Leaving my high paying job to work in tech Sales and Selling |
- Leaving my high paying job to work in tech
- After 6 months of application, I landed my first job in SaaS tech sales (SDR)!
- How will your income compare to last years?
- I Quit My 6 Figure Tech Sales Job to Start A Software Company
- How to Get Out of Salws
- "What is one of your biggest weaknesses?" - how do you answer this on an interview for a sales job?
- Should I try to switch to SDR role now, or wait till I hit 1 year at my new job?
- Anyone have to deal with an unfair commission structure? It is starting to ruin the job for me.
- Wtf is all this cultural index BS?
- Account management and business development, are you doing both or a dedicated role to one of the two
- Uncovered a large opp recently!
- For those of you in sales who have ADHD and struggled with it, when did everything finally “click”?
- This is for the tech sales guys and gals!
- Hired 6 weeks ago and still no start date for at least another month. So I'm looking for unique careers to apply.
- Looking to sell insurance part time
- Any tools out there that fill Salesforce notes as you type notes in other places?
- Most Fruitful Territory Assignment?
- Request: Looking for a mentor [United Kingdom - London]
- I just started a Outsourcing IT company in Ukraine, Looking to find customers.
- Ethics of asking for a job with an Account you manage.
- How to break into medical device sales?
- Any industrial or scientific reps here? What is the hardest thing about selling to your accounts?
- Struggling with prospecting for a HR SaaS company
| Leaving my high paying job to work in tech Posted: 03 Nov 2020 06:54 AM PST I'm currently working for a terrible company but I make a shitload of money (250 to 300K). It's a commission-only job in the automotive industry. Trash manager, trash owner, etc. They don't even have a CRM. I have to pay for mine out of pocket. Also, they do not allow remote work. Very toxic work environment. Management is openly hostile, but I'm unfireable because I speak 4 languages and therefore I handle all their international customers. Anyway, I got an offer for a startup paying 40K a year base, 60K OTE (BDR position). This is a tech startup (financially profitable) in the environmental space. They have an excellent reputation and I'm really liking the vibe. I think there's a huge potential. Working from home is allowed. They mentioned that they promote from within. I checked on Linkedin and I spoke to some of the account executives and this is true. My plan is to perform as a BDR and then to be promoted to account executive. I feel like tech has a higher ceiling once you get your foot at the door. Looking for some advice, Thank you, [link] [comments]  |
| After 6 months of application, I landed my first job in SaaS tech sales (SDR)! Posted: 03 Nov 2020 07:47 AM PST Just wanted to say a huge THANK YOU to all you wonderful people at /r/sales. There's been a lot of helpful advice given in comments, questions asked, threads and ideas. Now this is not going to be one of those data driven scientific posts with x amount of applications and % win rate, but I will compile some threads that helped me the most and hopefully they can help you as well. Here's some things I did over my time applying that helped the most, I hope some of these ideas can help you in your search. 1) Get in the Door First steps are to craft your resume and cover letter. There needs to be some confidence, some personality and some way for you to convey that you know about the industry and understand how it works. Look at copies of other people's resumes/cover letters and most importantly, write your own story. You may not have relevant tech SaaS experience, sales experience or any of it, but if you can write a compelling story as to why you're great and what you can bring to elevate their sales team, that might just get you to that first screening call. Tailor each cover letter to the job company you're applying for. Pain in the ass? You betcha. Worth it? Absolutely. 2) Get on the Map Your LinkedIn profile should be tailored to the job you are searching for. Talk specifics, metrics, KPIs, increased revenue, use specific numbers if you can (Increased revenue by 40% past quota > Increased Revenue). Your LinkedIn page is where you can also include jobs and experience that were completely out the industry you're applying to. It gives a broader perspective on your professional journey. 