Long story short, I’ve been in a new sales role for three months now. I was told that the job would have a pretty important outside component (where I would be visiting my clients). It was what sold me on the role. It was written in the job description, and I had discussed it with my hiring manager in the interviews. I wanted to gain this experience since I didn’t have it in my last inside sales role.

Now that I’ve started, I keep bringing it up to my management to go out on the road and make some clients. They basically have been leading me on, telling me that they’ll look into it soon. Now they’re telling me that I shouldn’t expect to be on the road since this role isn’t customer facing.

I’m basically spending my days answering customer service e-mails, getting yelled at on the phone by angry vendors and customers, fixing billing issues and even doing collections. I probably get around 30 e-mails and 10 phone calls a day just on fixing problems that have too many back and forths. This occupies my entire day and I get reprimanded if I try delegating these tasks to someone else so that I can make room for my calls.

The worst is we have a customer service team, we have a collections team, we have the teams necessary to handle these requests. I’ve brought this up and they just tell me “it’s your job as these vendors fall into your territory”.

So none of my time is being spent on outreach nor is it being spent on any activity that will be generating sales. What’s the point of hiring me just to be a glorified customer service rep?

So I am an Outside Sales Rep, travel 50% of the time religiously. I've been a top performer for my current company for 5 years. Govt Sales. Before that I was Inside Tech Sales for 9 years, again top performer every year. Sales Manager before that. Nice long career, doing very well.

I have 50/50 custody of my kiddos which is what allows me the flexibility to travel as I do. Well recently I have found myself in a situation where I am most likely going to be getting 100% custody of my children. There is no way long term that full custody and my job as it is will be compatible, at least I feel like that. I have a very in person customer facing trust based industry. I also really like my employer as they let me write my own schedule, but family first.

So I'm kind of freaking out. All I can think of is to try to find an Inside Sales job somewhere but everyone is saying this is the worst job market right now even if the resume is immaculate. This also would be a shocking step down in pay unless I got a bluebird inside job that is in tech or whatever.

Unless I can't see the forest for the trees, I don't know what my options could be to continue to still make anything close to Outside Sales pay.

Can you make a recommendation of where our skills are transferrable at a high value or what you might do in my situation?

Been a bunch of people complaining lately on this sub or maybe another sales one about your prospects taking your quotes to their current supplier to get a better price.

And it's understandable because most sales people have happy ears and feel they have to jump when their projects says jump.

I used to do it. A prospect would randomly ask for a quote when it doesn't make sense for them to do so. You get that feeling that something doesn't feel right, it almost feels too easy. But you don't want to "rock the boat" and you just nod your head and agree you'll go away and spend time putting something together. You spend time doing it, you tell your manager so he's proud of you. You send the proposal and then.... nothing.

I got fed up of this so I spent time doing training and self development to now be comfortable challenging prospects and telling them no.

When a potential customer asks me for a quote but I can't uncover any pain or reason for them to move I just say no.

Bu lately I've been more bold and started charging for these quotes. And it works.

Now you can't just say "we charge for that" because people will just run a mile. You need to sell it, as you would sell any other step in your sales process. Don't call it a quote, call it something fancy like a scoping document. Make this a proposal that covers pricing, how your option works etc etc

"Okay, well we absolutely can do a scoping document for you - we don't just do quotes any more. The scoping document covers what we can do for you, how we do it and why with associated timlines and methods all included for you, and this will all be clearly costed for. Now, we don't do that for free of course! It requires an investment of £500 which is subsequently deducted from the total price should we work together. But once you have that document its yours. You can do what you like with it. So now you know that I'm guessing you'd tell me you'd never pay that and we should end things there?"

Some say no. But lots say yes. And the conversation rate om those who pay for the quotes is insanely high!!

And the odd one who pays and then doesn't convert doesn't matter because you've made money for your time.

It takes guts, a good leader to agree to you doing it and skill. But it works.

Anyone where transitioned into an “on call” associate sales role for surgical medical devices after B2B sales?

Ive got like 2 years of BDR and 1.5 years as an AE selling office technology (copiers/printers). Looking at KLS Martin trauma and ortho surgical devices.

The money looks very promising but I have never worked in a hospital setting before.. for those who have made this transition what was your experience and was it worth it?

What’s a reasonable target for daily dials, talk time, and weekly demos?

I’m trying to figure out if my manager’s expectations are realistic. I'd love to know what others are expected to achieve.

Hi Sales!

I've been pondering on my current position in my career and I'm looking for advice. I used to be a medical representative for about 7 years and was doing well, however a change in management encouraged me to look for other roles and I landed in medical technology.

I've been in this role for about a year and I'm deeply unhappy. Commission structure was built around a team based commission where a tremendous amount of success was dependent on the others. That success also never came through because the quotas put forward only 20 -50% achieved per month which has pushed my motivation to zero where I'm just extending simple things to get through the day.

