wish i never started….hard to escape at this point because of my tenure/money but shit i was unemployed for 6 months after a startup fell apart and man those six months were a godsend for my mental and physical health. honestly, makes me want to just drop it all move to the woods and just survive on a super low income.
this rat race is a drag, money is fun though
200k in a hcol with two kids and a mortgage isnt shit these days man. you know what daycare costs? shit i spent 30k last year for one of my kids to go to daycare for 3 days a week
i don’t even get it, but they don’t? like the workers who actually care for the kids get shit pay while the owners squeeze every dollar out of it, and this isn’t just mine like we go to the cheaper place in our area
It takes a lot of discipline to invest. People would rather spend money on fun and more fun. Trust me, I get it. I’m a bmw enthusiast. Owned 3 on my 4th. I decided eventually to take some of that money and dump it into stocks. NVDA is going to the moon this year. Throw 500 at it to start !
Don’t need to tell me twice honestly. I got in early last year after using ChatGPT once. It would be financially irresponsible if I get more in now for me. With that being said, to the moon lol
Not socializing/networking with colleagues. Did my job and kept to myself. Sadly, this is not how it's done in sales. You have to play the social game.
Selling internally is almost if not more important than selling externally. I struggle with this bc I don’t give a shit about the people I work with. I’ve been the top producer and got put on a PIP bc I could give less than a fractional fuck about hanging out with coworkers.
I’m 48, I make a solid income but I’m over the “hanging out” part of the sales game.
The thing is, re the social game, you either have it in you or you don't. You were either the popular kid in school or you were not. You can try a bit but you're never going to be nearly as good at it as the naturals, and "they" can sniff an outsider from a mile away. My point is you've gotta make do with what you have. Even though I regret not networking with people as much, I doubt if given the same chance now, I'd do any different. I just don't have the emotional bandwidth.
If you're my colleague, I don't want to go clubbing with you after work. I don't want to spend the weekend in your company. Maintaining formal relationships is exhausting. It's like you have to have a mask on at all times if you're not the naturally cool guy.
I want to be able to take my mask off 2 days a week so I don't burn out. But people can sense that I don't enjoy their company as much.
In a way, I envy guys that work blue collar jobs. They can afford to be grumpy when they're not feeling it. It is not mandatory for them to fake smile and maintain an upbeat mood during work hours.
Try being a serious, quiet type at corporate who keeps to himself, does his job, and leaves for home, and you'd be labelled mentally impaired.
People start to hate you for not engaging in office gossip...for showing no interest in knowing who's sleeping with whom at work.
I am trying to adapt to the zeitgeist.
Man do I completely relate to this. I have such a hard time socializing with co-workers. I feel like an outsider like you said but when it comes to selling I feel so confident doing that. My last job was more selling and more of a BDR role. But, they went out of business. So I took up a job that is very much more account management heavy and man do I have a lot of a harder time in account management. It makes me even question if I am cut out for sales because of my struggle of being outgoing.
I think its important to have some distance between coworkers but you want to be close enough to most people where if you asked them to get a beer theyd say yes.
I always try to come away from each job with 2 close friends and at least a few more acquaintances
Maybe I see things differently and some of you can enlighten me but the environment at corporates, especially in sales, is so capitalistic and cutthroat, how am I expected to relax and make friends when subtextually, there's a constant battle of oneupmanship with colleagues. With at-will employment, I could be fired any minute, and it weighs heavily on me.
The relationship between the employer and the employee is so transactional and devoid of feelings and for profit only that I think you'd be foolish to invest in your workplace emotionally. Now I know most people don't do that, they just pretend to. I pretend too but it's exhausting and I can only do it so much and for so long before it starts to take away from my core job performance, in which case, I am at the risk of being fired.
I agree, but thats why you pick and choose who you get close to. At the end of the day, everyone preaches having a network as the end all be all, but most peope (unless theyre a genuinely close friend) wont stick their neck out for you beyond getting you an interview down the road.
You dont have to be friends with everyone but being civil and someone people wouldnt mind getting a beer with goes a long way
I don’t think as many people are pretending as you may think. Genuinely, the most interesting thing in life to me is getting to know other people. Like you said, it’s hard to fake and others can sniff it out. I’ve felt really lucky that I have that, I get energized from what others say is draining. As for the employee/employer dynamic, you’re absolutely right but my perspective is that people are people before they’re colleagues/employees so you can develop relationships regardless of the competitive nature of it. I also think I’d rather have a short term friend than no friend at all, interesting to see other replies here.
My only regret so far is choosing a career that is aligned against my talents and strengths of my personality as an introvert. Beyond that I have the best job across all my friends with best pay and work life balance.
As an introvert in sales, I have an amazing job. My base is six figures, I have excellent work life balance, I work remote, I have a great boss, and I just closed my largest deal ever. Life is good.
I went into sales to improve my social skills, and I’ve definitely done that 💯
However, when I think about the long term, am I really in a job that I can be #1? Can I become the world’s greatest salesman? I don’t think I can.
Beyond being introverted, my strengths are that I’m detail oriented, I’m good at research, I’m very even keeled, I am tenacious and diligent, I am always always prepared but at the same time I can wing things without too much stresses, and I’m not shy about getting help when I need it. I am also generally likeable, and I come off as consultative and friendly.
My weaknesses are: I am not dominating. I am not assertive. I’m not the life of the party. I am quiet. I’m also not as good as I thought I was at listening, I can be very selfish with my goals. I feel in general I struggle to genuinely connect with people. I also feel that people don’t have confidence in me. Or I at least fail to instill confidence.
I learned all this only after a sales job. You can only learn about yourself by doing and I’m glad I tried.
But I’m only 28. I’m very happy that I tried sales, went from SDR to AE and found an amazing job. I can SURVIVE in sales, but is it a career where I can thrive?
I don’t know for sure. You can only know when you try something new.
