Most people's DM strategy looks exactly like that.

- Spray and pray.
- Pitch slap right after connecting
- Bang out 50 a day.
- Hoping something bites.

The issue isn't the mechanism (DMs).

It's the approach.

Because 'spray and pray' stopped working a long time ago (circa. 2017).

And yet most people are still doing it.

- Copying and pasting the same generic pitch.
- Sending it to anyone with a pulse.
- Then wondering why nobody's replying.

And concluding? 'DMs don't work'.

Newsflash: They do, and always will do.

Prospects just ignore bad messages.

Don't you?

The moment you stop pitch slapping strangers and start having real conversations with the right people...

You get results.

What do you say?

Which sales books have genuinely helped you improve?

I’m looking for practical recommendations rather than overly theoretical books. Ideally something useful for founder-led sales, outreach, discovery calls, partnerships or understanding why people buy.

I run commercial at a small European materials manufacturer. We make a specialty ceramic platelet additive that goes into industrial coatings and engineering plastics at 0.5 to 2 percent loading. It costs us around 130 dollars a kilo to produce. We list it between 250 and 600 depending on grade.

Our process has looked the same for three years. We find a formulator, ask whether they care about one of the properties we improve (abrasion, thermal, barrier), and they say yes. They ask for a sample. We charge for it. They run trials for four to eight months.

Then one of two things happens.

Most of them go quiet. We chase and get "interesting results, we'll pick it up next year." It never comes back.

The few who stay ask us to cut the price by 70 or 80 percent before they will launch anything. That is below our production cost. They tell us the additive has to compete with what they already buy at 15 dollars a kilo.

I don't think anyone lied to us. I think we spent three years funding other people's R&D curiosity and calling it a pipeline.

Things we already tried: charging for samples (any R&D manager can sign that off, so it filters nothing), technical seminars, trade shows, hiring a formulator in house.

Why it matters now: we're deciding whether to build a plant that makes ten times our current output. I don't want to build capacity against a pipeline of hobbyists.

Three questions for anyone who has sold materials into formulators:

1. What do you ask in the first call that separates a real industrialization project from a side project? I'm looking for the question people hate answering.
2. Has anyone moved off selling by the kilo (day rate, license, royalty, exclusivity fee) and had customers accept it?
3. How do you get leverage when the customer owns the formulation and owns the end customer, and you're one line in their bill of materials?

Happy to give more detail on the setup if it helps.

Hey guys, I’m new to the sales world and could use some advice. Used Outreach to email a C suite and later in the week followed up with a voicemail. Had no idea it was a personal cell, just called what was listed through zoom info and left a short message. I always make sure to personalize my emails and voicemails so it doesn’t sound like I’m just blasting them, and only if I think there’s a value prop. It’s been about a week and just followed up only to get an email back saying I called their personal cell and I’m blacklisted forever.

Feeling a little defeated and want to apologize because I had no idea but also know I shouldn’t approach it again.

Anyone have any similar experiences?

​

Thinking out aloud here, not exactly sure how to approach this, so need advice:

I run a 1 man business here in Sydney as a consultant, helping small businesses grow.

But, nows the time to grow my own business.

A friend of mine partnered with an exceptional salesperson. Their skills complemented each other, and within a few years they had built a business with around 40 staff.

That made me realise I got to partner up to overcome my weak areas.

I am 51, and I have realised that if I want to build something much bigger, its hard to do it alone, I need the right people to do this with, either with partners or shareholders.

I can go out on sales and start conversations, but dont really like it. My strengths are heavily on the technical and delivery side. I can build the systems, get results, manage, solve client problems and deliver the work and love it.

Sales, networking, presentations, partnerships and consistent follow up are not my natural strengths.

I have successfully tested AI assisted outbound cold calling and appointment setting. I can generate conversations, identify business problems and create solutions around them but i guess i struggle with continuous engagement and followup.

I guess, the missing part is having an account manager or experienced closer who can build relationships, run presentations, attend events, follow up prospects and turn genuine opportunities into business.