3) DO YOUR G.D. RESEARCH Do it. Once you get through to that first human contact, don't just google the company FFS. Understand what they do, why did they start this business, what problem it solves, who are their competitors, what's new for this company (funding, conferences, etc), learn their lingo, terms and acronyms, you want to appear as someone who is the perfect puzzle piece for their puzzle. It is competitive out here, people would rather work with someone who already knows what KPI, MRR, ARR and Churn mean, rather than have to teach it to them. Make it easy for your interviewer to think "Hey, this guy/gal gets it." To do this thought, you actually have to... get it. Do some reading on who you're talking to. Ask them about their experience at the company and why they chose to work here. Research great interview questions and then ASK them. (Pro-tip: Many of the great interview questions to ask interviewers are also great questions to ask interviewees, so be prepared to have your cake and dodge it too). Call in to their sales dept team and ask the people there if you can borrow some time and have a conversation with them about the role / job and THEIR STORY. Scary? Not really, they're an inbound sales team who are used to taking calls from random people and this time they'll talk to someone who's kind and wants to (for the first time) learn more about them. If you do this right with some candor, empathy and kindness, you should be able to schedule a conversation with them. Use this to gain insights on how the company really is behind the scenes, how this person got their job and what to expect from the process. Ask them what sales methodology do they use (and apply that in your interview). Bonus: Cold call your future boss! If you're feeling good about your approach and phone game, some sales directors/ VPs have their cell on LinkedIn, call them directly and have a conversation. Ask them what qualities do their top performing reps all have in common, what they're looking for in new additions to the team and then compile your answer to address those concerns. Be agile, be friendly, be yourself. 4) Walk the walk This is the part that you do day in day out. This is the improving yourself part, the get better by 1% everyday part, the first step in the walk of the marathon that you do every day. Read top sales books, dive into sales methodologies (SPIN Selling, Sandler, Challenger, etc.), sales empathy, cold calling approaches, Value based selling, Closing, Prospecting. Get a hunger for building your sales acumen. There are a bunch of better lists for which books a salesperson should read, so find those on your own. I will say a must read, for any human, that interacts with other humans, is How To Win Friends And Influence People - Dale Carnegie. This book changed my life, and if you let it and apply it at a core level, it will change yours as well. Listen to pod-casts! This one is huge, especially for specific word-paths or ways to approach a conversation. The words you use are a tiny fraction of your message, tone, cadence, speed, enunciation, flow are all very important, unfortunately, most books don't give you an idea of what that it should sound like, and none of them show you what it should feel like. Listen to sales podcasts about the industry you're targetting. Feel the pain, understand the challenges that reps, managers, SDRs, AEs are facing in the role you're applying for. Listen and practice specific tactics, cold call approaches, wordpaths, ways to work with the gatekeeper, how to speak to C-suite, etc. Ones that I found beneficial, in no particular order: Some of these have become more advertising than podcasting so take these with a grain of salt. 5) CASE STUDY You will be asked to do a case-study or assignment to prepare for how you would perform in your actual role. This might be a written presentation, a PDF document with some questions answers, most often it's a test of your cold call skills. PRACTICE this. I cannot emphasize enough, if you have not made a lot of cold calls, call your roommate/spouse/friend, tell them to try to get you off the phone but not immediately hang up and practice (don't worry, you'll have plenty of clients who will just hang up on you when you get the job lol). Listen to the tactics from the podcasts, write them down, and practice them, mimic their delivery, approach and tone and see if it feels right. Print out a short page of questions you want to ask, follow up questions, how will you pivot on certain objections, and what your goal of the call should be. 6) Take any interview you can Here's the thing, you're applying for a bunch of jobs. You want position X at company ABC, but in the meanwhile you've got interviews/calls for position Y at all companies other than company ABC. Interview there anyway, sharpen the saw, build your sales skills, work on your call agility, ask the hard questions (What did you think of me as a candidate?). If the job is not something you want to take, there's nothing wrong with telling your interviewer "Hey, thanks for taking the time to connect with me, unfortunately I don't think it makes sense for us to proceed with next steps because XYZ". Ask for feedback, most interviewers would be happy to tell you where they would've wanted to see improvement. So even if you don't quite make it in that first interview to ABC company, take those notes and have a conversation in 3 months with that VP of Sales showing you've improved and you're ready to be a stone cold quota killer. Compilation: [link] [comments]  |