Within the company as a representative I've had absolutely no product training and I'm struggling to get excited about the products. The products itself is approximately 50% more expensive then competitors, despite the value proposition I've put forward the cost is just too great. There is a deep rooted culture of mistrust towards reps from the greater business so the ability to get support is not there. Even in terms of pay I've taken approximately a 20% paycut in terms of my OTE.

I'm also losing a lot of confidence and strength that made me a powerful representative. I've also have a really entrepreneurial mindset and that has been completely shutdown due to the company culture.

Part of me is thinking of going back to medical representative dealing with the same medical professionals just in a different company. However I'm also reluctant to go back cause I do know how much work is involved and in my last year due to the change of management some of my original client based that I won't be able to recover the business relationship despite being very successful in the business. The clients was also very niche only about 100 and I may have angered about 10%.

Another part of me is pondering the idea of going back to medical however dealing with a different niche altogether.

I'm scratching my head as to what I should be doing and I'm reaching out for some career guidance.

Thank you

I’m looking for an internship in IT sales with a US-based company. I already have experience in sales and business development across a few industries and have recently been diving into the tech world (1 year experience in IT, 7+regular sales).
It needs to be US based because I am currently employed in EU time zone.
If you know of any opportunities, or if your company could use a motivated intern who’s not afraid to roll up their sleeves, hit me up!

Appreciate any tips or leads 🙌

So I spent about a year doing sales for a home improvement company (mainly kitchen countertops) and my pay was a flat hourly rate plus 10% of the profit on the job. Profit margins were consistently always within the 40-50% range and there were no issues. I recently left on what I thought was on good terms but they spent months afterwards trying to not pay my commission and I really had to hound the owner to get any info. He finally sent me the numbers today and they frankly seem fake. He literally just sent me it typed out in a excel spreadsheet that he could easily fake and the profit margins for all of the jobs where atrocious. Like we are talking 9% and less for some. For one $8000 job my commission is literally 1 dollar.

I know for a fact that our pricing was targeted at 50% profit and I never had any issue at all getting pretty close to that mark. We would regularly review margins and I always was the highest salesman. So this is a drastic change. The owner has been very dodgy on answering questions to the point where I am considering legal recourse. Has anyone experienced this? Do I have a chance in fighting this? It was about a hundred thousand in sales and I was expecting it to be around 4-5k in commission but as of now it is looking like it will be about 1.3k. Frankly I dont believe the numbers.

Background; I've been in sales for about 10 years. I've done everything from door-to-door to software sales where I've consistently hit my quotas and earned presidents club. as of late I was PIP'd out of one organization, unemployed for 8 months going on dozens of interviews, and despite my sales record was constantly rejected. I finally landed a sales job 5 months ago where I was hitting my KPI's but because it was a start-up and "my sales weren't closing fast enough" according to the co-founder. i was ultimately fired for "going slower than my peers"

at this point I'm burnt out of the sales grind, the constant 1-1's to "talk about deals" or updating my CRM system with specific notes, getting chastised if I do it wrong or a bit incorrect. I NEED to get out of sales. My challenge is, without experience in other roles, and the difficulty I already had trying to find a sales job for 8 months despite my already solid resume and experience and large SaaS companies, I'm worried if I shift focus to.. marketing, customer support, project management, then instead I'll be out of work for 2-3 years which is not a risk I can take.

Furthermore, I've thought about moving over to the IT space like software engineer, cyber security, etc. something where I'm less pressured to ask really specific questions, or even talk to customers at all as I'm tired of empty promises from them overall and the constant lying, rejection, and ghosting that comes with it after you've tried to build a solid relationship with someone.

I've made hella good money in sales over the past 10 years, bought a house, got married, got a hot tub, and am living comfortably. I just want something remote, that I can log on, do my task, and fuck off for the day.

what I'm hoping someone can shed some light on is... your experience dealing with something similar, what you applied to and where, and the steps you took to prepare yourself for the interview, UTILIZING your skills in sales despite not having experience in that field... it would mean A LOT.

AMA

When I first started at my company I was able to prospect who I wanted nationally and no cap on how many people I can call.

We got an update yesterday that moving forward, we are only allowed to call a small book of business and basically stuck with them for this month.

I basically have one shot at making a good first impression because these leads are to my name for the rest of this month. I can’t just remove them and go after other leads. I have to abide by my book of business which narrows down my possibilities of success.

Are there any strategies on how to approach a book of business comparing to just calling anyone? Should I be spending a lot of research on them before making an outreach? Would love any insights on how to approach these leads since they’re stuck with me and can’t prospect out of that book. Thoughts?

