I feel like this is what I struggle with the most. Management wants a forecast, but I run a very transactional segment where deals pop out of nowhere and there seems to be no linearity.

Could probably ask this in so many ways, but what are the components of a good forecast?

I’m often told I’m too conservative but that’s because I don’t like to forecast anything I’m absolutely certain will come in. And in a transactional segment that’s hard to predict.

Hey thought I'd have some salespeople chime in on my worries.

Recently started a sales job in a completely new industry - windows. Niche market with one brand exclusive, luxury, made to order, manufactured in Europe. I used to sell real estate photography, 360 virtual tours, renderings for developers, multi-family, senior living and so on.

Anyway, I'm the first month in and it's a small company. Owner, operations gal, warehouse dude and myself. I'm sort of in a trial period, not even on payroll yet, just learning and seeing if we're a fit. He fired his other sales guy about 2 weeks after I started that had been there for about a year.

So the thing is I don't want to get shafted into a bad deal once we agree to sign on something. I don't think that in my market(Chicago) and overall standard of living that asking for 50K base+10% commission is too much to ask for. But it is a small company and it's almost all inbound leads that go through the owner. Tom's of referrals from past clients, builders, architects, friends and neighbors. It's not to say that I can't do outreach myself, I definitely will at some point. But matter of the fact is that he has complete control over what size deals get passed to me.

Am I off to be worried about compensation here? Am I asking too much from a small company like this? I'm basically his sales assistant, I have a lot of freedom. But it also makes me wonder if he'll gatekeep a lot of the good deals moving forward. I understand that referrals are from the work and diligence he's put in, and that I have a lot to learn. But don't want to be someone's donkey.

Thoughts? Feedback is immensely appreciated.

Hello everyone,

Probably the opposite of the typical posts here but I thought it would be a cool story to share.

For context I am 18M, and my mother is 50F.

My mom's mental health has been on a slow decline since I was born, she stopped working to take care of me which isn't unreasonable however I think the lack of mental stimulation caused her to almost "get dumber", she basically went from a high functioning adult (multiple languages, and multiple jobs) to not really being capable of anything, she has basically been unemployed From Jan 2008 to Feb 2026.

The mental deteriration only got very very noticebale at the start of last year, she started doomscrolling, watching and beliving AI videos, extreme paranoia, thinking people we're following her constantly, etc, May 2025 we had to get the bakers act encated on her, she was gone for about a week but released on a count of "not a threat to herself or others" which was true but, still impossible to watch. Over the course of that 22 year unemployment phase she also developed extremely bad spending habits and in my opinion hindered my family from where it should be right now, my dads always been fine income wise, deifnetly middle class but not rich and my mother is not helping with that, for context he is also in sales/purchasing.

for a bit more context here is a post I made as a follow-up from another post on r/povertyfinance

Anyway, fast foward to the start of this year, my mom was in and out of jobs, she could never hold it down for more than 2 weeks and I was worried because how is a person in their 50s supposed to retire at this rate, in Febuary she started interviewing for this call center, which worried me more than any of the previous jobs because how is she going to react on the phone to rude customers? Could she even handle it? I read reviews on the place checking if it was an MLM or just a shitty business, which most call centers are, most seemed to be standard call center reviews, fired for low performance, etc.

Anyhow, seemed fine enough, she trained for 3 weeks, got offered the role, of the 20 people getting trained only 3 (including her) lasted for more than a month, turned out she was actually good at selling?

She's been regularly working 10-18 hours a day (she has no living expenses, so she doesn't need to) with some days only being 4-5 (low call volume), but she seems to be addicted to working now, I can see her checking account and she's regularly getting paid like 2-2.5k a week (shes paid weekly). Now obviously she is working insane hours to do this, but she's like a completely different person now, much calmer and more mentally collected, less angry outbursts, able to critically think about things now as opposed to lashing out at every inconvience. She's even asked me about other sales careers like insurance and she's thinking about getting her license.

At this rate she should easily make like 100k/yr which is very good for someone who's been unemployed for 22 years in my opinion.