| How will your income compare to last years? Posted: 03 Nov 2020 07:44 AM PST I think I'll be down around 4k this year compared to last year (80k-~76k) even after a raise, due to decrease in commission. Sucks but in reality I've saved a lot because of COVID. Here's hoping that stalled deals will come in eventually! [link] [comments]  |
| I Quit My 6 Figure Tech Sales Job to Start A Software Company Posted: 02 Nov 2020 04:12 PM PST Two years ago, I quit my comfortable job in tech sales to start a software company. Many people (coworkers, family, friends) thought this was a huge risky thing to do—throwing away a great paying job to chase a risky new business. While technically true, deep down I believe that not chasing your dreams and not shooting for an amazing, adventurous life is 100 times more risky than doing so, even if you crash and burn. Despite this fact, it was still scary. Two years later, the gamble has paid off. The SaaS business I wound up starting now does more than a million dollars in annual revenue, and I have accrued much more value than I would have by staying at my comfortable tech job. Here are some lessons I've learned along the way: 1. Focus On Small Wins Early OnI think the biggest mistake that entrepreneurs make early on is they expect HUGE results to happen fast. It simply doesn't work this way, and if you go in with this mindset, you will get discouraged extremely quickly and wind up throwing in the towel too early. 9 times out of 10, success will be a slow grind. You simply have to keep showing up day-after-day. For this reason, it's extremely important to set small, measurable goals that will advance you towards your larger goal overtime. Your hardwork WILL compound over time. I promise. All the small wins you rack up day after day will start to stack up. The famous Confucious quote is so, so true: "The man who moves a mountain starts by carrying away small stones." Early on in my company, I focused on blogging and creating helpful, educational content for people who could likely get value out of my SaaS product. I then relentlessly focused on ranking this content highly in Google Search (SEO - Search engine optimization). Every single guest blog or content piece I wrote was a small win. After about 9 months, those wins really started stacking up, and Google started sending us A TON of highly qualified traffic into these blog posts. This traffic turned into customers for the business. If you want to learn more about the specifics of the SEO strategy I used to generate tens of thousands of qualified leads flowing into our website every month, comment below or reach out on Twitter, and I'll create a post if there is enough demand. 2. Expect to Get Punched In The Mouth"Everyone has a plan until they get punched in the mouth" - Mike Tyson Again, it's all about expectation setting. If you come into starting a business with unrealistic expectations (i.e. that everything will be sunny and cheerful and your business will just take off from day one), you will get discouraged extremely quickly, and you will quit. This happens to most hopeful entrepreneurs. Discouragement is your biggest enemy when starting something from the ground up. However, if you simply expect to get punched in the mouth, beat up by the market, laughed at, made fun of, etc., you will be able to just roll with it. When adversity inevitably shows up, you should greet it like an old friend. Welcome him in. He's here to teach you a lesson. Take the punch. Figure out how to keep moving forward, and move forward. Don't quit. 3. Only One Thing Matters: DistributionI don't care if you have the greatest product or service in the world. No one will ever use it, learn about it, or hear about you unless you have a scalable distribution channel to bring people in the door. For us, it was SEO, Google Adwords, and Facebook Ads. Nailing these three distribution channels allows us to bring customers in the door day-after-day in a scalable fashion. As people in our target market search on Google every day, they find us. As people scroll through their Facebook and Instagram feeds every day, our content gets thrown in their face, and they find us. All three of these channels are profitable for us, and they are the lifeblood of the business. You HAVE to focus on distribution. In the early days, focus on nailing down a single channel that can profitably and scalably bring you traffic and customers. Distribution is MORE important than product. I can't stress this enough. I wrote an entire blog post on how to apply this here. Don't ignore this. The "Build it and they will come" mentality is one of the biggest reasons entrepreneurs fail. Figure out how you're going to acquire customers before you ever write a single line of code. 4. Work With People Who Are Smarter Than YouIf you're like me, you probably can't write a single line of code yourself. That's a