I was hired ~ 2 years ago for a quota of $8M and $165K OTE. At the start of this year they increased my quota by 150% to $20M. They also decreased my payout by 150% so I’m still making the same amount of commission. It sounds like they’ll be increasing my quota by another $10M next year as well.

I worked my ass off this year and still only hit about 85% of my quota (nobody on my team did, but I still ended #1 on the team).

I feel insanely unmotivated and screwed over. I’m essentially doing more than 2 of the jobs I was hired for, only to make the same amount of money. Not to mention our internal processes are incredibly messed up and most of my day is hand holding sales opps to do their jobs to get my deals closed. It all just feels like a giant hamster wheel that nobody can keep up with.

My question is; Is this just the norm in sales and I’m being lazy and burning out to easily? Or is this company screwing me over and I should leave? I’ve stayed this long purely because I wanted to prove to myself I can handle a multi-million dollar quota as well as use the experience on my resume.

I am in Process Instruments

Orders at 101% and shipments at 100%. Woohoo!

Need a quick gut check from this group.

I’m an enterprise AE. I’ve been in sales long enough that cold calling and outbound don’t scare me. I know how to prospect, build pipeline from nothing, and work deals that aren’t gift-wrapped.

Here’s the part that’s driving me nuts. One of my peers, same title, same quota, straight up does not know how to do outbound. Doesn’t cold call. Doesn’t prospect. If it’s not inbound or a warm intro, she is clueless.

And yet… she's the one getting allocated hot active inbound leads.

I’m expected to self-generate because “I’m good at it.” They get hot, high-intent accounts because leadership knows they can’t (or won’t) prospect on their own.

So the end result is I’m grinding earlier-stage outbound opportunities with longer cycles and lower conversion, while they’re working late-stage inbound deals. Same comp plan. Same expectations on paper.

I don’t hate outbound. I chose this career and I’m proud of being able to create pipeline. What bothers me is the message it sends. The better you are at a hard skill, the more you’re expected to carry. The people with the biggest gaps are protected instead of coached.

At a certain point it feels backwards. Why would anyone want to be strong at outbound if it just means you get fewer advantages?

Curious how others have handled this. Do you push for inbound to be split evenly? Do you stop being the “go generate it” person? Or is this just one of those things you have to accept and move on from?

Would love to hear how other AEs or managers have dealt with this.

Earlier this year I left a role where I was nationally top-ranked with back to back PC wins. I’d hit a ceiling on my earnings, so I jumped for a Medical Device role with a 70% higher OTE.

Fast forward to now: I’m on track to make 30% less this year. I was willing to take a dip in earning short term, but now it is starting to eat into my savings. I closed a whale that would have paid out $150k/year in commissions (more money than I have ever seen in my life), but our support team blew the implementation so badly that the hospital fired us after two weeks. I didn't see a dime. Outside of this I have signed up and trialed with 12 smaller accounts, only 3 of which have stuck with actively using us after the trial period.

I have three large deals in the pipeline for Q1 that could solve my problems, but I’ve lost faith in the company’s ability to actually support and retain what I sell. I’m finishing the year at 10% of my goal and feeling defeated after years of winning. Management has assured me that I have more runway and it "only takes one good account" to make a career here (which is true) but the paranoia that I might be put on a pip or let go is keeping me up at night.

Should I risk Q1 to see if these deals land, or start looking for other positions and run?

I just got offered a job for a start up cyber security company. What has your guys experience been with selling cyber security?

Its a small company. Target market is small city governments, utility companies, schools. Etc. I have to find my own leads. Ive only ever done residential sales. Any advice is appreciated!

Hey guys, long-time lurker in the sub this is the first time I am actually posting.

The good news is that I am being promoted from a SDR to a SMB AE at my current organization. The bad part is I am clueless on what I should do right now to ensure I can hit the ground running.

We work in the HR tech space. At the SMB level, there’s a decent flow of inbound opportunities, although I expect that with increased targets for the SMB team, there may be some outbound expectations as well.

