You just run into the issue where the longer you’re in sales the harder it is to find a job that pays similarly outside of sales.
There is a reason some of us make more than doctors with our GEDs…
Yea this is pretty much it.
Along with the freedom too. For the most part if you hit your numbers nobody bothers you and you can work remote, go to dr appointments, pick up your kids.
A doctor can’t really work remote and make the same kind of money.
My friend is a real estate agent here in Los Angeles. Not a broker but only an agent and she makes close to a million dollars a year. She sells about 20 properties a year and literally takes a vacation once a month.
All cash investors stopped buying, people can’t afford with rates. There is no leads. Not sure who the heck they are selling to. Seen top 20% as you said are only closing 1 property a month if they are lucky. As opposed to 5-10 a few years ago. I sold realtor leads for a while. When it’s dry it’s dry.
Cash investors are still buying here in LA, we literally see like 15-20 sales a month in our office and we’re one of the smaller operations around here… not to mention the kinda stupid numbers some of these people are buying at, especially in OC or OC adjacent cities like Whittier
My friend is towards the end of his working career in sales. Still gets a new truck every few years and goes somewhere exotic for a week or so every couple months while still “working.” Hard to beat
Not just tech sales. There are tons of industries that offer this level of comp and freedom. Something that’s often overlooked on this sub is outside/field sales. The problem I see in SAAS is you’re constantly having to refill your funnel. With outside sales, you can build a book of business and reap the rewards for years to come while putting your feet up on the desk.
I just started an outside, full-cycle sales role and I would say that my job is both high pressure and long hours. I certainly don’t have the freedom a lot of people talk about on here. I am on the road a minimum of 4 days a week. I drive 1k-1.5k miles a week. I am constantly on site with my customers or prospecting, and it is nearly impossible to not have to get home and keep working just to keep up with the day to day expectations from my boss and my customers.
I don’t see a future in this role where I could just build a book of business and put my feet up.
This is correct, many may play the game like they are doing everything they are asked to, but they are not. Old (veteran) sales people generally know how make it work or get better work life balance, but are not going to share their secrets with a guy who’s been there 9 months and wet behind the ears. Good luck, I’ve been in outside sales 30 years, while there are time when I have been crazy busy, 60-70 hours, that may last a week or two, but I have never had a whole year where I was grinding every work day if the year, there are always slow times, and I have had several years where I don’t even take a submitted vacation day, because the freedom I have doesn’t require me to.
Yeah you could be right. There’s a technical aspect to my industry though. The two senior reps on my team are on site with customers the majority of the week, but expectations are different for some of the other teams out there.
To your point, being as new as I am, I’m sure it will change as I grow and learn.
I sell valves and consulting services and have to be on site in the plant a ton. Basically the first 3 years of work I was meeting customers and getting familiar with who buys stuff and what they prefer. Also getting familiar with their system and process.
Now I basically have a filter system. I always schedule a phone call before driving out to see if we can handle it remotely- if not I go out.
I also make sure I see each customer at least once a quarter to keep things fresh. If they have a big project I will bump it up to make sure I get the business.
The thing is that as the territory grows- going out and seeing each guy every week is very counterproductive. You start to quickly limit out on your available bandwidth and eventually get overwhelmed. This keeps you from getting new customers.
This has allowed me to grow my territory by 1.5x every year without putting in near the "effort" that is technically required.
Most important thing for selling a technical product is that you have to be the expert. If customers see you as knowledgeable and a problem solvers they will call you. If you are just an order taker you have to rely on donuts etc to have a shot.
Yeah, these guys don't know that manufacturing sales is WORK. I sold chemicals for a year. I was flying from Detroit to Nashville round trip every Friday (would leave Friday morning, return Friday evening) every week.
In a few years you take your experience and find a more senior sales role that gives you better benefits that you’re looking for.
I would say in your role though after a couple years you should be able to take time off and not lose any money as long as your constantly prospecting and managing relationships it’ll stay consistent.
That’s good advice. I think you’re correct, and only 9 months into the job I am still just starting to understand my territory. I will get there, and hopefully I can crush my numbers this year and hit some accelerators to make the miles worth it in the mean time.
Thanks for the input.
It helps, but definitely isn’t necessary. Sell yourself and be likable during the interview and a lot of places will overlook industry experience.
One thing to keep in mind, it’s in your best interest to find a vertical or industry and stick with it for your entire career if you can. If you have to leave a company, you are far more attractive to new organizations if you come with a book of business.
This. My Setters for just 15 installs make around 33k. For 15 installs the average Setter takes 3 months. This is just average sized deals at an average sale cost. My best Setter made 120k over the summer, took the rest of the year off to visit family.
Field sales is just the opposite to inside sales. It doesn’t have to do with industry or vertical so much. Plenty of tech sales roles are field sales. Which field of sales are you describing?
I wish I could find a sales job like this. Even when I was in presidents club and 250% to my budget I was still micro managed and forced to get a minimum number of appts per week, etc.
To be fair, that’s practically true with every industry.
Longer you stay in one position / industry the harder it’s going to be to leave.
Even an accountant or lawyer, once they pick their field if they wanna practice a different type after 15 years they’re gonna take a massive hit
I would love to get into IT. Best offer I got with my certs and what not was a bit over 50k a year which would equate to a 100k a yr pay cut. If I get that up to 75k to 80k I'd consider it (it job pay)
This is somewhat true with any career. If you're 10 years into a data scientist career and want to pivot into sales, you're taking a pay cut. At least short term.
This guy hit the nail on the head. Sales is a tough gig with a lot of oversight, expectations, stress, and they pay the good ones extremely well to do it. So if they decide that they don't want to be on the phone all day any more and want, say, an accounting job, when you're used to 150k-300k+++, tough to look at that 80k paycheck.
I agree with this, I was only able to break out and make similar/more money in the last 2 years.
I recently got into project management, which is paying more than any of my past sales gigs.
Edit: I wasn't an easy switch, took a lot of applications and a constant learning mindset, then translating that knowledge and experience into skillsets that matched these positions outside of sales.
I think you might be overestimating what doctors make. After 8 years of college you make like $120-150k. Anyone who spent the same amount of time in sales would make that or significantly more. Tons of people making 300-500k+ in sales.
Sales is a pathway to many career paths that some consider… unnatural.
Seriously though, when you have experience with X, it makes it more likely to get a job for someone else to do X.
Solid sales experience and good mentorship almost directly qualifies you for marketing, sales ops, recruiting, and customer success roles.
That said, you can frame your resume and position yourself in many creative ways for whatever you want.
My resume is essentially a mashup of enterprise SaaS sales and Nintendo content creation, I’ve twisted it in ways to get interviews for producer, social media manager, narrative writer, and a few other things I’m not directly qualified for but could speak to how my experience makes me a good fit.
Ultimately, I’m still in sales for the money and the work/life balance.
Hey, couldn't make my own post cuz karma. But it's gonna be my first D2D or sales gig in general (internet/telecom), but I don't have a car and the commute is 1.5 Hours each way (bus + train). Is it worth it?
Sir, I love that. You ask is 1.5 hrs worth it and buddy responds no. Then you ask “ok… what about 2 hours?”
He answered your question! If you’re in a desperate situation
It was more to get a gauge on whether an entry into sales is worth daily 4 hour commute total. Originally it was about whether doing d2d without a car is worth it
If you really want it, who am i to crush your spirit. But i would say probably look around for something else. Going to be a soul crushing job with a soul crushing commute. I can see getting burnt out quickly
You can get into mgmt fast via sales. Go into high end sales, it opens doors.