bit of a problem when you're starting a software business. Obviously, you are going to have to partner with people to get your idea off the ground. In my opinion, this is one of the hardest things to do, but of course it is one of the most important. I think the best way to attract extremely talented people into your life is to become an expert at something yourself that a future partner/software engineer would find valuable. You will typically do this by becoming extremely good at sales / digital marketing / and customer acquisition. You have to become valuable to a future business partner. Otherwise it's going to be way harder for you to attract talent. My single biggest piece of advice for anyone looking to replicate what I've done is to launch a simple business on your own (a blog, an eCommerce company, a YouTube channel, a podcast, etc) and develop your marketing chops on this initial business. Once you have success and are a great marketer, you will easily be able to attract talented developers who want to work with you as you will be able to get their products in front of real people (something that most developers struggle to do). AKA you will become valuable to them. And yes, this will require a lot of work. But that's the name of the game. 5. Have Fun and Enjoy The RideEvery single day will bring new challenges and problems. Enjoy the chaos. It's so much more fulfilling than your monotonous 9-5 job that you were working before. Once things really start clicking, the sense of fulfillment you get from your hardwork will be the best feeling in the world—I promise. ConclusionThat's all for now! I have a lot more specifics to write about in future posts like how to build a profitable Facebook ad strategy to bring thousands of people to your products, and how to find the best keywords to bid on with Google adwords for your product or service. These things have been instrumental in my success, and I'm going to keep blogging about how to replicate this yourself soon. If you want this content delivered to your inbox, just drop your email below or follow me on Twitter. That's it. Let's get it. -David [link] [comments]  |
| Posted: 03 Nov 2020 08:55 AM PST Hey all, I posted something similar in r/careeradvice, but I want to see what advice I can get from a sales perspective. I've been in sales for about 5 years now and I'm just completely burnt out. I used to be able to just take a week off and come back ready to sell, but now, I'd rather go to the dentist 5 days a week than do one more day of sales. My problem now, is that the money is good and I have the "golden handcuffs" on. I'm looking for another role which will ultimately pay me at least $40K a year. I have skills in Account Management, Sales (obviously), a degree in Philosophy (I know I shot myself in the foot with this) and I know Microsoft Office like the back of my hand. That said, what skills should I build in order to get out? Anyone here who did it successfully? Every comment will be greatly appreciated! [link] [comments]  |
| "What is one of your biggest weaknesses?" - how do you answer this on an interview for a sales job? Posted: 03 Nov 2020 10:52 AM PST I find it hard to answer this question without hurting my interview? Does anybody have any suggestions or feedback when dealing with this question? [link] [comments]  |
| Should I try to switch to SDR role now, or wait till I hit 1 year at my new job? Posted: 03 Nov 2020 09:35 AM PST I have previous experience as a SDR in SaaS (1 year 3 months). 35k base + 15k commission OTE but the product was ROUGH. No SDR or AE hit quota. So I left. I was the top performer on the team and only made 44k total. In august, I started a new job at a manufacturing/packaging industry as an inside sales rep (they offered me 60k base) where I can gain experience closing my own deals and working with product development engineers etc. Fast forward to today, realizing how there are so many companies hiring for SDR remote which my previous job doesn't allow (only remote now for covid) and for more money, around 40k base and 70k OTE. Should I start applying and looking to make the switch now? or should I stay at my current job for 1 year so I can keep it on my resume? And if I make the switch now, is it ok to leave this current job on my resume even though it's been 4 months? I haven't done anything here because training is so slow due to covid. [link] [comments]  |
| Anyone have to deal with an unfair commission structure? It is starting to ruin the job for me. Posted: 03 Nov 2020 09:22 AM PST SDR here for a SaaS Marketing agency. Loved the job, been a top performer (the number 1) for the past year in a team of about 70 people. Now they have suddenly started counting certain campaigns TWICE, meaning I am suddenly competing with people who have to arrange half the meetings I do. As somebody motivated in equal measures by money and recognition, suddenly being pushed down the leaderboard artificially based on very shaky metrics is turning me off this job. The campaigns that count twice are not particularly harder: while I am booking CISOs, I see people book "junior salesforce administrators" and get twice the recognition and money for it... Anyone else experience this? [link] [comments]  |
