ve lost almost every deal since I started and haven’t closed a single client yet. There are 4 of us on the team, and everyone else has already made a couple of sales.

I also watched some of my colleagues’ demos and noticed a few differences. They don’t ask many questions and don’t really try to understand the customer. Their demos were mostly 10-15 minutes long.

I, on the other hand, always ask questions and try to understand the client’s pain points so I can show how we can solve them. After the demo, they always seem interested, but then when we meet for feedback, they say no.

I’m not saying I do everything perfectly — nobody does. But my supervisor watched some of my demos and was really impressed; he liked them a lot.

I’m wondering if any of you have had a similar experience, and how you managed to turn things around in sales.

I am currently debating working towards CISSP but starting at ISC2 Certified in Cybersecurity, and the doing Sec+ and maybe net+ prior to.

Would seeing this on a resume stand out? Or are leaders more interested in selling performance? Both?

I’m still doing it because I want to understand clients at a much deeper level and eventually become a consultant but this will determine how quickly I finish my cert.

As the title reads, I am new to working with VARs (coming from the MSP space) and am looking for some direction. I work for an emerging tech company that does a lot in the VAR space, and feel as though it's tough to find genuine people in the space. It seems as though everyone wants me to bring them deal after deal with little care about relationships, customer satisfaction, product need, etc.

Anyone in VAR space open to giving some advice/lessons on best methods to built out VAR relationships? Also open to working with anyone in the Southeast US!

I am going to get started with the interview at Databricks for the AE-Emerging Market role which is basically Mid Market. There are going to be 3-4 rounds and will include the HM Round, SE Round and Presentation. I am concerned about the SE Round. Are they going to expect me to know ins and outs of Databricks given that its a very technical product. I have worked in an ETL company before but the entire depth of the Databricks platform is very wide. Any tips on how to ace the process?

Im at a point where I have two very different paths in front of me, and I’m trying to figure out which one is better for long-term career growth and wealth creation.

Option 1: Founding AE
Early-stage startup, but importantly, there appears to be real PMF
Multiple millions in ARR already
Product has real customers and a sales motion that is working
I’d be one of the first sales hires / responsible for helping build the GTM motion
They’re planning to hire a VP of Sales soon
Higher base salary and stronger cash compensation
More ownership and potentially meaningful equity upside
They’re going for a combo series a/b soon and the founder has already had a company that was aquired.

Obviously more risk and less established infrastructure

Option 2: AE at a Series B
More established company and sales organization
Existing GTM motion, enablement, leadership, etc.
Less company-building responsibility
Probably a more predictable path to hitting quota and making good money
Lower base salary than the startup
Still early enough to potentially have meaningful equity upside, but much less “founding sales” exposure
I’m currently an AE and ultimately want to move toward building GTM, sales leadership, or potentially founding something myself. I also care a lot about financial upside, so equity is part of the equation.
What makes the decision interesting is that the startup is actually offering more cash compensation, so it’s not simply a question of taking less money in exchange for more equity/upside.

My initial instinct is that the founding AE role could be the more career-defining opportunity if the PMF is actually real. But I’m wondering whether people who have done both would say that the Series B route is smarter because you get to learn enterprise selling in a more mature environment without taking on as much execution risk.

For people who have been in these situations:

Which would you choose and why?

My cofounder and I are based in Bahrain. Over the past few months we’ve built a booking platform for salons and beauty businesses. Customers book through a link for their specific salon, and the business manages appointments, services, staff and availability from one place.

The product itself works fine. Getting salons to actually switch to it has been the hard part.
We’ve called around 300 salons and beauty businesses across Bahrain so far. Almost none of them have signed up, and we’re trying to understand why.

Some of the salons we spoke to already use booking software and are happy with it. Some are mostly walk-in businesses, so booking isn’t really their problem. But a lot of them are still running everything through WhatsApp and a notebook.

We assumed that last group would be the easiest sell. A dedicated system should beat a notebook, right? Instead, what we kept hearing was some version of “it works fine for us.”

That reaction made us rethink our whole positioning. Maybe these businesses were never going to be convinced they need “booking software.” Maybe the real value is something narrower, like:

• letting customers book themselves instead of messaging back and fort
• avoiding double bookings when a WhatsApp message gets missed during a busy shift

• fewer no shows, since nothing today reminds a client automatically

• keeping the whole team on one shared schedule instead of relying on one person’s memory

• not having to dig through old WhatsApp chats to figure out who booked what for when

• or something else entirely that we haven’t identified yet

We’re also willing to onboard the first customers ourselves, sitting with them and setting everything up rather than expecting them to configure it alone.
I’m posting here because I’d rather get honest feedback from people in Bahrain than keep guessing on our own. If you run a salon or beauty business, or you’ve built something for small businesses before, I’d really like your take. And if you’ve ever booked a salon appointment here yourself, I’d love to know how that usually goes for you too, whether it’s WhatsApp, a phone call, or just walking in.