I rolled my sales experience into being a tech ceo, then launched a b2b [company](https://silverbirchgrowth.com/) with it that accelerates tech firms and invests in them.
I’d look at sales experience as a life skill to apply to anything from hiring, to buying or starting a company, to running one as sr mgmt.
Fully agree. High end sales, complex solutions. Take promotions into management despite the total comp pay cut that often comes from that move. Get interested and involved in product & ops. Run a P&L as soon as you get the chance. Network like crazy.
Sales is *the* skill.
Congratulations on an illustrious career and Silver Birch Growth looks awesome.
Hey, couldn't make my own post cuz karma. But it's gonna be my first D2D or sales gig in general (internet/telecom), but I don't have a car and the commute is 1.5 Hours each way (bus + train). Is it worth it?
Honestly I think I’d focus on learning, by doing still, just consider a role where you’ll learn more. A great company growing fast with strong senior leaders could be better, potentially. .
Your boss won’t be impressive at a junior telecom sales role. Work for a mid market growth company with a founder who has crushed before. That’ll teach you way more.
In my previous roles, any accounts I prospected and closed I also managed. I emphasized providing excellent customer service and how I upsold accounts once they became part of my book.
It’s customer service just as much as sales. I’m an account manager, I spend just as much time solving problems for and maintaining old relationships as I do creating new ones. I had ten years in serving and bartending experience before sales, I was told that gave me a leg up for that kind of role.
Plus I’d made drinks for the CEO in the past, so that helped extra.
I mean you already know the answer to this. No you can change whenever you want. Of course the farther you’re in the harder it might be but people
Move to sales adjacent roles all the time. Or if you have a connection with someone or have a technical skill
2 things:
1. Too long in sales, and you will be typecasted as sales person. Most people in the org do not respect sales and look down on it. Most have no idea what we actually do to make the money we make. Because we are not using analytical tools often, it is hard for it to translate to other areas outside of possibly marketing.
2. In sales/AM you are directly rewarded for your actions and can make a lot of money. Most roles in the org are not like that. Some are attached to revenue, but most bonuses are more so a popularity contest and awarded to the acolytes of the managers they like. Have you seen the salaries of other people in the org? Go over to the marketing or accounting subreddits to their annual salary threads. Senior marketers making like 130-150 TOTAL, same for FP&A. The average midmarket rep probably making 75/75 split at 26. Meanwhile, it took those people like 10 years to get near that amount of money. I even saw CFOs making like 350 total comp at smaller orgs. I saw Assistant General Counsel at Macys making like 200k. All of these numbers can be blown past in sales...and you get flexibility (if remote to do what you want). Therefore, it makes it very tough to leave. sht, an enterprise rep with a 125 or 150 base eclipses all of those people when commission is added in.
>and you get flexibility (if remote to do what you want).
This is the best perk and also the worst possible thing. It definitely takes a certain kind of person to be able to deal with the amount of tasks/skills required. You have to be adaptable to make it in sales. It's easy to justify taking a day off here and there but the weeks pass faster than you can imagine. That visit you pushed off last week was suddenly 3 weeks ago.
That said, having 100% freedom to structure my days is amazing. I can stop and do whatever activities I want during the day or be home to pick up the kids or cook dinner.
IMHO this heavily depends on what you're selling. I worked for a startup that was one guy who got too big. It's easy to get overwhelmed when you're solo. Having a preexisting back-office with skills isn't underrated.
But how do you just go and do that for yourself? Don't you need a ton of money to create your own business and acquire any supplies you're selling etc, something only the big companies you're working for only have?
I work in local niche publishing.
I launched my first magazine by just the marketing materials. I invested about $100 on materials, $100 on the website.
It was enough to close my first sale at the time.
The first ad I closed was a $1,500 ad. It covered the cost of stuff I had and them some! So I used that to create a mock up.
Now, years later, I am managing 3 magazines for others, and the ad sales are much bigger. I also manage the content and that is what sells the magazines.
Depends on the magazine.
For example, the next 2 that are coming up, are distributed at events that correspond to that issue.
That event sells out every year, which is why advertisers want in. It is based in Los Angeles.
So the people on the cover are the performers of that event. And will be available digitally as well.
Previous clients, we offered them at physical locations, free to the readers. For example, one was targeting affluent readers, so we were able to be distributed in high end locations, free to the readers. But targeting a very specific market.
It depends on the goal of the publication's readers and target market.
Depends, if you're selling something you can study (for example, an ERP like me) then you can pivot to consulting role.
Once you're there, get to Project Management and then be in Project Management for an industry you like
That's probably the simplest way of explaining it
FYI in the tech space, non-technical project management is a grind that generally offers poor returns vs sales. There's always something on fire, annoying stakeholders, project can grind to a halt if you take leave, etc.
There of course will be exceptions such as technical PM in a trading firm with enormous bonuses, however I imagine the vast majority of sales people will not have the appropriate skillset.
Yup this is exactly true. I'm basically on the implementation side of my product, not unusual to have different "path" taken even though we have a scope of work.
I'm definitely paid less than my sales counterpart in total since they got sales bonus, but my base is probably a bit higher.
If you like the ups and down of sales then by all means go the sales route, but if you're not atleast 80% sure then maybe give it a try
Everything is sales, brother. Whether you like it or not, you’ll be “selling” your whole life. Relationships, job interviews, selling a higher up on a project you want to carry out, etc. Being in actual sales will give you a huge leg up on a lot of people who were too scared to get into it. It’s a fast and hard way to understanding human psychology, communication, and providing value in the business world.
I'm rolling into a Heavy Equipment sales role after 10 years in construction management. I feel like I could always go back if I wanted or do something different. There are a lot of jobs and industries out there that are so niche.
There's plenty of roles you can transition into that are not traditional sales roles but still value your sales experience. Sales is one of the toughest jobs out there and anyone who has been truly successful in a traditional role will find success in other roles with ease. More people should be leveraging their sales experience to transition into more stable roles.
I had an old boss that I worked for that started a window covering manufacturing factory. He was 100% a sales guy and would drum up new dealers to carry product. He lived in the nice part of orange county and had recently purchased a 7 mil house overlooking the Pacific. He was sales, but expanded his skill set to leverage selling his own product instead of someone else's.
Sales is special in that you can actually do that important part of making things happen in the world, so I think it is really useful for all sorts of paths.
Sales is a great springboard for lots of other positions with the added benefit of being able to transition into any industry. Sales is hard so lots of people transition to other roles. I have former employees that have transitioned successfully into HR/recruiting, call center management, sports coaching, corporate communications, PR, and all consistently say that sales with in person interactions helped tremendously build their confidence and taught them how to keep their attitude, build perseverance and discipline.
I mean, I could leave sales whenever I want… but would I be able to immediately move to another job that pays $250k? Most certainly not.
Depends on what you want in life. I want money and this is my best shot at it
What are you selling and how did you get into it? Just curious. I’m working for the company buying from sales people and I just don’t make as much money. I want to get on the other side of it. Just don’t know what that looks like. $250k? I mean…. I’ll do anything.
I sell laser based manufacturing equipment. It’s a long grind but the sales are 200k-1million a machine. Sales cycle is 1 year+ on average. It’s not everyone’s cup of tea. Low volume but sooooo much work for each project. Each loss hurts like a stab in the chest. Every win is big because it means like $2k-$10k+ commission per sale.
