Most people when they leave sales they make less. Hell when IC’s go into management they typically make less by moving up.
But if you’ve done it right you’ll have amassed a small fortune/nest egg where money is no longer the main defining feature of work.
You can trade less money for more time and freedom.
I feel like it’s a little more complicated than that. You might make less in salary than you did on your best year of sales, but someone exceeding their previous year’s sales numbers year after year is rare. More often than not, they (we) plateau at an income level where we’re living a comfortable life and stop pushing ourselves as hard.
All of the management roles I’ve been in have required some selling and account management, so it’s never been a clean break from the two for me. Must be nice for those that have though!
Middle sales manager here: It’s more stable and predictable true. The top sales people tend to find a way to win no matter what and will out earn yoy.
I don’t miss being in a production role at all though except on those days where you don’t feel like being “on” lol.
Caveat to the pay dip, once you go two levels above production, then you make more than all but your top 1%ers.
I wonder where the tipping point usually is for total wealth accumulated when comparing an IC to someone climbing the ladder. I’m guessing there’s a pretty wide range though.
In general the tipping point is usually second or third level management. That's not just true of sales, but in almost all management roles. The first line managers make marginally more for a ton more responsibility. Second line they take on incremental responsibility, but see a significant pay bump. Nobody goes into management to do first line long term.
Sales - CRM implementation - IT team. Moved internally.
Always had an interest in IT.
Sales is great, get a buzz from winning but IT is a whole lot more stable in work and emotions. I need that.
How’d you roll into that?
I’m happy with my current role as AE, but I love data, I love CRMs, and I’ve been looking into becoming a CRM specialist / product owner
Fwiw I have a Bachelor of Arts and ran my own marketing agency for 5 years, sales for 4, my work / study history is all over the place lol.
All over the place is great! Means you have a wide range of experience.
Do you use a CRM now? If so understand it back to front. Learn how to customize, dashboards automate processes. As a sales person, what sucks about having to use the CRM. Find a way to reduce the suck.
Doesn't matter what CRM you start with, the ideas and principles are largely the same between all of them. Thats why a functional consultant role fits really well with me. Its a blend of business processes and technical info about the CRM to make them work nicely together.
As a business owner, you know the end to end process from sale to invoicing. great knowledge to have when rolling out an ERP system too.
Stick your hand up to be that person to take on the implementation projects, super user, local administrator, do whatever it takes to be the go to person when they need help.
I've said a lot but it can be simplified to if you want it, go learn it and be it.
What did your path look like in terms of education and training? You said you moved internally, so I assume they were more flexible with requirements, but did you go through any certification?
I just showed interest in the platform (d365). Took it upon myself to learn more about the platform. Using Microsoft learn helps
Also helps o have a background in software,web development and small amount of networking.
I’m in that sweet spot of being well above average in terms of technological literacy, but just short of being useful enough to deserve a salary. Maybe I will try to bridge that gap finally and get out of sales.
You don't need to know everything. What you don't know, go learn it and then it shows you can problem solve.
Honestly, I have found it incredible people's reluctance to go and find an answer. I had no idea how to build an app on d365, so I learnt it, built it and now the team uses it.
Being in sales helps immensely in the CRM world, you know how the sales people want to work, make the CRM and the business process fit.
This is really interesting - I'm in SaaS sales but have been curious about this, and just passed the MB-300 exam after a recommendation from a consulting friend. If you had that cert, what would be the next steps you'd take?
I don't sell anything CRM/ERP related, and it's been challenging figuring out how to break into those roles or determine the search terms for a sales role inside of an ERP implementation team.
Congrats on passing the exam! It's all about getting the experience. Certs are good and I'm working towards MB-210 but what counts is showing you know your stuff.
Be that internally at your current company or somehow getting a gig as a junior consultant or even support initially in d365 CRM, F&O, CE or whatever flavor you choose.
You might not sell anything CRM related, but what CRM do you use as a sales person? Don't have one? Maybe propose getting one and helping with implementation
We have Salesforce at my current role, and we've got a headcount of 100 people so I don't think we're going to be switching anytime soon. I'll take a look around for junior consulting roles to support F&O implementation. Appreciate your reply!
Nice, great career tbh. Utilize trailhead as much as you can, join the forums and Facebook groups to learn as much as you can. If you use SalesForce at your daily job then that's even better, aim to improve workflows and be the CRM champion.
Show reluctant users how awesome it can be.
Also depends on what you want to do within Salesforce, might be worth learning the syntax.of the SF developer language or at least being able to read it?
Most people who quit sales don't make more money. It's the main reason we torture ourselves.
I would say I didn't quit "sales". I definitely traded in transactions for relationships. My client pool went from hundreds down to 20-30 repeat customers. It's more like consulting than sales now.
It's about 30% less overall in comp, but it's rock solid.
Your sales skills apply pretty well to obtaining new clients. Copier sales is a fast run to the bottom everywhere though, and it’s viewed as entry level for that reason (maybe more).
Currently debating this transition. Told my wife I’ll be studying for the LSAT for the next couple months lol.
Sales is such a grind, but I worry being a lawyer is a whole other type of grind. How would you say the day to day stresses compare?
Torture? Brother, it shouldn’t be torture. Change your view of sales. Focus on helping and providing value and understand you can’t help everyone., even those that you KNOW you can help the most but aren’t willing to help themselves.
Sales is the easiest or hardest job in the world but the nice thing is get to pick which one.
Agree 100%. A few years back, I changed my mindset from from "how can I close this prospect" to "let me listen and see how I can help this person". It made all the difference in both my overall mental well being and closing of clients. Prospects can feel when you're just trying to sell them vs someone sincerely trying to help them pick which way they should decide.
Imagine you only have a specific list of clients, and none of them can get out of their own way, and you also have numbers to hit, that’s how you make it torture and I’m dealing with it right now lmao.
Ok, I would focus on building more urgency using tonality and targeted questions.
Watch Jeremy Miner on YouTube and he’ll explain further. But essentially you need get better at discovery and implication questions.
Here’s the link to his YouTube channel. One of the best instructors in the industry IMO
https://youtube.com/@JeremyMiner?si=Kp7dP6Vc7QxSet08
This video is a good place to start.
https://youtu.be/CoKpoKTU8Tk?si=owO8fDA7VSGtN_P_
Good luck brother.
Ditto on Jeremy Miner and the NEPQ process. Everyone I know who’s implemented his strategy saw massive improvement in their sales. I think the original inspiration for his style is from Michael Oliver in this book:
https://www.amazon.com/Network-Marketing-Without-Wisdoms-Practice/dp/0971588902
Jeremy did network marketing for years and trained under Michael, according to the rumors.