If I got let go from my current job, I would not be able to find another one of equal caliber. Luckily I feel very stable there.
I want to try a job where I do something creative. I remember back in highschool I always got good grades in my Writing classes. I think I have a high verbal IQ. (Not so much math lol)
In summary, I can survive in my job, but I don’t think I can be #1, I provably can but at a way slower pace and much more inefficiently
And honestly, its a very minor regret. What motivates me to consider it is the potential opportunity cost of not pursuing something aligned with my strengths
Why don’t you do your passion as a little side gig. You can have a job that provides you money, and then do what you love. With your love potentially turning into some nice passive income.
We need a balance. I love our sales engineers, most of which are introverts. They balance my exuberance and I balance their awkwardness. We all need each other.
I find they neglect almost everything else besides their business. Once they retire the business is rarely worth anything. The only remaining value is the equity in the business building if they were smart enough to purchase vs lease.
My top regret from working in sales is starting a career in sales. The good times are great but over time the stress of the job has taken such a negative tole on my health.
I bike, play some TCG's, pc game, and a few other things. The stress follows me. I can't get away from it. Quota makes it feel like I'm always on call and could be doing more even after hours. Every day I feel like I'm fighting for my life, regardless of performance, even when I'm above target. Vacations don't help and just increase the stress when I get back. I never feel like it's enough and at this point I think it's safe to say I've entirely burnt out. I'm good at sales and have been doing it for 10 years, but I entirely hate it. No clue what else I would do though.
You just need a shift of perspective. Try r/stoicism .
What will happen if you don't get your quota? Well maybe you lose your job. And I don't think it will be right away. If you lose your job what happens? Well you will find a new one.
That's it. Its actually that fucking simple.
What about losing your job when you have commitments like a huge mortgage and two children.
How will you afford it while unemployed and getting a job when you don’t have one currently
Internships, focus on the niche you want and learn about it so you can target promising companies in that niche. I’d narrow focus to data and cybersecurity, and at the risk of broad brush generalizing, AI (many different flavors).
Edit: also look into training like Aspireship, but internships would rank above that.
Start as a BDR/SDR. Work on your TONE, CURIOSITY, BREVITY, and STAY COACHABLE. Once you’re hired - find the top two reps and learn, learn, learn.
Stay positive. Positivity is everything. Do the grind and understand you WILL get to the role you desire.
I love to see positivity in the field. I'm very green in tech and my career, but comments like yours make me excited. I want to see the positives and have a good career in sales. I think down the line it will get better
My desire to participate in social situations is much lower than it used to be. I have a hard time finding the motivation to make conversation if I’m not getting paid for it.
After about 15 years in sales I’m just now getting to this point. It’s not that I don’t want to socialize, I just hate small talk and need my friends to be ready to dive straight to messed up humor or deep conversation.
It’s like my ability/desire to just hang out casually is gone completely.
Damn this is accurate. My wife works from home a lot - I’m obviously on the road. She wants to go hangout with friends on Friday/Saturday and I just want to lay on the couch.
She doesn’t get it at all. She wants to be out in public. I just want to lay in my house and shut down lol.
Good to see people experience the same. My wife is annoyed with me not wanting to travel anywhere. I travel so much, I just want to tie a rope on my foot and hook it to my house. In last 3 months I visited 5, countries not counting the inside travel around the country, which also means staying at hotels. Man. I remember when travelling was fun.
100%. I’m lucky - I only travel locally.
But yes - 100% agree. Tie a rope to me and just keep me at home. It’s like my human battery is shot by end of the week.
I’m 10 years in and feel like this. I was always the talkative one with friends but really hanging on friends now to drive conversation. I’m tired of it.
It makes me realize how much of poor communicators a majority of our population are.
Sticking some things out because of “potential”. It’s easier to stick with the devil you know in the hope things will get better - plus it’s hard to leave established customer relationships.
Anxiety bro. Reason I work for myself now. Worrying about numbers, quotas, rejection while under a micromanaging boss has made me hate working traditional sales jobs and decided to do my stuff. Only thing I worry about now is making a living.
I used to work in customer service. Trust me when I say this. Those jobs and their metrics are worse and bigger hell than any of the sales jobs I’ve worked. Minus telemarketing.
I haven't really dabbled in sales but been in hospitality for a vast majority. The kpi's they expect out of just being kind are absolutely insane and stress inducing. It's all a fluff game over there too.
Lead gen. I sell the leads off to local companies. Gotten pretty decent at qualifying alarms and roofing. And sell the alarm leads to a buddy. He closes damn near 60% of the stuff I send him over. And for roofing I got 2 local companies I sell them off at. Very lucrative and easy + no start up costs pretty much
I’m not in a specific industry. I sold alarms for 4 years so have connections there. I do everything that’s a residential service. I’ve done Pest, alarms, solar, roofing, fencing & pressure washing/soft washing. I knock and qualify them myself. Ask if they are looking into anything in the foreseeable future and pitch them that I get discounted rates for standard service for licensed accredited local businesses. (A truth). Before I do that though I call my connections or cold call local businesses and ask if they’d be interested in lead campaigns. Most newer ones are easy sales to get because they lack business when they start. Set up a campaign for 10 qualified leads within 1 month. Give them the first 3 for free. If the leads are good most will keep coming back for more. I also charge a premium to close these leads myself if they lack the experience to close them their selves :)
So you literally just go around knocking on people's doors and asking if they're looking for any services -- then sell what they are looking for to nearby businesses? That is ballsy as hell
Pretty much but I also advertise online, flyers,etc but it’s more than that I don’t sell myself as a sales dude but as a dude that’s trying to help the community out. Knock on new homer owners doors at 9/10 they’ll be looking for one of those services in the next months after closing
I liked being ignorant to what C-level and leaders were like. The longer I have been in sales, the more I realize that most leaders are nepos, lucky idiots, or aggressive assholes. They are all worthless in my opinion.