There have been many times when I have lost good prospects because I became tied up delivering client work and did not follow up properly. I need someone who can consistently call, visit and stay in touch with potential clients.

I already have recurring clients across Google Ads management, hosting, domain renewals etc, but just making the time. juggling things and to continually stay chatty with everyone and to find the time to do the work is a struggle

I know most would say just hire someone but its not easy, and I feel a great salesperson would want partnership and growth. I know i would.

Anyway, I would appreciate honest advice even if its stuff it mate, just retire and enjoy life :)

Hello, I am reaching out to get some insight. Anything would be helpful!

I graduated with a degree in Marine Science from Florida, but with the job market for that field being very tight in the state after I graduated, I landed in full time sales position after working part time while enrolled. I am wondering what the best industry is to get in for sales in Florida with the experience I have. I am looking for a company that has room to grow and willing to take the time to put effort into an individual like myself who wants to succeed. Thanks in advance for any help!

I've been running outreach for a while now, and it feels like getting replies takes a lot more effort than it used to. Even when the list is targeted and the message is personalized, response rates seem less consistent. Lately, I've been paying more attention to deliverability instead of only tweaking the copy. I started using Warmy Sender to warm up new mailboxes and keep an eye on inbox placement, and it's made me realize that deliverability can have just as much impact as the email itself.

I'm curious if others are noticing the same thing, or if you've changed your strategy recently. Are shorter emails working better? More personalization? Different sending schedules, or have you found that focusing on deliverability made the biggest difference?

I recently was let go from my sales job with no knowledge of it coming my way or issues leading that direction. The company keeps reaching out because they need to resolve an issue going on with a customer. I refuse to respond to them or return their call. I did originally but then it ended up with 4 people calling me to get answers. They want me to resolve it with the information I know or don't know. How would you handle this?

We are mid eval right now and tbh it is a lot to unpack.

Our current Salesforce CPQ setup has accumulated years of pricing rules, approval workflows, custom logic, so we wanted to understand which platform would be easier to maintain once everything is migrated. We have seen ARM discussions here and there and we have been trying demos with the 2.

Dealhub is interesting bc we can own the config. No ticket, no consultant, no waiting on a sprint. That kind of admin independence can be helpful but the data cleanup before migration is real work.

On the nue side, we found it to be a good choice if we are already invested in SF and want to keep everything native. The revenue lifecycle approach is appealing but we are worried bc we are likely to carry over some of the same salesforce administration and maintenance challenges we are trying to move away from.

It is still a close call and would appreciate hearing from anyone who has evaluated or implemented ARM migration.

I run a service business, so relationships matter a lot. AI is great for research, personalization, and follow-ups, but I'm still trying to figure out the best way to get that first meeting with decision-makers.

Right now I'm doing two things:

- Going out more, attending events, and meeting people in person.

- Strategic outreach using LinkedIn, email, and AI to personalize messages.

What else is working for you?

What tools, AI, or AI agents are you using, and how are you landing that first conversation with decision-makers?

What is the least amount of support would you think is acceptable in a commission-only start up role? I am a complete beginner and cold caller at a company that does not give any feedback whatsoever or really check in with my work. Is this normal for these companies?

I have been really struggling as someone new to sales and tried to ask my boss if I could speak to a better performer for tips but got nothing. Management is nonexistent. I have been trying to use online resources to improve on my own but nearly everything I can find does not apply to my specific role.

What is the bare minimum you would expect from a company before deciding it isn’t worth working there at all as someone looking to get more experience?

title. 22M working as a remote setter for the past year for someone selling a relatively big high ticket course doing anywhere between $150-250k/month. wondering where I might take the next step in my career if I'm looking to get into sales besides moving up to becoming a high ticket closer. what would be some good options/sales fields to look into? Been considering applying SDR/BDR roles, also tech sales/life insurance sales but not sure if my experience even qualifies me for them. I have experience setting through DM and dials via triage calls (inbound/outbound), and also did some closing of my own for some time. Pretty tech savvy as well and familiar with CRMs. Would appreciate any pointers or advice. Do not wanna do D2D or car sales. Would love to keep working remote but beggars cant be choosers I guess

Backstory - I did door to door sales for about a year and was very successful at it. Exceeded quotas, promoted quickly and built a team. Ultimately I left due to my territory being an hour and a half away from where I lived.. I transitioned into serving to find something quick and can still make decent money in the mean time. I’ve been serving for about 2 years and would now like to transition back into sales. Something ideally more locally (around a 30 mile radius).