I’ve gotten a few outreach messages on LinkedIn from reps trying to sell me a franchise. Not something I’m in a position to consider, but it got me wondering about the field. What’s it like selling in that field? Relationship heavy? Long sales cycles? Decent income possibilities?

Interviewing at SFDC for their data foundations role - selling to SMB segment. From my understanding of the product - it’s fairly tailored more to MM/ENT customers unless super compliance driven.

Also a co-prime role, where another Salesforce AE has to bring you into calls with their customers.

Is anyone able to shed some light on how the team is doing, if SMB is even workable with this product?

Interviewing with other companies but SFDC is likely going to finish first, and I’m worried I’ll get the offer.

Context: looking to leave current remote AE role that has turned into a comedy show.

Anyone have any good experience in this role or any others within the organization? I have a strong supply chain background but nothing in the medical field. Reading the description online just sounds like be a good salesman and not actually what experience is more important.

I recently got out of a role where we were encouraged to lie hard and offer bait and switch offers to customers. I couldn't get into it. And while the goal of sales is to precisely that, sell, I loathe the idea of lying to folks to do it.

Are there companies or fields where this is either less common, frowned upon, or nonexistent? I'd like to find some direction for my next role

Just started a new job as an SDR … previously was an account executive now working for a former client …

One of my SDR peers (about 7 years younger and less experienced) just shared with me his “break up” messaging

Essentially when someone ignores enough his contact attempts he sends a really passive aggressive message “breaking up” with them. This is primarily LinkedIn outreach.

Wild behavior. I don’t think management knows this is happening. Don’t want to snitch but I don’t think it’s a great look for the org

I often rely on support to get me through a lot of q*a on the software and implementation because our software is so complex. I understand the basics and high level, from a procurement perspective is this the norm? Sales people are the (sometimes) pretty faces bringing in the right people and guiding the sales cycle, but that’s it. I feel like such an idiot sometimes, I learn a bit every day, curious if anyone has perspective from the buyer into what this looks like.

Does anyone else feel embarrassed to be an SDR/work in sales?

I’m a guy in my late 20s and I’ve been in sales since graduating college. I never thought I would go into sales, I pretty much fell into it by accident by just applying to random jobs and taking a sales job and seven years later here I am.

I’m honestly embarrassed to be an SDR and embarrassed that I work in sales. My goal is to find somebody and be in a relationship and it’s hard not to compare myself when I’m going out on dates with people my age who are doctors in residency, lawyers, architects, engineers, psychologists etc. I feel like a loser and a failure and like I’m a leech to society.

Even though I’m actually good at sales I feel embarrassed that it’s what I do and I regret not working harder in school and not becoming a doctor or something prestigious. Does anyone else feel this way?

hey y'all, i'm looking for sales homies who have experienced employers raking back commissions and can offer advice how to handle this as the salesperson.

this is starting to happen in a big way at my company. it used to be that they'd only rake back if the salesperson made an error costing the company money, eg incorrect pricing.

now that sales are down, they're getting more aggressive with rake backs: there have been several situations where the salesperson did everything right, but someone else messed up and caused the customer to cancel.

examples: product ordered correctly by the salesperson but ordered incorrectly by purchasing, so customer returned.

sale executed properly by salesperson but mishandled by delivery carrier, so customer refused delivery.

sale executed properly by salesperson, including advising customer that lead times are estimates, not concrete. estimated delivery date passes with no update from the vendor. purchasing dept does not follow up. customer refuses delivery.

commissions have been 100% raked back in these instances, all at once, sometimes resulting in no paycheck at all for the salesperson. this is a whole other level of egregious. we are paid an hourly amount plus commission, no employment contract.

do we have recourse? i feel like if the mistake is not that of the salesperson, the salesperson should not be taking the financial hit.

$90K salary

Average deal size: $5,000

~$1,000,000 draw ($83,333/mo.) - no commission till this is paid.

What comes to mind immediately?

Has anyone else seen a decline in responses received from cold outreach? I can't really pinpoint when it started but I used to at least receive a handful of responses when I sent cold emails. Now, I send hundreds and don't get any. Anyone else struggling? Any suggestions on how to improve my response rate would be greatly appreciated. Thanks!