Some move to sales training or full on consulting but that’s still selling a lot of times
Some move into entrepreneurship, also a lot of selling
Some move up in the corporate ladder (eg ceo coo) but depending on size of company there’s still some selling component
That’s mostly it. Of course there are one-off wild stories too like I had a colleague that quit sales and went to Harvard med and now he’s a doctor. Probably makes more money but also took on debt and stopped making money for handful of years so probably net negative financially
If you’re going to be a trainer like barrows, costigan, ingram, etc you’re very much going to be in sales still to prospect and sell your training services
If you’re doing internal training or third party training like Sandler, your pay will go way down vs successful ae
I left a successful 25 year software sales career (mostly SaaS companies) last year to be a full time day trader. I wasn’t a top rep but was usually in the top 1/3 or so of reps, achieved Pres Club or equivalent 11 times (multiple companies) and made good money. I was mentally fried on the job and was struggling to manage ongoing diagnosed stress and anxiety.
This is the best job I’ve ever had and I make more now than I ever did in sales.
My initial account size was $100k. That was enough capital to make sure I could make a sustained run at trading but not so much money that it would affect our family if I lost it all.
Bro I just started 1.6 years ago and I'm struggling with psychology,I'm over trading and taking more than 2 trades per day/ more than 2% risk per day. Literally today I lost 4.6 percent for revenge trading. My strategy seems to work but my fucking mind not. I trade Nas, and used to do gold but Nas is easier. Any advice? Not gonna lie I started losing hope and I'm joining a new sales job because I ran through my savings
The ONLY times I’ve seen that are going further in a technical capacity, I.e. sales engineers, and it’s still usually not as much as top AEs just more consisted good earnings, or the few who become devs/architects.
Or starting their own business, which is still selling really, or even management consulting but also sales basically.
Tell us more please ! Working solo or with a team? How did you get your first clients and what separates you from all the other LinkedIn bro sales coaches out there ?:)
I'm a 2nd mate on an oil tanker. I work 6 months out of the year. I make $842.95 a day. I work 75-90 days at a time then I am off for an equal amount of time.
Yes, room and board are included. Life is pretty okay. My wife is a flight attendant and we don't have kids, so life is pretty easy.
https://sunymaritime.edu/
Dunno if this counts, but I was in SE leadership making $285k OTE (plus some substantial options which ended up worthless) about 6 years ago leading a 25 person global team at a startup.
I left and started a company that failed. Joined another startup as Head of PM making $200k plus heavy equity. Raise to $220k about 9 months in. Right near the two year mark we were acquired by a private equity company which resulted in about a $600k payout. Got a raise to $280k and also received a $75k retention bonus at that point. Left anyway for a PM job at FAANG making about $600k.
So first of all, I'd say that now is an awful time to try to move into a FAANG and I wouldn't recommend putting the substantial effort unless an internal recruiter is reaching out and recruiting you to a niche position that meets your background. Wait until they're on the hiring upswing again. The very few open roles right now are generally going to internal candidates/transfers.
The first challenge is getting an interview and into the pipeline. I don't have great feedback on this part of the process because an internal recruiter reached out to me last March. It was (likely not so) coincidentally the day after the acquisition of my company was announced publicly. If you need to go the apply route, then you 100% need to get referrals, which should ensure your resume gets reviewed by a human and not just the automated screening.
If you actually get to the interview stage, congrats, this is one of the hardest part of the processes. The good news about FAANG interviews is that they tend to be very consistent in structure and as a result, I found very gameable. What I mean by that is while you need to have the right background and be smart enough to pass, but if you learn the structure and rigorously prepare then the interview really does go just like how it does online. If you get to this point there are a number of online courses that include sample questions, but more importantly the rubric for how you're graded and sample videos of people answering these questions. I purchased the exponent course which was about $110 for a yearly subscription and found it fantastic and well worth it. My preparation was almost exclusively from the exponent course. Considering hundreds of thousands of dollars are at stake (getting a FAANG job vs not, but also the level your offer is at), the money was well worth the investment.
Happy to answer more specific questions.
Calculating commission has always been a problem at any company I’ve worked at, and if you do manage to get paid favorably one year, you can guarantee you won’t get paid the next year.
Companies exist to make money.
Next time, record it off camera on your phone (same with every 1:1 once you know you're in hot water). Have a good employment lawyer to listen to it.
Either way, that sounds like bullshit; they can only enforce non-disclosure if you sign off on their paperwork. Dan Goodman posted on LinkedIn about a fairly recent ruling eliminating the gag rule after you're no longer with a given org (any negotiated/improved severance package wouldn't apply, non-disclosure will be a term they'll add in)
I almost wish there was a federal law requiring an escrow to be set aside for each sale that once transaction goes through seller gets his payment regardless of his status with the organization. Almost needs a union based approach otherwise sellers keep getting screwed over and these companies wont learn
Of course management will never say it, but it’s the mindset we all need to have because trusting companies to do the ‘right’ thing rarely works out.
Always have options and maintain leverage in any negotiation
I hear ya. Unfortunately I found trying to change that is a losing battle. My strategy has been to accept the conditions (policies & mindset of management) for what they are and find another way to achieve the outcome I want.
Last resort is leaving the company and getting a new job, but the grass isn’t always greener on the other side.
No one is arguing their approach but this at will contract got agreed upon with both sides to hold their terms and conditions, usually its the scam legal orgs and morally corrupt executives who play the game a certain way to always exploit the seller where they can.
There was no calculation problem, it was sheer amount owed and egos hurt who couldn’t do what I did. Second company had a clause that if within certain time after deal is closed, employee that closed if not in active employment within that net timeframe, the company does not owe in that case. I worked so hard for it all just to get treated that way, but maybe god has better plans for me.
Ain’t it BS!!! Do we work for the same company? Haha
My Q1 ends in 20 days and I don’t know my comp plan, quota, or SPIFFs. (Oh and they might be adjusting the territory too)
Management knows they can’t screw over the entire sales force so we are anticipating a favorable outcome like paying everyone at 100% quota achievement.
But if I have a phenomenal Q1, you can bet I’m asking management to make an exception.
haha. probably not since we ALREADY adjusted territories. I sometimes suspect CROs in diff companies get together to discuss what employees will take and won't take and then see how far they can push us. evil.
and you are right..100% quota achievement only this year, even when I have hit 250% in the past. I'm not planning to hit much next year. simply no point anymore.
now AEs and AMs have to do BD and SDR work for LESS money. most of us who are strategic enterprise AMs are just -.-".
u should ask for an exception if you did well in q1. always. at most u get a no.
I always wonder if people are able to generate companies millions, why not do affiliate marketing based on commission? You’ve got the chops and it would be solely based on your proven ability instead of waiting for someone to hire you.
But I understand there are many nuances. Inbound, outbound, cold, etc.
How did you get the leads for the company you worked for?
All generated by my book of business. Enterprise selling is different than BDR. Your client moves with you to next product, It took me decades plus to build mine
I have 3 companies
But honestly once you have the experience of sales under your belt - having your business is almost second nature
1. Finding opportunities
2. Networking
3. Building rapport
4. Discovery
5. Channel Partners / Distribution
6. Contracts & Negotiation
7. Post Sales Account Management
8. Events and product release
I ‘left’ sales 8 months ago to be an independent rep. I’m not closing deals, but spend most of my time driving demand. Promoting and training up and down the product channel. Moderate pay increase from being a top performing outside rep at the distributor level in the same industry.
