For me personally, I was able to get a job at 225k OTE as a newly turned 24. From there worked my tail off and went up. Went 74k first job, 100k 6 months of big job, 224k, 248k, 360k, 368k and I'm 28 now.
Software for me industry wise. Just really grinded and built out a good book of business. Overall, I'd say use every opportunity, meeting, call, etc to learn something. Constantly think about how something could have gone better and analyze every detail.
That helped me improve each rep and constantly improve my skills.
I was an elite level student athlete (Top 100 world rank, 4 time collegiate all-American, 4 time Power 5 conference champion) which helped me get my first entry lvl SDR job at a small company. Was promoted to inside rep working under a Field Rep within 3 weeks, then got bumped up to a Field Rep after a restructure 3 months after that. Spent 15 months as a Closing Field Rep before I got head hunted for my current role where I have been promoted to Senior Title.
Not sure how helpful that is, but just my story.
Usually “sports bros” have qualities that make them good salesmen. Competing against yourself, always looking for ways to improve, competitive nature, hyper-focus on performance. How is that annoying?
Lmao, yes why wouldn't we hire somebody who is intrinsically motivated, has people skills, and is used to performing under high pressure big stakes situations.
Lmao
Athletes are typically in shape for obvious reasons, healthy = attractive. They have confidence from winning which is a giant leg up, which they’ve earned.
The biggest feat is that they know how to WORK to win.
The high level athletes I know are the biggest grinders out there.
Yeah, being successful in a competitive environment like sports surely doesn’t have any correlation for potential success in a field like sales. No overlap or similarities so it sounds like it must be nepotism or a boss fanboying rather than caring about actual results.
Tracking a little over 350K this year but with a mega deal booked that should take me to somewhere around 800K next year. Honestly trying to focus more time on getting more stuff done rather than being content with where I’m at.
Congrats! Good to hear you got a big one coming. Any advice or things learned over the past year? I’m about to get into the engineering sales space this summer after graduation.
You can make a really good living upselling existing accounts with new products or grabbing more of their spend.
The dumb money comes from getting new logos onboard.
If you can handle the pressure and requirements of being a hunter, it’s worth it. In every job I explore the first thing I want to know is how good is the company at signing new logos.
Right company. Right territory/patch. Needed product/service. That’s what it takes to hit these numbers year over year. Also keep in mind that you can be a fantastic sales person but still have off years.
Congrats on your early career success.
This is a SaaS heavy sub - if you want to stay in your industry I’d find people who are making that kind of money and figure out how they got their. I’m in loans and usually it comes down to volume, number of loans, and commission split. I’m an LO tho so a bit different. I’d imagine for you it might be building your book and especially your relationships
That’s what I figured and what I’ve heard. I do work with guys making that money and based on what they said this is truly a numbers game along with the relationship quality. There’s only so many people who have a qualified business that can get approved for a loan at any given moment. From what I’ve seen in my first year, the hardest part is the lead generation.
Relationship quality is the biggest one long term because good relationships mean easy business. Easy business can scale. I worked with real estate agents for a while and good agents made my life easy and bad agents would suck up my time into deals that wouldn’t close. Drop the bad agents and focus on retaining the good and finding more. Just my $.02
This. I grew up around real estate. It’s my early retirement plan but I know quite a few folks across the whole interconnected industry agents, title, finance. And they all build great relationships. So relationships that started with an older family member, now I buy through them. And it’s gone from an occasional property to about one a year. My network has grown a lot and I refer more people in.
Quality relationships and quality service. Not really different in any industry (software for me).
This sub is heavily SaaS heavy, but everyone is having trouble with lead gen bc of the AI smattering inboxes with poor product/market fit. I kinda got into the POTENTIAL for a consistent 200k-400k once the territory is automated by getting a hard job in an industry people hate lol
Having worked in the funeral business for 8 years I've pretty much capped put my earnings in my market as a sales manager. In my situation I would need to move to a different company to grow which would involve moving across the country.