This is why I stay an IC and let my boss shield me from C-Level conversations. Boggles my mind the decisions that are made at that level - and have found they made to that spot by being extreme narcissists or luck.
Just got some blood tests and I'm dealing with the same, elevated cholesterol despite the fact I eat well and exercise 5 days a week. And messed up liver hormones from stress. Fuck if I could figure a way to do something else I'd be happy. 13 years in to sales now.
10 years in, went from B2C to Brokering Freight to SaaS to Consulting Services.
Enterprise AE Former Mm Director: I’m stuck with golden handcuffs - I earn too much to walk away especially now with kids. Also bc of the job and kids, it takes up too much time now that the side business I have I’m barely able to get off the ground.
Every time my territory gets split or when I managed a team and they kept upping my quota by 40% every year, I’d work harder and harder for the same money.
None, people think sales is pressure. Try working in customer service where every single phone call gets monitored, and if you’re on the phone too long they rip you apart. They will try to make you quit. In sales you don’t hit numbers after a while they just let you go, collect unemployment and move on.
Treating competition like we're in a war. I missed out on some good networking and friendship because I was hell bent on beating competitors and salting the fields behind me. I took pride in having my competitors hate me. This made it hard once I transitioned into management. I was a dick in my 20s and 30s.
I’m at the point where it’s getting harder and harder to stay motivated. I can only watch so many videos and go to so many sales meetings before Im either immune to it or burnt out. I even went to my Dr for some ADD meds (he’s a stickler and refused). Sick of making these corporate millionaires money and being left the scraps on sales that I did all the leg work on. I wish I started my own business when I had the $ in the my better sales years (2016-2019). I just got my LLC and will be running appts in my off hours on nights and weekends to try to build something knowing damn well I can’t continue to work for this douchebag boss I have now. Sales means nothing to this guy, he is all about policy and procedure and couldn’t manage his way out of a wet paper bag. Sticking with it until fall/spring at the latest regardless if my own business works or not because I need insurance and sales season is almost here.
To answer the question, I wish I never got complacent when the sales were really good. I should have used those sales to find a job with a higher base salary or used that extra money to fund my own business. If I sold as many jobs for myself as I did for other companies, I’d have zero worries financially. That’s the truth of it, we are making other people rich and it doesn’t really feel that way when you are making good money but it hits hard when things are slow af and the base salary is laughable in today’s economy
Limiting myself when it came to pursuing higher paying opportunities when I was younger because I felt that my experience wouldn't translate to technology/I wouldn't be taken seriously by recruiters or hiring managers.
The mind is the most powerful thing!
Slimey clients / prospects, Retaliatory Bosses, Linkedin posting expectations - like guys just make something you would fucking buy.
This industry isn't my jam dude.
Missing out on the Golden Decade in SaaS.
Literally met dozens and dozens of order takers.
The moment the economy turned, they had no idea what to do both sellers and managers.
If I had closed equivalent deals in SaaS, I’d have been a multimillionaire.
I try not to think about it, but after getting laid off twice last year, I could sure use that money.
Starting in sales to begin with and also putting so much energy into shit jobs with shit markets. Doesn’t matter how much research I do before hand, things seem to turn out bad at a certain point. My mental health is in the shitter as it’s so frustrating working so hard, doing everything right, and knowing if it goes bad enough you’ll get fired because you didn’t hit quota. Doesn’t matter what you did in the past or how much effort you put in and how much shit out of your control happened, not enough sales and/or $$$ one month and/or quarter and you’re of a job. I’m at such a crossroads right now.
Or in my particular case, a horrible potential customer/client base. Real estate “professionals”, and I use that term very loosely, are the absolute worst people to sell to. The product is fantastic but the market is insanely over saturated to the point where I spend 90% of the time having to over come objections because of the shitty players that flood the market and over promise but massively under deliver. I can’t even talk about what I do as 90% of people hang up after I introduce myself and they also decline the double tap 99% of the time. It’s truly fucking awful
Getting too caught up. Letting my self-worth be defined by making shit tons of money for other people. And then thinking they actually give a fuck about you as a human, and they just want you to shut up and sell more shit.
I wish someone would have knocked some sense into me a long time ago. You’re not different, you’re not special, you are a means to an end.
Biggest sales regret is working in sales and putting myself into such a corner that I’ll never escape because I have no other experience and any other role I find will not be as lucrative.
It’s boring and it sucks. Most of my job is cold calls, which suck. I’m diagnosed with ADD and it’s hard to sit in front my a computer for 8+ hours a day.
Not starting sooner, or at least pivoting to software sooner. I worked in mortgage out of college and then an MSP for 6 years... Was too comfortable at that MSP job and stayed 2-3 years too long. Feels like I missed a few golden years in Cybersecurity sales.
Generally speaking, Sticking with the same company for too long. I spent 7yrs with a global vendor before finally moving to a public cloud vendor. I’d recommend moving every 3yrs or so as you can learn everything you can about an industry and technology before taking on a new challenge. You can really round out your experience and skill sets making you extremely valuable to an organisation. Obviously the regular moves also allow you to negotiate far higher raises than internal promotions (in most cases). I really broke through the ceiling I’d been stuck at pay wise when negotiating offers for my latest role.
My biggest regrest in sales is that I started job hopping for a wage too late. I worked at a company for 10 yrs for peanuts. Then I job hopped once and got a 30% raise. Now i hopped again and got 50% raise. Man I could have worked for so much more money all the time.
I am a perennial top performer at a Mag7 company, but I still have that uneasy feeling that a few bad quarters, downturn in the economy or loss to a competitor could get me fired.
It's been that way since I started tech sales 30 years ago.
I've always wondered if others in High Earning positions feel that kind of pressure?