Honestly, this sub used to be way more positive. More upbeat. It seams like there are a lot more green or lower level reps on here who have become soured on the profession.
I don’t know. The economy is humming with strong gdp growth. Rents and consumer prices are fucked, so I can see people selling to consumers having a tough few years recently. It’s a smaller sample set, but everyone I know in B2B who should be doing well (good product, good skills) is doing well.
I make less money but don’t actually “work”. My job now is passive income. The idea though is to establish enough, then get back into sales without the monkey on my back always chiming in about how I need to earn a paycheck to pay bills.
Follow any professional sub (lawyers, doctors, nurses, teachers, real estate, engineering) and there is a lot of negativity about their chosen profession. Those who are happy with what they do for a living don’t tend to run to the internet to talk about it.
My Journey: SDR, BDR, AE, BDM, Sales Ops Analyst, Sales Operations Manager and currently Revenue Operations Manager
I made use of all the courses available on HubSpot Academy, Salesforce Trailblazers, and joined a few paid ones at Coursera and Datacamp to upskill myself, I knew that after my 30’s my stress resilience would be shit. Then I started paving the way, took my a good 6 months of applying between my last sales role and my Ops role. A small scale up gave me the chance and I embraced it and now I am the Revenue Operations Manager there and we are in the top 10 fastest growing startup of the country :)
I left and make more?
My best year in sales was 61k. I was a top salesman at a car dealership, left to go to be a tech AE, my base in Midwest was like 55k and OTE under 90. The AE job was basically knocking on doors selling to small businesses, worst fucking job. But I went back to school, got an MBA after that and work in a corp finance job, I’m sitting at 100k now and will probably land a new role 120-125k+ before the end of the year. Leaving shitty Midwest sales jobs allowed me to nearly double my income.
How’d you make the transition to finance? Was your MBA a finance concentration?
I’m a little older, and making what your next move would be, but I’d love to find something to transition to that wouldn’t be a huge loss of income.
Not true. My girlfriend left sales and is now a senior director of IT at a multi billion dollar tech company and is absolutely killing it. Like legit makes 10x what I was making at my last job. Kind of strange dating someone who is doing that well in life lol
International Business degree
And honestly believe it or not she essentially is just a glorified strategic partner who handles very large enterprise accounts (I think they call them champions or champion enterprise accounts?) as a revenue generating consultant.
I don't want to say too much else but let me tell you, it is a very cushy job and the work life balance is astonishing.
Why did she go into sales in the first place? Or did she get her degree after working in sales? I've been thinking sales since I recently graduated college and don't really know what to do. Any advice for how to follow her path or just advice for this stage of my life in general? Appreciate it
Getting into tech sales made me realize that life is sales and I cannot escape it. Just embrace the suck.
My job before tech sales was working at a dispensary and I had a ‘wtf am I doing moment’ when two gay guys had sex in our stall and left like wads of jizz all over the bathroom. Mopping it up gave off a unholy smell where I ended up quitting and joined a sales Bootcamp (now defunct) called FlockJay. I knew I wanted a Y-combinator anything on my resume and I got in.
Tech sales still fucking sucks but at least I can have my balls out during forecast calls.
I’m deciding whether to become a deckhand or get into sales operations/marketing operations but I don’t mind being an SDR.
Don’t get into marketing operations unless you want to spend all your time complaining about pipeline attribution and having sales make fun of you behind your back (and occasionally to your face…)
I run my own small sales team now so I am out of day to day selling for the most part other than big clients.
I don’t know how I would’ve done in a different job field. Sales is kind of a joke for how much money you get paid for how little actual work you have to do compared to other fields.
Very close to leaving. I trade Futures and make more money trading an hour or two every day, sometimes I even skip Fridays.
The only thing holding me back now is I actually truly do care about my young SDR team and want to keep guiding them at least until they’re promoted to AE in the next 6 months or they move on. I also believe in our product (enterprise mental health app/software) and that we’re making a difference so it’s very hard to leave something like that.
I do feel burnt out by the job/industry and will leave by mid-2024 at the latest. I don’t think there’s any more l juice sales can squeeze out of me beyond that. Vacations don’t even help anymore.
I’m just grateful the hours work out and that the Futures market is almost always open so I can trade during or after work. I was able to build a large enough cushion plus savings that I don’t have to worry about money for a good while.
I quit tech sales after 27 years because of health reasons.
Apparently stress reached its boiling point & I had a massive heart attack.
I took a 10 months off and bought a commercial cleaning & restoration company that I ran for 7 years, then retired.
I agree. A lot of redditors hate their lives. You can see it in how they will judge, comment and try and put down someone with everyday problems. They do this because their life is not what they imagined it to be. They lost control of it and the only way they can make themselves feel better and in control is by reading up on other peoples problems and then giving their opinion as though they are Gods of success and great decisions.
But we all know that anybody who is anybody and making millions and/or is successful in their own right is much too busy living their life, making money to even read up on redditors problems.
A few months back I was jobless, down-in-the-dumps and was constantly posting and reading other peoples problems. These days not so much.
Dunno if this counts, but I was in SE leadership making $285k OTE (plus some substantial options which ended up worthless) about 6 years ago leading a 25 person global team at a startup.
I left and started a company that failed. Joined another startup as Head of PM making $200k plus heavy equity. Raise to $220k about 9 months in. Right near the two year mark we were acquired by a private equity company which resulted in about a $600k payout. Got a raise to $280k and also received a $75k retention bonus at that point. Left anyway for a PM job at FAANG making about $600k.
Onlyfans - I was born with 6 toes so im dominating the foot fetish niche.
People say OF is a grotesque route. For that reason I make sure to tell my clients they are only allowed to look at my photos and not JO. So far they have confirmed they are only using the photos for viewing purposes
Software engineering. Went to boot camp in 2018. I’ve always loved learning and with sales you learn all the come back, people buy no buy signs, how to upsell, ask probe questions, etc and you repeat based on the customer.
Which if done correctly can make you a great salesman but It can also be a never ending hustle.
I love taking my PTO whenever I want. Unofficially I get 2 weeks of during the holidays.
1 week during thanksgiving.
Then regular PTO and sick pay.
Software engineering is difficult if you don’t love to continuously challenge yourself.
At its lowest level it’s the same sales. You learn a tool then you apply it. But to complete a feature aka a sale I have to figure out where in the whole sale process I messed up and fix it.
Edit: I’ve also made more money than I ever did in sales.
RevOps
But I make more than I made when I was in sales, not than I’d make if continued to stay in sales.
Just find this work more interesting and somewhat less stressful.
Made way more in sales. Top performer at every company I worked for.
Don’t hate my existence any more. Make enough that I live the life I want. Not the one I thought I needed.
Not directly answering the question, but people like to fetishize “making more than their manager” too much. Once the manager hits second line (director+) they will on average make way more money than the top performing rep in their chain. SaaS SMB sales directors running a few teams can clear $400k+. ENT Directors and VPs can consistently hit near or over 7 figures. And that’s not counting the equity piece or payout at a liquidity event.
