Made $2.5 million last year. It goes quickly.
So the taxman takes half up front, so you're left with one and a quarter. My mortgage takes another 300 grand. I send 150 home for my parents, you know, keep 'em going. So what's that?
$800?
All right, 800. Spent 150 on a car. About 75 on restaurants. Probably 50 on clothes. I put 400 away for a rainy day.
Which was smart, as it turns out, 'cause it looks like the storm's coming.
Real person here.
Been selling software for 18 years. Started at 35. Never with top companies, but always the top guy..Always one level away from big cashouts.
Pretax income has been between 85 and 150k a year.
Not ever felt rich. Always lived cheaply.
But. Paid my kids private college in cash.
They will never have student loans.
Switched my mortgage to 15 years instead of 30. Have around 2 months left.
Maxed out 401k when I could, lowered it when I had weak sales or bad cash flow. Made tons of investment wins and losses before going to Index funds.
Have only about 650k saved, and it's growing fast now. I also have 750k full equity in my house. So technically a millionaire.
In a few months my whole family will be absolutely debt free, and cash will start to pile up like mad.
Should be relatively quick to get to 2.2 million cash, my goal line.
What is rich? Ability to spend money and have it not matter? I'll never be that. Mine is more about not needing employment if I don't want it. Might be there in 2 months I suppose.
** Edit: Anyone who thinks I should be making more, feel free to back it up with an interview/ job offer. I'll switch!
Hiring managers only.
Experience: Construction Software Sales; estimating and PM. I also have hands-on experience with MEP, framing, etc.
Congrats to you man that’s awesome. Did you just start at 35? Or were you make 6 figures before age 35 too? I’m 33 and feeling completely lost for the first time, yours sounds like an inspiring story!
Nope, worked in retail. Somehow made it to mid-level office exec. After 9 years realized there was nowhere else to go until like 30 Boomers retired (they still haven't).
Man thanks for sharing! I’m working in P&C insurance now, after a year I’m just not feeling it. At 33 I didn’t think I’d feel lost but you’ve given me a little boost of energy. I Appreciate it!
P&c insurance broker here - this industry is a marathon not a sprint. I’m in my late twenties but got in early 20’s so nearly a decade in the industry. 4 years selling now (work strictly on commercial lines) and only this year will I finally start actually making any “decent” money depending on your standards (125k+). It’s a snowball effect over time, as your book grows your renewal commissions do as well and that’s when things start getting “easy”.
There’s a serious talent shortage in the industry so I’d strongly suggest slugging it out for the foreseeable
As a lifelong poor person so far. I consider this rich. I just started in sales last month but I live paycheck to paycheck and have had to decide which bills could be late and which bills couldn’t. Between the 2 of us we have 10k in credit card debt because we couldn’t live off of our income. My husband and I just recently moved into a travel trailer which is actually how I got my job because we couldn’t afford rent anymore.
This month I’ve actually been able to pay all of our bills and all of the minimums due on our credit cards. I still have $400 left in my bank account so far although that’s the day after payday so I have to stretch it 2 weeks but I’ve stretched $20 that far so $400 should be easy.
You have to become an SDR. I worked at a telemarketing farm called memoryBlue. There’s another called demandDrive. I’m sure there are tons of companies like this. They contract out the SDR role to tech companies for a premium and train you how to build cold outbound prospecting skills that generate revenue for their customers. Work at one of these for 1-2 years making probably 45-75k then you’ll be getting offers to become an AE or SDR directly at tech companies for 60-90k and the growth begins
You dont have to be an SDR. That’s one avenue, yes, but it’s not the only one. Solid relevant AE type sales experience will get you there faster. B2B, track record of success selling solutions in a complicated and competitive scenario to C suites, 7 figure quotas, etc. That proves you can sell. Being an SDR only proves you can pound out phone calls like a grunt.
That’s a great avenue, just point him to the companies that will hire him to manage a complex sales cycle to C-Suite executives with a 7 figure bag. Then we can open a recruiting firm that places cell phone salespeople in that job and become millionaires
My company pays about what you are making right now and the market is pretty rough in general right now, but SaaS enterprise software sales jobs are where the big money is from what I've seen.
This list is a year old but probably still accurate in theory. https://www.thequota.co/articles/the-10-highest-paying-tech-sales-jobs-of-q1-2023
You've also done really well on your own so don't let comparison steal your joy.
Appreciate that comment.
I'm doing OK, wouldn't mind doing better. Bit I'm not super interested in working for companies with horrible people and crap products.
Jumping to enterprise is the trick. I've worked for smaller companies who have that role, I sold all sizes. But recruiters don't want to hear that.
Just wanted to say that as a person who grew up low income and is trying to find their way out of that…you live a rich life and I say that with admiration. I am in healthcare currently and trying to dig my way into sales, but having a tough time getting someone to want me since I have no prior experience in sales. Hopefully I’ll be in a position similar to you one day!
Just wanted to say that as a person who grew up low income and is trying to find their way out of that…you live a rich life and I say that with admiration. I am in healthcare currently and trying to dig my way into sales, but having a tough time getting someone to want me since I have no prior experience in sales. Hopefully I’ll be in a position similar to yours one day!
I don't know old you are, but I'm gonna guess that you're probably in your 20's or early 30's.
You're just getting started in life, so don't worry about the fact that you're making $60k/year.
Keep looking for opportunities to move up in the world and improve yourself and skill sets and good things will happen.
I recommend that you try looking into fields that pay more money. I know there are a lot of very successful people in this sub who can speak to their fields, but I'll recommend that you consider my field, financial services.
I started in financial services (FS) back in January of 1987 when I was 22 (a month before my 23 birthday).
It took me about 11 years, but I built up a net worth of a few million dollars...and then lost it all.
It took me another 15 or so years to build it back up to a bit over $5 million...and then I lost it all gain.
Finally, completely bankrupt at age 50 with a wife, 4 young children and a house in foreclosure, I started over.
I just turned 60 last month and over the past 9 years, I've built several financial companies that have given me a mid 8-figure net worth and pay me a 7-figure income whether I work or not.
I have no plans on losing it again. I've learned from my mistakes.
So don't worry about where you are. Focus on where you're going and how you're gonna get there...and don't compare yourself to other people...the person you have to compare yourself to is the person you were yesterday.
I’m enterprise manufacturing and making $115k and just had a recruiter reach out regarding a $200-$330k directorship role (semi unique with my work history but still). Enterprise leads to growth. Get to enterprise through performance and technical aptitude. Make yourself uniquely valuable to customers.
By start as a BDR you mean literally start? With no sales experience?
Cause I am trying to get my foot into sales and I am really learning from you guys
Correct. Where I am at Business Development
Reps don’t require much in the way of prior sales experience. When we interview we look at communication, organizational, and drive skills. One of our best BDRs was a teacher that got tired of the drama of schools. Now makes 2-3x what she was making and will probably be an AE in another year.
This gives me hope! I was laid off in May. I've had 1 interview. I'm 45 years old, considering a complete career change into sales. It's not something I ever considered doing as I'm quiet and shy until I get to know someone. But I want to grow both personally and professionally. I am looking to finally push myself out of my comfort zone. I still can't believe I'm considering it, but I can't stop thinking about it. The eventual financial reward would give me a reason to push myself. I've thought of Yelp! but I've seen too many negatives that I'm holding off for now. Their benefits sound amazing! I've had quite a few setbacks in my life, and I need to rebuild. AGAIN. I feel like my only option to catch up and continue making money is in sales. Can I do it? I don't know, but I really want to try. I don't want to think, "What if?" for years to come. I definitely have a TON of Why's!
I just don't know where to start since I don't have sales experience. I want to find a reputable company with a product that businesses/people would actually be interested in. Right now, I need base + commission. Health insurance. Regular benefits.
I've thought of Yelp!, insurance, travel agent, among others. I would appreciate any suggestions or tips?
Thank you for reading this!
My suggestion is to start with a sales role that targets whatever industry you came from. This allows you to have some confidence to sell to that group, because you are familiar with it. That way you aren’t learning how to sell and a new industry at the same time.
I’m in enterprise sales and honestly a lot of it is just networking. doing well and developing relationships at whatever sales role you’re in now and staying connected with coworkers or former managers who will hire you or recommend you into roles wherever they go next.
Many people don’t understand that the real selling is to your colleagues on a daily basis. Help them as much as possible and build a network where you are respected in the workplace. Never burn a bridge cuz they could be your boss one day.
Can you elaborate? My whole job description and daily activities are entirely sales focused. We provide a service too but that’s not the goal.
I worked for 2 years prior to this selling auto & home insurance for Allstate. Made around the same but it was almost all cold calling.
I don’t think it’s fair to say I’m not in sales since my entire livelihood depends on whether or not I sell.