On the weekends usually Friday, Saturday and Sunday night I perform on Professional Wrestling shows. I’m an aspiring Pro Wrestler and have a goal to sign to a major promotion eventually and I am track to do so. Wrestling is all about selling YOURSELF. The weekend shows vary: sometimes Friday, sometimes Sunday, usually not all 3 days in a row tho.

With that being said I’m looking to pursue a career in sales again that would align with my schedule. I can work those weekend days but on the day I have a show I would need to be free about mid-day to late night. Like I said it could be a Friday or a Saturday or both. I liked door to door because my boss understood my goals outside of the job and as long as I met quotas he allowed me to take time to do those things.

So I’m looking for something similar that would align with my schedule. I’m open to any category tbh I’m passionate about sales in general. Thank you

So I work in sales in the home improvement industry and have never been on a PIP before, I usually am within top 5 of the branch out of 30. I maintain a 30% close rate on a 80% demo rate. These past 60 days however I suffered a case of massive financial rejects, nobody was getting approved, I lost about 300k in buisness. Well today I was told I was on a PIP because my Nsli is $100 under target, my manager said I am very skilled and he’ll help me get off of it, but dude come on, I suffered 20% of my appointments not showing up and almost 1/2 of my buisness was rejected by the banks in the past two months. Per rankings for the past 45 days I am well above the required Nsli and am top 5 in the branch. I am not sure what to do or what to think of this. Any advice?

Our team's proposal process is a mess of Google Slides, PDFs, and some Powerpoints from like 2019. Looking to standardize across depts.

What are yall using? PandaDoc, Proposify, Visme, or just slides?

Specifically curious about if your e-signatures are built in or not. Can your prospects can leave comments? And any othe "special touches" you do to make the process seamless. TIA!

We use Notion as a second brain at our company - building out lots of process documentation and housing training there. We're looking for ways to test knowledge once an update or a training has been rolled out. I'm wary of investing in a full-blown LMS, but the quiz templates I've seen in Notion are pretty clunky. Anyone using Notion this way and have a good way to test knowledge, or have a lightweight system to disseminate and test knowledge that you love?

Long time listener first time caller. I have been in a sales seat at a Fortune 100 bank for a few years now. Started on the product/strategy side post grad and knew I wanted to be in sales (competitive & enjoy talking to people)

It has been a good experience for me overall, however there is a lot of red tape and corporate BS that limits upside. I spend my days explaining complicated financial products to companies while trying to convince them why we are better at moving their money around than the other guys.

I am still young in my career, and I am actively searching to pivot into a more traditional sales career (like many of you have on here). I enjoy longer sales cycle, consultative selling, where I am actually solving/solutioning a clients need. Respect to the high activity folks, but making 100 calls before lunch has never interested me...

My background:

Enterprise Sales / B2B Finance Solutions

Business/Engineering Degree

If you were me- Where would you look? What companies/ industries do people not talk about enough?

Open to a lot of things. I have applied to over 100 different industrial/technical companies (academic background) with no luck at landing an interview. Probably due to my career experience in banking.

TIA

Hey everyone,

I help US local businesses with AI automation services.

And I’m looking for 4–5 people to help me with the entire sales part of the business.

I will handle everything else – from building, fulfilling, delivering – all of that level 2 work.

I need your help for level 1, the complete sales portion.
I want you to handle the cold outreach (majorly cold calling), getting them on a meeting, closing the deal and bringing the client into the system.

I will sit with you on sales calls. The major part I want handled is the cold calling (or any other mode of outreach you’re comfortable with; cold calling is preferred).

I’ll provide the scripts, resources, everything

Pricing Model: (open to discussion) It will be a percentage of revenue per closed deal. (15–20%)

No base pay. Commission based only.