Today they let go of my entire division. Except for 5 people including myself to wind things down for the next few months. I was verbally told that I would get an offer in a week to join the rest of the 'greater' organization. I'm playing nice because I have 50k worth of comp coming that I am assuming I'll get paid on and then the new role would be higher base less upside. My concern is that while my division was somewhat silo'd. I know my success was very much tied to the work and efforts of my fellows.

There are a lot of other issues happend I'm the Org and some key people have been stepping down, including the CFO.

The main crux and the reason I'm reaching out, to your professionals. My current comp is commission only with very big upside but my sales cycle is quick (30 days)- the other comp would have a meanial base, I'm guessing 60-80k but the sales cycles is a year to 18 months with less upside. I grossed 250k last year 2 something this year.

But I don't think I have the patience to have to relay on other folks to help me close 'projects' over the 'box sales' I'm doing now. I would also be in a different (shittier) ERP that is really set up for larger projects and very Cumbersom.

I also have wanted to get out of physical goods for some time due to supply chain issues.

Any thoughts or feedback are greatly appreciated.

The company I work for is hiring another sales rep. Someone connected to me via LinkedIn becsuse they saw im a current employee and just wanted to know about my day to day and how I enjoy it.

Theirs is one of the resumes that stood out to my boss actually, but now they’ve seen that I’ve seen their profile and message so should I reply or no?

I’m not involved in the hiring process so I’m not sure what to do. I haven’t asked my boss yet if I should reply- I know I should start there.

So, I work for a SaaS company that for the most part sells DTC.

I was recently promoted from SDR to AE last month, and I didn’t hit my ramp quota. I was about 1-deal shy.

It’s now the 1st week of dec, and I just got sick.

I have a really painful ear infection that is causing body aches, a fever and chills.

I took today off, and (at the rate things are going) I may have to take tomorrow off too.

My manager was chill about me taking today off, but idk how it’s going to be perceived if I take two days off in a row.

It’s going to negatively affect my pipeline and deals for Dec since he said that he’s going to pass off inbound demo requests from my territory to other reps, plus I won’t be prospecting for new deals.

So what should I do?

Clock in and grind it out tomorrow? Or take another day off for more rest in hopes to recover faster?

I’m lost and I don’t know what the right decision is.

What is the best tech tips you would give someone who is using this software and a new MacBook? Tell me like I'm 5.

I get it, random question and why such random apps? Well, I just started at a new tech company and of course I was given a MacBook. I haven't used an apple computer (or iPhone) in years. I'm also switching from Microsoft 365 to Gsuite that they use. On top of that I'm setting up Hubspot for them as the new CRM (Which I have also never used 😂). I'm struggling learning ways to change settings or new features I didn't know I could use.

Send me the best setup, tricks, or features I should be using.

I have over 10 years experience at carmax. Im in the top 33% of sales in the company and im still there but looking to move. Does any of this experience transfer over to a more traditional sales job? Is it something compaines would consider or as ive seen on here carmax sales is looked at more of a joke?

I've been trying to get my foot into a smaller sector besides tech and medical to get some experience in b2b sales and the trypical sale cycle and then move up from there if possible.

Any advice is appreciated thanks.

I’ve been searching non stop for some openings for sales roles primarily in and around London. I struggle to find any that would be willing to consider Jul/Aug starters.

Am I just too early or is the market in the mud?

Really open to hearing your views.

So I've been offered a better job that I am accepting. Conventional wisdom is to quit the old one, right? Thing is the old one is mostly remote and sinking fast. If they weren't such a large company they'd have already gone under. I've spent the last two months treating this as paid interview time, but hit quota via a fluke sale that fell into my lap. I'm not on a PIP. I wasn't intending to use them on my resume anyway, so I'm not really afraid of being fired.

What do you guys think, work both jobs until the old one fires me? Draw mileage and base out of the old one until they notice I'm not producing, then quit no notice? Or do the right thing, put my notice in tomorrow and embrace the new one wholeheartedly?

I am conflicted.

So considering leadership and marketing are useless. I figured id do it myself.

Ill take some time to write out some case study flyer or whitepaper thingies. That i can sent out together with other information to warm leads.

Anyone have any experience? Im looking to construct this formulaic so it’s a onetime design and then just fill it out.

Title. Shit company (biased). Thankfully have some new job opportunities in the hopper. Networking like crazy for referrals and reaching out to hiring managers.

Any quick pivot advice? Tell HM’s I got laid off? Manager said he would vouch for my numbers when looking for a new opportunity.

P.S. Do EXTENSIVE research before joining a startup. Learning the hard way

I'm currently in training and will be in the showroom at raymour and flanigan in about a week. I'm extremely excited to do sales in the furniture division and have a question for you furniture veterans. I recently learned that someone at my job has a major deal with a company and every year helps them furnish buildings. Was wondering how do you guys promote yourself and gain recurring customers along the road. I do wanna make a name for myself at a slow and reliable pace, so I'm always willing to take advice and feedback on everything. THANK YOU FOR YOUR TIME!