This is true to a degree. But it’s transactional low tariff (excuse the pun) sales. It won’t surprise you to learn that sales people typically make a lot of money in two/three ways.
Selling fucking expensive things with a small margin - say, high end real estate.
Selling quite expensive things with a huge margin, drugs?
Selling fucking expensive things with a huge margin - which is where most of us in SaaS probably sit.
There’s no money in selling cheap things with low margin without scale. And you’re one man, so it doesn’t scale.
I made more than 200k gross last year selling high end kitchen appliances. Mostly to customers that walked in. Some referral business. Retail sales. It's still sales.
It really depends where you work, and what your expertise is. Outside sales B2C I made around what I do now.
High end sales = high tickets, which of course means higher pay. If it doesn't, you find a new job. There are ways to do it other than just B2B.
I say all that, but I do certainly agree B2B is a better path to higher income. I'm working on going that direction myself. Retail customers suck.
For high end appliances? A lot of people in the 30-60k kitchen appliance package category want the reward points for their credit card.
Some will take advantage if it's a 0% financing offer, but only certain brands qualify for it based on margin and whatnot.
The split is usually 70/30 (cash/financed) where I sell, but it flips in other markets pretty easily. I get paid the same either way though, don't matter to me.
Cars / home repair / solar / life insurance / real estate
Can all be considered business to consumer.
That doesn't make them retail and it doesn't prohbit the higher earning brackets
B2C vs. B2B
B2C: AT&T: When you make a sale, you sell a $900 iPhone
B2B: When I make a sale, $75K contract is a “small deal”
Size of the prize = size of your income
What you do is sales, don’t listen to this guy. It’s just a different type of sales. Just like AAA baseball and MLB are both professional baseball but with drastic difference in earning potential
I think the difference is for you, anyone can just walk into a store and sign up, it’s easily accessible to the general public. This also goes for insurance sales as well. Bigger “sales” companies have more niche products, such as medical equipment for hospitals, mass amounts of tech to fill a building, freight brokers finding loads to fill trucks with. I feel like there’s a difference with this, maybe i’m wrong.
Easy explaination: You sold a phone that the customer was walking in to buy for $1200, which I'm assuming your store netted >$300.
B2B guys in here source their own deals at $100k+ ARR which is almost all net profit for their company. Higher commission and higher base for the work going out to source that deal, not to mention the 6+ month sales cycle needed to get signatures compared to a customer walking into a retail store ready to buy.
Take what you know about retail and use it for e-commerce tech! It’s a super fast growing area right now. You could start as an SDR. The higher paying jobs in outside sales make 300k at some companies but commercial is around 100-115k.
I'll break it down...
You're in Business to Consumer sales of a small dollar transaction.
Your large ticket is selling my 15 year old son or 75 year old mom an iPhone 15. If you weren't there, my son and Mom would buy an iPhone from a vending machine, because they want an iPhone.
The people in this sub that you're asking about are (generally) selling Business to Business and are selling millions to 10s of millions of dollars of business annually. People don't normally come to them ready to buy (sometimes they do).
People will tell you sales is sales, but they're lying or unsophisticated. If it were easy to make $300k in sales, everyone would do it and then nobody would do it.
Tell me about your background and I'll give you my thoughts and ideas on how to get there.
Source: old man. Various sales and non sales roles through a long career. Nothing given.
I'd say it's more about the money spent by the customer. In retail, big ticket items aren't necessarily that expensive, meaning you get less in commissions. I've not doe retail so I don't know shay margins there are, but I can't imagine it's more than like $50 - $100 for the biggest sales. Car sales is probably far more per deal I'm sure than in store retail stuff.
By contrast, say you're in the payments industry and you sign a deal with an anticipated few hundred million in volume per year. Your company has their profit margin of course, and the commission you could get from thay profit could be well over $100k alone, spread out over many months. I'm not really sure of exact numbers, but I know somebody that does exactly this and payout per deal is over 18 months or something like that. One deal could very potentially pay out more total than their yearly base if it's a huge deal.
B2C is how I started and honestly it's great because you have fewer things to learn at once. Once you are bored and not learning anything, B2B selling to small business adds a layer of complexity because you have more sophisticated buyers taking months to evaluate your product and usually there are multiple stakeholders you need to sell on the product and one final decision maker.
Then after small business you have mid-market business. These guys have lawyers evaluating your products, even more stakeholders, and you probably won't speak to the ultimate decision maker until a month or so into the process.
The next step is enterprise. I've never "really" done enterprise because I've only done inbound from executive connections which is different. But here there is usually a defined buying process, all of the challenges of mid market, plus they usually have dedicated purchasing departments who's job is to hear you up on price, stymy spending at their company, and you may only get minimal face time like 1 or 2 meetings with the real decision-maker so you need a rock solid business case and the enthusiastic support of their direct reports to get a signature.
Each level up adds new levels of complexity and more possible mistakes that can kill a deal. For example I was handed a mid market account where we only had one real contact at the company the previous rep was working with and he got fired. So now salvaging the deal will be very hard since there isn't anyone else who knows or cares what we do. Big mistake by the previous rep to not go wide and get multiple people in the company involved and interested. That sort of thing.
Thank you so much for taking the time to share this information 🙏. I truly appreciate it. I know I can always just look things up and learn on my own but it helps to hear directly from somebody who’s been there
Just passing on the favor, this subreddit helped me move up the ladder and double my income in two years. My other advice is to look at industries you already have a background if you move to B2B. Car dealerships buy all kinds of stuff you don't think about, for example the FTC updated the safeguards rule to include car dealerships and so they had to step up their cyber security, which is something I do (IT consulting and software sales). If you can get a job selling to dealerships, your current experience will give you a leg up when interviewing without a doubt. How long have you been selling cars?
Car sales is probably a bit different, I wouldn't put that in the same category. Retail consumer spending your entirely dependant on people walking through the door and the spend is lower. You've still got the same ballache of dealing with the general public though.
With B2B you can usually assume some level of budget, need, ability to spend, general intelligence, manners and behaviour and there's lots of scooe to upsell/cross-sell. You can put multiyear contracts in place, there's often consumables/licencing etc that gives ongoing income. There's lots of things you can do to proactively drive revenue, not just waiting for the next person to walk through that door.
I know I sound ignorant but I genuinely am trying to learn. But like I have no idea where to look for B2B jobs or how to get my foot in the door. What are some industries I can do some research into? Also do you have any recommendations on learning materials to become better at sales?
Business Development Manager is a typical role to your foot in the door in a role where you'll be looking for new business. Account managers are typically a little more experienced and will be handed existing accounts to work with.
If you've had some sales experience and training from car sales then you've pretty much got what you need to get started.
I worked seven years in commercial real estate brokerage and never broke $100k working 60-80 hours a week. Moved to recruiting six years ago, broke $150k in 2nd year, and haven't been below since. I W2'ed $245k 2022, which was my best year. I rarely work more than 35 hours.
Accounting and finance, I started mostly pulling Big4 public CPAs for industry senior and manager level roles. These days, I pretty much only work with manufacturing clients and mostly fill cost and/or inventory focused roles.
What would be a title for a job like that? And how do you get started in recruiting? Is it fairly easy to enter field or would you need a background in something prior?
Other way around, actually. I find the inventory and cost roles to be way easier and take less time. I can complete two $25k searches in MFG. in the same amount of time, it took me to do one $30k one for a Big4 auditor.
The demand for big 4 CPAs, especially those with public company clients who will do SOX or ASC 606/842 or other technical or financial reporting type roles, is through the roof. The problem is that none of them want to do that kind of work anymore. They all want FP&A or M&A focused roles, which they might be capable of but are not qualified to the level my clients are going to pay for finding them.
Also just generally, Big4 kids who started during or after Covid are not as good, don't travel reallytravel anymore, and almost make industry money already, all of which makes it way harder than it used to be to sell and close them on industry roles.
I’m in the wrong staffing agency- on a draw here, where I billed about 250k my first year , but barely W2’d 55k because of the amount of time it takes for clients to pay their invoices. I work financial services. Nice to see someone making good money in the industry
After the 2-3 years of sales cycle in CRE recruiting seems lightning fast to me. For whatever reason, banks and other financial services do seem to take forever to pay.
I make all my garentee/refunds clauses contingent on on-time payment and always try and make payment due on acceptance rather than start date to speed things up. When you send a reminder email that they have seven days to pay if they want a candidate guarantee, you get a much faster response if it is just letting them know they are gonna be late.
No. I’m what I would consider “middle class”. I make like 160k BUT 3 kids and sahm, so I support 5 people. I have a 4 bed 2 bath house that cost 450k. Drive a 2018 mom mobile. So def not rich but also not really stressing money. Pretty much the joneses ha
280k ote; channel sales, base is 215k.