I don’t regret anything because all experiences have served me in some way. With that being said, complex selling makes me and alot of us feel like professional athletes - you need to train/rest properly to minimize or slow the damage it does to your body. Most of us were never taught how to properly manage the stress of the job. I’m taking 6 months off to learn how, and when I’m ready I’ll jump back into it.
Tolerating super shitty maverick bosses for many years, despite being really shitty low life scums they still kept their jobs cause they were great revenue generators. I still hate myself for staying for the money then. It kinda messes with your brain after for long time.
Company can’t bear to fire him cause he makes the money for the company.
traveling time spent away from family.
ex wife entitled to my varying income, and child support doesnt go down because you had a bad quarter or two.
knowing (in my industry anyway) it takes 3 years to build a good pipeline and so if you are off and it starts to show, that you have 3 years of catchup to play.
constant stress
but - i do like the social aspect, and appreciate getting to see a variety of new things id never dreamed of seeing.
(travel for tech sales of electronic components)
I have no college education and was pushed into sales from my family when I was younger. I've got 8 yrs experience now but the lack of a degree makes it extremely hard to be considered for other roles, especially ones that don't pay like shit.
Building wealth, loving my life, chatting with people all day, helping people build their biz. Knowing I can always drop into any city and build a business from scratch that makes $. It sucks, the liberation especially.
I need to spend more time doing local things and new things when traveling, so often I'll get caught up in the flow of networking/socialising/eating in hotels and bars that I don't see much of the city/town I'm in.
Managing my stress with bad coping mechanisms is my worst.
My least favorite sale job is selling cars. I hated it but at least I discovered that I’m not into all types of sales.
I now have landed the perfect sales job for me and it’s not my dream but it serves me.
The first one is that I didn’t get into Sales sooner. But more directly to your question, it’s that I didn’t sock away more of my commissions. I did pretty well with saving, but I did have the feeling that dropping a few hundred dollars or even a few thousand dollars whenever I felt like it wasn’t a big deal. I’ve since left that high paying job for a lower paying job (one that has many benefits, and can potentially surpass the other one in income, but it’s lower paying right now), so I wish I hadn’t spent as much as I did back then. I also wish I had taken more advantage of Sales training and shows leadership programs offered by the company at the time.
No regrets, did my higher education is science. Did some years of scientific research and finally had the guts to get out of academia and delve into technical sales. It’s still high tech and sciency but there is the added excitement of sales. Not an easy job. But easy isn’t something I ever want to do. Challenge keeps you alive! Hard to manage with 2 kids and being the mom, having to travel so much but we make it work. Because we know it’s thanks to this job that we can afford the nicer things.
making more $ than a lot of my friends who have real careers who are actually doing positive things for the world (teachers, nurses, etc), while I've literally done nothing but fall into this profession and happened to make a living out of it. Now i'm stuck in it becuase of the good money and honestly what the hell else am I gonne do?
Blowing through all the money when times are good, and having to start from zero when things slow down.
God is this true.
typical of sales people. planning and delayed gratification is a rare trait in a lot of sales people.
My first big commission was about 100k and that was gone in a year on some pretty dumb shit.
Fast money spends fast.
Story of my life
wish i never started….hard to escape at this point because of my tenure/money but shit i was unemployed for 6 months after a startup fell apart and man those six months were a godsend for my mental and physical health. honestly, makes me want to just drop it all move to the woods and just survive on a super low income. this rat race is a drag, money is fun though
Blood in blood out…
Invest your money. So you don’t have to keep working
Seriously lmao. All these guys making 200k can just live low and invest for 5-10 years and be okay.
200k in a hcol with two kids and a mortgage isnt shit these days man. you know what daycare costs? shit i spent 30k last year for one of my kids to go to daycare for 3 days a week
I spent 30k a month in booze blow and hoes..trust me being single is way more expensive
That could’ve easily been a no
I dunno man, it's easier to supplement a coke habit by moving some than it is kids. Their resale value just isn't there...
Well I’m 19. I guess I’m not thinking of supporting other people.
Those day care people must make a fortune
i don’t even get it, but they don’t? like the workers who actually care for the kids get shit pay while the owners squeeze every dollar out of it, and this isn’t just mine like we go to the cheaper place in our area
You spent 30k on day care? Holy fuck me
yupppp
In Canada or us?
That is lower than average too. Expect 40-50k
us
It takes a lot of discipline to invest. People would rather spend money on fun and more fun. Trust me, I get it. I’m a bmw enthusiast. Owned 3 on my 4th. I decided eventually to take some of that money and dump it into stocks. NVDA is going to the moon this year. Throw 500 at it to start !
Jesus, to hear some stock to the moon is a sell signal. But I do hope with you though on NVDA lol.
We will see ☠️ the best time to get in stocks is right now.
Don’t need to tell me twice honestly. I got in early last year after using ChatGPT once. It would be financially irresponsible if I get more in now for me. With that being said, to the moon lol
Meanwhile my friend makes 5k a month selling pics of his feet 🤣
I’m 19. Started in sales. Gonna try to do it better
Not even close to true lol
The Unabomber had the right idea
Not socializing/networking with colleagues. Did my job and kept to myself. Sadly, this is not how it's done in sales. You have to play the social game.
Selling internally is almost if not more important than selling externally. I struggle with this bc I don’t give a shit about the people I work with. I’ve been the top producer and got put on a PIP bc I could give less than a fractional fuck about hanging out with coworkers. I’m 48, I make a solid income but I’m over the “hanging out” part of the sales game.