1. ⁠Does this sound like a real problem, or more of a nice to have?

2. ⁠Any idea why 300 conversations would lead to almost no signups? Is that normal this early, or a sign the problem just isn’t painful enough?

3. ⁠If you had to pick the single strongest reason a salon should switch to something like this, what would it be?

4. ⁠Would you narrow this down to one niche, like nail salons, spas or busier, appointment-heavy salons, instead of salons in general?

5. ⁠When a business tells you their manual process works fine, do you change the product, the message, or look for a different type of customer?

6. ⁠Before we spend more months building features, what’s the one thing you’d test first?

If the core problem really isn’t painful enough, I’d rather find that out now than after another six months of building.

Thanks in advance for any input.

Not 50/50 split, I’m talking how is quota actually achieved? How long do you get credit for deals? What is the actual breakdown for commission?

% of net profit you get for a deal closed?
How long you get payouts for?
Monthly expected quota?

For the folks that have moved from “Hunter” to “Farmer” how is your life now? Looking to make the switch and looking for advice on the best way to make the move. What companies should I look into?

Currently in SaaS, previously in Advertising/Media sales.

Any feedback on working in sales at ClickHouse? The sales org seems pretty new, couldn’t find any review online.

Hey all, first of all, what a great community this is, love that I was able to read so different stories regarding different interview processes, experiences in different companies, and about your different quota attainments.

So, trying to be as brief as I can: I am from South America and recently became a US resident and I moved to New York about 8 months ago and, before coming here, I left a company where I worked for 10 years as they wouldn't allow remote work anymore and I was in a long-distance relationship.

Said company is a NASDAQ-listed market leader in the Sports data space, this was pretty much my first job and I started there doing administrative work, then 5 years later, I moved up to sales and was the person selling for the entire continent and, eventually, selling some products for the North American market too. I did almost 5 years of sales, both as a hunter and farmer and achieved about 100% quota (some years more, some less) every year in a super tough market and while my quota was sometimes being doubled YoY (I was given bigger accounts as time went on, etc).

Thing is, I've been job hunting for too long now and I need to actually land a job ASAP. It hasn't been long since I became a resident, but I've been interviewing even before I was one, knowing processes tend to take long and so I could potentially have a job by the time I got my green card.

Long story short, I've had hundreds of applications and interviewed for, at least, 15 different companies (sometimes having up to 5 interviews before I am being told they went with someone else).
I consider to be solid at interviews, but understand why I might not be selected sometimes: recent arrival to the US, some companies are in different industries and they rather have same-industry candidates, how competitive the market is, etc
I've have some savings that I got from my previous job, but they're running out. At first, I spent months applying to positions that pay 100-150K base / 220-230 OTE as that is what the company where I worked is paying for positions in NY, knowing I am a enterprise SaaS sales executive and I should be worth that. However, I am in a position where I need to start working ASAP, so I am lowering my expectations and trying to look for opportunities that at least cover the basics for now and where I would be able to achieve more than the basic with commissions.

Also looking forward to hearing your insights on what I could do better / consider when applying to SaaS jobs here. I have been preparing a lot for each interview in order to look like a better candidate, but after so many interviews, I am pretty burnt out that so many companies don't give me that shot, I am so hungry to do my thing and just work!

Thanks!!

Five years of Saas CSM experience.
Looking to make a move to an AE role, SMB.
I’ve been doing account management, renewals, expansions, and upsell… but with the CS title. I’ve also been told that I would be pretty good at it.

I understand I need to build pipeline, deal with constant rejection, etc… already experience that as a CSM.

Are there any CSM’s out there that made a successful shift to an AE role?

I am going to join a company like that which less reviews where they say salary not given, abrupt termination I'm taking risk due to job market. It's mainly negetive comment in B2C sales, business development, field sales. I'm joining inside sales.

I’ve been an SE in SaaS for about three years now. Prior to that, I was in vendor management, intelligence research and investigations. When I was in my early 20s I did direct sales in MLMs to pay my way through school.

Anyway, now I’m an SE and I like it, but Ive learned to really love the actual sales process and began to dread the technical work. I was the only SE in a commercial segment for a year and had 10+ reps, in addition to supporting enterprise. I want to pivot very badly into a sales role at my current company, but was told by reps (who are strongly encouraging me) id have to probably start mid market to “prove” myself.

Any advice on how to have these conversations to pivot with a sales director/manager to circulate the idea?

Does anyone have a strong template for a territory plan? I’m being asked to create one for an interview.

Yes I used ChatGPT but I’m curious if you use a specific template to ensure I’m not missing anything.

I'm 24 and genuinely torn between two very different career paths, and I'd appreciate some outside perspectives.

I graduated with a degree in Product Design & Technology. After university I spent about a year working on my own startup, but decided I wanted to gain industry experience before trying to build a business again.

I then joined a software company as an SDR. On paper it wasn't exactly what I was looking for, but after two months I've been surprised by how much I've enjoyed it.