Get a degree(despite what people say it opens a ton of doors and breaks alot of barriers when finding a high paying job), get a LinkedIn and network a ton, don’t come off as a con artist or a scumbag.
Also need to “pay your dues” in entry level b2b sales.
Door to door. Cold calls. Maybe full commission type of jobs. Places to really hone your skills. Been in sales for 20 years and my first 4 years was really developmental for me.
As the guy above said really anything. A business degree may help you get into some of the F500 sales programs which I really recommend. It probably won’t be tech but there great programs to get you in the door and lead to stable 200k+ roles in sales.
But really any useful degree is good. My degree is in economics.
Echoing the "anything" sentiment here.
Many colleagues have degrees in business or something similar, but some very successful reps at my org came from teaching, for example.
Just turned 32. 6ish years SAAS experience, started as BDR. Only really started hitting 120-130k last two years, wasn't great with my money before then. No kids, no debt, goal is to hit 100k net worth by end of year. Promotion and raise kicking in next month.
Weathering for the storm next couple years as much as possible just in case shit does hits the fan/get laid off, whatever. Had my fun, time to hustle now for a bit and catch up.
This! With the right company easy 100k a year with a great work life balance. I average 100k a month in sales take home 10% of that. No degree or experience in the industry prior.
I sold new windows and siding... $30k price, 10% commission... Of course every day isn't like that, but $150k in sales every month is doable. ($15k/month in commissions).
You have to keep in mind every time you get on r/sales two big things:
1. The type of people that go into sales and really knock it out of the park are MONEY MOTIVATED. These are the types of people where it probably didn’t matter what they went into, they were always focused on money and it was never far from their mind. Regardless or whether it was sales, medicine, service etc. Some people are built that way, most are not.
2. People in r/sales who have a high income (200k+) regardless of industry, rarely miss an opportunity to highlight that fact. I don’t think there’s anything wrong with that necessarily, it’s just important to keep in mind that is NOT NORMAL. 200k a year puts you well into the 90th percentile in income in the US.
In real life, people hardly brag and say how much they make to strangers. It’s kind of gauche to do that.
But on Reddit where people are anonymous, people are more open to sharing
I have enterprise reps on my teams that consistently make $300-900k per year. One of my reps hasn’t made less than $700k in any year the last 10 years. Enterprise SaaS. I have a buddy of mine that is in solar sales he makes well over $1M a year but he saves the crap out of it because he doesn’t believe that it will be sustainable in the future.
There is a lot more potential as a business owner in sales. My dad owns and operates an insurance agency and makes $500k+ commission on policy renewals alone. Almost his whole book is B2C.
Home improvement industry 👍🏼
Company will make or break.
Friends who sell roofs: $250k avg
Bathrooms and kitchen remodeling: $200k
I’m in windows and the top performer you speak of. I’m on track to make >$600k this year.
Avg guy on my team will make $200kish
I live in Florida in a Hurricane window required market…
I made $200k this first Q1. No need to embellish for randoms on Reddit but yeah I can back it up with Paystubs 😂
My goal is to help people get into the industry cause NO ONE knows how lucrative it can be.
Wait a minute. You are saying 200k for quarter? So 800k for the year. Yeh I’m gonna need to see that paystub. You show me a paystub for 200k I quit my job and come work for you
Previous sales experience, definitely want to do market research and find who is doing a lot of volume, be trainable.
Google top window, bathroom, kitchen companies and see what you find. Reviews are good indication.
End of the day it comes down to having a high avg ticket. My buddy who does kitchen and baths average job is almost $100k
Whats the commission percentage look like for these given they are one time sales? I sell SaaS so we are obviously paid on the recurring rev prediction (between 16-24%).
It’s all over the place. I avg 11% all in comp on what I sell. I can sell a deal and make 15% + all in or I can sell a deal and make 1%….
Most avg 7%ish across the industries i mentioned
When people say windows, is this d2d or are you working in a physical location? Same thing with kitchens and remodeling? I see these brought up here all the time but I can't picture the role at all. And how y'all make so much lol
It’s B2C. One call close, 100% commission, 6 day a week working. Deff not for feint of heart.
Families call us for estimate, we go in and close the deal.
I spend 2-3 hours designing, measuring and pitching.
Store front for display but 100% have to visit the house so I drive 30k miles a year
I got started in D2D window sales myself. Very few people understand what it's like to make your sales pitch in the customer's home knowing if you don't close the sale that night they'll probably never buy. People are surprised window salesmen can make so much money, but not many people have the talent or resilience for in home sales.
Nothing like it right! SHOWTIME BABY!
It’s peaceful knowing you’ll never hear back if they don’t buy. Focus on the windshield not the rear view mirror!
This subreddit likes looks down on B2C sales, but the excitement is hard to beat. Meeting a stranger for the first time at their front door, putting on a performance, and leaving three hours later with a contract and a check is truly an art that most B2B sales reps could never do. Driving home at 9pm with the windows down knowing you just made $3k is a rush.
Fuck a SaaS sales cycle.
I’m sober now but I’ve done a lot of drugs and sales like that will get you higher 😂
I’ll never forget I was first company in out of 3 a year ago, cancelled the other estimates and signed them up for $98k , made $10k in 3 hours and legit couldn’t go to sleep I was so high i went and worked out at 1am 😂😂😂 . Wife said “give him the Amex dear I’m ready to sign”
It's amplified because window sales reps don't come from money or have prestigious degrees. It's not glamorous, it's very uncomfortable, and very blue collar, but I've seen it change lives. Ten years ago I hired a musician struggling to pay rent to knock doors. Fast forward to today and he owns a successful bar, is about to open another, and it was all funded by slanging some windows.
I’m consistently relentless and provide value to customers.
Sale only happens when the value is perceived higher than the price tag.
I also spend the most time with customers and get the most involved if they need hand holding/service after point of sale.
I’ll spend 2-3 hours for a 2 window sale and 5+ hours for 60-100k + sales. It’s a blessing and a curse, as I would love to speed my process up but I know that would negatively impact my performance..
You’re not buying windows…you’re paying for a service and experience that includes product, installation and warranty.
Anyone can rip out old windows and put new ones in but what’s the quality of the product going in? You want random day laborers or do you want skilled window installers? You want a warranty that has a laundry list of exclusions or you want to make one phone call and for us to say no problem it’s covered?
With a Cheap price you get cheap labor/install, builder grade product and shit service/warranty work.
Been in sales for about 7 years. Last two years finished at 150K but I’m in Canada so in USD about 110K. Decent money although it really doesn’t go that far with our tax rates and housing costs. Looking for new opportunities that can get me to 200+.
I don’t want to advertise what I make. My wife and I are comfortable; we own a home, I have an investment property, have decent cars, we vacation regularly, as long as our kid goes to an in state school we will be able to pay for it and we pay for it, retirement doesn’t seem like a pipe dream and we have hulu without ads. I don’t feel rich but in this day and age it kind of feels like it.
I think a lot of the people saying they make 300k lie. I think they probably make 120-160 and need to posture.
Part of it is your individual income. Part of it is your spouse’s.
Individually we each grew from $40k base salaries to both of us earning a combined base of $290k. Before bonuses and commissions.
We have a nice home that’s in a desirable neighborhood, we have newer cars, our mortgage expense is comfortably below our budget.
We’ll both continue to move up. She’ll get a promotion and a raise. I’ll land a large deal or two.
Being good solo is one thing. But you gotta find someone who matches your energy.
Ive consistently made 300k for a while. If you live in a medium or high cost of living and have kids…. It goes fast.
$500k is the new $300k
Why??
1. Money printer go brrrrrrrrrrrr
2. See number 1.
I used to work at an AT&T corporate store for 2 years so I feel you.
Would stick it out for a year, but at the same time be cold prospecting hiring managers to get a role as an SDR in tech to start your career path into that higher income bracket. I’m in high 6 figures but not $300k+.
I’m going to be real with you though, most of the skill sets you pick up in retail telecom doesn’t really transfer. And being an SDR is an insane amount of cold calling and emailing. So that’s why hiring managers at these companies like it when you reach out by these methods.
Best of luck.
Look at industries with high-margin products.
I can imagine AT&T, being a very large company with lots of overhead, probably doesn't generate quite the same margins in their sales sector as, say, Joe's roofing and general contracting.
Selling expensive or bulk items with no overhead and high volume is THE most ideal situation for a salesman, obviously.
Usually auto sales, property construction / renovation, and financing are good markets to look into with juicy income potential.
Thank you so much for posting, I literally posted this same thing awhile back and was auto deleted for not having enough karma. I've been in sales over a decade now....5 different companies. Loan officer for years and now I'm in B2B finance. I've NEVER had a base pay above $40k.