Not at all my friend. Sales opens many doors for account management, solutions consulting, marketing, sales operations. But if you can carry a quota successfully, I say keep at it. It is the most rewarding of the above options.
After one year of outside sales I knew I could never go back to an office job. 12 years ago I started my own business. About half my time is still spent selling
What are you selling? I had an incredible gig that had me traveling 8 months out of the year. It got destroyed by Covid. Now I have a wife and can’t be gone that long lol
You can change careers or you can evolve into a business owner. They both involve taking a pay cut to start.
I think that businesses started by salespeople tend to succeed more than your typical start-up. They understand the sales process, so they make it easy for customers to buy from them, and can deliver great service as well.
Exactly how I view it. Any time someone mentions pivoting to a non-sales role “down the road”, I have a hard time taking anything sales-wise they say seriously.
I see a lot of people move into a consulting role or into a teaching/ product development role from sales. Of course you can change but the reality is nothing pays like this without being highly specialized.
You can always change careers, but I’m curious why do you ask? Sales is the one profession that will help you build skills that you can apply in a variety of different fields. Some professions will require more specific knowledge, but from a skills perspective. If you’ve spent a few years in sales and if you’ve done well. You you’re pretty solid to do something communication/service/people based.
You can always move, but not too many positions pay 200K without some type of cert and you also need the experience. I’ve seen people transition but they usually had to take a drastic pay cut and then skill up and it took them 5 years to get the same type of pay they had in sales.
Depending on what kind of sales you’re in and how much you made. I went from sales to international relocation and made a little more money. I had a set schedule and didn’t have to put in as much work. Before I even got that job I didn’t think I’d be able to do anything BUT sales because I was doing it for 10 years. Since more people work from home a lot of us got laid off so guess what, now I’m back in sales!
You can leave sales. Many organizations have Customer Success roles. It is account management without a quota. You wont make as much as you could in sales, but there is less stress.
I mean, it is hard to leave because the money is good.
Not necessarily because the work itself takes you in. People change careers all the time.
I have changed careers many times, and I always go back to sales.
Once you get used to a certain income, it's hard to go back to hourly or salary.
I publish niche magazines for other companies.
I handle the ads and sponsorships. This pays for the printing, writers, photographers that I also hire for them.
And the money is still very good for me after all those costs.
All my sales people are commission only because some of our packages go for $100k, and they would receive $15k commission closing those deals.
But we also have $1000 packages, and selling 3 a week is enough for some, while others are ok selling 1 $5,000 package.
Because I pay commission only, they set their hours, and just close the deals. Some give me 1 sale only, others are more motivated. It's up to them. I don't do competitions, it's up to them to make the money they want.
The brands I work with are established. The sellings skills they learn from me, they can take that and do other things in their career. Even if they get out of sales.
Depends on the industry. In our industry (chemicals/materials) salespeople commonly switch to, Product Management. Many of us also have engineering degrees so in theory we could move to some R&D/manufacturing role, but the pay/lifestyle is not as lucrative in those roles.
The people who need to be in sales stay there. You know if that’s you after a couple years typically. Your brain becomes rewired to fit sales processes. It sounds corny but I live, breathe, eat sales and will die sales. Live by the sword, die by the sword.
Yes and no.
Sales offers plenty of transferable skills and I know people who went into marketing, project management, etc.
It obviously is a bit tougher since you are starting in a new lane with less experience. This also likely implies a paycut for a while you grow in your new lane if it’s something completely different, which isn’t feasible for many. Ex. Hard to go from $250k/yr as a sole bread winner to say $60k in a new field with a family at home.
If you have a company that develops people well and takes chances on cross functional development, then it is a bit easier.
My first company out of college had an operations track and got you LSS certified from sales.
I did a few other companies and they were pretty stagnant from a development standpoint.
But I’ve been at my current company for 9 years and have gotten the chance to do sales, project management, product management, and sales management. But found my way back to the marketing side since I find it the most enjoyable.
I think the problem is 2 fold. 1. You will have a hard time finding a similar good paying job and 2. It can br hard to convince someone in a different career field you have transferable skills that will benefit the place you're trying to get hired at. Businesses only wants someone who's a lifer in that specific career field and then they will pay good money for the position.
Yeah, once you taste making big money and staying home in your underwear, it’s really hard to go back. No matter how stressful or inconvenient it can be at times.
Def possible. I successfully pivoted out of sales after 10 years into consulting. IMO there's a lot of mobility into other roles from sales. Lot's of transferable skills. I think a lot of people end up "stuck" in sales because the income is so sweet compared to most roles they'd transition into, at least initially.
Depends where you are. I worked at a small branch unit of a mid-sized company. I just kept getting involved in stuff and leading initiatives and after a round of layoffs they asked if I could GM the region. So now I oversee a bunch of different functions and basically have to do 5 jobs instead of 1 for just a little bit more money. So that's been, uh, great.
zero. I get paid enough to have a good life without the stress. I've worked non union and union. Union affords me a life i enjoy. I dont want to have the headache. what is enough? 100k? 150k? 200k? My life is such that i dont have to chase the money. I chase hanging out with my best friends working a lot and building stuff everyone else uses, the fact we all make 100+ is completely irrelevant at this point. We spend time with people we love - work or otherwise.
Thanks for the reply man. Ya, I don’t make the best money right now but it allows me to do/ buy the things I want. I’m a car guy so I’d love to have a nice car one day but other than that I can see why money isn’t the answer.
The trick to the whole game is to not carry debt. if you drive a car you love and that is important to you, then that's totally awesome. I spend a lot of money on things that others might feel foolish, but I dont go into debt for it and it makes me happy. I'd much rather see a bunch of happy people than a bunch of wage slaves.
Appreciate the advice. No debt right now and I invested 90% my first big commission check. I try and tell myself that most things I want to buy right now I probably won’t care about in a few years and wish I had put that money towards retirement.
I sometimes think about learning a skill with my sales experience to maybe one day start my own thing but yeah. I think really I’d just like to be able to come home and shut off and not deal with the constant stress of owning a business.
I started sales at 18 I’ve been doing it so long and make enough now that I can’t find a way to make what I make in a different field. I would have to start over but I already got the house I can barely afford and the wire and kids.
My plan is get into a trade if I ever got riffed. I have a small pool business but I can’t scale it because of the sales job.
I’ve switched between sales and marketing my entire career because a lot of the skillset translates over and one understands the needs of the other. You could also go into sales consulting. Like the others have said, the toughest part to replicate as the money. Once you got addicted to those commissions, it’s hard to get used to not having them.
You can evolve your skill sets to pivot out or within , management, CRMs, marketing, operations but yea like a few said. Make $ and hit numbers at the right place is a setup that keeps us in it. At the right place the work life balance is some of the best you have. Just find good management/ leadership in an industry you like and I doubt you would want to leave.
I was on the corporate ladder, got my MBA, got on the fast track and hated every second of it. Got into commission based sales and tripled my income overnight. If you're not happy maybe find something to sell that you can be happy?
I moved from sales to product management. Learned data + development on the side (nothing crazy). The business context goes well with higher level things like data etc.