Been an Ent BDR for 2 years and hit 150%+ of quota this year, but I’ve been frustratingly passed up for AE promotion multiple times despite being the top performer. I had an old acquaintance reach out to me a few months ago and he purchased a franchise for a restoration company and was looking for a sales guy to get it off the ground. I have experience running my own landscaping and real estate broker/property management businesses in the past before. My comp plan is custom as this is a start up and after some negotiating I’ll get a $60k base and company car. The average franchise in this space hits $1.25mil in Y1 net revenue and I’ll be looking at a $140k OTE if we hit that.

The business model is referral based and the business will start out with focusing on water mitigation to begin with. I’ll be driving around all day hitting up plumbers and offering a referral fee for each job they send to us that gets completed. We then go back to the homeowners insurance company to get paid. I’ll have a generous monthly marketing budget to take plumbing business owners out to eat etc.

I’m going to miss the awesome work/life balance of working remote but I need all the money I can get right now in hopes of getting my finance and I ahead of the inflation situation in the U.S. I’m nervous and excited to get started and wanted to throw this post out there as another example of a non-tech industry to sell in.

I am at my wits end and I can’t keep up with his “high inbound sales” job which is basically a call center type of a role. But I need the paycheck until at least the end of January to pay some immediate bills, so I can’t just quit this job to take care of my “mental burnout” when the financial burden is so heavy.

I am trying everything to motivate myself to just push through and apply elsewhere but i am severely burning myself out and the stress is becoming too much.

I don’t have a support system and no amount of “take a walk or go hit the gym” helps because it helps me sleep at night but i wake up with dread again.

I feel like the walls are closing in and idk what to do at this point. I have healthy savings to the point where i COULD be jobless for 6-7 months but I ultimately don’t want to touch those savings because i never know when I could use it in the future…

Is it just time to quit? Or is there anything I could do to just…”put up” with this role?

What are some recent favorite daily wears? Looking for something in the $3K range as a nice gift to myself for starting a new job soon. Haven’t narrowed down my search at all yet but figured you sociopaths (I say this with great affection) would be a great place to start!

Out of curiosity - where do your outside sales conversations take place?

I work in the medical space so usually office settings, but wondering what it’s like to sell on job sites/construction/outdoors. My dream would be to sell on the golf course - what types of roles get to do this?

Looking forward to your (weird/fun) stories!

I’m a commercial rep covering most of Canada for a large Enterprise Cybersecurity company. A good chunk of the customers I come across are in smaller shops, think 100-500 seats. A lot of them are stuck up and want to be treated like CISOs at F500 companies. They want white glove service, long free trials, special pricing, and even some ridiculous accommodations. It really boils my blood and sometimes throws me off on calls. Any advice?

I currently work in med device sales, have over 5 years experience and have been in my current role for about 2 years. I manage a large metro area and have achieved significant growth in my time here. I believe I'm pretty underpaid but really enjoy what I sell and my work life balance.

We recently expanded to another (not bordering) state and the rep we hired there resigned this week. Instead of hiring another rep, they have asked me if I would like to work this territory, about 1 week of travel there/month. The new territory isn't currently generating any revenue, seems to be a lot of potential, but also would require a lot of additional work.

I have no idea what to ask for comp-wise to take on this responsibility. My current base is 65k, $1300/month car allowance, about $1300/month commissions (~200k in sales/month). The rep that resigned was making around $70k.

I've traveled before in a previous role and know the toll it takes, I want to ask for $25k but not sure if that's crazy or too low. I also ideally would like to ask for a promotion, I know this doesn't matter a ton in sales but I've never had one and it would look good on my resume. Current title is just account manager. Any advice is greatly appreciated!

I recently received an offer from a major SaaS company in Asia and am currently undergoing a background check. I realized that the timeline of my work experience in my CV was slightly inaccurate. I’ve now provided the corrected timeline in the background checker's portal to ensure they get accurate results.

I’m curious about the process:

Do recruiters or hiring managers typically compare the CV submitted during the hiring process with the background check report generated by third-party checkers?

If discrepancies are found, how are they usually handled?

Side hustles, stocks, owned businesses?

Anyone pay for these bidding engines like Planetbids? I was going to just delete the sales email I got but then I got curious and wondered if anyone had any success. I have a small business, and I look at the state and county's government bids pretty regularly, so I'm not sure how helpful this would be or if I'd see any bids that I wouldn't have access to otherwise. In my industry, most private buildings or companies are invite-only to the bid.

I only have to make 50 dials a day. Most days I hit over 60. Do you think it’s more valuable to make a fewless calls and dedicate an hour reading resources to improve my skills and techniques? being new to sales I could see this helping to avoid burnout and improve my relationship based sales skills