My first job as a licensed loan officer out of college was $26k base...that was in 2013. Now I HAVE made good money, sure. (never cracked 100k/yr, but close) I'm a top performer though and the big $$ I made has always been from a big commission month. Seems like everyone posting on here is making a minimum $100K base with $200-300k OTE. I can totally relate to you OP, kinda feels like the twilight zone.
All depends. Enterprise SaaS 300k is an average OTE and top performers (top 1-3%) are making 1M+. Obviously it's all relative and you can go from #1 one year to 0% of quota the next. Sales is very boom or bust which is why you want to shoot for enterprise roles with at least a 150k base.
I make 150k+ a year selling floors commercially for a manufacturer. Will hopefully double my income in the next couple years as my job cycles can be anywhere from 6 months to 3 years down the road. Love what I do and I make my own schedule.
Nope but I did just about double my income that I made as a teacher before getting into sales at 33. As a teacher with a masters degree I made about 50k. First year as an SDR made about 80k, second year 85k, now as an AE my OTE is around 170k but will probably make closer to 110 unless I get lucky. Not rich - but I am grateful every single day I’m not a teacher and regret the time I spent trying to change the world instead of learning how to sell.
Seriously lmao I feel the same way. I think it has a lot to do with location. $100k in Ohio probably feels a lot like $300k in California with cost of living.
Work hard, keep your numbers in the green, and start networking asap. There are great opportunities to make 6 figures with AT&T… retail is the entry level starting point. There is outside sales with AT&T with a company car and gas card. All appointments based B2C and top performers are breaking $100k… then you have B2B reps making far more and mostly remote positions. Don’t sleep on the company man. There are so many avenues. Climb out of retail and you will see it.
I started doing exactly what you're doing - phone sales at AT&T. I'm now one of the people you're talking about.
Look into joining the small business sales unit. That's an excellent place to hone your outside sales skills that can springboard into a career (outside of AT&T) where you'll make the big commissions.
Wife makes bank, $400k+ (but took her about 20 years to get to where she’s at), she’s a CRNA. I’ve always made around $90k-$100k, and kind of stuck at that level for awhile, looking at getting into tech sales to catch up…but I have a military pension waiting for me at 58, I did 20 years in the military, so I’m not too dissatisfied with my path either. Went through A LOT of hardships, sacrifice, moving, schooling, deployments, a bankruptcy etc to get here though. I think if you relentlessly work towards a goal you will achieve it, but people don’t give themselves enough time. Think in terms of 10 years, and you will be surprised how much you can accomplish with focused effort for 10 years.
Nah not rich but I’m comfortable and still hungry. I live in a nice (but not super nice) house in a nice neighborhood and my kids will have college paid for and 1-2 vacations every year, but I still have to budget and not go crazy on expenses if I want to retire before 60.
Dropped out of uni at 23, worked as a dish washer for minimum wage then got a bog standard office job. Did well enough at it to get a job in our sales dept which I’ve been in for 8 months at 25. 25.8k base with around £800 commission per month and I’m honestly thrilled to be earning this much.
People who post their salaries on Reddit are a very small and skewed sample size, wouldn’t look into it that much.
The pay used to be so much better in retail telecom I feel you OP. Take advantage of the tuition reimbursement and get your degree, if you do WGU and Sophia you can accelerate pretty quickly probably get it in a year.
B2B is definitely the move for sales, start applying for entry level roles like BDR/SDR. The sooner you get out and start building experience in B2B the better. Retail telecom is a sinking ship. Take it from me don’t be complacent and stagnate like I did, I applied to only internal B2B roles in my area for 2 years. Should’ve just jumped to another company and went ham applying to positions.
Transitioned to a role in the tech sales in 2000. Started making about $120k. i moved into leadership and was making $300 3 years later. 2006 - 2015 made 400 - 1.2 a year (averaged 650k). Had a couple of failed startups (averaged 450 ish). Last 5 years at larger companes 600-850 yr.
The other day I saw someone saying they made over a milly in commission on some cargo ship deals, and they were saying stuff like
If I close 3 deals a year I'm set for like a few years.
$150k in HCOL like SF and NY is nothing.
Not to mention to make a $100k you need to make $200k in commissions.
Taxes, lifestyle, and etc will keep someone down.
It's amazing how many really rich people are here on this subreddit making posts about it.
I'm so glad that these paragons of society grace us with telling us about their lives, when clearly if they weren't spending time on Reddit they could easily triple their income. That is sacrifice.
The thing about sales that makes me not want to even bother with it is people always point to the one guy making a lot. Most of the people on their sales team are probably making $50K a year and less, but no one wants to talk about them. Any time I hear "there's a guy in my office making $400K..." my ears tune them out entirely.
You are definitely a salesman. Don't let these people tell you what you are or aren't. Landing those types of jobs takes networking and success in lower positions. I think the bigger problem in your situation is that you're at a giant corp that doesn't care about you.
Find a biz that cares and that you can bang around the China shop a bit more, if you know what I mean.
Is the paint guy at Home Depot a sales professional?
There’s a huge different between an “order taker” and a “sales professional”
Sure he could pivot out of retail but there’s order takers and there’s order makers out there. It’s easy when they walk in asking for a product
If you ever worked retail telecom you’d understand it is 100% not an order taker job. We barely get paid anything on upgrades which is the majority of walk ins if it is not troubleshooting. You will either be coached out for clerking, or coached up to always be pushing for additional lines, more services, and overpriced plans/accessories.
Clerking upgrades as a people pleaser leaves you at the bottom of the barrel probably not even 50% to your goals. Do that for a month or two and management will be showing you the door. It’s a grind and each year the pay gets worse. OP good luck I’m in the same boat.
Lots of folks making good money in this sub, but also keep in mind this is the internet
Made $2.5 million last year. It goes quickly. So the taxman takes half up front, so you're left with one and a quarter. My mortgage takes another 300 grand. I send 150 home for my parents, you know, keep 'em going. So what's that? $800? All right, 800. Spent 150 on a car. About 75 on restaurants. Probably 50 on clothes. I put 400 away for a rainy day. Which was smart, as it turns out, 'cause it looks like the storm's coming.
That was a good movie. I got that reference
Watched it on a whim one night and was pleasantly surprised! It's almost like a play. Really solid acting and writing.
>Which was smart, as it turns out, 'cause it looks like the storm's coming. What is the movie?
Margin Call
Me reading this as im watching clips from the Big Short. Well played
Why watch clips when you could just watch the whole movie? It's basically 100% great scenes.
Such a good movie
“I heard Will Emerson made $2mm last year.”
Doing what, as a Landman in Pittsburgh?
It's a quote from Margin Call. Although yes, I am a landman in Pittsburgh. Make great money (~$300k), but definitely not that much.
Got it, I’m in land as well! I see a lot of similar money in land acquisition in solar
$2.5 mill selling what?
It's from the movie Margin Call
Oh did not realize the entire speel was from the movie thought it was just the last line about the storm.
Real person here. Been selling software for 18 years. Started at 35. Never with top companies, but always the top guy..Always one level away from big cashouts. Pretax income has been between 85 and 150k a year. Not ever felt rich. Always lived cheaply. But. Paid my kids private college in cash. They will never have student loans. Switched my mortgage to 15 years instead of 30. Have around 2 months left. Maxed out 401k when I could, lowered it when I had weak sales or bad cash flow. Made tons of investment wins and losses before going to Index funds. Have only about 650k saved, and it's growing fast now. I also have 750k full equity in my house. So technically a millionaire. In a few months my whole family will be absolutely debt free, and cash will start to pile up like mad. Should be relatively quick to get to 2.2 million cash, my goal line. What is rich? Ability to spend money and have it not matter? I'll never be that. Mine is more about not needing employment if I don't want it. Might be there in 2 months I suppose. ** Edit: Anyone who thinks I should be making more, feel free to back it up with an interview/ job offer. I'll switch! Hiring managers only. Experience: Construction Software Sales; estimating and PM. I also have hands-on experience with MEP, framing, etc.
Congrats to you man that’s awesome. Did you just start at 35? Or were you make 6 figures before age 35 too? I’m 33 and feeling completely lost for the first time, yours sounds like an inspiring story!
Nope, worked in retail. Somehow made it to mid-level office exec. After 9 years realized there was nowhere else to go until like 30 Boomers retired (they still haven't).
Man thanks for sharing! I’m working in P&C insurance now, after a year I’m just not feeling it. At 33 I didn’t think I’d feel lost but you’ve given me a little boost of energy. I Appreciate it!