It’s still sales but just wanted to call this out. Obviously there will be exceptions but climbing the leadership ladder in sales will eventually lead to way more money on average.
I believe it depends on what the person was selling and whether they were successful at sales. Most of the people I know who left sales did it because they weren't making the amount of money they wanted to make and they hated selling.
I know very few tech sales people who became Sales Engineers (SEs). I know a number of strong SEs who moved into sales roles. They typically become successful sales people.
OP, are you currently in sales? What type of sales? Are you in sales for the earning potential or something else? If you leave sales, what would you want to do? Why?
Top sales people typically get promoted within the company and thus make a higher salary. Most American corporations promote sales people over operations people into executive positions. Follow the sales path you can write your own ticket.
I was in the print industry and have moved into sales because I believe sales is where its at. Sales is a new career for me. Im going to give a go and see if I can succeed at it.
I left sales to go to Solutions Consulting and my base increased 35% and i make commission for deals i work on that close. My best year selling i made more that what im going to make but if you averaged my last 5 yrs in sales i make more in an SC role than sales.
Not myself, I'm still in sales but my old boss. This isn't exactly what your asking because he doesn't make more money, he makes around the same but works far less hours. He joined a company as a consultant for new projects. He travels and gets wine and dined by salesman now. He went from working around 60 hours a week to now around 25-30. That's my goal I'm the next 5 years.
CE sales support. I dont sell anymore per-say, I manage the relationship holders, helping them grow strategiv business.
Lots of internal research and whip-cracking. Some meeting setting.
So its growth, but not really sales: no commission but muuuch better
I’m the opposite — my journalism job paid more and was more stable than my sales role.
Sales is not my strength and the revenue / emotional roller coaster has taken a toll, which of course affects my work.
I played around for a little on my own,worked through Career Karma's 21 day challenge and eventually decided to go through Flatiron School. I had an AA from a community college, but never finished my bachelor's (currently trying to get one in CS, but already having a job in the field makes it tough to want to do prerequisite classes).
Flatiron School cost 17.5k with my loan, an ISA which I'm not obligated to make payments if I don't make at least 50k yearly(low cutoff, I know) but well worth it.
Making 126.5k now
Not me but one of my mentors. He was in sales for 20 years and was headhunted to be the Dean of the Business School at a university. He had some young kids and was ready to quit which is why they went after him. Fast forward about 10 years and he is now the president of the university. He took a small payout pay cut becoming the dean but now he is making the same or more as president. He says the three reasons he switched were June, July, and August.
You aren't leaving sales to go make more money, unless you are going into a profession like lawyer, doctors / etc.
If you want to make money, sales is where it's at. Keep in mind that the folks bitching in this sub aren't all sales pros, and people are more inclined to bitch when shit's not going well. The ones doing good are just cashing POs and grinding.
It's not a lifestyle for everyone, if it's not for you that's good to accept.. but just understand you aren't going to leave sales and make more money doing something else.
Buy a small business and take your sales skills into entrepreneurship.
1. Make more than $150k a year
2. Time freedom
3. If you're good at sales you can scale it and make more
4. Build an asset that you own 100% and can sell off later for much more
It's what I'm doing
I am 62 years old with 27 years enterprise software sales. Looking to bail, once a pending big contract closes and gets booked.
High pressure with OTE of $300k
This type job is not easy. You get punched in the face by management, customers and sometimes even peers. The trick is getting up off the ground and then stand up and get punched again.
When I leave, I will look at getting my CDL and driving a route of some sort.
I have about $100,000 is cash that will serve as a buffer until I hand up the spurs at 65
My best year in sales I brought home 301K as a 1099 sales rep for a south Florida roofing restoration company who specialized in insurance claims from Hurricane Irma (3 year filing window). I now have my own small business making automotive carbon fiber parts but constantly being undercut by cheap Chinese carbon fiber parts has made it where I make significantly less than what I did in sales. I miss the money and the chase
Most people when they leave sales they make less. Hell when IC’s go into management they typically make less by moving up. But if you’ve done it right you’ll have amassed a small fortune/nest egg where money is no longer the main defining feature of work. You can trade less money for more time and freedom.
I feel like it’s a little more complicated than that. You might make less in salary than you did on your best year of sales, but someone exceeding their previous year’s sales numbers year after year is rare. More often than not, they (we) plateau at an income level where we’re living a comfortable life and stop pushing ourselves as hard. All of the management roles I’ve been in have required some selling and account management, so it’s never been a clean break from the two for me. Must be nice for those that have though!
Middle sales manager here: It’s more stable and predictable true. The top sales people tend to find a way to win no matter what and will out earn yoy. I don’t miss being in a production role at all though except on those days where you don’t feel like being “on” lol. Caveat to the pay dip, once you go two levels above production, then you make more than all but your top 1%ers.
Your last point is important and I forgot to mention that. If you’re going to go management, best want to climb the ladder as high as you can.
I wonder where the tipping point usually is for total wealth accumulated when comparing an IC to someone climbing the ladder. I’m guessing there’s a pretty wide range though.
In general the tipping point is usually second or third level management. That's not just true of sales, but in almost all management roles. The first line managers make marginally more for a ton more responsibility. Second line they take on incremental responsibility, but see a significant pay bump. Nobody goes into management to do first line long term.
I quit sales to make less money and I'm happier now with less stress, dont need the extra money anymore
This is healthy and normal, nice work
What did you pivot to?
Started working at a fine dining Italian place with some friends, love never having to answer my phone and the schedule/flexibility is great
You must miss Quota, KPI's, updating CRM and lousy commissions.
Don’t forget cold calling and getting hung up on
And broken promises of bonuses and clients you have to hand hold for everything
And following up with uninterested lead
As someone who quit a bartending job to work in sales for 3 weeks, then quit to go back to bartending .. I can relate
You are still in sales, it’s just a product that sells itself.
Same. Make less money but much happier and do not regret it one bit
lol
Sales - CRM implementation - IT team. Moved internally. Always had an interest in IT. Sales is great, get a buzz from winning but IT is a whole lot more stable in work and emotions. I need that.
CRM implementation — so sales force/ hubspot product owner?
Close, dynamics 365. Not quite product owner I suppose a blend of functional consultant and application specialist.
How’d you roll into that? I’m happy with my current role as AE, but I love data, I love CRMs, and I’ve been looking into becoming a CRM specialist / product owner Fwiw I have a Bachelor of Arts and ran my own marketing agency for 5 years, sales for 4, my work / study history is all over the place lol.
All over the place is great! Means you have a wide range of experience. Do you use a CRM now? If so understand it back to front. Learn how to customize, dashboards automate processes. As a sales person, what sucks about having to use the CRM. Find a way to reduce the suck. Doesn't matter what CRM you start with, the ideas and principles are largely the same between all of them. Thats why a functional consultant role fits really well with me. Its a blend of business processes and technical info about the CRM to make them work nicely together. As a business owner, you know the end to end process from sale to invoicing. great knowledge to have when rolling out an ERP system too. Stick your hand up to be that person to take on the implementation projects, super user, local administrator, do whatever it takes to be the go to person when they need help. I've said a lot but it can be simplified to if you want it, go learn it and be it.