| Wtf is all this cultural index BS? Posted: 03 Nov 2020 08:53 AM PST Currently selling cars and content but want to branch out. I've been exploring other industries. After applying I'll receive an email from HR or a hiring manager telling me to complete this cultural index thing. They're all the same. Have a list of like 200 words and first time you select what words you think describe you, then next time it's the same words but you choose what words make you succeed at work What is the purpose of this? Am I doing it wrong? I'll fill these out and then follow up religiously and never get a reply back. Maybe I'm just absolutely horrific at taking these little tests? Never seen them before but they are after EVERY single job application I submit now [link] [comments]  |
| Posted: 03 Nov 2020 08:45 AM PST I'm curious if the majority of technical sales folks here with large sized clients are expected to do both, but get measured primarily for new business development? My company does not have dedicated account managers, only business development directors but we need to provide account support to existing clients. I find it can bog down my prospecting work and that I'm always reactive... does anyone else experience this and how do you get out of the cycle? What's your typical time spent between account management and business development? Thanks [link] [comments]  |
| Uncovered a large opp recently! Posted: 02 Nov 2020 05:43 PM PST Just wanted to share some exciting news! A random outbound call I had last week turned into a big opportunity as of our initial meeting today. The guy is spending a ridiculous amount of money for a poor service package with one of our competitors so not only is the deal more likely to go through because I know we can win on price+speeds but it would put me at over 50% quota this month with 1 sale. Given that I haven't hit quota these last few months, this would serve as such a strong start to the month and am excited. Don't want to get hopes up but happy to start my week strong :) [link] [comments]  |
| For those of you in sales who have ADHD and struggled with it, when did everything finally “click”? Posted: 03 Nov 2020 12:00 PM PST 've been working for a solar company doing door to door sales more or less since the end of July. Started out super strong and I really liked it, and I actually hold the record for most appts set in anyone's first week across the company. However, about a month or so ago I hit a brick wall and haven't even been able to get out of my car, even if I drive 45 minutes across the city out to the suburbs (no set schedule, if I don't want to work I don't have to). This has snowballed and now I'm really struggling, despite the pay actually being incredible for what I do. It's a 100% commission pay structure with no limits, so you literally get back everything you put in. I hate this feeling because I've always been a very hard worker in everything that I've done, and I feel like I'm failing at this, which sucks because out of the different jobs I've had, I want to be successful at this one more than anything. Has anyone else in here gone through something similar? What worked? What didn't work? Edit: yes, I am medicated. I'm on Vyvanse and have been taking it for a few years now. [link] [comments]  |
| This is for the tech sales guys and gals! Posted: 03 Nov 2020 05:25 AM PST It seems like appropriate course to get in to tech sales is becoming a bdr and transition to an AE role. For people trying to get into tech (for example me) who has a background and extreme success in medical sales should I in theory have an upper hand and not have to go through that sdr role? Closed 2.8 million dollars this year with 900k GP I get it's a different industry but an SDR role seems like it would hinder my success if I made this move. Plus the salary and commission structure is extremely low. Thoughts ? [link] [comments]  |
| Posted: 03 Nov 2020 11:19 AM PST I was hired by a friend at a large telecom company about 6 weeks to replace a rep with one foot out the door, but due to the rep's stubbornness and abuse of loop holes he's managed to keep on being paid salary without putting in much work and still technically not get written up which would terminate his job there. Because of this he still has at least another month at this company and I can't wait any longer, because my last day at my current temp job is this Friday. If I'm being honest, working another B2B job where I go door to door and harass people for internet all day, while pays well, isn't appealing, so I wanted to see what unique careers in and out of sales is out there with high job happiness. I don't have a college degree and have pretty much always worked in sales (real estate, telemarketing, insurance, payment processing), so that does limit me, but you don't know what you don't know and figured I'd ask reddit to illuminate me on some interesting careers I can apply for. [link] [comments]  |