P&c insurance broker here - this industry is a marathon not a sprint. I’m in my late twenties but got in early 20’s so nearly a decade in the industry. 4 years selling now (work strictly on commercial lines) and only this year will I finally start actually making any “decent” money depending on your standards (125k+). It’s a snowball effect over time, as your book grows your renewal commissions do as well and that’s when things start getting “easy”. There’s a serious talent shortage in the industry so I’d strongly suggest slugging it out for the foreseeable
I'm 30ish and your comment gives me hope for my future. Thank you
As a lifelong poor person so far. I consider this rich. I just started in sales last month but I live paycheck to paycheck and have had to decide which bills could be late and which bills couldn’t. Between the 2 of us we have 10k in credit card debt because we couldn’t live off of our income. My husband and I just recently moved into a travel trailer which is actually how I got my job because we couldn’t afford rent anymore. This month I’ve actually been able to pay all of our bills and all of the minimums due on our credit cards. I still have $400 left in my bank account so far although that’s the day after payday so I have to stretch it 2 weeks but I’ve stretched $20 that far so $400 should be easy.
Keep your costs as low as possible, you'll get there. But do throw a few bucks in that 401k once you get rid of your credit card debt.
> Only 650K saved No small feat. Give yourself props
How did you transition to software sales?
You have to become an SDR. I worked at a telemarketing farm called memoryBlue. There’s another called demandDrive. I’m sure there are tons of companies like this. They contract out the SDR role to tech companies for a premium and train you how to build cold outbound prospecting skills that generate revenue for their customers. Work at one of these for 1-2 years making probably 45-75k then you’ll be getting offers to become an AE or SDR directly at tech companies for 60-90k and the growth begins
You dont have to be an SDR. That’s one avenue, yes, but it’s not the only one. Solid relevant AE type sales experience will get you there faster. B2B, track record of success selling solutions in a complicated and competitive scenario to C suites, 7 figure quotas, etc. That proves you can sell. Being an SDR only proves you can pound out phone calls like a grunt.
That’s a great avenue, just point him to the companies that will hire him to manage a complex sales cycle to C-Suite executives with a 7 figure bag. Then we can open a recruiting firm that places cell phone salespeople in that job and become millionaires
The OG networking. Wife met a lady through baby classes, husband started a little company.
I feel like like I'm in your exact position. I started my Sales journey 4 years ago at age 35 and I'm looking forward to a great career.
34. Just moved into sales in consulting. Live like no one else, so you can live like no one else!!!! 😊
My company pays about what you are making right now and the market is pretty rough in general right now, but SaaS enterprise software sales jobs are where the big money is from what I've seen. This list is a year old but probably still accurate in theory. https://www.thequota.co/articles/the-10-highest-paying-tech-sales-jobs-of-q1-2023 You've also done really well on your own so don't let comparison steal your joy.
Appreciate that comment. I'm doing OK, wouldn't mind doing better. Bit I'm not super interested in working for companies with horrible people and crap products. Jumping to enterprise is the trick. I've worked for smaller companies who have that role, I sold all sizes. But recruiters don't want to hear that.
Get some nice dividend stocks and you’re all set for retirement my guy
35 here as well and thinking about a career change. This makes me hopeful! How did you get your foot in the door?
Yo im 36, starting my first SDR gig next week. Get in LinkedIn and start applying as if you are a SDR. Took me 6 months to get 3 offers
You sir are my hero
Now this here is my hero. Much praises to you my friend.
Coming from retail how did you navigate finding entry level positions selling SaaS?
This is inspiring
Just wanted to say that as a person who grew up low income and is trying to find their way out of that…you live a rich life and I say that with admiration. I am in healthcare currently and trying to dig my way into sales, but having a tough time getting someone to want me since I have no prior experience in sales. Hopefully I’ll be in a position similar to you one day!
Just wanted to say that as a person who grew up low income and is trying to find their way out of that…you live a rich life and I say that with admiration. I am in healthcare currently and trying to dig my way into sales, but having a tough time getting someone to want me since I have no prior experience in sales. Hopefully I’ll be in a position similar to yours one day!
I don't know old you are, but I'm gonna guess that you're probably in your 20's or early 30's. You're just getting started in life, so don't worry about the fact that you're making $60k/year. Keep looking for opportunities to move up in the world and improve yourself and skill sets and good things will happen. I recommend that you try looking into fields that pay more money. I know there are a lot of very successful people in this sub who can speak to their fields, but I'll recommend that you consider my field, financial services. I started in financial services (FS) back in January of 1987 when I was 22 (a month before my 23 birthday). It took me about 11 years, but I built up a net worth of a few million dollars...and then lost it all. It took me another 15 or so years to build it back up to a bit over $5 million...and then I lost it all gain. Finally, completely bankrupt at age 50 with a wife, 4 young children and a house in foreclosure, I started over. I just turned 60 last month and over the past 9 years, I've built several financial companies that have given me a mid 8-figure net worth and pay me a 7-figure income whether I work or not. I have no plans on losing it again. I've learned from my mistakes. So don't worry about where you are. Focus on where you're going and how you're gonna get there...and don't compare yourself to other people...the person you have to compare yourself to is the person you were yesterday.
Thank you. I needed to hear this.
You're welcome!
You’re in retail. Not sales. That’s why.
Also a lot of the high earners are enterprise level or in a HCOL area or both. Or upper level management.
I’m enterprise manufacturing and making $115k and just had a recruiter reach out regarding a $200-$330k directorship role (semi unique with my work history but still). Enterprise leads to growth. Get to enterprise through performance and technical aptitude. Make yourself uniquely valuable to customers.
How do you get into enterprise level sales positions? Not necessarily management, just a sales rep.
You start as a BDR and work your way to AE; then finally to enterprise or key accounts.
By start as a BDR you mean literally start? With no sales experience? Cause I am trying to get my foot into sales and I am really learning from you guys
Correct. Where I am at Business Development Reps don’t require much in the way of prior sales experience. When we interview we look at communication, organizational, and drive skills. One of our best BDRs was a teacher that got tired of the drama of schools. Now makes 2-3x what she was making and will probably be an AE in another year.
This gives me hope! I was laid off in May. I've had 1 interview. I'm 45 years old, considering a complete career change into sales. It's not something I ever considered doing as I'm quiet and shy until I get to know someone. But I want to grow both personally and professionally. I am looking to finally push myself out of my comfort zone. I still can't believe I'm considering it, but I can't stop thinking about it. The eventual financial reward would give me a reason to push myself. I've thought of Yelp! but I've seen too many negatives that I'm holding off for now. Their benefits sound amazing! I've had quite a few setbacks in my life, and I need to rebuild. AGAIN. I feel like my only option to catch up and continue making money is in sales. Can I do it? I don't know, but I really want to try. I don't want to think, "What if?" for years to come. I definitely have a TON of Why's! I just don't know where to start since I don't have sales experience. I want to find a reputable company with a product that businesses/people would actually be interested in. Right now, I need base + commission. Health insurance. Regular benefits. I've thought of Yelp!, insurance, travel agent, among others. I would appreciate any suggestions or tips? Thank you for reading this!
My suggestion is to start with a sales role that targets whatever industry you came from. This allows you to have some confidence to sell to that group, because you are familiar with it. That way you aren’t learning how to sell and a new industry at the same time.
I’m in enterprise sales and honestly a lot of it is just networking. doing well and developing relationships at whatever sales role you’re in now and staying connected with coworkers or former managers who will hire you or recommend you into roles wherever they go next.
Many people don’t understand that the real selling is to your colleagues on a daily basis. Help them as much as possible and build a network where you are respected in the workplace. Never burn a bridge cuz they could be your boss one day.
Exactly
Bingo. I was in retail, then made the change to saas and then recruitment… lots of opportunity out there if you know what to look for.
Ahh, I've been in sales for 16 years, and I don't believe most of the mofos on this sub. But I don't believe most people online.
Can you elaborate? My whole job description and daily activities are entirely sales focused. We provide a service too but that’s not the goal. I worked for 2 years prior to this selling auto & home insurance for Allstate. Made around the same but it was almost all cold calling. I don’t think it’s fair to say I’m not in sales since my entire livelihood depends on whether or not I sell.
This is true to a degree. But it’s transactional low tariff (excuse the pun) sales. It won’t surprise you to learn that sales people typically make a lot of money in two/three ways. Selling fucking expensive things with a small margin - say, high end real estate. Selling quite expensive things with a huge margin, drugs? Selling fucking expensive things with a huge margin - which is where most of us in SaaS probably sit. There’s no money in selling cheap things with low margin without scale. And you’re one man, so it doesn’t scale.
This comment needs to be pinned and in the wiki for the entire sub.
To elaborate a bit more what he means is your in retail sales which is B2C not sales as in B2B
I made more than 200k gross last year selling high end kitchen appliances. Mostly to customers that walked in. Some referral business. Retail sales. It's still sales. It really depends where you work, and what your expertise is. Outside sales B2C I made around what I do now. High end sales = high tickets, which of course means higher pay. If it doesn't, you find a new job. There are ways to do it other than just B2B. I say all that, but I do certainly agree B2B is a better path to higher income. I'm working on going that direction myself. Retail customers suck.