What did your path look like in terms of education and training? You said you moved internally, so I assume they were more flexible with requirements, but did you go through any certification?
I just showed interest in the platform (d365). Took it upon myself to learn more about the platform. Using Microsoft learn helps Also helps o have a background in software,web development and small amount of networking.
I’m in that sweet spot of being well above average in terms of technological literacy, but just short of being useful enough to deserve a salary. Maybe I will try to bridge that gap finally and get out of sales.
You don't need to know everything. What you don't know, go learn it and then it shows you can problem solve. Honestly, I have found it incredible people's reluctance to go and find an answer. I had no idea how to build an app on d365, so I learnt it, built it and now the team uses it. Being in sales helps immensely in the CRM world, you know how the sales people want to work, make the CRM and the business process fit.
This is really interesting - I'm in SaaS sales but have been curious about this, and just passed the MB-300 exam after a recommendation from a consulting friend. If you had that cert, what would be the next steps you'd take? I don't sell anything CRM/ERP related, and it's been challenging figuring out how to break into those roles or determine the search terms for a sales role inside of an ERP implementation team.
Congrats on passing the exam! It's all about getting the experience. Certs are good and I'm working towards MB-210 but what counts is showing you know your stuff. Be that internally at your current company or somehow getting a gig as a junior consultant or even support initially in d365 CRM, F&O, CE or whatever flavor you choose. You might not sell anything CRM related, but what CRM do you use as a sales person? Don't have one? Maybe propose getting one and helping with implementation
We have Salesforce at my current role, and we've got a headcount of 100 people so I don't think we're going to be switching anytime soon. I'll take a look around for junior consulting roles to support F&O implementation. Appreciate your reply!
I agree with the other factors, but you make more in IT than sales?
I make more base but for less emotional effort. The ceiling is higher in sales but not guaranteed.
I'm trying to make the same move but through the Salesforce route. Any tips?
Nice, great career tbh. Utilize trailhead as much as you can, join the forums and Facebook groups to learn as much as you can. If you use SalesForce at your daily job then that's even better, aim to improve workflows and be the CRM champion. Show reluctant users how awesome it can be. Also depends on what you want to do within Salesforce, might be worth learning the syntax.of the SF developer language or at least being able to read it?
Most people who quit sales don't make more money. It's the main reason we torture ourselves. I would say I didn't quit "sales". I definitely traded in transactions for relationships. My client pool went from hundreds down to 20-30 repeat customers. It's more like consulting than sales now. It's about 30% less overall in comp, but it's rock solid.
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Your sales skills apply pretty well to obtaining new clients. Copier sales is a fast run to the bottom everywhere though, and it’s viewed as entry level for that reason (maybe more).
Currently debating this transition. Told my wife I’ll be studying for the LSAT for the next couple months lol. Sales is such a grind, but I worry being a lawyer is a whole other type of grind. How would you say the day to day stresses compare?
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Appreciate the reply and your perspective!
Made enough selling copy machines to pay for law school? Hats off, damn.
Two bosses I had quit sales and now do motivation, speakers circuit and love life and $$$ they get from it.
Dude that's awesome. I always wanted to be a motivational speaker growing up.
Torture? Brother, it shouldn’t be torture. Change your view of sales. Focus on helping and providing value and understand you can’t help everyone., even those that you KNOW you can help the most but aren’t willing to help themselves. Sales is the easiest or hardest job in the world but the nice thing is get to pick which one.
Agree 100%. A few years back, I changed my mindset from from "how can I close this prospect" to "let me listen and see how I can help this person". It made all the difference in both my overall mental well being and closing of clients. Prospects can feel when you're just trying to sell them vs someone sincerely trying to help them pick which way they should decide.
Imagine you only have a specific list of clients, and none of them can get out of their own way, and you also have numbers to hit, that’s how you make it torture and I’m dealing with it right now lmao.
Ok, I would focus on building more urgency using tonality and targeted questions. Watch Jeremy Miner on YouTube and he’ll explain further. But essentially you need get better at discovery and implication questions. Here’s the link to his YouTube channel. One of the best instructors in the industry IMO https://youtube.com/@JeremyMiner?si=Kp7dP6Vc7QxSet08 This video is a good place to start. https://youtu.be/CoKpoKTU8Tk?si=owO8fDA7VSGtN_P_ Good luck brother.
Ditto on Jeremy Miner and the NEPQ process. Everyone I know who’s implemented his strategy saw massive improvement in their sales. I think the original inspiration for his style is from Michael Oliver in this book: https://www.amazon.com/Network-Marketing-Without-Wisdoms-Practice/dp/0971588902 Jeremy did network marketing for years and trained under Michael, according to the rumors.
Agreed 100%. Life is what you make it. Change your view and you change your reality.
Not sure how this has gotten voted down… it’s 100% truth.
People who leave sales and make more money are either in the vast minority or they weren’t great sales people to begin with
What industries do the successful minority enter into?
Some move to sales training or full on consulting but that’s still selling a lot of times Some move into entrepreneurship, also a lot of selling Some move up in the corporate ladder (eg ceo coo) but depending on size of company there’s still some selling component That’s mostly it. Of course there are one-off wild stories too like I had a colleague that quit sales and went to Harvard med and now he’s a doctor. Probably makes more money but also took on debt and stopped making money for handful of years so probably net negative financially
I'm thinking about sales training.
If you’re going to be a trainer like barrows, costigan, ingram, etc you’re very much going to be in sales still to prospect and sell your training services If you’re doing internal training or third party training like Sandler, your pay will go way down vs successful ae
I left a successful 25 year software sales career (mostly SaaS companies) last year to be a full time day trader. I wasn’t a top rep but was usually in the top 1/3 or so of reps, achieved Pres Club or equivalent 11 times (multiple companies) and made good money. I was mentally fried on the job and was struggling to manage ongoing diagnosed stress and anxiety. This is the best job I’ve ever had and I make more now than I ever did in sales.
If you don’t mind, me, asking, could you give me a range of how much capital you started with to get your day trading career up and running?
My initial account size was $100k. That was enough capital to make sure I could make a sustained run at trading but not so much money that it would affect our family if I lost it all.
How long have you been day trading?
Almost 6 years total
Huge respect sticking it out that long as a high performer . You deserve this.
Same here. Options trading for me. Over 4 years in.
Also options here. SPX specifically. Good luck this week with rollover/quad witching! Edit: fixed word
SPX only for me too brother. Have a great week!