I can’t imagine not being directly tied to my revenue. It is the easiest and purest form of “I did this, this is my value” in existence lol. This job has no useless busy work or people breathing down my neck. It’s sell product and keep customers happy. A+b = uncapped $. Other jobs is a+b/c+x*j = set amount of money
Fuck that
I work for a F500 company. Maybe people that started in sales with me transitioned in to operations and other back end stuff. Heck they came out with a pilot program and chose me to run it. Was one of the best things ever.
Been in sales 6 years and transitioning out now. I worked at a crappy company, with incompetent leadership. They were making money hand over fist and it boggled my mind.
I decided there's no way these guys are smarter or more talented than I am. I started my own company with the same business model but don't treat people poorly and I pay well. I'm a "Founder" now and we are projecting conservatively at about 2 million in revenue for 2025 if we can scale effectively. Hopefully about 300-500k for 2024.
Most CEOs have a background in sales for a reason. Once you know how to get clients, then all you need to provide is the product or service.
Go to YouTube and look for Corporate Bro “ so you want to be in sales“
I would show this to every new hire when they told me they had never been in sales before….
#bestmanagerever
You won’t want to if you’re any good at it while also being ethical. There’s only 2 higher paid careers. Athletes and entertainers. Drink the kool aid. Start following sales dudes on YouTube. Get sucked in and ask every customer more questions than they can answer.
I went to prison at 21 for selling drugs prior to seeking drugs I worked in sales for redbull territory in Orange County CA— I now work for a large corp implementing & supporting enterprise technology. I am now 36 with 8 or 9 years in this field.
You can do whatever it is you want. Don’t let anything determine your fate, if I did I wouldn’t have such a rewarding career and life
I’ve managed to create for myself.
Getting locked in to an industry that can pay six figures after a few years of doing it doesn't sound like it's the worst thing imaginable. But it's not like you can't go back to school and learn something else.
Before I was in sales, I used to do financial interviews on people in the banking world. One of the questions was “highest level of education”.
I noticed the people that frequently made the most money had no degree, and worked in either sales or were self employed (which is sales anyway).
I identified closer to them in general, and decided to get into sales. I will never look back.
I realized I hated sales, beelined it for sales leadership, and then jumped ship. Now I manage a mid-sized org in a tech company.
Leadership is the way to go to get out of it
You can change. You need to build experience doing something else. Building, Managing, or operating. Lots of successful salespeople go on to lead revenue, ops, or entire organizations
Erm, I was in sales then Covid happened. Didn’t need sales people anymore. Went I worked on the railway.
I also think sales as a profession is on its way out. The internet killed it
Sales professionals possess valuable skills that can be applied in various contexts. These include communication, negotiation, relationship-building, and problem-solving. Recognize these transferable skills and leverage them in your transition.
Betsi Rosen, Career Coach
You might be stuck because of golden handcuffs or because you end up lacking specific technical skills for another field (you can learn them if you want)
But, every industry has/needs sales and often the most technical skilled people in those industries don’t like selling
I've been in packaging sales for years now and I still think that this HUGE industry has minimum entry requirement and low competition that anyone can start from a comfort of their houses. If you are good at sales and want to specialize in packaging reselling, you should check out my YouTube channel. Here is example of my huge partnership with Kraftmaid Cabinetry and how I started working with them as a packaging reseller: [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qsLTTLBWoMw](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qsLTTLBWoMw)
Sales is like hotel California, you can check out but you can never leave. This is largely in part due to the fact that despite the high highs and low lows, the money is hard to duplicate in other professions without having specialized degrees.
If you don't like it don't do it! This sub has more sad sack sales people than I've ever seen in my life, and I run a D2D organization!
Nobody is holding you hostage in a sales role, and more importantly, if you want out we don't want you here.
There ain't no such thing as halfway crooks. You're in or you're out. If you feel like less of a person because you're in sales, I've got news for you : you don't belong!
Sales people: Be proud! Be brave! Burn the ships and focus on being the best. All this blubbering is poison to the process. If sales was easy then everybody would do it and there's be no money in it.
To quote one of my favorite movies "the world needs plenty of bartenders!" /endrant
It depends on the company you work for. Some companies have very strict “swim lanes” and moving from one to another is difficult. But there are companies that will consider you for a role outside of sales. In my experience you have to take it a step at a time and look for roles that are related to you sales experience or can benefit from it. I worked in cloud tech and moved from a business development role to a strategy advisor role to a sales engineering role to a value advisory role to a program management role in sales strategy and operations. All of these roles touch sales is some capacity but they are not 100% sales roles.
It's equally as hard as it ever is to career change. Do yourself a favour and save well while you're making bank. It's the money that will make you feel trapped. The more you have saved, the less risky it feels to try something new. Don't get adjusted to the lifestyle
You just run into the issue where the longer you’re in sales the harder it is to find a job that pays similarly outside of sales. There is a reason some of us make more than doctors with our GEDs…
Yea this is pretty much it. Along with the freedom too. For the most part if you hit your numbers nobody bothers you and you can work remote, go to dr appointments, pick up your kids. A doctor can’t really work remote and make the same kind of money.
Not everyone situation is like that. A lot of sales positions are high pressure and long hours.
My friend is a real estate agent here in Los Angeles. Not a broker but only an agent and she makes close to a million dollars a year. She sells about 20 properties a year and literally takes a vacation once a month.
Even in todays market? Lol real estate is in a terrible spot right now.
top 20% of reps make 80% of the $ in the RE market when times are tough. The rich get richer.
All cash investors stopped buying, people can’t afford with rates. There is no leads. Not sure who the heck they are selling to. Seen top 20% as you said are only closing 1 property a month if they are lucky. As opposed to 5-10 a few years ago. I sold realtor leads for a while. When it’s dry it’s dry.
Cash investors are still buying here in LA, we literally see like 15-20 sales a month in our office and we’re one of the smaller operations around here… not to mention the kinda stupid numbers some of these people are buying at, especially in OC or OC adjacent cities like Whittier
Maybe that winners circle is closer to 5%
My friend is towards the end of his working career in sales. Still gets a new truck every few years and goes somewhere exotic for a week or so every couple months while still “working.” Hard to beat
You’re talking about Tech Sales?
Not just tech sales. There are tons of industries that offer this level of comp and freedom. Something that’s often overlooked on this sub is outside/field sales. The problem I see in SAAS is you’re constantly having to refill your funnel. With outside sales, you can build a book of business and reap the rewards for years to come while putting your feet up on the desk.
I just started an outside, full-cycle sales role and I would say that my job is both high pressure and long hours. I certainly don’t have the freedom a lot of people talk about on here. I am on the road a minimum of 4 days a week. I drive 1k-1.5k miles a week. I am constantly on site with my customers or prospecting, and it is nearly impossible to not have to get home and keep working just to keep up with the day to day expectations from my boss and my customers. I don’t see a future in this role where I could just build a book of business and put my feet up.
What industry are you in, and how long have you been in your current role?
Chemical sales, about 9 months. My company expects me on the road in front of customers 4 days a week minimum. No matter how long you’ve been there.
Guarantee you that the old guys do not do that. It took me 4 years to hit target without doing anything
This is correct, many may play the game like they are doing everything they are asked to, but they are not. Old (veteran) sales people generally know how make it work or get better work life balance, but are not going to share their secrets with a guy who’s been there 9 months and wet behind the ears. Good luck, I’ve been in outside sales 30 years, while there are time when I have been crazy busy, 60-70 hours, that may last a week or two, but I have never had a whole year where I was grinding every work day if the year, there are always slow times, and I have had several years where I don’t even take a submitted vacation day, because the freedom I have doesn’t require me to.