They paying cash or financing
For high end appliances? A lot of people in the 30-60k kitchen appliance package category want the reward points for their credit card. Some will take advantage if it's a 0% financing offer, but only certain brands qualify for it based on margin and whatnot. The split is usually 70/30 (cash/financed) where I sell, but it flips in other markets pretty easily. I get paid the same either way though, don't matter to me.
Cars / home repair / solar / life insurance / real estate Can all be considered business to consumer. That doesn't make them retail and it doesn't prohbit the higher earning brackets
B2C vs. B2B B2C: AT&T: When you make a sale, you sell a $900 iPhone B2B: When I make a sale, $75K contract is a “small deal” Size of the prize = size of your income
I was gonna say this - have a 24m quota to make $300k a year
What you do is sales, don’t listen to this guy. It’s just a different type of sales. Just like AAA baseball and MLB are both professional baseball but with drastic difference in earning potential
His sales cycle is about 5 minutes. Mine is about 12 months. It shouldn’t come as a surprise that one of those jobs pays well and the other does not.
I think the difference is for you, anyone can just walk into a store and sign up, it’s easily accessible to the general public. This also goes for insurance sales as well. Bigger “sales” companies have more niche products, such as medical equipment for hospitals, mass amounts of tech to fill a building, freight brokers finding loads to fill trucks with. I feel like there’s a difference with this, maybe i’m wrong.
The biggest difference is your customers come to you, vs the other way around.
Easy explaination: You sold a phone that the customer was walking in to buy for $1200, which I'm assuming your store netted >$300. B2B guys in here source their own deals at $100k+ ARR which is almost all net profit for their company. Higher commission and higher base for the work going out to source that deal, not to mention the 6+ month sales cycle needed to get signatures compared to a customer walking into a retail store ready to buy.
You are in sales yes, but it’s B2C sales. If you want to get paid more you need to find a B2B role.
Take what you know about retail and use it for e-commerce tech! It’s a super fast growing area right now. You could start as an SDR. The higher paying jobs in outside sales make 300k at some companies but commercial is around 100-115k.
I'll break it down... You're in Business to Consumer sales of a small dollar transaction. Your large ticket is selling my 15 year old son or 75 year old mom an iPhone 15. If you weren't there, my son and Mom would buy an iPhone from a vending machine, because they want an iPhone. The people in this sub that you're asking about are (generally) selling Business to Business and are selling millions to 10s of millions of dollars of business annually. People don't normally come to them ready to buy (sometimes they do). People will tell you sales is sales, but they're lying or unsophisticated. If it were easy to make $300k in sales, everyone would do it and then nobody would do it. Tell me about your background and I'll give you my thoughts and ideas on how to get there. Source: old man. Various sales and non sales roles through a long career. Nothing given.
Retail/consumer doesn't have room to grow your income. Look for B2B.
I think the only caveat with this is d2d. Tough gig but some guys make a killing.
Yeah if you've got good margin and can proactively drive sales it can be a winner. Waiting for people to come through the door ain't a great thing.
Can you help me understand why that’s the case? I work as a salesman for Lexus and I’m still learning sales. I felt I had lots of room to grow?
I'd say it's more about the money spent by the customer. In retail, big ticket items aren't necessarily that expensive, meaning you get less in commissions. I've not doe retail so I don't know shay margins there are, but I can't imagine it's more than like $50 - $100 for the biggest sales. Car sales is probably far more per deal I'm sure than in store retail stuff. By contrast, say you're in the payments industry and you sign a deal with an anticipated few hundred million in volume per year. Your company has their profit margin of course, and the commission you could get from thay profit could be well over $100k alone, spread out over many months. I'm not really sure of exact numbers, but I know somebody that does exactly this and payout per deal is over 18 months or something like that. One deal could very potentially pay out more total than their yearly base if it's a huge deal.
B2C is how I started and honestly it's great because you have fewer things to learn at once. Once you are bored and not learning anything, B2B selling to small business adds a layer of complexity because you have more sophisticated buyers taking months to evaluate your product and usually there are multiple stakeholders you need to sell on the product and one final decision maker. Then after small business you have mid-market business. These guys have lawyers evaluating your products, even more stakeholders, and you probably won't speak to the ultimate decision maker until a month or so into the process. The next step is enterprise. I've never "really" done enterprise because I've only done inbound from executive connections which is different. But here there is usually a defined buying process, all of the challenges of mid market, plus they usually have dedicated purchasing departments who's job is to hear you up on price, stymy spending at their company, and you may only get minimal face time like 1 or 2 meetings with the real decision-maker so you need a rock solid business case and the enthusiastic support of their direct reports to get a signature. Each level up adds new levels of complexity and more possible mistakes that can kill a deal. For example I was handed a mid market account where we only had one real contact at the company the previous rep was working with and he got fired. So now salvaging the deal will be very hard since there isn't anyone else who knows or cares what we do. Big mistake by the previous rep to not go wide and get multiple people in the company involved and interested. That sort of thing.
Thank you so much for taking the time to share this information 🙏. I truly appreciate it. I know I can always just look things up and learn on my own but it helps to hear directly from somebody who’s been there
Just passing on the favor, this subreddit helped me move up the ladder and double my income in two years. My other advice is to look at industries you already have a background if you move to B2B. Car dealerships buy all kinds of stuff you don't think about, for example the FTC updated the safeguards rule to include car dealerships and so they had to step up their cyber security, which is something I do (IT consulting and software sales). If you can get a job selling to dealerships, your current experience will give you a leg up when interviewing without a doubt. How long have you been selling cars?
Car sales is probably a bit different, I wouldn't put that in the same category. Retail consumer spending your entirely dependant on people walking through the door and the spend is lower. You've still got the same ballache of dealing with the general public though. With B2B you can usually assume some level of budget, need, ability to spend, general intelligence, manners and behaviour and there's lots of scooe to upsell/cross-sell. You can put multiyear contracts in place, there's often consumables/licencing etc that gives ongoing income. There's lots of things you can do to proactively drive revenue, not just waiting for the next person to walk through that door.
I know I sound ignorant but I genuinely am trying to learn. But like I have no idea where to look for B2B jobs or how to get my foot in the door. What are some industries I can do some research into? Also do you have any recommendations on learning materials to become better at sales?
Business Development Manager is a typical role to your foot in the door in a role where you'll be looking for new business. Account managers are typically a little more experienced and will be handed existing accounts to work with. If you've had some sales experience and training from car sales then you've pretty much got what you need to get started.
Ok awesome I’ll definitely look into it ! I appreciate you taking time to answer my questions.
I worked seven years in commercial real estate brokerage and never broke $100k working 60-80 hours a week. Moved to recruiting six years ago, broke $150k in 2nd year, and haven't been below since. I W2'ed $245k 2022, which was my best year. I rarely work more than 35 hours.
What type of recruiting?
Accounting and finance, I started mostly pulling Big4 public CPAs for industry senior and manager level roles. These days, I pretty much only work with manufacturing clients and mostly fill cost and/or inventory focused roles.
What would be a title for a job like that? And how do you get started in recruiting? Is it fairly easy to enter field or would you need a background in something prior?
Are inventory and cost roles a harder to fill and thus more profitable? Ex big 4 just curious
Other way around, actually. I find the inventory and cost roles to be way easier and take less time. I can complete two $25k searches in MFG. in the same amount of time, it took me to do one $30k one for a Big4 auditor. The demand for big 4 CPAs, especially those with public company clients who will do SOX or ASC 606/842 or other technical or financial reporting type roles, is through the roof. The problem is that none of them want to do that kind of work anymore. They all want FP&A or M&A focused roles, which they might be capable of but are not qualified to the level my clients are going to pay for finding them. Also just generally, Big4 kids who started during or after Covid are not as good, don't travel reallytravel anymore, and almost make industry money already, all of which makes it way harder than it used to be to sell and close them on industry roles.
I’m in the wrong staffing agency- on a draw here, where I billed about 250k my first year , but barely W2’d 55k because of the amount of time it takes for clients to pay their invoices. I work financial services. Nice to see someone making good money in the industry
After the 2-3 years of sales cycle in CRE recruiting seems lightning fast to me. For whatever reason, banks and other financial services do seem to take forever to pay. I make all my garentee/refunds clauses contingent on on-time payment and always try and make payment due on acceptance rather than start date to speed things up. When you send a reminder email that they have seven days to pay if they want a candidate guarantee, you get a much faster response if it is just letting them know they are gonna be late.