Bro I just started 1.6 years ago and I'm struggling with psychology,I'm over trading and taking more than 2 trades per day/ more than 2% risk per day. Literally today I lost 4.6 percent for revenge trading. My strategy seems to work but my fucking mind not. I trade Nas, and used to do gold but Nas is easier. Any advice? Not gonna lie I started losing hope and I'm joining a new sales job because I ran through my savings
The ONLY times I’ve seen that are going further in a technical capacity, I.e. sales engineers, and it’s still usually not as much as top AEs just more consisted good earnings, or the few who become devs/architects. Or starting their own business, which is still selling really, or even management consulting but also sales basically.
Yeah I usually see this question asked the opposite way.
Golden handcuffs!
They never let you leave!!
Or they started their own business
Which most of the time selling ends up being a big aspect of their job as a startup owner
Totally
Sales consulting firm
Tell us more please ! Working solo or with a team? How did you get your first clients and what separates you from all the other LinkedIn bro sales coaches out there ?:)
Launched my company
Hi, can I message you? I have a couple Q’s!
Fire away
I work on a ship.
My favorite answer so far. So little detail lol
I'm a 2nd mate on an oil tanker. I work 6 months out of the year. I make $842.95 a day. I work 75-90 days at a time then I am off for an equal amount of time.
Is room+board included? How’s life on a ship? Must be hard maintaining relationships on land?
Yes, room and board are included. Life is pretty okay. My wife is a flight attendant and we don't have kids, so life is pretty easy. https://sunymaritime.edu/
I was doing sales on a cruise ship lol was great
Dunno if this counts, but I was in SE leadership making $285k OTE (plus some substantial options which ended up worthless) about 6 years ago leading a 25 person global team at a startup. I left and started a company that failed. Joined another startup as Head of PM making $200k plus heavy equity. Raise to $220k about 9 months in. Right near the two year mark we were acquired by a private equity company which resulted in about a $600k payout. Got a raise to $280k and also received a $75k retention bonus at that point. Left anyway for a PM job at FAANG making about $600k.
Holy shit! That’s damn impressive progression 😱 I’m utterly jealous
Any tips for becoming a PM at a FAANG
Sure. Are you already a PM?
Yes
So first of all, I'd say that now is an awful time to try to move into a FAANG and I wouldn't recommend putting the substantial effort unless an internal recruiter is reaching out and recruiting you to a niche position that meets your background. Wait until they're on the hiring upswing again. The very few open roles right now are generally going to internal candidates/transfers. The first challenge is getting an interview and into the pipeline. I don't have great feedback on this part of the process because an internal recruiter reached out to me last March. It was (likely not so) coincidentally the day after the acquisition of my company was announced publicly. If you need to go the apply route, then you 100% need to get referrals, which should ensure your resume gets reviewed by a human and not just the automated screening. If you actually get to the interview stage, congrats, this is one of the hardest part of the processes. The good news about FAANG interviews is that they tend to be very consistent in structure and as a result, I found very gameable. What I mean by that is while you need to have the right background and be smart enough to pass, but if you learn the structure and rigorously prepare then the interview really does go just like how it does online. If you get to this point there are a number of online courses that include sample questions, but more importantly the rubric for how you're graded and sample videos of people answering these questions. I purchased the exponent course which was about $110 for a yearly subscription and found it fantastic and well worth it. My preparation was almost exclusively from the exponent course. Considering hundreds of thousands of dollars are at stake (getting a FAANG job vs not, but also the level your offer is at), the money was well worth the investment. Happy to answer more specific questions.
Product Manager?
Im the opposite, made a ton of sales but the companies kept my commission. Now I am unemployed since about a year
Calculating commission has always been a problem at any company I’ve worked at, and if you do manage to get paid favorably one year, you can guarantee you won’t get paid the next year. Companies exist to make money.
The CROs entire job is to minimize the payouts to employees while maximizing shareholders profits. They are salamanders in suits.
Cant when CRO is a scumbag too, company HRBP also gave me verbal threats upon exit interview that they will come after me if I say anything outside.
Next time, record it off camera on your phone (same with every 1:1 once you know you're in hot water). Have a good employment lawyer to listen to it. Either way, that sounds like bullshit; they can only enforce non-disclosure if you sign off on their paperwork. Dan Goodman posted on LinkedIn about a fairly recent ruling eliminating the gag rule after you're no longer with a given org (any negotiated/improved severance package wouldn't apply, non-disclosure will be a term they'll add in)
I almost wish there was a federal law requiring an escrow to be set aside for each sale that once transaction goes through seller gets his payment regardless of his status with the organization. Almost needs a union based approach otherwise sellers keep getting screwed over and these companies wont learn
Yeah lesson learned but the job market is very tough at the moment all over.
"Companies exist to make money" can't be used as an excuse for breaking comp agreements
All of mine say “this agreement is subject to change any time”
Of course management will never say it, but it’s the mindset we all need to have because trusting companies to do the ‘right’ thing rarely works out. Always have options and maintain leverage in any negotiation
I agree that it happens, my point is just that we shouldn't LET it be an excuse
I hear ya. Unfortunately I found trying to change that is a losing battle. My strategy has been to accept the conditions (policies & mindset of management) for what they are and find another way to achieve the outcome I want. Last resort is leaving the company and getting a new job, but the grass isn’t always greener on the other side.
No one is arguing their approach but this at will contract got agreed upon with both sides to hold their terms and conditions, usually its the scam legal orgs and morally corrupt executives who play the game a certain way to always exploit the seller where they can.
This is why I moved to 100% commission sales. Fuck bullshit quotas. I sell this and get a percentage of the sale. Super clear cut.
There was no calculation problem, it was sheer amount owed and egos hurt who couldn’t do what I did. Second company had a clause that if within certain time after deal is closed, employee that closed if not in active employment within that net timeframe, the company does not owe in that case. I worked so hard for it all just to get treated that way, but maybe god has better plans for me.
Yuck, I would ask to revise that statement or not sign. Companies love you the most just before they employee you.
happening to me now.. I get my comp plan AFTER the quarter..
Ain’t it BS!!! Do we work for the same company? Haha My Q1 ends in 20 days and I don’t know my comp plan, quota, or SPIFFs. (Oh and they might be adjusting the territory too) Management knows they can’t screw over the entire sales force so we are anticipating a favorable outcome like paying everyone at 100% quota achievement. But if I have a phenomenal Q1, you can bet I’m asking management to make an exception.
haha. probably not since we ALREADY adjusted territories. I sometimes suspect CROs in diff companies get together to discuss what employees will take and won't take and then see how far they can push us. evil. and you are right..100% quota achievement only this year, even when I have hit 250% in the past. I'm not planning to hit much next year. simply no point anymore. now AEs and AMs have to do BD and SDR work for LESS money. most of us who are strategic enterprise AMs are just -.-". u should ask for an exception if you did well in q1. always. at most u get a no.
I always wonder if people are able to generate companies millions, why not do affiliate marketing based on commission? You’ve got the chops and it would be solely based on your proven ability instead of waiting for someone to hire you. But I understand there are many nuances. Inbound, outbound, cold, etc. How did you get the leads for the company you worked for?
All generated by my book of business. Enterprise selling is different than BDR. Your client moves with you to next product, It took me decades plus to build mine
A year unemployed…
Yup cant even get a phone screen my dude lol things are tough out there.