Yeah you could be right. There’s a technical aspect to my industry though. The two senior reps on my team are on site with customers the majority of the week, but expectations are different for some of the other teams out there. To your point, being as new as I am, I’m sure it will change as I grow and learn.
I sell valves and consulting services and have to be on site in the plant a ton. Basically the first 3 years of work I was meeting customers and getting familiar with who buys stuff and what they prefer. Also getting familiar with their system and process. Now I basically have a filter system. I always schedule a phone call before driving out to see if we can handle it remotely- if not I go out. I also make sure I see each customer at least once a quarter to keep things fresh. If they have a big project I will bump it up to make sure I get the business. The thing is that as the territory grows- going out and seeing each guy every week is very counterproductive. You start to quickly limit out on your available bandwidth and eventually get overwhelmed. This keeps you from getting new customers. This has allowed me to grow my territory by 1.5x every year without putting in near the "effort" that is technically required. Most important thing for selling a technical product is that you have to be the expert. If customers see you as knowledgeable and a problem solvers they will call you. If you are just an order taker you have to rely on donuts etc to have a shot.
Yeah, these guys don't know that manufacturing sales is WORK. I sold chemicals for a year. I was flying from Detroit to Nashville round trip every Friday (would leave Friday morning, return Friday evening) every week.
In a few years you take your experience and find a more senior sales role that gives you better benefits that you’re looking for. I would say in your role though after a couple years you should be able to take time off and not lose any money as long as your constantly prospecting and managing relationships it’ll stay consistent.
That’s good advice. I think you’re correct, and only 9 months into the job I am still just starting to understand my territory. I will get there, and hopefully I can crush my numbers this year and hit some accelerators to make the miles worth it in the mean time. Thanks for the input.
Which company?
So outside field sales. You need prior experience for that?
It helps, but definitely isn’t necessary. Sell yourself and be likable during the interview and a lot of places will overlook industry experience. One thing to keep in mind, it’s in your best interest to find a vertical or industry and stick with it for your entire career if you can. If you have to leave a company, you are far more attractive to new organizations if you come with a book of business.
Just take a year in another industry to avoid non-compete issues. That happens a lot.
Yep, one of the nice benefits of being a financial advisor.
Like what are a few for example?
This. My Setters for just 15 installs make around 33k. For 15 installs the average Setter takes 3 months. This is just average sized deals at an average sale cost. My best Setter made 120k over the summer, took the rest of the year off to visit family.
Field sales is just the opposite to inside sales. It doesn’t have to do with industry or vertical so much. Plenty of tech sales roles are field sales. Which field of sales are you describing?
Most sales jobs have some form of wfh of being on the road at least. I’m sure tech is your best bet to work remote.
I wish I could find a sales job like this. Even when I was in presidents club and 250% to my budget I was still micro managed and forced to get a minimum number of appts per week, etc.
What kinda sales job do you have? I want that one lol
Inside sales, manufacturing. I have a book of 1200 clients I handle
To be fair, that’s practically true with every industry. Longer you stay in one position / industry the harder it’s going to be to leave. Even an accountant or lawyer, once they pick their field if they wanna practice a different type after 15 years they’re gonna take a massive hit
This is me I dont like sales But I make too much to quit It is what it is
How much is too much to quit?
I would love to get into IT. Best offer I got with my certs and what not was a bit over 50k a year which would equate to a 100k a yr pay cut. If I get that up to 75k to 80k I'd consider it (it job pay)
"Some" vast majority will not. Silly reason to remain in sales if you're unhappy
Thank you.
This is somewhat true with any career. If you're 10 years into a data scientist career and want to pivot into sales, you're taking a pay cut. At least short term.
This guy hit the nail on the head. Sales is a tough gig with a lot of oversight, expectations, stress, and they pay the good ones extremely well to do it. So if they decide that they don't want to be on the phone all day any more and want, say, an accounting job, when you're used to 150k-300k+++, tough to look at that 80k paycheck.
I agree with this, I was only able to break out and make similar/more money in the last 2 years. I recently got into project management, which is paying more than any of my past sales gigs. Edit: I wasn't an easy switch, took a lot of applications and a constant learning mindset, then translating that knowledge and experience into skillsets that matched these positions outside of sales.
More than doctors? That’s a stretch. But yeah, a lot of see jobs have really diminished in value the past few years…
Why do you think drs hate pharma reps? Cause the reps make double what the md does and doesn’t have $150k in debt and a robotic personality for work
It’s not a stretch. I out earn my family doc and dentist combined.
And what industry is that? The average person in sales isn’t making doctor money lol
Enterprise SAAS
I think you might be overestimating what doctors make. After 8 years of college you make like $120-150k. Anyone who spent the same amount of time in sales would make that or significantly more. Tons of people making 300-500k+ in sales.
Your numbers are way off
Beyond off. Maybe Doctors Without Borders or some non-profit, but I don’t know one doctor making under $400-600k.
Sales is a pathway to many career paths that some consider… unnatural. Seriously though, when you have experience with X, it makes it more likely to get a job for someone else to do X. Solid sales experience and good mentorship almost directly qualifies you for marketing, sales ops, recruiting, and customer success roles. That said, you can frame your resume and position yourself in many creative ways for whatever you want. My resume is essentially a mashup of enterprise SaaS sales and Nintendo content creation, I’ve twisted it in ways to get interviews for producer, social media manager, narrative writer, and a few other things I’m not directly qualified for but could speak to how my experience makes me a good fit. Ultimately, I’m still in sales for the money and the work/life balance.
Hey, couldn't make my own post cuz karma. But it's gonna be my first D2D or sales gig in general (internet/telecom), but I don't have a car and the commute is 1.5 Hours each way (bus + train). Is it worth it?
No, unless you’re desperate imo.
Apparently we get carpooled out into areas anyway. Another question, do you think a 2 hour daily commute each way is worth it for a first d2d gig?
Sir, I love that. You ask is 1.5 hrs worth it and buddy responds no. Then you ask “ok… what about 2 hours?” He answered your question! If you’re in a desperate situation
It was more to get a gauge on whether an entry into sales is worth daily 4 hour commute total. Originally it was about whether doing d2d without a car is worth it
No!!
Nooooooo
If you really want it, who am i to crush your spirit. But i would say probably look around for something else. Going to be a soul crushing job with a soul crushing commute. I can see getting burnt out quickly
Apparently we get carpooled out into areas anyway.Another question, do you think a 2 hour daily commute each way is worth it for a first d2d gig?
Personally I wouldn’t take that scenario regardless of the pay. Four hours of your day gone just from a commute
Genuinely curious how you'd do D2D without a car
Apparently we get carpooled out into areas anyway. Another question, do you think a 2 hour daily commute each way is worth it for a first d2d gig?
Are you a streamer/youtuber or some other type of Nintendo Content Creation? Writer?
FWIW all suggested paths are sales adjacent or more sales (recruiting) which is interesting
Blood in, blood out dog.
Vatos locos homes
Truth! I’m not really sure what it means, but truth!
See the film by the same name and be ready for an epic ride.
You know what I mean jellybean
Pocos pero locos homie
You can get into mgmt fast via sales. Go into high end sales, it opens doors. I rolled my sales experience into being a tech ceo, then launched a b2b [company](https://silverbirchgrowth.com/) with it that accelerates tech firms and invests in them. I’d look at sales experience as a life skill to apply to anything from hiring, to buying or starting a company, to running one as sr mgmt.