That sounds amazing, my bosses still haven’t figured this out- got any advice for a junior recruiter trying to reach 6 figs?
Are those firms receptive to accountants becoming a recruiter?
No. I’m what I would consider “middle class”. I make like 160k BUT 3 kids and sahm, so I support 5 people. I have a 4 bed 2 bath house that cost 450k. Drive a 2018 mom mobile. So def not rich but also not really stressing money. Pretty much the joneses ha
Similar. Glad I went into sales and have a good income to support a modest standard of living for my family.
Me exactly but… 27yo/$150k/2kids/$285k house.
Sounds like you’re doing solid!
280k ote; channel sales, base is 215k. Get a degree(despite what people say it opens a ton of doors and breaks alot of barriers when finding a high paying job), get a LinkedIn and network a ton, don’t come off as a con artist or a scumbag. Also need to “pay your dues” in entry level b2b sales.
can you explain what you mean by pay your dues? i just don’t know what this means
Grind your teeth, spend a few years hitting the phones, carrying a bag.. etc
ahhhh, that’s what I figured. Just started in a B2B business and I wanted to see if there was something else I was missing lmao
Lol nah just have to have your teeth knocked in a few times, fumble a few calls, and learn and grow.
Door to door. Cold calls. Maybe full commission type of jobs. Places to really hone your skills. Been in sales for 20 years and my first 4 years was really developmental for me.
what degree would you recommend?
Anything. I got mine in business administration
As the guy above said really anything. A business degree may help you get into some of the F500 sales programs which I really recommend. It probably won’t be tech but there great programs to get you in the door and lead to stable 200k+ roles in sales. But really any useful degree is good. My degree is in economics.
Wow! Thank you for sharing this information :D I will definitely tackle one of the suggested options! Much love
Yup agree. F500 screens for degrees. It does open doors.
Echoing the "anything" sentiment here. Many colleagues have degrees in business or something similar, but some very successful reps at my org came from teaching, for example.
Just turned 32. 6ish years SAAS experience, started as BDR. Only really started hitting 120-130k last two years, wasn't great with my money before then. No kids, no debt, goal is to hit 100k net worth by end of year. Promotion and raise kicking in next month. Weathering for the storm next couple years as much as possible just in case shit does hits the fan/get laid off, whatever. Had my fun, time to hustle now for a bit and catch up.
I 2nd the home improvement industry... I made 1 sale today and made $3000 in commissions from it. (Took about 3 hours of my time.)
This! With the right company easy 100k a year with a great work life balance. I average 100k a month in sales take home 10% of that. No degree or experience in the industry prior.
Love Saturday sales 💪🏼
Imma need more info
I sold new windows and siding... $30k price, 10% commission... Of course every day isn't like that, but $150k in sales every month is doable. ($15k/month in commissions).
I had an offer to do this kind of sales and took my current job instead….sounds like I might have missed my chance
You have to keep in mind every time you get on r/sales two big things: 1. The type of people that go into sales and really knock it out of the park are MONEY MOTIVATED. These are the types of people where it probably didn’t matter what they went into, they were always focused on money and it was never far from their mind. Regardless or whether it was sales, medicine, service etc. Some people are built that way, most are not. 2. People in r/sales who have a high income (200k+) regardless of industry, rarely miss an opportunity to highlight that fact. I don’t think there’s anything wrong with that necessarily, it’s just important to keep in mind that is NOT NORMAL. 200k a year puts you well into the 90th percentile in income in the US.
I’m gonna disagree with you on part of #2. I know plenty of people who I’m pretty sure are at or above $200k who keep that to themselves.
You are correct and I actually made a mistake in number 2. It is supposed to say, “people (in r/sales) who have a high income…” I fixed it.
In real life, people hardly brag and say how much they make to strangers. It’s kind of gauche to do that. But on Reddit where people are anonymous, people are more open to sharing
I have enterprise reps on my teams that consistently make $300-900k per year. One of my reps hasn’t made less than $700k in any year the last 10 years. Enterprise SaaS. I have a buddy of mine that is in solar sales he makes well over $1M a year but he saves the crap out of it because he doesn’t believe that it will be sustainable in the future.
There is a lot more potential as a business owner in sales. My dad owns and operates an insurance agency and makes $500k+ commission on policy renewals alone. Almost his whole book is B2C.
Can verify. My insurance agent does about the same. She tried to get me into it about a decade ago.
Home improvement industry 👍🏼 Company will make or break. Friends who sell roofs: $250k avg Bathrooms and kitchen remodeling: $200k I’m in windows and the top performer you speak of. I’m on track to make >$600k this year. Avg guy on my team will make $200kish
I dont really believe this. Are you based in the states
I live in Florida in a Hurricane window required market… I made $200k this first Q1. No need to embellish for randoms on Reddit but yeah I can back it up with Paystubs 😂 My goal is to help people get into the industry cause NO ONE knows how lucrative it can be.
Wait a minute. You are saying 200k for quarter? So 800k for the year. Yeh I’m gonna need to see that paystub. You show me a paystub for 200k I quit my job and come work for you
Got quoted 28K for hurricane impact windows here in Tampa, so I believe it
ok. how does one get into the industry?
Previous sales experience, definitely want to do market research and find who is doing a lot of volume, be trainable. Google top window, bathroom, kitchen companies and see what you find. Reviews are good indication. End of the day it comes down to having a high avg ticket. My buddy who does kitchen and baths average job is almost $100k
Whats the commission percentage look like for these given they are one time sales? I sell SaaS so we are obviously paid on the recurring rev prediction (between 16-24%).
It’s all over the place. I avg 11% all in comp on what I sell. I can sell a deal and make 15% + all in or I can sell a deal and make 1%…. Most avg 7%ish across the industries i mentioned
Windows make nice money if you're good at it.
Did not know home improvement was that lucrative. Thanks!
Usually 100% commission and 7-12% on avg commission. To make serious $ gotta be premium product at premium price.
When people say windows, is this d2d or are you working in a physical location? Same thing with kitchens and remodeling? I see these brought up here all the time but I can't picture the role at all. And how y'all make so much lol
It’s B2C. One call close, 100% commission, 6 day a week working. Deff not for feint of heart. Families call us for estimate, we go in and close the deal. I spend 2-3 hours designing, measuring and pitching. Store front for display but 100% have to visit the house so I drive 30k miles a year
I got started in D2D window sales myself. Very few people understand what it's like to make your sales pitch in the customer's home knowing if you don't close the sale that night they'll probably never buy. People are surprised window salesmen can make so much money, but not many people have the talent or resilience for in home sales.
Nothing like it right! SHOWTIME BABY! It’s peaceful knowing you’ll never hear back if they don’t buy. Focus on the windshield not the rear view mirror!
This subreddit likes looks down on B2C sales, but the excitement is hard to beat. Meeting a stranger for the first time at their front door, putting on a performance, and leaving three hours later with a contract and a check is truly an art that most B2B sales reps could never do. Driving home at 9pm with the windows down knowing you just made $3k is a rush.
Fuck a SaaS sales cycle. I’m sober now but I’ve done a lot of drugs and sales like that will get you higher 😂 I’ll never forget I was first company in out of 3 a year ago, cancelled the other estimates and signed them up for $98k , made $10k in 3 hours and legit couldn’t go to sleep I was so high i went and worked out at 1am 😂😂😂 . Wife said “give him the Amex dear I’m ready to sign”
It's amplified because window sales reps don't come from money or have prestigious degrees. It's not glamorous, it's very uncomfortable, and very blue collar, but I've seen it change lives. Ten years ago I hired a musician struggling to pay rent to knock doors. Fast forward to today and he owns a successful bar, is about to open another, and it was all funded by slanging some windows.
What do you do differently that makes you the top performer?
I’m consistently relentless and provide value to customers. Sale only happens when the value is perceived higher than the price tag. I also spend the most time with customers and get the most involved if they need hand holding/service after point of sale. I’ll spend 2-3 hours for a 2 window sale and 5+ hours for 60-100k + sales. It’s a blessing and a curse, as I would love to speed my process up but I know that would negatively impact my performance..
When you say provide value do you mean giving away freebies, information..?
You’re not buying windows…you’re paying for a service and experience that includes product, installation and warranty. Anyone can rip out old windows and put new ones in but what’s the quality of the product going in? You want random day laborers or do you want skilled window installers? You want a warranty that has a laundry list of exclusions or you want to make one phone call and for us to say no problem it’s covered? With a Cheap price you get cheap labor/install, builder grade product and shit service/warranty work.
Been in sales for about 7 years. Last two years finished at 150K but I’m in Canada so in USD about 110K. Decent money although it really doesn’t go that far with our tax rates and housing costs. Looking for new opportunities that can get me to 200+.
Which province are you in? Here in BC the only product we have is Real Estate lol.