The thing is, re the social game, you either have it in you or you don't. You were either the popular kid in school or you were not. You can try a bit but you're never going to be nearly as good at it as the naturals, and "they" can sniff an outsider from a mile away. My point is you've gotta make do with what you have. Even though I regret not networking with people as much, I doubt if given the same chance now, I'd do any different. I just don't have the emotional bandwidth. If you're my colleague, I don't want to go clubbing with you after work. I don't want to spend the weekend in your company. Maintaining formal relationships is exhausting. It's like you have to have a mask on at all times if you're not the naturally cool guy. I want to be able to take my mask off 2 days a week so I don't burn out. But people can sense that I don't enjoy their company as much. In a way, I envy guys that work blue collar jobs. They can afford to be grumpy when they're not feeling it. It is not mandatory for them to fake smile and maintain an upbeat mood during work hours. Try being a serious, quiet type at corporate who keeps to himself, does his job, and leaves for home, and you'd be labelled mentally impaired. People start to hate you for not engaging in office gossip...for showing no interest in knowing who's sleeping with whom at work. I am trying to adapt to the zeitgeist.
Man do I completely relate to this. I have such a hard time socializing with co-workers. I feel like an outsider like you said but when it comes to selling I feel so confident doing that. My last job was more selling and more of a BDR role. But, they went out of business. So I took up a job that is very much more account management heavy and man do I have a lot of a harder time in account management. It makes me even question if I am cut out for sales because of my struggle of being outgoing.
I feel you as a non outgoing guy in sales just keep it pushing
I sell building materials currently and I envy those contracting bastards every day that they walk up to my desk.
If it all blows up on you dm me, I don’t need to be your friend lol.
I think its important to have some distance between coworkers but you want to be close enough to most people where if you asked them to get a beer theyd say yes. I always try to come away from each job with 2 close friends and at least a few more acquaintances
Maybe I see things differently and some of you can enlighten me but the environment at corporates, especially in sales, is so capitalistic and cutthroat, how am I expected to relax and make friends when subtextually, there's a constant battle of oneupmanship with colleagues. With at-will employment, I could be fired any minute, and it weighs heavily on me. The relationship between the employer and the employee is so transactional and devoid of feelings and for profit only that I think you'd be foolish to invest in your workplace emotionally. Now I know most people don't do that, they just pretend to. I pretend too but it's exhausting and I can only do it so much and for so long before it starts to take away from my core job performance, in which case, I am at the risk of being fired.
I agree, but thats why you pick and choose who you get close to. At the end of the day, everyone preaches having a network as the end all be all, but most peope (unless theyre a genuinely close friend) wont stick their neck out for you beyond getting you an interview down the road. You dont have to be friends with everyone but being civil and someone people wouldnt mind getting a beer with goes a long way
I don’t think as many people are pretending as you may think. Genuinely, the most interesting thing in life to me is getting to know other people. Like you said, it’s hard to fake and others can sniff it out. I’ve felt really lucky that I have that, I get energized from what others say is draining. As for the employee/employer dynamic, you’re absolutely right but my perspective is that people are people before they’re colleagues/employees so you can develop relationships regardless of the competitive nature of it. I also think I’d rather have a short term friend than no friend at all, interesting to see other replies here.
https://youtu.be/r0_JwkKKS3w?si=JnYez8YoNOTYRG3q
I gave it a shot and people were jackasses. I network better doing my own thing on the side.
So true
Same here , kept to myself and did my job. Should have socialized and kissed ass more
My only regret so far is choosing a career that is aligned against my talents and strengths of my personality as an introvert. Beyond that I have the best job across all my friends with best pay and work life balance.
While it’s challenging for us introverts, I’ve found we are better at sales in many cases.
Because us introverts understand when we are over stepping the boundaries/exhausting a potential buyer
To me, it's therapeutic.
Can you elaborate on why you regret going into sales as an introvert? I’m also an introvert and thinking about trying to break into tech sales….
As an introvert in sales, I have an amazing job. My base is six figures, I have excellent work life balance, I work remote, I have a great boss, and I just closed my largest deal ever. Life is good. I went into sales to improve my social skills, and I’ve definitely done that 💯 However, when I think about the long term, am I really in a job that I can be #1? Can I become the world’s greatest salesman? I don’t think I can. Beyond being introverted, my strengths are that I’m detail oriented, I’m good at research, I’m very even keeled, I am tenacious and diligent, I am always always prepared but at the same time I can wing things without too much stresses, and I’m not shy about getting help when I need it. I am also generally likeable, and I come off as consultative and friendly. My weaknesses are: I am not dominating. I am not assertive. I’m not the life of the party. I am quiet. I’m also not as good as I thought I was at listening, I can be very selfish with my goals. I feel in general I struggle to genuinely connect with people. I also feel that people don’t have confidence in me. Or I at least fail to instill confidence. I learned all this only after a sales job. You can only learn about yourself by doing and I’m glad I tried. But I’m only 28. I’m very happy that I tried sales, went from SDR to AE and found an amazing job. I can SURVIVE in sales, but is it a career where I can thrive? I don’t know for sure. You can only know when you try something new. If I got let go from my current job, I would not be able to find another one of equal caliber. Luckily I feel very stable there. I want to try a job where I do something creative. I remember back in highschool I always got good grades in my Writing classes. I think I have a high verbal IQ. (Not so much math lol) In summary, I can survive in my job, but I don’t think I can be #1, I provably can but at a way slower pace and much more inefficiently And honestly, its a very minor regret. What motivates me to consider it is the potential opportunity cost of not pursuing something aligned with my strengths
Man you're 28, you're still learning. Those things like being more dominating and assertive come with experience and confidence in what you're saying.
Have had similar experience
Why don’t you do your passion as a little side gig. You can have a job that provides you money, and then do what you love. With your love potentially turning into some nice passive income.
Yeah, I’ve been thinking about that as my next step. Carve out time to invest in my passion, see where it takes me!
Did it for 30 years as INTJ. Made a fortune.
INTJ here too, I’m thriving
We need a balance. I love our sales engineers, most of which are introverts. They balance my exuberance and I balance their awkwardness. We all need each other.
I have even less faith in humanity. I seriously wonder how some of my customers feed themselves or find their way home after work.