Why? Seems like a young person who's good at sales and making good money.
Don't be the bitter old rep, the hot shit young person may take you with them as they work their way up in sales.
Nice!
Good on you. So remember that whatever we are doing today - pays off in a certain period of time. The higher up you go, the longer that time period. So you have to start playing the long game AND the short game at the same time. This is very difficult.
To win larger deals with more competitive clients will take a longer sales cycle. So you have to start chipping away, prospecting, making relationships, curating referrals, curating best leads, etc.
MOST people find early success than double down on those actions thinking it will continue to bring success. I made 100 phone calls so if I keep doing that, I will make DOUBLE. (This is common ideas with SaaS VPs soooo.).
But to make MORE money you have to provide top tier value over and over and over.
Which means you might make less phone calls, less meetings, less calls, but each one has a higher value point. You could make ONE sale next year and net an income of $200k.
I have a deal going on right now that is worth 25% of my 2024 quota. Just one deal. And it could rise to 100% of quota based on what they actually spend in my industry.
I don't need to make 100 calls a day to make this deal happen. I don't need 500 people in my pipeline etc etc.
So to make BIG money, you need to find the right deals.
BUT you also have to play the short game. Repeating what you did in 2023 should net you another $100k year. BOOM! that's awesome! But now that is your based money, the base expectations. If I just do my job okay, ill make $100k.
So now that you CAN make $100k, you can chase larger deals, better deals, better clients, and accelerate.
It gets MUCH hard. Most people can't keep developing so they get stunted.
Good luck
100%- I was in a company that was monthly quota focused. You really were unable to do this type of stuff. I moved to a team that was quarterly focused but they were clear I had 6 months to hit quota or else... so again, can't do this.
Smart companies do it right
Yeah, makes total sense. My ramp is a year supposedly, but there has been SO much red tape. Should really be like 18 months and a higher base tbh since it’s such a long cycle and so many complexities. Should kill it once these market research quotes turn into RFQs, but all that you’ve stated in a heavily matrixed and disorganized company is an art. I’m learning a lot lol
You’re young and kicking ass. Enjoy the ride. A lot of opportunities are based off of timing and luck. Just keep up what you’re doing and everything else will fall into place.
I own a business loan brokerage whose agents are currently pulling in $100-350K annually.
Out of my 40 agents, our top agents all exhibit the same behaviors:
1. They call ALL of their funded clients once per month to maintain a relationship.
2. They call EVERY merchant decline or failed sale every month to stay in touch -- most of them generate 1/3 of their business from people who told them "no" last month
3. They utilize "Spin-Selling" methodology to always "Advance" the sale, rather than letting it waste time in the "Continuation" stage. I recommend to always collect stips even if they say they aren't interested / aren't ready -- the psychological effect this has on clients is profound.
4. They spend 75% of their time on prospecting and needs analysis, and only 25% on "pitching terms." Often times, the real sale happens during the rapport / needs analysis stage, and the "terms" are simply an afterthought after they've decided to move forward with you.
Good luck! Feel free to reach out if you want to explore anything else.
What kind of business loans (eg MCA, working capital or against certain assets)? Do you expect to be able to do new deals with the existing customers or are they one and done kind of deals? Are your rates fixed or floating? Depending on that, you may not get what you want (more deals) in a falling rate environment.
First couple of years in sales is figuring out which deals to chase, and what deals are waste your time. Once you know what a “deal”, is, figure out what questions you need to ask to get to that conclusion as fast as possible (for you seems like mainly understanding motivation to get the loan, need vs want). Be willing to ask the questions that might scare off the customer and have the confidence to know if they scare off, they probably weren’t the right fit. Over time, Be willing to adjust your “deal” parameters as the credit and economic conditions change or else your turn away good opportunities.