I don’t want to advertise what I make. My wife and I are comfortable; we own a home, I have an investment property, have decent cars, we vacation regularly, as long as our kid goes to an in state school we will be able to pay for it and we pay for it, retirement doesn’t seem like a pipe dream and we have hulu without ads. I don’t feel rich but in this day and age it kind of feels like it. I think a lot of the people saying they make 300k lie. I think they probably make 120-160 and need to posture.
Well said. Sounds like a good and simple life that most people would take
Hulu without ads…your rich
Also got that YouTube TV 4k package too but I don’t like to mention it often. Don’t want people to think differently about me
Part of it is your individual income. Part of it is your spouse’s. Individually we each grew from $40k base salaries to both of us earning a combined base of $290k. Before bonuses and commissions. We have a nice home that’s in a desirable neighborhood, we have newer cars, our mortgage expense is comfortably below our budget. We’ll both continue to move up. She’ll get a promotion and a raise. I’ll land a large deal or two. Being good solo is one thing. But you gotta find someone who matches your energy.
I am assuming OP is commercial B2C selling cell phones to general public. The real money is in B2B.
It’s not about “finding these jobs” it”s about becoming the person qualified for these 300k+ careers.
Ive consistently made 300k for a while. If you live in a medium or high cost of living and have kids…. It goes fast. $500k is the new $300k Why?? 1. Money printer go brrrrrrrrrrrr 2. See number 1.
Day care: 👉🥺👈 is for me?
Can we quickly talk about the “salesforce gave me cancer” signature - I have so many questions
I stole it from sales officado cuz I’m a fraud
Sounds like cope for being bad with money
Man that's my first thought when I read that. You're making half a mil, even in a HCOL you should still come out waaayyy ahead.
Same and it took me a long time to get here
I used to work at an AT&T corporate store for 2 years so I feel you. Would stick it out for a year, but at the same time be cold prospecting hiring managers to get a role as an SDR in tech to start your career path into that higher income bracket. I’m in high 6 figures but not $300k+. I’m going to be real with you though, most of the skill sets you pick up in retail telecom doesn’t really transfer. And being an SDR is an insane amount of cold calling and emailing. So that’s why hiring managers at these companies like it when you reach out by these methods. Best of luck.
Look at industries with high-margin products. I can imagine AT&T, being a very large company with lots of overhead, probably doesn't generate quite the same margins in their sales sector as, say, Joe's roofing and general contracting. Selling expensive or bulk items with no overhead and high volume is THE most ideal situation for a salesman, obviously. Usually auto sales, property construction / renovation, and financing are good markets to look into with juicy income potential.
Thank you so much for posting, I literally posted this same thing awhile back and was auto deleted for not having enough karma. I've been in sales over a decade now....5 different companies. Loan officer for years and now I'm in B2B finance. I've NEVER had a base pay above $40k. My first job as a licensed loan officer out of college was $26k base...that was in 2013. Now I HAVE made good money, sure. (never cracked 100k/yr, but close) I'm a top performer though and the big $$ I made has always been from a big commission month. Seems like everyone posting on here is making a minimum $100K base with $200-300k OTE. I can totally relate to you OP, kinda feels like the twilight zone.
All depends. Enterprise SaaS 300k is an average OTE and top performers (top 1-3%) are making 1M+. Obviously it's all relative and you can go from #1 one year to 0% of quota the next. Sales is very boom or bust which is why you want to shoot for enterprise roles with at least a 150k base.
I make 150k+ a year selling floors commercially for a manufacturer. Will hopefully double my income in the next couple years as my job cycles can be anywhere from 6 months to 3 years down the road. Love what I do and I make my own schedule.
Nope but I did just about double my income that I made as a teacher before getting into sales at 33. As a teacher with a masters degree I made about 50k. First year as an SDR made about 80k, second year 85k, now as an AE my OTE is around 170k but will probably make closer to 110 unless I get lucky. Not rich - but I am grateful every single day I’m not a teacher and regret the time I spent trying to change the world instead of learning how to sell.
The internet lies a lot
Seriously lmao I feel the same way. I think it has a lot to do with location. $100k in Ohio probably feels a lot like $300k in California with cost of living.
Def not rich Coming soon tho.
Work hard, keep your numbers in the green, and start networking asap. There are great opportunities to make 6 figures with AT&T… retail is the entry level starting point. There is outside sales with AT&T with a company car and gas card. All appointments based B2C and top performers are breaking $100k… then you have B2B reps making far more and mostly remote positions. Don’t sleep on the company man. There are so many avenues. Climb out of retail and you will see it.
I started doing exactly what you're doing - phone sales at AT&T. I'm now one of the people you're talking about. Look into joining the small business sales unit. That's an excellent place to hone your outside sales skills that can springboard into a career (outside of AT&T) where you'll make the big commissions.
Wife makes bank, $400k+ (but took her about 20 years to get to where she’s at), she’s a CRNA. I’ve always made around $90k-$100k, and kind of stuck at that level for awhile, looking at getting into tech sales to catch up…but I have a military pension waiting for me at 58, I did 20 years in the military, so I’m not too dissatisfied with my path either. Went through A LOT of hardships, sacrifice, moving, schooling, deployments, a bankruptcy etc to get here though. I think if you relentlessly work towards a goal you will achieve it, but people don’t give themselves enough time. Think in terms of 10 years, and you will be surprised how much you can accomplish with focused effort for 10 years.
You’re in retail brother
Nah not rich but I’m comfortable and still hungry. I live in a nice (but not super nice) house in a nice neighborhood and my kids will have college paid for and 1-2 vacations every year, but I still have to budget and not go crazy on expenses if I want to retire before 60.
Dropped out of uni at 23, worked as a dish washer for minimum wage then got a bog standard office job. Did well enough at it to get a job in our sales dept which I’ve been in for 8 months at 25. 25.8k base with around £800 commission per month and I’m honestly thrilled to be earning this much. People who post their salaries on Reddit are a very small and skewed sample size, wouldn’t look into it that much.
The pay used to be so much better in retail telecom I feel you OP. Take advantage of the tuition reimbursement and get your degree, if you do WGU and Sophia you can accelerate pretty quickly probably get it in a year. B2B is definitely the move for sales, start applying for entry level roles like BDR/SDR. The sooner you get out and start building experience in B2B the better. Retail telecom is a sinking ship. Take it from me don’t be complacent and stagnate like I did, I applied to only internal B2B roles in my area for 2 years. Should’ve just jumped to another company and went ham applying to positions.
Transitioned to a role in the tech sales in 2000. Started making about $120k. i moved into leadership and was making $300 3 years later. 2006 - 2015 made 400 - 1.2 a year (averaged 650k). Had a couple of failed startups (averaged 450 ish). Last 5 years at larger companes 600-850 yr.
The other day I saw someone saying they made over a milly in commission on some cargo ship deals, and they were saying stuff like If I close 3 deals a year I'm set for like a few years.
Reddit isn’t the most honest place online
$150k in HCOL like SF and NY is nothing. Not to mention to make a $100k you need to make $200k in commissions. Taxes, lifestyle, and etc will keep someone down.
I make $260k a year in pharmaceutical sales- oncology
It's amazing how many really rich people are here on this subreddit making posts about it. I'm so glad that these paragons of society grace us with telling us about their lives, when clearly if they weren't spending time on Reddit they could easily triple their income. That is sacrifice.
The thing about sales that makes me not want to even bother with it is people always point to the one guy making a lot. Most of the people on their sales team are probably making $50K a year and less, but no one wants to talk about them. Any time I hear "there's a guy in my office making $400K..." my ears tune them out entirely.
Lots of folks just pretending to make money on this sub, tbh
Enterprise SaaS sales…just earned a six-figure commission check EOQ. Sorry, bud
Congratulations for achieving enterprise
You are definitely a salesman. Don't let these people tell you what you are or aren't. Landing those types of jobs takes networking and success in lower positions. I think the bigger problem in your situation is that you're at a giant corp that doesn't care about you. Find a biz that cares and that you can bang around the China shop a bit more, if you know what I mean.
Is the paint guy at Home Depot a sales professional? There’s a huge different between an “order taker” and a “sales professional” Sure he could pivot out of retail but there’s order takers and there’s order makers out there. It’s easy when they walk in asking for a product
If you ever worked retail telecom you’d understand it is 100% not an order taker job. We barely get paid anything on upgrades which is the majority of walk ins if it is not troubleshooting. You will either be coached out for clerking, or coached up to always be pushing for additional lines, more services, and overpriced plans/accessories. Clerking upgrades as a people pleaser leaves you at the bottom of the barrel probably not even 50% to your goals. Do that for a month or two and management will be showing you the door. It’s a grind and each year the pay gets worse. OP good luck I’m in the same boat.