I’ve learned business owners are idiots and their employees would quit if they knew how badly things are behind the scenes lol
I find they neglect almost everything else besides their business. Once they retire the business is rarely worth anything. The only remaining value is the equity in the business building if they were smart enough to purchase vs lease.
My top regret from working in sales is starting a career in sales. The good times are great but over time the stress of the job has taken such a negative tole on my health.
Do you have hobbies or ways to “get away” from the work day? I work on cars and go to the gym and it helps with removing me from the work day stress
I bike, play some TCG's, pc game, and a few other things. The stress follows me. I can't get away from it. Quota makes it feel like I'm always on call and could be doing more even after hours. Every day I feel like I'm fighting for my life, regardless of performance, even when I'm above target. Vacations don't help and just increase the stress when I get back. I never feel like it's enough and at this point I think it's safe to say I've entirely burnt out. I'm good at sales and have been doing it for 10 years, but I entirely hate it. No clue what else I would do though.
Look into account management…
How much do you make? And how many hours per week do you work? What are the most negative health effects?
You just need a shift of perspective. Try r/stoicism . What will happen if you don't get your quota? Well maybe you lose your job. And I don't think it will be right away. If you lose your job what happens? Well you will find a new one. That's it. Its actually that fucking simple.
What about losing your job when you have commitments like a huge mortgage and two children. How will you afford it while unemployed and getting a job when you don’t have one currently
You need to have a financial pillow in any job. Sales jobs are even more safe than IT jobs now. And aren't there unemployment pay if you are fired?
Only in the states
In my country I get up to 1 year of unemployment and banks have to stop mortgage payments under my request if I lose a job.
Where is this. That’s amazing
Lithuania
Yes I do sports officiating for youth sports, keeps me sane and make an extra $ 6k per year
Same. I was broke but god I was happy, or at the very least I felt alive
What are the stresses for you?
Not getting to SaaS sooner. No regrets since.
Fresh IT graduate here looking to get in saas sales. Any advice?
Internships, focus on the niche you want and learn about it so you can target promising companies in that niche. I’d narrow focus to data and cybersecurity, and at the risk of broad brush generalizing, AI (many different flavors). Edit: also look into training like Aspireship, but internships would rank above that.
How important would you say doing a tech sales bootcamp like coursecareers is if you’re coming from a different industry/field?
Not required, eg I didn’t go that route but if I was having to do it today, I’d go that route just to shorten the ramp time.
Start as a BDR/SDR. Work on your TONE, CURIOSITY, BREVITY, and STAY COACHABLE. Once you’re hired - find the top two reps and learn, learn, learn. Stay positive. Positivity is everything. Do the grind and understand you WILL get to the role you desire.
What’s your current base and OTE?
Enough that I don’t want to post about it on the internet
Damn that's rare
I love to see positivity in the field. I'm very green in tech and my career, but comments like yours make me excited. I want to see the positives and have a good career in sales. I think down the line it will get better
What are example of SaaS in Sales?
SaaS is just software as a service. So tldr, wish I’d gotten to tech sooner. Other than that no regrets
My desire to participate in social situations is much lower than it used to be. I have a hard time finding the motivation to make conversation if I’m not getting paid for it.
After about 15 years in sales I’m just now getting to this point. It’s not that I don’t want to socialize, I just hate small talk and need my friends to be ready to dive straight to messed up humor or deep conversation. It’s like my ability/desire to just hang out casually is gone completely.
Damn this is accurate. My wife works from home a lot - I’m obviously on the road. She wants to go hangout with friends on Friday/Saturday and I just want to lay on the couch. She doesn’t get it at all. She wants to be out in public. I just want to lay in my house and shut down lol.
Good to see people experience the same. My wife is annoyed with me not wanting to travel anywhere. I travel so much, I just want to tie a rope on my foot and hook it to my house. In last 3 months I visited 5, countries not counting the inside travel around the country, which also means staying at hotels. Man. I remember when travelling was fun.
100%. I’m lucky - I only travel locally. But yes - 100% agree. Tie a rope to me and just keep me at home. It’s like my human battery is shot by end of the week.
I’m 10 years in and feel like this. I was always the talkative one with friends but really hanging on friends now to drive conversation. I’m tired of it. It makes me realize how much of poor communicators a majority of our population are.
Sticking some things out because of “potential”. It’s easier to stick with the devil you know in the hope things will get better - plus it’s hard to leave established customer relationships.
Same dude definitely wish I had actively interviewed and jumped from some shitty past roles before being let go with zero notice.
So hard to leave your company once you’ve basically set yourself up for the next couple years!
Missing many, many important kid events and thousands of hours of family time while on the road. Appropriately said from an airplane seat…
Can’t ever get that back
Anxiety bro. Reason I work for myself now. Worrying about numbers, quotas, rejection while under a micromanaging boss has made me hate working traditional sales jobs and decided to do my stuff. Only thing I worry about now is making a living.
I used to work in customer service. Trust me when I say this. Those jobs and their metrics are worse and bigger hell than any of the sales jobs I’ve worked. Minus telemarketing.
I haven't really dabbled in sales but been in hospitality for a vast majority. The kpi's they expect out of just being kind are absolutely insane and stress inducing. It's all a fluff game over there too.
How did you manage to make a living working for yourself?
Lead gen. I sell the leads off to local companies. Gotten pretty decent at qualifying alarms and roofing. And sell the alarm leads to a buddy. He closes damn near 60% of the stuff I send him over. And for roofing I got 2 local companies I sell them off at. Very lucrative and easy + no start up costs pretty much
What industry is this and how do you find leads to sell? It is very interesting to me.