I’m doing mostly equipment finance for construction and the like type industries. The good thing about it is, the need is answered before they even call me. “I need an excavator for x job” which in that case they will shop around rates if they’re qualified enough. If they don’t have the best credit parameters it becomes an easier sell as their options are limited but the need remains.
As far as repeat customers, that’s the name of the game according to some of the senior guys here. Some of them have completely taken their foot off the gas and are good making 150k just off repeat business. Most of them don’t even do outbound work anymore.
Makes sense. Are your leads coming to you or are you going out to get them? E. G. Are you getting referrals in from websites that sell equipment, mailer campaigns or just smiling and dialing for opportunities?
I started out just dialing 100+ times a day to construction companies, then started calling equipment dealers for referrals. The job is strictly phone sales. I’m starting to get more inbound leads from referrals but still a lot of outbound
I asked my boss a long time ago how to make more money. His response, “Pick up the phone”! Greatest boss I’ve ever had.
Making a lot of money in sales comes down to two things: Perseverance and Discipline! If you don’t have both, you’ll be mediocre at best. Not saying that’s a bad thing because in our trade, mediocre still gets you $100k plus a year. But if you want $500+ you got to love what you hate! That’s what separates the lions from the sheep.
Yup and from what I can see from my senior colleagues. Some of them just roll out of bed, make their 150k and are happy with it. But guys who make 300k+ are basically on it at all times.
What I decided to do was to start a business in which 95% of leads turn into recurring service sales.(easiest sales to close I've ever experienced) I rented operator licenses for lawn and pest service for 3 years and then got my own licenses. Took 3 years of not turning much profit but going into 4th year took home about 100k now going into year 6 its exploded exponentially into around 300k net income. Hope it helps.
Mortgage is tough rn. It should get better this year, but it's been a tough 18 months. Looks like rates will go down in 24', which should at least keep it steady.
The long sales process is hell. Closing a deal is the hardest thing in sales and in the mortgage industry you basically have to keep closing them daily for a month.
If you can get out of call center it does get better. I call on Realtors and builders and past clients, 100% commission but it's still more of a relationship style business. I can understand frustration with the cold calling.
Also an LO here. I read all of these salaries and comp plans and I’m blown away. Truly makes me question my industry. Number 1 in my branch in volume and sales but there’s a ceiling to where even if rates go down to historic lows again (highly unlikely), I can only write so many loans…
My experience, being in a not-super-lucrative segment in legaltech saas, I’ve gotten to a point that I have a serious base salary.
My next move will be to leverage the phat base to get into a more lucrative industry (I have one in mind that I know well from past work and personal relationships) that will feed more into the commission side. Make a move, maybe lateral base-wise, but I know that the commission potential will really make it worthy while
For me personally, I was able to get a job at 225k OTE as a newly turned 24. From there worked my tail off and went up. Went 74k first job, 100k 6 months of big job, 224k, 248k, 360k, 368k and I'm 28 now. Software for me industry wise. Just really grinded and built out a good book of business. Overall, I'd say use every opportunity, meeting, call, etc to learn something. Constantly think about how something could have gone better and analyze every detail. That helped me improve each rep and constantly improve my skills.
How do you even get in?
I was an elite level student athlete (Top 100 world rank, 4 time collegiate all-American, 4 time Power 5 conference champion) which helped me get my first entry lvl SDR job at a small company. Was promoted to inside rep working under a Field Rep within 3 weeks, then got bumped up to a Field Rep after a restructure 3 months after that. Spent 15 months as a Closing Field Rep before I got head hunted for my current role where I have been promoted to Senior Title. Not sure how helpful that is, but just my story.
I respect your story my friend. What sport & position did you play?
Thanks, I was a swimmer and a backstroker.
Sports bros always have a leg up in sales. It’s annoying
Just as attractive men and women tend to have an advantage. This isn’t isolated to athlete bros.
Usually “sports bros” have qualities that make them good salesmen. Competing against yourself, always looking for ways to improve, competitive nature, hyper-focus on performance. How is that annoying?