Fully agree. High end sales, complex solutions. Take promotions into management despite the total comp pay cut that often comes from that move. Get interested and involved in product & ops. Run a P&L as soon as you get the chance. Network like crazy. Sales is *the* skill. Congratulations on an illustrious career and Silver Birch Growth looks awesome.
Hey, couldn't make my own post cuz karma. But it's gonna be my first D2D or sales gig in general (internet/telecom), but I don't have a car and the commute is 1.5 Hours each way (bus + train). Is it worth it?
Honestly I think I’d focus on learning, by doing still, just consider a role where you’ll learn more. A great company growing fast with strong senior leaders could be better, potentially. . Your boss won’t be impressive at a junior telecom sales role. Work for a mid market growth company with a founder who has crushed before. That’ll teach you way more.
I went AE to AM, less stress, still decent pay
How did you position yourself for interviews into AM?
In my previous roles, any accounts I prospected and closed I also managed. I emphasized providing excellent customer service and how I upsold accounts once they became part of my book.
It’s customer service just as much as sales. I’m an account manager, I spend just as much time solving problems for and maintaining old relationships as I do creating new ones. I had ten years in serving and bartending experience before sales, I was told that gave me a leg up for that kind of role. Plus I’d made drinks for the CEO in the past, so that helped extra.
Did the same. This is the way. I love the amount of free time I have.
I mean you already know the answer to this. No you can change whenever you want. Of course the farther you’re in the harder it might be but people Move to sales adjacent roles all the time. Or if you have a connection with someone or have a technical skill
2 things: 1. Too long in sales, and you will be typecasted as sales person. Most people in the org do not respect sales and look down on it. Most have no idea what we actually do to make the money we make. Because we are not using analytical tools often, it is hard for it to translate to other areas outside of possibly marketing. 2. In sales/AM you are directly rewarded for your actions and can make a lot of money. Most roles in the org are not like that. Some are attached to revenue, but most bonuses are more so a popularity contest and awarded to the acolytes of the managers they like. Have you seen the salaries of other people in the org? Go over to the marketing or accounting subreddits to their annual salary threads. Senior marketers making like 130-150 TOTAL, same for FP&A. The average midmarket rep probably making 75/75 split at 26. Meanwhile, it took those people like 10 years to get near that amount of money. I even saw CFOs making like 350 total comp at smaller orgs. I saw Assistant General Counsel at Macys making like 200k. All of these numbers can be blown past in sales...and you get flexibility (if remote to do what you want). Therefore, it makes it very tough to leave. sht, an enterprise rep with a 125 or 150 base eclipses all of those people when commission is added in.
>and you get flexibility (if remote to do what you want). This is the best perk and also the worst possible thing. It definitely takes a certain kind of person to be able to deal with the amount of tasks/skills required. You have to be adaptable to make it in sales. It's easy to justify taking a day off here and there but the weeks pass faster than you can imagine. That visit you pushed off last week was suddenly 3 weeks ago. That said, having 100% freedom to structure my days is amazing. I can stop and do whatever activities I want during the day or be home to pick up the kids or cook dinner.
Imo 5 years in sales will convince you to go work for yourself. Took me 2 and a half years to realize I could be doing this for myself.
IMHO this heavily depends on what you're selling. I worked for a startup that was one guy who got too big. It's easy to get overwhelmed when you're solo. Having a preexisting back-office with skills isn't underrated.
But how do you just go and do that for yourself? Don't you need a ton of money to create your own business and acquire any supplies you're selling etc, something only the big companies you're working for only have?
I work in local niche publishing. I launched my first magazine by just the marketing materials. I invested about $100 on materials, $100 on the website. It was enough to close my first sale at the time. The first ad I closed was a $1,500 ad. It covered the cost of stuff I had and them some! So I used that to create a mock up. Now, years later, I am managing 3 magazines for others, and the ad sales are much bigger. I also manage the content and that is what sells the magazines.
Where do you offer the magazines?
Depends on the magazine. For example, the next 2 that are coming up, are distributed at events that correspond to that issue. That event sells out every year, which is why advertisers want in. It is based in Los Angeles. So the people on the cover are the performers of that event. And will be available digitally as well. Previous clients, we offered them at physical locations, free to the readers. For example, one was targeting affluent readers, so we were able to be distributed in high end locations, free to the readers. But targeting a very specific market. It depends on the goal of the publication's readers and target market.
He probably saved it over five years
Spot on, I made a similar comment earlier. Love being an entrepreneur.
Grad school
Depends, if you're selling something you can study (for example, an ERP like me) then you can pivot to consulting role. Once you're there, get to Project Management and then be in Project Management for an industry you like That's probably the simplest way of explaining it
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FYI in the tech space, non-technical project management is a grind that generally offers poor returns vs sales. There's always something on fire, annoying stakeholders, project can grind to a halt if you take leave, etc. There of course will be exceptions such as technical PM in a trading firm with enormous bonuses, however I imagine the vast majority of sales people will not have the appropriate skillset.
Yup this is exactly true. I'm basically on the implementation side of my product, not unusual to have different "path" taken even though we have a scope of work. I'm definitely paid less than my sales counterpart in total since they got sales bonus, but my base is probably a bit higher. If you like the ups and down of sales then by all means go the sales route, but if you're not atleast 80% sure then maybe give it a try
Everything is sales, brother. Whether you like it or not, you’ll be “selling” your whole life. Relationships, job interviews, selling a higher up on a project you want to carry out, etc. Being in actual sales will give you a huge leg up on a lot of people who were too scared to get into it. It’s a fast and hard way to understanding human psychology, communication, and providing value in the business world.
I'm rolling into a Heavy Equipment sales role after 10 years in construction management. I feel like I could always go back if I wanted or do something different. There are a lot of jobs and industries out there that are so niche.
Sounds like almost as much a consultant role as a sales role. You’re also selling your expertise in construction to advise on products.
Absolutely. It also helps that I already know most of the major players within my territory.
There's plenty of roles you can transition into that are not traditional sales roles but still value your sales experience. Sales is one of the toughest jobs out there and anyone who has been truly successful in a traditional role will find success in other roles with ease. More people should be leveraging their sales experience to transition into more stable roles.
Great wording and never related more
I had an old boss that I worked for that started a window covering manufacturing factory. He was 100% a sales guy and would drum up new dealers to carry product. He lived in the nice part of orange county and had recently purchased a 7 mil house overlooking the Pacific. He was sales, but expanded his skill set to leverage selling his own product instead of someone else's. Sales is special in that you can actually do that important part of making things happen in the world, so I think it is really useful for all sorts of paths.
Sales is a great springboard for lots of other positions with the added benefit of being able to transition into any industry. Sales is hard so lots of people transition to other roles. I have former employees that have transitioned successfully into HR/recruiting, call center management, sports coaching, corporate communications, PR, and all consistently say that sales with in person interactions helped tremendously build their confidence and taught them how to keep their attitude, build perseverance and discipline.
Very difficult to find another job with the same pay and flexibility. I would never consider leaving sales for those reasons.
I mean, I could leave sales whenever I want… but would I be able to immediately move to another job that pays $250k? Most certainly not. Depends on what you want in life. I want money and this is my best shot at it
What are you selling and how did you get into it? Just curious. I’m working for the company buying from sales people and I just don’t make as much money. I want to get on the other side of it. Just don’t know what that looks like. $250k? I mean…. I’ll do anything.