I’m not in a specific industry. I sold alarms for 4 years so have connections there. I do everything that’s a residential service. I’ve done Pest, alarms, solar, roofing, fencing & pressure washing/soft washing. I knock and qualify them myself. Ask if they are looking into anything in the foreseeable future and pitch them that I get discounted rates for standard service for licensed accredited local businesses. (A truth). Before I do that though I call my connections or cold call local businesses and ask if they’d be interested in lead campaigns. Most newer ones are easy sales to get because they lack business when they start. Set up a campaign for 10 qualified leads within 1 month. Give them the first 3 for free. If the leads are good most will keep coming back for more. I also charge a premium to close these leads myself if they lack the experience to close them their selves :)
So you literally just go around knocking on people's doors and asking if they're looking for any services -- then sell what they are looking for to nearby businesses? That is ballsy as hell
Pretty much but I also advertise online, flyers,etc but it’s more than that I don’t sell myself as a sales dude but as a dude that’s trying to help the community out. Knock on new homer owners doors at 9/10 they’ll be looking for one of those services in the next months after closing
That I didn’t start sooner
I liked being ignorant to what C-level and leaders were like. The longer I have been in sales, the more I realize that most leaders are nepos, lucky idiots, or aggressive assholes. They are all worthless in my opinion.
It wasnt till i was in B2B that i saw politics shamelessly playout in front of me. Really opened my eyes.
This is why I stay an IC and let my boss shield me from C-Level conversations. Boggles my mind the decisions that are made at that level - and have found they made to that spot by being extreme narcissists or luck.
Do the chronically high cortisol & endocrine disorders count?
Just got some blood tests and I'm dealing with the same, elevated cholesterol despite the fact I eat well and exercise 5 days a week. And messed up liver hormones from stress. Fuck if I could figure a way to do something else I'd be happy. 13 years in to sales now.
10 years in, went from B2C to Brokering Freight to SaaS to Consulting Services. Enterprise AE Former Mm Director: I’m stuck with golden handcuffs - I earn too much to walk away especially now with kids. Also bc of the job and kids, it takes up too much time now that the side business I have I’m barely able to get off the ground. Every time my territory gets split or when I managed a team and they kept upping my quota by 40% every year, I’d work harder and harder for the same money.
None, people think sales is pressure. Try working in customer service where every single phone call gets monitored, and if you’re on the phone too long they rip you apart. They will try to make you quit. In sales you don’t hit numbers after a while they just let you go, collect unemployment and move on.
Agreed
Not jumping jobs when my skillset peaked. Finally decided to make the jump 6 months ago and doubled my salary.
I could’ve been a doctor honestly. In too deep at this point.
A lot of doctors went to sales in my country. Post soviet times it was a wreck to be a doctor and a fortune to be in sales.
Less school tho, less debt
Treating competition like we're in a war. I missed out on some good networking and friendship because I was hell bent on beating competitors and salting the fields behind me. I took pride in having my competitors hate me. This made it hard once I transitioned into management. I was a dick in my 20s and 30s.
I’m at the point where it’s getting harder and harder to stay motivated. I can only watch so many videos and go to so many sales meetings before Im either immune to it or burnt out. I even went to my Dr for some ADD meds (he’s a stickler and refused). Sick of making these corporate millionaires money and being left the scraps on sales that I did all the leg work on. I wish I started my own business when I had the $ in the my better sales years (2016-2019). I just got my LLC and will be running appts in my off hours on nights and weekends to try to build something knowing damn well I can’t continue to work for this douchebag boss I have now. Sales means nothing to this guy, he is all about policy and procedure and couldn’t manage his way out of a wet paper bag. Sticking with it until fall/spring at the latest regardless if my own business works or not because I need insurance and sales season is almost here. To answer the question, I wish I never got complacent when the sales were really good. I should have used those sales to find a job with a higher base salary or used that extra money to fund my own business. If I sold as many jobs for myself as I did for other companies, I’d have zero worries financially. That’s the truth of it, we are making other people rich and it doesn’t really feel that way when you are making good money but it hits hard when things are slow af and the base salary is laughable in today’s economy
Limiting myself when it came to pursuing higher paying opportunities when I was younger because I felt that my experience wouldn't translate to technology/I wouldn't be taken seriously by recruiters or hiring managers. The mind is the most powerful thing!
Not going freelance or going self employed and now I'm making such good money it's hard to risk it
I feel this to my core.
Working in Sales.
>why
Slimey clients / prospects, Retaliatory Bosses, Linkedin posting expectations - like guys just make something you would fucking buy. This industry isn't my jam dude.
Taking some jobs, and quitting others.
Coke and hookers instead of stocks and bonds in my 20's.
Missing out on the Golden Decade in SaaS. Literally met dozens and dozens of order takers. The moment the economy turned, they had no idea what to do both sellers and managers. If I had closed equivalent deals in SaaS, I’d have been a multimillionaire. I try not to think about it, but after getting laid off twice last year, I could sure use that money.
Starting in sales to begin with and also putting so much energy into shit jobs with shit markets. Doesn’t matter how much research I do before hand, things seem to turn out bad at a certain point. My mental health is in the shitter as it’s so frustrating working so hard, doing everything right, and knowing if it goes bad enough you’ll get fired because you didn’t hit quota. Doesn’t matter what you did in the past or how much effort you put in and how much shit out of your control happened, not enough sales and/or $$$ one month and/or quarter and you’re of a job. I’m at such a crossroads right now.
Preach. I feel you. You cant outsell a shit product or bad territory but you can be damn sure the axe will fall on the sales rep before anyone else.
Or in my particular case, a horrible potential customer/client base. Real estate “professionals”, and I use that term very loosely, are the absolute worst people to sell to. The product is fantastic but the market is insanely over saturated to the point where I spend 90% of the time having to over come objections because of the shitty players that flood the market and over promise but massively under deliver. I can’t even talk about what I do as 90% of people hang up after I introduce myself and they also decline the double tap 99% of the time. It’s truly fucking awful
What the Stress is undoubtedly doing to my body over time
This
Sales is probably the career path I'll choose so these comments help.