I do sales still but now I own equity in the company so I'm building towards something.
This is the way
Been in sales 15 years. I daydream about quitting daily to do some sort of work that involves being outside.
Broke into FAANG with an Ops role.
Don't make more money, but I quit sales to be a manager at a charity and I'm not sure if I'd go back for any amount.
I started a business.
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I have 3 companies But honestly once you have the experience of sales under your belt - having your business is almost second nature 1. Finding opportunities 2. Networking 3. Building rapport 4. Discovery 5. Channel Partners / Distribution 6. Contracts & Negotiation 7. Post Sales Account Management 8. Events and product release
I ‘left’ sales 8 months ago to be an independent rep. I’m not closing deals, but spend most of my time driving demand. Promoting and training up and down the product channel. Moderate pay increase from being a top performing outside rep at the distributor level in the same industry. Honestly, this sub used to be way more positive. More upbeat. It seams like there are a lot more green or lower level reps on here who have become soured on the profession.
Sign of the times my guy. Historic bull run ended, now we're all dealing with the BS.
I don’t know. The economy is humming with strong gdp growth. Rents and consumer prices are fucked, so I can see people selling to consumers having a tough few years recently. It’s a smaller sample set, but everyone I know in B2B who should be doing well (good product, good skills) is doing well.
I make less money but don’t actually “work”. My job now is passive income. The idea though is to establish enough, then get back into sales without the monkey on my back always chiming in about how I need to earn a paycheck to pay bills.
Follow any professional sub (lawyers, doctors, nurses, teachers, real estate, engineering) and there is a lot of negativity about their chosen profession. Those who are happy with what they do for a living don’t tend to run to the internet to talk about it.
You’d have to move up a couple levels into leadership to make more than a top performing AE. I make more than my boss
My Journey: SDR, BDR, AE, BDM, Sales Ops Analyst, Sales Operations Manager and currently Revenue Operations Manager I made use of all the courses available on HubSpot Academy, Salesforce Trailblazers, and joined a few paid ones at Coursera and Datacamp to upskill myself, I knew that after my 30’s my stress resilience would be shit. Then I started paving the way, took my a good 6 months of applying between my last sales role and my Ops role. A small scale up gave me the chance and I embraced it and now I am the Revenue Operations Manager there and we are in the top 10 fastest growing startup of the country :)
Nobody leaves and makes more. Reminder. You likely make more than your manager
I left and make more? My best year in sales was 61k. I was a top salesman at a car dealership, left to go to be a tech AE, my base in Midwest was like 55k and OTE under 90. The AE job was basically knocking on doors selling to small businesses, worst fucking job. But I went back to school, got an MBA after that and work in a corp finance job, I’m sitting at 100k now and will probably land a new role 120-125k+ before the end of the year. Leaving shitty Midwest sales jobs allowed me to nearly double my income.
How old were you when you went back for your mba?
Was almost 31 when I started finished at 33, took me 2.5 years.
How’d you make the transition to finance? Was your MBA a finance concentration? I’m a little older, and making what your next move would be, but I’d love to find something to transition to that wouldn’t be a huge loss of income.
Not true. My girlfriend left sales and is now a senior director of IT at a multi billion dollar tech company and is absolutely killing it. Like legit makes 10x what I was making at my last job. Kind of strange dating someone who is doing that well in life lol
Tf how? What does her education and skillset look like?
International Business degree And honestly believe it or not she essentially is just a glorified strategic partner who handles very large enterprise accounts (I think they call them champions or champion enterprise accounts?) as a revenue generating consultant. I don't want to say too much else but let me tell you, it is a very cushy job and the work life balance is astonishing.
Why did she go into sales in the first place? Or did she get her degree after working in sales? I've been thinking sales since I recently graduated college and don't really know what to do. Any advice for how to follow her path or just advice for this stage of my life in general? Appreciate it
Getting into tech sales made me realize that life is sales and I cannot escape it. Just embrace the suck. My job before tech sales was working at a dispensary and I had a ‘wtf am I doing moment’ when two gay guys had sex in our stall and left like wads of jizz all over the bathroom. Mopping it up gave off a unholy smell where I ended up quitting and joined a sales Bootcamp (now defunct) called FlockJay. I knew I wanted a Y-combinator anything on my resume and I got in. Tech sales still fucking sucks but at least I can have my balls out during forecast calls. I’m deciding whether to become a deckhand or get into sales operations/marketing operations but I don’t mind being an SDR.
what the fuck
Don’t get into marketing operations unless you want to spend all your time complaining about pipeline attribution and having sales make fun of you behind your back (and occasionally to your face…)
(I laughed out loud at the truthness)
You should write a book called “How I Went from Jizz to Rizz” and you’ll never have to work again
Lmao
That’s a hell of a story. Do you tell that in job interviews?
make sure it's only your balls out, or you might end up in that sticky situation you had before.
I run my own small sales team now so I am out of day to day selling for the most part other than big clients. I don’t know how I would’ve done in a different job field. Sales is kind of a joke for how much money you get paid for how little actual work you have to do compared to other fields.
This is true except few people can handle.rhe stress and fewer still can do that and manage an enterprise process.
It’s sales we aren’t working in the coal mines
My old sales manager used to say “we are not surgeons, no one is dying on the operation table” definitely makes sense. People stress over nothing.
Very close to leaving. I trade Futures and make more money trading an hour or two every day, sometimes I even skip Fridays. The only thing holding me back now is I actually truly do care about my young SDR team and want to keep guiding them at least until they’re promoted to AE in the next 6 months or they move on. I also believe in our product (enterprise mental health app/software) and that we’re making a difference so it’s very hard to leave something like that. I do feel burnt out by the job/industry and will leave by mid-2024 at the latest. I don’t think there’s any more l juice sales can squeeze out of me beyond that. Vacations don’t even help anymore. I’m just grateful the hours work out and that the Futures market is almost always open so I can trade during or after work. I was able to build a large enough cushion plus savings that I don’t have to worry about money for a good while.
Magician on a cruise ship
I quit tech sales after 27 years because of health reasons. Apparently stress reached its boiling point & I had a massive heart attack. I took a 10 months off and bought a commercial cleaning & restoration company that I ran for 7 years, then retired.
I agree. A lot of redditors hate their lives. You can see it in how they will judge, comment and try and put down someone with everyday problems. They do this because their life is not what they imagined it to be. They lost control of it and the only way they can make themselves feel better and in control is by reading up on other peoples problems and then giving their opinion as though they are Gods of success and great decisions. But we all know that anybody who is anybody and making millions and/or is successful in their own right is much too busy living their life, making money to even read up on redditors problems. A few months back I was jobless, down-in-the-dumps and was constantly posting and reading other peoples problems. These days not so much.
I enjoy reading books.