For about 10 years I was on the buying side of this. I started as a software engineer, then architect, then VP of Engineering. Last year my inbox took maybe ~80-100 cold emails a week (if I only count the Inbox) and the phone called a few times a day, with a sales rep on another end trying to convince me I need their observability solution.

I was annoyed by it at first, but then something switched and I decided to start playing along. I must admit, it took me embarrassingly long to understand, that on another side of the phone is another person, and this person makes tens of calls, and it would might make his hard day emotionally easier if I engage in a friendly conversation.

On the other hand, nothing gimmicky ever got a rely out of me. A “quick question” as a subject line in 2025? Seriously? What did get a reply, was recognizing the problem that I would struggle at that moment, and honestly, sometimes just three plain lines with no personalization at all, because at least it wasn't pretending.

The ones who got somewhere with me did things that appear simple, but now I know, difficult to execute. They would be friendly, calm and they would ask the right question and them stop talking, and let me describe the problem in my own words, engage in pleasant conversation. This conversation would build trust and allow me, as a buyer, to see that this “just another sales rep”, although not an engineer, clearly understands the domain. As I would explaining my situation out loud they would help me understand the gaps in it. By that time this call would have provided me with some value already!

Recently switched to running my own startup (B2B SaaS), and while I was busy building the product I first thought of finding someone to do the outreach for me. Everyone I talked to, including people with real B2B outreach experience, got enthusiastic about the same thing: all these new tools, volume, automation, AI. My gut reaction was that they wanted to AI the hell out of my prospects and spam them with generative nonsense, full of “— “ and "no pitch, genuinely interested". And what bothered me, was that you might be able to automate the opening (although it is very hard already), but the part that actually worked on me was empathy and attention. I don't know how you automate trust, and I'm not sure you're supposed to.

At this point I'm a founder with ~2-3 appointments scheduled a month, not a rep with a number to hit. I understand that if you're doing 400 touches a week you can't do what I'm describing.

So, for people who've been doing this longer than 3 months: does the listening part survive quota?
Or is the real skill knowing which small number of accounts get the human treatment and which get the sequence?

I cut my teeth door knocking and was a top producer. Transitioned to B2B and was bdr after 2 years of that. Did that for a year, been an AE for a year now, killing quota with both weekly kpi’s and total margin I bring in. I’m making about 100k. I’m in logistics now, when (if not now) would/could I start looking into jobs with the 130-180 base and OTE of 200 plus? What’s a path youve seen to get there? My best year door knocking I actually made 175 but that’s pre tax and door knocking was a terrible job, genuinely right on the line of being worth the 175 or not. Just looking to get back there asap but with a stable career.

Hi everyone! My company’s sales motion is very event driven of just inviting people to things and driving awareness about our company through leadership thought type meetings

We’ve done things like
- wine/whiskey tasting
- charcuterie board kits
- build your own sundaes
-mixologist cocktail stuff

Basically an activity for them to do while we talk thought leadership and plug how we help as well

Anyone have suggestions around this we could add to the rotation? Bonus if you have a go-to vendor suggestion!

If you’re engaged in cold outreach, you should be aware of the TCPA: Telephone Consumers Protection Act.

There’s an ecosystem surrounding punishing violators. And some people are making a living filing lawsuits against those of you that use automated systems to personal phone numbers. Also failing to be aware of the DNC: Do Not Call database.

Cold calling mobile numbers can be hazardous to your bank account.

Read the article:

https://www.leadgen-economy.com/blog/litigator-scrubbing-services-comparison/

I’m 5 weeks into a new outside sales role.

I know some people will see this as rookie numbers, but I’ve probably made somewhere around 600-800 calls so far.

I’ve closed a few sales and sent out a few quotes from my own cold outreach, so it’s not like nothing is working.

I usually aim for around 40 calls a day because I still have admin work, quotes, follow-ups, CRM stuff, and I’m also still learning the product side.

The thing is, even though I think I’m pretty good at the calls, I still get stressed and tense before and during them. I get this tightness in my neck, and even when I’m not calling, if it’s during the 9-5 workday, part of my brain is like, “You could be making more calls right now.”