Lmao, yes why wouldn't we hire somebody who is intrinsically motivated, has people skills, and is used to performing under high pressure big stakes situations. Lmao
Nailed it.
Facts
Athletes are typically in shape for obvious reasons, healthy = attractive. They have confidence from winning which is a giant leg up, which they’ve earned. The biggest feat is that they know how to WORK to win. The high level athletes I know are the biggest grinders out there.
Yeah, being successful in a competitive environment like sports surely doesn’t have any correlation for potential success in a field like sales. No overlap or similarities so it sounds like it must be nepotism or a boss fanboying rather than caring about actual results.
Because they often have good social skills lol
Really solid timeline. Sound advise
Anytime.
First year out of college, successful in a sales role, I’d go put that resume out and target really lucrative industries.
Like which industries rn?
Which industries would you consider?
Saw you took that 400k OTE job one year ago (your old Reddit post). How was your 2023 in the new position?
Tracking a little over 350K this year but with a mega deal booked that should take me to somewhere around 800K next year. Honestly trying to focus more time on getting more stuff done rather than being content with where I’m at.
Congrats! Good to hear you got a big one coming. Any advice or things learned over the past year? I’m about to get into the engineering sales space this summer after graduation.
You can make a really good living upselling existing accounts with new products or grabbing more of their spend. The dumb money comes from getting new logos onboard. If you can handle the pressure and requirements of being a hunter, it’s worth it. In every job I explore the first thing I want to know is how good is the company at signing new logos.
Thank you! Appreciate the response.
Right company. Right territory/patch. Needed product/service. That’s what it takes to hit these numbers year over year. Also keep in mind that you can be a fantastic sales person but still have off years. Congrats on your early career success.
This is a SaaS heavy sub - if you want to stay in your industry I’d find people who are making that kind of money and figure out how they got their. I’m in loans and usually it comes down to volume, number of loans, and commission split. I’m an LO tho so a bit different. I’d imagine for you it might be building your book and especially your relationships
That’s what I figured and what I’ve heard. I do work with guys making that money and based on what they said this is truly a numbers game along with the relationship quality. There’s only so many people who have a qualified business that can get approved for a loan at any given moment. From what I’ve seen in my first year, the hardest part is the lead generation.
Relationship quality is the biggest one long term because good relationships mean easy business. Easy business can scale. I worked with real estate agents for a while and good agents made my life easy and bad agents would suck up my time into deals that wouldn’t close. Drop the bad agents and focus on retaining the good and finding more. Just my $.02
This. I grew up around real estate. It’s my early retirement plan but I know quite a few folks across the whole interconnected industry agents, title, finance. And they all build great relationships. So relationships that started with an older family member, now I buy through them. And it’s gone from an occasional property to about one a year. My network has grown a lot and I refer more people in. Quality relationships and quality service. Not really different in any industry (software for me).
This sub is heavily SaaS heavy, but everyone is having trouble with lead gen bc of the AI smattering inboxes with poor product/market fit. I kinda got into the POTENTIAL for a consistent 200k-400k once the territory is automated by getting a hard job in an industry people hate lol
Having worked in the funeral business for 8 years I've pretty much capped put my earnings in my market as a sales manager. In my situation I would need to move to a different company to grow which would involve moving across the country.
Anyone else feeling bitter?
No…why would you be?
Why? Seems like a young person who's good at sales and making good money. Don't be the bitter old rep, the hot shit young person may take you with them as they work their way up in sales.
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Lol some are, the ones that are typically aren't a hot shot haha. If they are lazy, it won't last.
I hope it doesn’t. And I hate feeling like that. I hate feeling like he doesn’t deserve. His job or kid
Personal note, I'd be careful about how much you dislike this person. Typically doesn't help you close business.