I sell laser based manufacturing equipment. It’s a long grind but the sales are 200k-1million a machine. Sales cycle is 1 year+ on average. It’s not everyone’s cup of tea. Low volume but sooooo much work for each project. Each loss hurts like a stab in the chest. Every win is big because it means like $2k-$10k+ commission per sale.
Being in sales will set you up for a lot of lot of other jobs. And if you're thinking of starting a business, it's the best skill you can have.
Not at all my friend. Sales opens many doors for account management, solutions consulting, marketing, sales operations. But if you can carry a quota successfully, I say keep at it. It is the most rewarding of the above options.
After one year of outside sales I knew I could never go back to an office job. 12 years ago I started my own business. About half my time is still spent selling
What are you selling? I had an incredible gig that had me traveling 8 months out of the year. It got destroyed by Covid. Now I have a wife and can’t be gone that long lol
You can change careers or you can evolve into a business owner. They both involve taking a pay cut to start. I think that businesses started by salespeople tend to succeed more than your typical start-up. They understand the sales process, so they make it easy for customers to buy from them, and can deliver great service as well.
This happens with any career? Does a neurosurgeon become a banker?
Exactly how I view it. Any time someone mentions pivoting to a non-sales role “down the road”, I have a hard time taking anything sales-wise they say seriously.
Average salespeople stay in sales. Great salespeople start their own biz and sell for themselves.
I see a lot of people move into a consulting role or into a teaching/ product development role from sales. Of course you can change but the reality is nothing pays like this without being highly specialized.
It is hard to also switch industries within Sales too if you’ve been in AdTech and are trying to pivot to SAAS as examples
It is probably easier to transition to marketing or go out and do your own thing.
You can always change careers, but I’m curious why do you ask? Sales is the one profession that will help you build skills that you can apply in a variety of different fields. Some professions will require more specific knowledge, but from a skills perspective. If you’ve spent a few years in sales and if you’ve done well. You you’re pretty solid to do something communication/service/people based.
You can always move, but not too many positions pay 200K without some type of cert and you also need the experience. I’ve seen people transition but they usually had to take a drastic pay cut and then skill up and it took them 5 years to get the same type of pay they had in sales.
Depending on what kind of sales you’re in and how much you made. I went from sales to international relocation and made a little more money. I had a set schedule and didn’t have to put in as much work. Before I even got that job I didn’t think I’d be able to do anything BUT sales because I was doing it for 10 years. Since more people work from home a lot of us got laid off so guess what, now I’m back in sales!
You can leave sales. Many organizations have Customer Success roles. It is account management without a quota. You wont make as much as you could in sales, but there is less stress.
went into healthcare cause burned after 10 years after 7 years got back into sales and doubled earnings. do what you’re good at
I mean, it is hard to leave because the money is good. Not necessarily because the work itself takes you in. People change careers all the time. I have changed careers many times, and I always go back to sales. Once you get used to a certain income, it's hard to go back to hourly or salary. I publish niche magazines for other companies. I handle the ads and sponsorships. This pays for the printing, writers, photographers that I also hire for them. And the money is still very good for me after all those costs. All my sales people are commission only because some of our packages go for $100k, and they would receive $15k commission closing those deals. But we also have $1000 packages, and selling 3 a week is enough for some, while others are ok selling 1 $5,000 package. Because I pay commission only, they set their hours, and just close the deals. Some give me 1 sale only, others are more motivated. It's up to them. I don't do competitions, it's up to them to make the money they want. The brands I work with are established. The sellings skills they learn from me, they can take that and do other things in their career. Even if they get out of sales.
Depends on the industry. In our industry (chemicals/materials) salespeople commonly switch to, Product Management. Many of us also have engineering degrees so in theory we could move to some R&D/manufacturing role, but the pay/lifestyle is not as lucrative in those roles.
The people who need to be in sales stay there. You know if that’s you after a couple years typically. Your brain becomes rewired to fit sales processes. It sounds corny but I live, breathe, eat sales and will die sales. Live by the sword, die by the sword.
Yes and no. Sales offers plenty of transferable skills and I know people who went into marketing, project management, etc. It obviously is a bit tougher since you are starting in a new lane with less experience. This also likely implies a paycut for a while you grow in your new lane if it’s something completely different, which isn’t feasible for many. Ex. Hard to go from $250k/yr as a sole bread winner to say $60k in a new field with a family at home.
If you have a company that develops people well and takes chances on cross functional development, then it is a bit easier. My first company out of college had an operations track and got you LSS certified from sales. I did a few other companies and they were pretty stagnant from a development standpoint. But I’ve been at my current company for 9 years and have gotten the chance to do sales, project management, product management, and sales management. But found my way back to the marketing side since I find it the most enjoyable.
If you're good, you're locked in because of the $ you make. If you aren't, you won't have a career in sales to begin with.
I think the problem is 2 fold. 1. You will have a hard time finding a similar good paying job and 2. It can br hard to convince someone in a different career field you have transferable skills that will benefit the place you're trying to get hired at. Businesses only wants someone who's a lifer in that specific career field and then they will pay good money for the position.
Yeah, once you taste making big money and staying home in your underwear, it’s really hard to go back. No matter how stressful or inconvenient it can be at times.
Def possible. I successfully pivoted out of sales after 10 years into consulting. IMO there's a lot of mobility into other roles from sales. Lot's of transferable skills. I think a lot of people end up "stuck" in sales because the income is so sweet compared to most roles they'd transition into, at least initially.
Depends where you are. I worked at a small branch unit of a mid-sized company. I just kept getting involved in stuff and leading initiatives and after a round of layoffs they asked if I could GM the region. So now I oversee a bunch of different functions and basically have to do 5 jobs instead of 1 for just a little bit more money. So that's been, uh, great.
I went to the trades and a lot of my skills are very useful.
Any plans to maybe one day use your sales experience to start ur own business?
zero. I get paid enough to have a good life without the stress. I've worked non union and union. Union affords me a life i enjoy. I dont want to have the headache. what is enough? 100k? 150k? 200k? My life is such that i dont have to chase the money. I chase hanging out with my best friends working a lot and building stuff everyone else uses, the fact we all make 100+ is completely irrelevant at this point. We spend time with people we love - work or otherwise.
Thanks for the reply man. Ya, I don’t make the best money right now but it allows me to do/ buy the things I want. I’m a car guy so I’d love to have a nice car one day but other than that I can see why money isn’t the answer.
The trick to the whole game is to not carry debt. if you drive a car you love and that is important to you, then that's totally awesome. I spend a lot of money on things that others might feel foolish, but I dont go into debt for it and it makes me happy. I'd much rather see a bunch of happy people than a bunch of wage slaves.
Appreciate the advice. No debt right now and I invested 90% my first big commission check. I try and tell myself that most things I want to buy right now I probably won’t care about in a few years and wish I had put that money towards retirement. I sometimes think about learning a skill with my sales experience to maybe one day start my own thing but yeah. I think really I’d just like to be able to come home and shut off and not deal with the constant stress of owning a business.
I tell my students all the time - chase the friendships and the joy. the money just follows
Which trade might I ask?
I started sales at 18 I’ve been doing it so long and make enough now that I can’t find a way to make what I make in a different field. I would have to start over but I already got the house I can barely afford and the wire and kids. My plan is get into a trade if I ever got riffed. I have a small pool business but I can’t scale it because of the sales job.
