I keep hearing the same advice about better scripts and more training, but the close rate still stays flat. I am interested to know what has worked for teams in the real world, did you change the sales process or focus more on coaching and objection handling?

I'm 34 and live in a LCOL city. I've been working an inside sales job for 3 years. No cold calling, think service contract sales. I can make $145k-$175k a year depending on how hard I work. Most of the time I work at ~70% and make around $150k/yr.

I work hybrid, so most days remote and only a day or two a week in office. My days are spent 100% behind a screen with emails and phone calls. No travel required. My job is very monotonous and boring, I get absolutely zero intrinsic reward. My manager is passive and doesn't make my life hell. Upper management is typical, demanding unrealistic numbers.

My health insurance is better than average but not amazing. They have a strong 401k match at 6%. My job security doesn't really exist, I never know when my position could be eliminated. That said, my numbers are always at the top of the rankings and people think I'm very good at my job.

I sell around $18 million per year and have 6 years of experience. I feel like I'm stuck in purgatory. I know the job is a good but I wish I worked a job I actually cared about. Something that I enjoyed a bit, or at least didn't hate. Also, the culture at my company is horrible, I don't vibe with a single person in my office.

Just looking for input and outside opinions as to what I should do. How employable am I given my experience? Coulld the grass be greener or should I just stew here for as long as I can?

TLDR: 0 km account manager, need advice and guidance for my first 30 days at work

I will be starting my new job as an account manager for a well known and huge global firm next week and I can’t be more excited!
My background is in engineering and I have financial analysis experience as well so I’m fairly good with the technical and numbers part, but I know this job is 80% about how you connect with people.
I wanted to ask you fellow entrepreneurs and sales professionals about your pieces of advice for me on my first month. Do’s and don’t s, how to have the right attitude, how to start on the right foot.

I sold commercial airtime for 17 years in Pakistani television. Major FMCG brands, big annual budgets, and multiple competing networks all calling the same buyers every single quarter.

Every competitor had the same inventory. Roughly the same reach numbers. Almost the same rate cards.

So what actually separates the rep who closes from the one who doesn't in a market like that?

For me, it came down to the quality of the relationship before the ask.

Those friendly calls, cups of tea, and lunches weren't beside the point. They were the point. That's where buyers told me things that never made it into a meeting room: the real pressure they were under, what a good quarter actually meant for them personally. That kind of information doesn't surface in a pitch. It comes from time spent with no agenda attached. When you know that about someone, you stop being a vendor. You become someone they want to call before a decision is made, not after it.

Buyers who trusted me picked up the phone. When budgets got cut, I held on to more accounts than my numbers should have predicted, because the people on the other side didn't want to drop someone they genuinely liked working with.

That one shift closed more deals for me than any technique I ran inside a pitch room.

What's worked for others here? Relationships, a specific method, something that took years to figure out? Would genuinely like to hear what's actually moved the needle for people.

My fellow sales people. My company has me set up with a few lines that I make my calls from on RingCentral. After making roughly 100-150 calls a day I have been flagged for “spam likely” when calling prospects. What softwares have you used to navigate around this issue? Contact rate is still decent but we all know it could be better without the un-attractive “spam likely” popping up on the prospects phone. Let me know. Thanks

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?

[ Removed by Reddit on account of violating the content policy. ]

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'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?

​

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 :)

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.

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?

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 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?

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.

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?

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?

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!

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

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’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!!

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

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.

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?