Dunno if this counts, but I was in SE leadership making $285k OTE (plus some substantial options which ended up worthless) about 6 years ago leading a 25 person global team at a startup. I left and started a company that failed. Joined another startup as Head of PM making $200k plus heavy equity. Raise to $220k about 9 months in. Right near the two year mark we were acquired by a private equity company which resulted in about a $600k payout. Got a raise to $280k and also received a $75k retention bonus at that point. Left anyway for a PM job at FAANG making about $600k.
Damn, that’s a hell of a pathway. Good for you 👍🏻
Onlyfans - I was born with 6 toes so im dominating the foot fetish niche. People say OF is a grotesque route. For that reason I make sure to tell my clients they are only allowed to look at my photos and not JO. So far they have confirmed they are only using the photos for viewing purposes
Do the same rules apply to reading this comment?
IT, cybersecurity, gov tech, or software engineering come to mind for me. But all of those either require extra learning, certifications, etc.
Software engineering. Went to boot camp in 2018. I’ve always loved learning and with sales you learn all the come back, people buy no buy signs, how to upsell, ask probe questions, etc and you repeat based on the customer. Which if done correctly can make you a great salesman but It can also be a never ending hustle. I love taking my PTO whenever I want. Unofficially I get 2 weeks of during the holidays. 1 week during thanksgiving. Then regular PTO and sick pay. Software engineering is difficult if you don’t love to continuously challenge yourself. At its lowest level it’s the same sales. You learn a tool then you apply it. But to complete a feature aka a sale I have to figure out where in the whole sale process I messed up and fix it. Edit: I’ve also made more money than I ever did in sales.
RevOps But I make more than I made when I was in sales, not than I’d make if continued to stay in sales. Just find this work more interesting and somewhat less stressful.
I went into software engineering. make way more money and love what I do. Sales is horribly repetitive and boring.
Big law. Out of the frying pan into the fryer
Made way more in sales. Top performer at every company I worked for. Don’t hate my existence any more. Make enough that I live the life I want. Not the one I thought I needed.
Post photos of my feet online
Sounds like direct sales to me
Not directly answering the question, but people like to fetishize “making more than their manager” too much. Once the manager hits second line (director+) they will on average make way more money than the top performing rep in their chain. SaaS SMB sales directors running a few teams can clear $400k+. ENT Directors and VPs can consistently hit near or over 7 figures. And that’s not counting the equity piece or payout at a liquidity event. It’s still sales but just wanted to call this out. Obviously there will be exceptions but climbing the leadership ladder in sales will eventually lead to way more money on average.
I'd think a person would have to start their own business or move into a c suite position to make more.
I believe it depends on what the person was selling and whether they were successful at sales. Most of the people I know who left sales did it because they weren't making the amount of money they wanted to make and they hated selling. I know very few tech sales people who became Sales Engineers (SEs). I know a number of strong SEs who moved into sales roles. They typically become successful sales people. OP, are you currently in sales? What type of sales? Are you in sales for the earning potential or something else? If you leave sales, what would you want to do? Why?
Top sales people typically get promoted within the company and thus make a higher salary. Most American corporations promote sales people over operations people into executive positions. Follow the sales path you can write your own ticket.
You aren’t wrong but I’ve also seen management hold back top reps and it’s very obvious they don’t want to lose their revenue.
YouTuber
I was in the print industry and have moved into sales because I believe sales is where its at. Sales is a new career for me. Im going to give a go and see if I can succeed at it.
I left sales to go to Solutions Consulting and my base increased 35% and i make commission for deals i work on that close. My best year selling i made more that what im going to make but if you averaged my last 5 yrs in sales i make more in an SC role than sales.
My first thought is that I couldn't possibly leave sales and make half as much.
How much would you make in sales that would make you leave?
Not myself, I'm still in sales but my old boss. This isn't exactly what your asking because he doesn't make more money, he makes around the same but works far less hours. He joined a company as a consultant for new projects. He travels and gets wine and dined by salesman now. He went from working around 60 hours a week to now around 25-30. That's my goal I'm the next 5 years.
CE sales support. I dont sell anymore per-say, I manage the relationship holders, helping them grow strategiv business. Lots of internal research and whip-cracking. Some meeting setting. So its growth, but not really sales: no commission but muuuch better
I’m the opposite — my journalism job paid more and was more stable than my sales role. Sales is not my strength and the revenue / emotional roller coaster has taken a toll, which of course affects my work.
eBay
Software development
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I played around for a little on my own,worked through Career Karma's 21 day challenge and eventually decided to go through Flatiron School. I had an AA from a community college, but never finished my bachelor's (currently trying to get one in CS, but already having a job in the field makes it tough to want to do prerequisite classes). Flatiron School cost 17.5k with my loan, an ISA which I'm not obligated to make payments if I don't make at least 50k yearly(low cutoff, I know) but well worth it. Making 126.5k now
I now trade options full time. I did very well in my sales career, but make more money now.
IT
Not me but one of my mentors. He was in sales for 20 years and was headhunted to be the Dean of the Business School at a university. He had some young kids and was ready to quit which is why they went after him. Fast forward about 10 years and he is now the president of the university. He took a small payout pay cut becoming the dean but now he is making the same or more as president. He says the three reasons he switched were June, July, and August.
You can quit ? Not in my experience. No one will even look at my resume for anything else.
You aren't leaving sales to go make more money, unless you are going into a profession like lawyer, doctors / etc. If you want to make money, sales is where it's at. Keep in mind that the folks bitching in this sub aren't all sales pros, and people are more inclined to bitch when shit's not going well. The ones doing good are just cashing POs and grinding. It's not a lifestyle for everyone, if it's not for you that's good to accept.. but just understand you aren't going to leave sales and make more money doing something else.
Am now a CEO. More money yes. More stress also yes.
Buy a small business and take your sales skills into entrepreneurship. 1. Make more than $150k a year 2. Time freedom 3. If you're good at sales you can scale it and make more 4. Build an asset that you own 100% and can sell off later for much more It's what I'm doing
I am 62 years old with 27 years enterprise software sales. Looking to bail, once a pending big contract closes and gets booked. High pressure with OTE of $300k This type job is not easy. You get punched in the face by management, customers and sometimes even peers. The trick is getting up off the ground and then stand up and get punched again. When I leave, I will look at getting my CDL and driving a route of some sort. I have about $100,000 is cash that will serve as a buffer until I hand up the spurs at 65
Quit sales to become a building contractor. Now I don’t have to listen to someone telling me to lie to customers.
Pharmacist. I never made over 100k/year in sales and now I make just a bit over 200k.
E-commerce. Make money while you sleep 😴
I see some people who literally LOVE their sales job and also make 100-200k/yr. This is where I wanna be lol
From Life insurance sales to IT. Made $0 in life insurance sales. Also , not a fan of commission only jobs.
My best year in sales I brought home 301K as a 1099 sales rep for a south Florida roofing restoration company who specialized in insurance claims from Hurricane Irma (3 year filing window). I now have my own small business making automotive carbon fiber parts but constantly being undercut by cheap Chinese carbon fiber parts has made it where I make significantly less than what I did in sales. I miss the money and the chase
I honestly think marketing pays more but it depends what company and what marketing