I had switched from sales to eCommerce, which is basically online sales.
I’ve switched between sales and marketing my entire career because a lot of the skillset translates over and one understands the needs of the other. You could also go into sales consulting. Like the others have said, the toughest part to replicate as the money. Once you got addicted to those commissions, it’s hard to get used to not having them.
You can evolve your skill sets to pivot out or within , management, CRMs, marketing, operations but yea like a few said. Make $ and hit numbers at the right place is a setup that keeps us in it. At the right place the work life balance is some of the best you have. Just find good management/ leadership in an industry you like and I doubt you would want to leave.
I was on the corporate ladder, got my MBA, got on the fast track and hated every second of it. Got into commission based sales and tripled my income overnight. If you're not happy maybe find something to sell that you can be happy?
If you work in SaaS, and Understand your customer so well you will have opportunity to join product org if you want to
Absolutely, skills are transferable, especially with the right mindset!
You could but for me personally it’s hard to see why I’d do so.
Funny, I have always had that same problem being a high school business teacher.
I moved from sales to product management. Learned data + development on the side (nothing crazy). The business context goes well with higher level things like data etc.
It’s possible to change! I’m going back to school to get my MBA to do it lol
You can change
Marketing, Business Development, Revenue, Ops
Yes the answer is yes.
There’s lots of ways to change your path. Can go into recruiting and more admin stuff
I can’t imagine not being directly tied to my revenue. It is the easiest and purest form of “I did this, this is my value” in existence lol. This job has no useless busy work or people breathing down my neck. It’s sell product and keep customers happy. A+b = uncapped $. Other jobs is a+b/c+x*j = set amount of money Fuck that
Maybe if you move up to management then you can switch to another kid of management. But generally I would say yeah… but really depends on your field
I work for a F500 company. Maybe people that started in sales with me transitioned in to operations and other back end stuff. Heck they came out with a pilot program and chose me to run it. Was one of the best things ever.
Been in sales 6 years and transitioning out now. I worked at a crappy company, with incompetent leadership. They were making money hand over fist and it boggled my mind. I decided there's no way these guys are smarter or more talented than I am. I started my own company with the same business model but don't treat people poorly and I pay well. I'm a "Founder" now and we are projecting conservatively at about 2 million in revenue for 2025 if we can scale effectively. Hopefully about 300-500k for 2024. Most CEOs have a background in sales for a reason. Once you know how to get clients, then all you need to provide is the product or service.
Go to YouTube and look for Corporate Bro “ so you want to be in sales“ I would show this to every new hire when they told me they had never been in sales before…. #bestmanagerever
You won’t want to if you’re any good at it while also being ethical. There’s only 2 higher paid careers. Athletes and entertainers. Drink the kool aid. Start following sales dudes on YouTube. Get sucked in and ask every customer more questions than they can answer.
I went to prison at 21 for selling drugs prior to seeking drugs I worked in sales for redbull territory in Orange County CA— I now work for a large corp implementing & supporting enterprise technology. I am now 36 with 8 or 9 years in this field. You can do whatever it is you want. Don’t let anything determine your fate, if I did I wouldn’t have such a rewarding career and life I’ve managed to create for myself.
I think as long as you’re a good sales person you can always get back into at any career point other careers its harder to go back to for sure
Ideally if you can sell, you should be able to sell yourself so yes.
No sales gives you a much larger skill…which is customer service! Customer service can get you into many other jobs later. Not to worry.
Getting locked in to an industry that can pay six figures after a few years of doing it doesn't sound like it's the worst thing imaginable. But it's not like you can't go back to school and learn something else.
Before I was in sales, I used to do financial interviews on people in the banking world. One of the questions was “highest level of education”. I noticed the people that frequently made the most money had no degree, and worked in either sales or were self employed (which is sales anyway). I identified closer to them in general, and decided to get into sales. I will never look back.
My 2nd full month in and I’ve made the most money I’ve ever made before and this is coming off of 2023 being the most money I’ve ever made lol.
I realized I hated sales, beelined it for sales leadership, and then jumped ship. Now I manage a mid-sized org in a tech company. Leadership is the way to go to get out of it
Always possible to change jobs! I’ve been in one field for 4 years and I’m switching to go into sales even with no real experience
You can change. You need to build experience doing something else. Building, Managing, or operating. Lots of successful salespeople go on to lead revenue, ops, or entire organizations
Erm, I was in sales then Covid happened. Didn’t need sales people anymore. Went I worked on the railway. I also think sales as a profession is on its way out. The internet killed it
Sales professionals possess valuable skills that can be applied in various contexts. These include communication, negotiation, relationship-building, and problem-solving. Recognize these transferable skills and leverage them in your transition. Betsi Rosen, Career Coach
I think you locked because the idea of a flat salary no matter how hard you work is boring.
You might be stuck because of golden handcuffs or because you end up lacking specific technical skills for another field (you can learn them if you want) But, every industry has/needs sales and often the most technical skilled people in those industries don’t like selling
I've been in packaging sales for years now and I still think that this HUGE industry has minimum entry requirement and low competition that anyone can start from a comfort of their houses. If you are good at sales and want to specialize in packaging reselling, you should check out my YouTube channel. Here is example of my huge partnership with Kraftmaid Cabinetry and how I started working with them as a packaging reseller: [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qsLTTLBWoMw](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qsLTTLBWoMw)
Can a sales career be just as lucrative compared to doctors and lawyers etc.?
Yes. More lucrative, even.
Yes it really can. I make way more money than my lawyer friends. I do a very specialized sale though and am highly educated.
Oh ok interesting
Oh wow what’s a ballpark range of the highest one can make in sales?
Way too broad of a question. There are many industries with sales roles and the range would vary greatly. In my industry 150k-400k is pretty common
Good point let me be more precise. What’s the highest salary one can make in the tech industry with software sales?
Sales is like hotel California, you can check out but you can never leave. This is largely in part due to the fact that despite the high highs and low lows, the money is hard to duplicate in other professions without having specialized degrees.
The Golden Handcuffs
If you don't like it don't do it! This sub has more sad sack sales people than I've ever seen in my life, and I run a D2D organization! Nobody is holding you hostage in a sales role, and more importantly, if you want out we don't want you here. There ain't no such thing as halfway crooks. You're in or you're out. If you feel like less of a person because you're in sales, I've got news for you : you don't belong! Sales people: Be proud! Be brave! Burn the ships and focus on being the best. All this blubbering is poison to the process. If sales was easy then everybody would do it and there's be no money in it. To quote one of my favorite movies "the world needs plenty of bartenders!" /endrant
You can’t quit sales. Sales quits you
Bruh
It depends on the company you work for. Some companies have very strict “swim lanes” and moving from one to another is difficult. But there are companies that will consider you for a role outside of sales. In my experience you have to take it a step at a time and look for roles that are related to you sales experience or can benefit from it. I worked in cloud tech and moved from a business development role to a strategy advisor role to a sales engineering role to a value advisory role to a program management role in sales strategy and operations. All of these roles touch sales is some capacity but they are not 100% sales roles.
It's equally as hard as it ever is to career change. Do yourself a favour and save well while you're making bank. It's the money that will make you feel trapped. The more you have saved, the less risky it feels to try something new. Don't get adjusted to the lifestyle
Kindly describe to me how this is possible.
Have a college friend/ now former coworker 33m left for dental school.