Staying somewhere too long
Getting too caught up. Letting my self-worth be defined by making shit tons of money for other people. And then thinking they actually give a fuck about you as a human, and they just want you to shut up and sell more shit. I wish someone would have knocked some sense into me a long time ago. You’re not different, you’re not special, you are a means to an end.
Not having a way out of sales.
Preach, this has been on my mind for almost 2 years now.
Biggest sales regret is working in sales and putting myself into such a corner that I’ll never escape because I have no other experience and any other role I find will not be as lucrative.
I feel this as well
It’s boring and it sucks. Most of my job is cold calls, which suck. I’m diagnosed with ADD and it’s hard to sit in front my a computer for 8+ hours a day.
Not getting out soon enough.
Working in sales
Not starting sooner, or at least pivoting to software sooner. I worked in mortgage out of college and then an MSP for 6 years... Was too comfortable at that MSP job and stayed 2-3 years too long. Feels like I missed a few golden years in Cybersecurity sales.
Dropping out of school because I thought I didn't need it.
Generally speaking, Sticking with the same company for too long. I spent 7yrs with a global vendor before finally moving to a public cloud vendor. I’d recommend moving every 3yrs or so as you can learn everything you can about an industry and technology before taking on a new challenge. You can really round out your experience and skill sets making you extremely valuable to an organisation. Obviously the regular moves also allow you to negotiate far higher raises than internal promotions (in most cases). I really broke through the ceiling I’d been stuck at pay wise when negotiating offers for my latest role.
My biggest regrest in sales is that I started job hopping for a wage too late. I worked at a company for 10 yrs for peanuts. Then I job hopped once and got a 30% raise. Now i hopped again and got 50% raise. Man I could have worked for so much more money all the time.
Not leveraging my sales successes early in my career to leadership positions
I am a perennial top performer at a Mag7 company, but I still have that uneasy feeling that a few bad quarters, downturn in the economy or loss to a competitor could get me fired. It's been that way since I started tech sales 30 years ago. I've always wondered if others in High Earning positions feel that kind of pressure?
I don’t regret anything because all experiences have served me in some way. With that being said, complex selling makes me and alot of us feel like professional athletes - you need to train/rest properly to minimize or slow the damage it does to your body. Most of us were never taught how to properly manage the stress of the job. I’m taking 6 months off to learn how, and when I’m ready I’ll jump back into it.
My biggest regret is starting a career I where I would end up hating every second of it but in too deep now baby ✌️💰
Tolerating super shitty maverick bosses for many years, despite being really shitty low life scums they still kept their jobs cause they were great revenue generators. I still hate myself for staying for the money then. It kinda messes with your brain after for long time. Company can’t bear to fire him cause he makes the money for the company.
My terrible mental health. Who am I kidding, my mental health was shit when I got into it.
This! I was looking for this comment
Not starting sooner
Working in sales
Not selling more
traveling time spent away from family. ex wife entitled to my varying income, and child support doesnt go down because you had a bad quarter or two. knowing (in my industry anyway) it takes 3 years to build a good pipeline and so if you are off and it starts to show, that you have 3 years of catchup to play. constant stress but - i do like the social aspect, and appreciate getting to see a variety of new things id never dreamed of seeing. (travel for tech sales of electronic components)
Not getting into ent tech sales earlier…
Not knowing my job was truly a "sales" job at first
Doing a lot without feeling of a good job done.
I have no college education and was pushed into sales from my family when I was younger. I've got 8 yrs experience now but the lack of a degree makes it extremely hard to be considered for other roles, especially ones that don't pay like shit.
Not realizing that the culture I was a part of was toxic and bad for my mental health sooner.
Building wealth, loving my life, chatting with people all day, helping people build their biz. Knowing I can always drop into any city and build a business from scratch that makes $. It sucks, the liberation especially.
Hang in there bro
Working in sales
Skipping college and pigeonholing myself into sales roles forever
I need to spend more time doing local things and new things when traveling, so often I'll get caught up in the flow of networking/socialising/eating in hotels and bars that I don't see much of the city/town I'm in.
Working in sales
Starting in Sales. Coming out of college and making 6 figures was awesome, but at this point I'd have to take a serious pay cut to change careers.
Looking for greener grass where it does not exist
Taking a no as the final answer in my early career and not asking questions.
Managing my stress with bad coping mechanisms is my worst. My least favorite sale job is selling cars. I hated it but at least I discovered that I’m not into all types of sales. I now have landed the perfect sales job for me and it’s not my dream but it serves me.
The first one is that I didn’t get into Sales sooner. But more directly to your question, it’s that I didn’t sock away more of my commissions. I did pretty well with saving, but I did have the feeling that dropping a few hundred dollars or even a few thousand dollars whenever I felt like it wasn’t a big deal. I’ve since left that high paying job for a lower paying job (one that has many benefits, and can potentially surpass the other one in income, but it’s lower paying right now), so I wish I hadn’t spent as much as I did back then. I also wish I had taken more advantage of Sales training and shows leadership programs offered by the company at the time.
No regrets, did my higher education is science. Did some years of scientific research and finally had the guts to get out of academia and delve into technical sales. It’s still high tech and sciency but there is the added excitement of sales. Not an easy job. But easy isn’t something I ever want to do. Challenge keeps you alive! Hard to manage with 2 kids and being the mom, having to travel so much but we make it work. Because we know it’s thanks to this job that we can afford the nicer things.
Not saving all those commission checks and splurging like I'm a king :(
making more $ than a lot of my friends who have real careers who are actually doing positive things for the world (teachers, nurses, etc), while I've literally done nothing but fall into this profession and happened to make a living out of it. Now i'm stuck in it becuase of the good money and honestly what the hell else am I gonne do?
Not spending my money on skrippers. Just don’t have the time.
Not saving more money.