I also have days where I’m going to networking events or working on quotes, and even then I sometimes feel like I should be calling instead.

It’s weird because I know I’m doing the work, but I still feel like I could be doing more.

For people doing cold outreach, does that feeling go away at some point, or is it just part of the job?

Enterprise AE here and we have no defined internal process or territory. For instance a prospect I was emailing for weeks was just booked by another AE on my team.

When I brought it up to my team lead she shared some thought-provoking wise words: “that sucks.”

This…isn’t normal, right? It’s the second time he’s done this to me. I was kicking ass in my assigned vertical and now he’s booking meetings in my industry since his well is dry. Management doesn’t care as long as we book. Which I get but god it’s demoralizing.

We’re really out here double tapping prospects and snatching bait off each other’s hooks to get fish, huh?

What would you do? Give it me to straight 🥃

I have a useless boss who basically only cares about the imagine of my company, not the dysfunctional systems we have to ruin our customers day. I defended my customer today but saying our brochure directly contradicts this predicament and that our company should reevaluate. my boss was LIVID at me. mind you I’ve been screamed at nonstop over this project all week. anyone have this happen? (important to note I am the best rep on my team)

*edit - also, the customer thanked me for the email and told me he loved the way I was handling the situation and told me he wants to do more work moving forward

I have a couple years experience in door to door and in home sales (solar), so I know what I'm getting into. I'm just not sure which industry I should pursue.

For financial reasons, I'm starting out D2D for the hourly pay, but eventually, I will transition to either closing or possibly D2D manager.

Windows D2D job: $15 per hour + roughly $750 per install

Permanent Lighting D2D job: $20 per hour + $100 per install

My head is telling me windows is the better industry, because the tickets are bigger (often around $15k per sale), so my commissions will be bigger if I start closing.

However, my heart is telling me lighting. It's more affordable (usually around $5-6k), and something people can get excited about. I want to feel like I'm helping people make their homes more beautiful.

However, I'm not a homeowner. Do people get excited about windows? It's never anything I've paid attention to as a renter. If I'm going door-to-door, which product will people be more excited to hear about: Windows or permanent lighting?

​

• CRO- They just got hired and are making a list of people mentally they want to fire. They'll show you pictures of fancy vacations they took, and you have to walk the line of kissing ass enough to save your job, while not being too obviously a brown noser. They have a subtle drinking problem, and their jokes will get meaner throughout the flight.

• Field Marketing- They think they know sales better than you, will twist your words and go back to the CRO behind your back to curry favor. Thinks sales is easy. Won't stop talking.

• Sales engineer- They literally hate you, or your best buddy. Flip a coin. They may or may not have a hygiene problem.

• Sales Enablement - Sold a completely different product 10 years ago, hasn't sold since. Similar to Field Marketing, but they want more time on your calendar, and use the words "Salesforce" "Weighted Pipeline" and "optimize" every other sentence

Who else am I missing?

I went on google to find a company to do some hvac work. Dropped my info and what I needed at 3 companies. Within 30 seconds I got a call from “Dean” who was pretending to be a human and go over my request.
A minute later, another company called me back. IT WAS ALSO “DEAN”. Same voice, same name, same fake background sounds.

What a joke. To sales managers and business owners: if you can’t hire a human to make the first touch with a new lead, call them yourself or find a new line of work.

I’m noticing A LOT of corporate people sending out obviously ai-written notes after internal and external meetings where transcript/recording was NOT turned on by teams.

Is everybody just paying for Otter or another ai note service and I’m the schmuck taking actual notes?

Example: boss recently sent a 250+ word summary of a call in under 3 minutes with Key Takeaways, Action Items and Follow Up from a 30 minute call. She was actively speaking during a majority of the call and it was not a pre-scripted call—we had no idea where the call was headed when it started. It was obviously Ai written and nobody was recording.

I am just curious, I have a client sign a contract I have to send them the invoice and then about half the time I have to follow up for 2 to 3 months just to get them to pay.... And then my company sits on there check for 30 days before paying me commission......

Just another reason why I hate my job.... It is just a really demotivating cycle...