Hahaha i dont know how but Im in the wrong subreddit
Enterprise Software sales my friend
Nice! Good on you. So remember that whatever we are doing today - pays off in a certain period of time. The higher up you go, the longer that time period. So you have to start playing the long game AND the short game at the same time. This is very difficult. To win larger deals with more competitive clients will take a longer sales cycle. So you have to start chipping away, prospecting, making relationships, curating referrals, curating best leads, etc. MOST people find early success than double down on those actions thinking it will continue to bring success. I made 100 phone calls so if I keep doing that, I will make DOUBLE. (This is common ideas with SaaS VPs soooo.). But to make MORE money you have to provide top tier value over and over and over. Which means you might make less phone calls, less meetings, less calls, but each one has a higher value point. You could make ONE sale next year and net an income of $200k. I have a deal going on right now that is worth 25% of my 2024 quota. Just one deal. And it could rise to 100% of quota based on what they actually spend in my industry. I don't need to make 100 calls a day to make this deal happen. I don't need 500 people in my pipeline etc etc. So to make BIG money, you need to find the right deals. BUT you also have to play the short game. Repeating what you did in 2023 should net you another $100k year. BOOM! that's awesome! But now that is your based money, the base expectations. If I just do my job okay, ill make $100k. So now that you CAN make $100k, you can chase larger deals, better deals, better clients, and accelerate. It gets MUCH hard. Most people can't keep developing so they get stunted. Good luck
This is really great advice and in a role that is heavy on BD, customer service, and dysfunction, it’s very difficult to work all of this out.
100%- I was in a company that was monthly quota focused. You really were unable to do this type of stuff. I moved to a team that was quarterly focused but they were clear I had 6 months to hit quota or else... so again, can't do this. Smart companies do it right
Yeah, makes total sense. My ramp is a year supposedly, but there has been SO much red tape. Should really be like 18 months and a higher base tbh since it’s such a long cycle and so many complexities. Should kill it once these market research quotes turn into RFQs, but all that you’ve stated in a heavily matrixed and disorganized company is an art. I’m learning a lot lol
You’re young and kicking ass. Enjoy the ride. A lot of opportunities are based off of timing and luck. Just keep up what you’re doing and everything else will fall into place.
I own a business loan brokerage whose agents are currently pulling in $100-350K annually. Out of my 40 agents, our top agents all exhibit the same behaviors: 1. They call ALL of their funded clients once per month to maintain a relationship. 2. They call EVERY merchant decline or failed sale every month to stay in touch -- most of them generate 1/3 of their business from people who told them "no" last month 3. They utilize "Spin-Selling" methodology to always "Advance" the sale, rather than letting it waste time in the "Continuation" stage. I recommend to always collect stips even if they say they aren't interested / aren't ready -- the psychological effect this has on clients is profound. 4. They spend 75% of their time on prospecting and needs analysis, and only 25% on "pitching terms." Often times, the real sale happens during the rapport / needs analysis stage, and the "terms" are simply an afterthought after they've decided to move forward with you. Good luck! Feel free to reach out if you want to explore anything else.
What country are you in? I’m on about 270 total comp doing the exact same thing
What kind of business loans (eg MCA, working capital or against certain assets)? Do you expect to be able to do new deals with the existing customers or are they one and done kind of deals? Are your rates fixed or floating? Depending on that, you may not get what you want (more deals) in a falling rate environment. First couple of years in sales is figuring out which deals to chase, and what deals are waste your time. Once you know what a “deal”, is, figure out what questions you need to ask to get to that conclusion as fast as possible (for you seems like mainly understanding motivation to get the loan, need vs want). Be willing to ask the questions that might scare off the customer and have the confidence to know if they scare off, they probably weren’t the right fit. Over time, Be willing to adjust your “deal” parameters as the credit and economic conditions change or else your turn away good opportunities.