| Looking to sell insurance part time Posted: 03 Nov 2020 09:35 AM PST Anyone have experience with working part time. I'm looking to create a website and also start doing direct mail flyers to sell whole, term, final expense and Ltc insurancel. I'm thinking of specializing in term and Ltc or fi al expense and Ltc. I wanted to know if anyone had any experience doing this. I'm okay with being able to sell 1-2 per month. [link] [comments]  |
| Any tools out there that fill Salesforce notes as you type notes in other places? Posted: 03 Nov 2020 09:18 AM PST This would be very helpful. Someone mentioned a Chrome add-on that did something like this but I forget what it is. I am in Enterprise software in an enterprise territory if that matters. [link] [comments]  |
| Most Fruitful Territory Assignment? Posted: 03 Nov 2020 08:02 AM PST Hi all, working as strategic AE for a company within management consulting space. We are shifting from purely named accounts to existing accts+territory model. I have the option of 1.) IL,IN, KY, MI, OH 2.) NY, NJ, CT 3.) FL, GA, MS, SC, LA, AL Is NY the clear winner? They are close in total GDP per territory but the south arguably has more growth potential. NY has a nice curt/transparent style. I prefer the Northern Midwest/NY in terms if work style as the south can be quite passive aggressive/leisurely, but I like the FL connection. I'm tempted to stick with selection 1, am I missing any consideration factors? I've not got an idea of revenue from these regions outside named accounts because that data isn't readily available. This basically determines which new invound leads I receive. Cheers guys. [link] [comments]  |
| Request: Looking for a mentor [United Kingdom - London] Posted: 03 Nov 2020 04:52 AM PST I was thrown into an AE role at a SaaS scale-up but currently have no senior leadership in my region hence the ask. It would be great to collaborate with someone who is open to shaping the next generation of sales leaders. [link] [comments]  |
| I just started a Outsourcing IT company in Ukraine, Looking to find customers. Posted: 03 Nov 2020 04:18 AM PST I just started a outsourcing IT company in Ukraine, I am looking to find customers, we do mobile, web and software development. We have awesome prices and amazing programmers. I am American so I am running the operation with American standards and live in Ukraine at the moment. Any advice to get clients. I just started my first round of cold emails and linkeldn outreach. [link] [comments]  |
| Ethics of asking for a job with an Account you manage. Posted: 02 Nov 2020 01:18 PM PST Over the past 3 years I have received many compliments from clients I manage; on how I led the sales process, got them to understand the value and managed to get them to actually buy. For example a CEO said, 'I wish you would come in and teach our sales staff how to sell like that'. I am now looking for my next move and applying for jobs. I would love to work for a couple of the companies that I manage because of their products and people. But there hasn't been an opportunity recently to bring it up naturally in conversation, and there aren't any job posts up at the moment. Is it wrong to ask directly for a role and or make them aware of my intentions? I worry this is crossing a line. [link] [comments]  |
| How to break into medical device sales? Posted: 02 Nov 2020 07:32 PM PST I have a BS and MS in biomedical engineering. I got into clinical research fresh out of my masters and, although it pays the bills, I have always wanted to get into medical device sales. I feel I have the people skills, the background knowledge, somewhat relevant industry experience and the desire, but I do not have 3-5 years sales experience which seems to be a requirement for all of these positions. Feeling burnt out on filling out application after application and writing cover letter after cover letter only to get an email a few weeks later titled "Thanks for your application". Does anyone have any suggestions or resources I might not have stumbled upon yet? [link] [comments]  |
| Any industrial or scientific reps here? What is the hardest thing about selling to your accounts? Posted: 02 Nov 2020 09:20 PM PST |
| Struggling with prospecting for a HR SaaS company Posted: 02 Nov 2020 11:23 PM PST I'm on the outbound team generating leads for an HR SaaS company and I'm struggling to get any responses to my outreach. Mostly I just don't get any response at all. What process do you follow for outbound and what tips could you share. Any good blogs also appreciated. One other question - how do you find information about your target? [link] [comments]  |
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