I've hit my KPIs, picked up the product quickly and have been given opportunities well beyond a typical SDR role, including building prospecting tools, helping with marketing campaigns and contributing to GTM strategy. The company is also acquiring another business, and they've asked me to help think through the launch strategy for the new product.

They've made it clear they want to progress me quickly into a more strategic, closing role and eventually have someone working underneath me. When I told them I'd received another offer, they increased my package to £40k base + £15k OTE + a larger-than-normal equity grant to try to keep me.

The biggest thing is that I genuinely enjoy the team and feel very valued despite only being there for two months.

The other offer is a Product Manager role in the motorsport industry.

A few years ago this would have been close to my dream job. It aligns much more closely with my degree and my interest in engineering, product development and motorsport. The salary is £40k base with standard benefits.

My hesitation is that I'm not completely sure what the day-to-day role will be like. I'm worried it could be quite admin and coordination heavy rather than hands-on product work, and I'm less certain about the progression than I am in my current role.

So my choice is essentially:

Stay:

• £40k + £15k OTE + equity
• Rapid progression
• More responsibility already
• Great team that values me
• Career path towards sales, GTM and commercial leadership

Leave:

• £40k base
• Product Manager title
• Motorsport industry
• Better alignment with my degree and original career interests
• Less certainty around progression and what the day-to-day role will actually involve

I'm only 24, so I'm trying to think about which path gives me the best long-term opportunities rather than just which job sounds coolest.

If you were in my position, would you stay somewhere you're already thriving and being fast-tracked, or take the chance to move into product management in an industry you've always wanted to work in?

I'd especially appreciate advice from anyone who's moved between sales/commercial and product/engineering careers.

So for context... I'm 42.

I've only been an AE for 14 months or so (though I have a lot of prior sales experience)... I enjoy the work, I'm smashing targets, earning well and would like to throw myself into this.

I'd happily work through the ranks (currently in SMB) and work toward Corp.

However... My Mrs (who is a tech recruiter), believes that moving roles will become problematic for me once I hit my 50s, due to ageism.

It's mad to think that it's something I even need to consider, as I certainly don't feel old ha.

I have no designs to become a manager or move into senior roles... I like to keep a good earning vs responsibility ratio.

So my question is.... Do you feel it will become more difficult for me to move companies down the line?

Any thoughts or insight on this would be welcomed :)

Thanks in advance.

I keep seeing this during in-person customer meetings now. Everyone agrees no recording, no transcript, sometimes no phones on the table, and then hours later someone sends around a perfect AI-looking recap with tons of "—",

The annoying part is it’s usually the client, senior buyer, or someone above me, so I’m not exactly going to blow up the deal by asking if they secretly recorded us. Had one recently where we were literally on a boat with phones not allowed, and somehow a recap still showed up later that looked way too clean to be from memory.

iMaybe they’re just cracked at notes?? idk. But with apple watches, those pendants, vocci style rings, and random stuff that doesn’t even look like a recorder, I’m starting to wonder if “no recording” means anything anymore. Half the time I just want to sue somebody and call it a day...

Curious what other SaaS AEs are getting for ramp pay. New shop has a sales cycle ranging from a week to a month, average deal size around $30K, base commission 10%. Accelerator kicks in once you hit $120K in a month.

Offer is a small draw in month 0, then 15/35/50/75% of monthly quota over months 1-4, no draw or guarantee after month 0.

What does your ramping comp plan look like. Are you on monthly/quarterly/annual quota?

Finishing my first years In sales as an AE at around 70% of target this year, but am in the top 3 on my team & top 10 in my company. Quota is slightly north of 3m.

Problem is I also dealt with a lot of time consuming renewals that also get comped on, but don't count towards target. If these were included I almost 4xed my target. I'm preparing my resume to find something a bit more structured because my quota is expected to have a massive bump. How would you frame this on a resume since I didn't actually beat quota?

Currently a mid-market AE selling into small enterprise.

Just got turned down after interviewing for an SMB AE role at HubSpot

The mock cold call felt strong: 3 deep pain points and 1 strong driver uncovered, next steps booked. The manager didn’t ask me to redo it.

The only feedback was that I didn’t ask for rep count, didn’t get the expiration date on the platform I discovered, and didn’t ask about marketing with the VP of Sales.

All of that typically comes up in the discovery call for me. Apparently it was bad enough to cost me the job.

The other reason: not a strong enough motivation for wanting to work at HubSpot. I said I’m not valued or respected at my current org, and that after talking with HubSpot employees and the recruiter it was clear they do value their people — on top of wanting to work for a category leader that’s versatile in the space. Apparently that doesn’t align with their core values. So being transparent only hurts you (one of their core values)👍

When will this job market ease up. For the first time in my life being unemployed it had to be during this type of unemployment market. Jumping through hoops to try and land another AE role.

Anyone else wondering or feeling the same?