I’m looking for 4–5 highly driven, motivated and crazy people. IDC about your experience. I’m ready to sit with you, teach you everything I know and help you get the best training and resources ever. What I need is motivation and dedication. And HUNGER.

If this sounds like you, hit my DM and let’s see if we vibe.

Thx

I’m currently 22 doing D2D Sales in FL and my current company isn’t working out the best. I’m looking to explore more of a sales route and not Canvassing, but don’t know where to start. I definitely wouldn’t mind doing something remote but anything in person i wouldn’t mind, just don’t know what route to take and where to look. I have great talking skills and love building good relationships with others. Give me some suggestions!!

Wrote this for anyone who manually checks TechCrunch/Crunchbase/FinSMEs for funding news like I used to. Broke down where the news actually comes from and a simpler way to track it daily without the multi-tab routine.

Hello! I'm a 22-year-old student in my final year. I recently started working at a BPO to gain experience in sales, learn the software used in the industry, and understand how everything operates.

My plan is to work here for the next six months to learn as much as I can. I believe I'll be able to learn most aspects of the business, but the one thing I'm unsure about is how BPOs actually find and acquire clients to provide sales services for. I have a feeling that's one area they probably won't teach employees.

I'd really appreciate any advice or insights from people with experience in the industry. Also, if there's anything else you think a beginner should know or any advice you wish you'd received when you were starting out, I'd love to hear it. Thank you!

Hey everyone,

I am a AE for a mid-market SaaS company and recently I have lost two deals in the EXACT same way and I'm soooo pissed about it!

My champion decided to leave for like a month holiday, and suddenly I'm sitting here realizing that the only person in the entire organisation who understood why we matter just vanished, and I've got nothing, nothing!!! No backup, no thread to pull, just a dead opp and a pipeline review where I get to explain what happened like I don't already know.

I know the best answer is that I should have "multithread earlier." I've heard it in every SKO since 2023, but in practice? I mean I am running 30 plus opps, doing my own prospecting because our SDR team is basically decorative at this point, and I'm supposed to find time to bring three or four new stakeholders up to speed and thats including the economic buyer who was never on a single call and doesn't know I exist? With what exactly? The generic one-pager marketing made that reads like it was written for a trade show booth in 2019?

So for the reps who are actually doing this and not just talking about it on LinkedIn, what's your real workflow? What are you sending each persona? How are you getting the CFO or VP who ducked every meeting to actually engage before your champion quits or goes on holiday and takes your deal with them?

I sell a lead generation service that I KNOW WORKS. I have hundreds of clients who have been with me since 2019 and made hundreds of thousands of dollars, a lot of them millions. I’ve even successfully used the service myself for my own business.

but the company I work for has HORRIBLE reviews online. I mean it’s hard to find good reviews on it anywhere.

some of it is due to contractors not being any good at closing leads and blaming the company, and some of it is flat out our company dropped the ball and sent bad leads.

anyways, I know it works for a fact but have a hard time overcoming the bad reviews or contractors thinking it is a scam. when I read or send good reviews, they don’t care or think they are real.

I work in a one call close environment and don’t really have the time or ability to send them emails and play phone tag, otherwise my kid would probably have a step dad and I’d lose my dog.

any help would be appreciated.

Hi everyone, I am a SDR and Growth leader that works at a consulting firm, I want to learn from everyone how I can deliver value in every conversation or every meeting. I am having a hard time, no matter how much information I know about the client, if I am touching on a pain point, and honestly I can't get fired, my parents depend on me. The company I work with does a lot of staff augmentation, greenfield and brown field S4 Rise and Grrowth implementations, but I just can't seem to be able to book a meeting or get leads. What would you guys say are some "OUT OF THE BOX" iniatiatives that I can use to drive value, to show new prospects who we are, and just save my job!! Pleaseee, honest feedback. What is the action that allows you to take a meeting, or meet with a new vendor? Are round tables a good idea? Is setting up Dinner or luch meetings better. Please! Help this girl out.