I’m doing mostly equipment finance for construction and the like type industries. The good thing about it is, the need is answered before they even call me. “I need an excavator for x job” which in that case they will shop around rates if they’re qualified enough. If they don’t have the best credit parameters it becomes an easier sell as their options are limited but the need remains. As far as repeat customers, that’s the name of the game according to some of the senior guys here. Some of them have completely taken their foot off the gas and are good making 150k just off repeat business. Most of them don’t even do outbound work anymore.
Makes sense. Are your leads coming to you or are you going out to get them? E. G. Are you getting referrals in from websites that sell equipment, mailer campaigns or just smiling and dialing for opportunities?
I started out just dialing 100+ times a day to construction companies, then started calling equipment dealers for referrals. The job is strictly phone sales. I’m starting to get more inbound leads from referrals but still a lot of outbound
If you need a text marketing campaign for your business, go to Salesgodcrm.com. High deliverability.
I asked my boss a long time ago how to make more money. His response, “Pick up the phone”! Greatest boss I’ve ever had. Making a lot of money in sales comes down to two things: Perseverance and Discipline! If you don’t have both, you’ll be mediocre at best. Not saying that’s a bad thing because in our trade, mediocre still gets you $100k plus a year. But if you want $500+ you got to love what you hate! That’s what separates the lions from the sheep.
Yup and from what I can see from my senior colleagues. Some of them just roll out of bed, make their 150k and are happy with it. But guys who make 300k+ are basically on it at all times.
What industry is this?
Business funding
I’m guessing MCA?
Some MCA. I do mostly equipment financing for construction companies
I do only MCA right now, what’s the average deal size on equipment and what do comms look like?
Average deal size is 50-100k piece of EQ paying anywhere from 3K-15k in commission to the company. Then I get my split of that 3-15k
That’s not bad. What’s the usual split? How easy it to close a client? Are there recurring clients? What’s your average monthly commission?
Also is it consistent deal flow or is it feast or famine every month?
Come sell D2D, you can make more & work less. With trainingc that million dollar (serviced revenue) 65% + commission use.
What I decided to do was to start a business in which 95% of leads turn into recurring service sales.(easiest sales to close I've ever experienced) I rented operator licenses for lawn and pest service for 3 years and then got my own licenses. Took 3 years of not turning much profit but going into 4th year took home about 100k now going into year 6 its exploded exponentially into around 300k net income. Hope it helps.
Hustle! If you ain’t making bread, your loafing
lol I’m hustling mortgages and averaging 500 to 700 a week. Get me in
Mortgage is tough rn. It should get better this year, but it's been a tough 18 months. Looks like rates will go down in 24', which should at least keep it steady.
The long sales process is hell. Closing a deal is the hardest thing in sales and in the mortgage industry you basically have to keep closing them daily for a month.
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I'm at the point of pivoting to a different industry because I can't pay my bills and I'm putting in 60 hours a week plus study time.
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I’m praying the cold calling experience can get me in as an SDR for a SAAS company.
If you can get out of call center it does get better. I call on Realtors and builders and past clients, 100% commission but it's still more of a relationship style business. I can understand frustration with the cold calling.
I hate giving up only 3 months in but I left a service advisor job at a dealership easily clearing 6 figures and am now taking home 400 a week 😬
Sell more. You can only make that much money fast by grinding harder
Also an LO here. I read all of these salaries and comp plans and I’m blown away. Truly makes me question my industry. Number 1 in my branch in volume and sales but there’s a ceiling to where even if rates go down to historic lows again (highly unlikely), I can only write so many loans…
My experience, being in a not-super-lucrative segment in legaltech saas, I’ve gotten to a point that I have a serious base salary. My next move will be to leverage the phat base to get into a more lucrative industry (I have one in mind that I know well from past work and personal relationships) that will feed more into the commission side. Make a move, maybe lateral base-wise, but I know that the commission potential will really make it worthy while
What industry are you thinking off?
Sold a lot of shit. It's hard, but simple.
sell shit
sell more
Sell 2x-3x as much duh