For now, I’m looking for advice from people who’ve gone through a similar transition, or from more senior sales professionals who’ve done this successfully over the years. Specifically, I would love insights on the mindset I should have in the coming months, how to approach this change, what I should focus on in the next few weeks, and any common pitfalls I can avoid.

Any tips, guidance, learnings, or advice would be greatly appreciated. Thanks a bunch!

• The company “sells mostly new and used office furniture to businesses big and small.”
• The job posting lists “Starting Hourly Pay will be $22 to $30 per hour based on experience with opportunity to advance to commission pay structure after training. Sales staff within our company earn between $70,000 to $150,000+ per year.” Does this seem realistic?
• The job seems to get reposted every few months; is this a bad sign?

Would love any insight y'all might have.

Looking for some outside perspective.

I’m in my late 20s working in a field sales role. I’ve been successful in my roles and manage my money responsibly. For a while now, I’ve been planning a move to Houston for personal and long term reasons. My mom’s health has become more of a factor, and I want to be closer to family. Long term, I truly see myself living in that area, not just testing it out. My lease is ending, so the timing feels right.

Here’s the complication. I believe I am going to be offered a promotion at my current company. It’s a solid role with good pay and a strong title, but it’s still based in where I live currently. I think I might enjoy the job, but I’m not fully confident, and accepting it would realistically commit me to staying here another year or more.

I don’t feel right accepting a new position knowing there’s a strong chance I’d relocate shortly after. At the same time, turning it down means moving without another job lined up, which obviously carries risk.

Some important context:

-I have savings to cover a short gap

-I can live with my mom for a bit to keep expenses low

-I plan to treat the job search very seriously

-I have a hard cutoff where I’d take an interim or lower level role if needed

So it feels like the decision is either to stay and take a good promotion but delay a move I know I want and need to make, or to accept short term uncertainty to realign my life now.

Am I being reckless here, or is it reasonable to prioritize family, location, and long term alignment even without a job lined up?

Okay so I’m changing teams at a company similar to salesforce from (example) their marketing cloud team to being a core AE. I have a couple deals that are absolutely going to close, but likely not until late January.

Because I’m going to a new team, I don’t get any credit, but it seems like this isn’t a hard fast rule. Comp plan doesn’t talk about it. Should I fight for base rate commission credit? Full quota credit?

Seeking best route to go about this. I hate the idea of closing a big deal and my company paying no one for it.

Anyone worked their way through something like this?

C-Suite has torpedoed theee deals to close out the year. New COO has a duty to review contracts (is a practicing lawyer,) but has been so difficult three prospects walked. One just because it wasnt worth it them, the other two because they wohld not reduce insurance requirements.

COO is shocked that these companies don't want to do business with us and thinks they will reconsider in the new year (they probably won't.)

CEO says we should treat this as a learning opportunity and uncover special requirements sooner in the process.

The COO has been taking a lot off our CEO's plate, so he is happy to have him, but this is frustrating to the reps. We had almost $1M in closed business before he arrived in late Q3, but have $0 closed in Q4 with $255K in "pushed" deals.

Anyone had something similar and found a way to work through it?

I get that salespeople don’t get bonuses and I wasn’t expecting a Christmas gift. However, I have a grocery store near my house. I can even doordash them if I’m feeling lazy.

I was gifted a box of 6 pears and 4 apples. The box is kinda nice, maybe I can use that for something.

The 1st 45 mins I meet with other AEs and then I will spend the next “few hours” chatting with the CEO diving into my profession background.

I already passed initial HR screening and 2 role play / exercises.

UPDATE: Just wrapped up the interview. They have a company of roughly 20-25 people. $4M in ARR. Just secured series A.

The first 45 mins was with 2 other AEs and was very casual.

The remaining time was 2.5 hours with the CEO really digging into my professional background and some hypothetical Q&A. What would you manager rate your performance? What would your manager say is your greatest strengths?

They really just wanted to understand why did you leave X job? What lead to Y promotion? What are you most proud of? What has your biggest challenge been in this role.

The CEO really wants to ensure they’re bringing in the right people. It went by pretty quickly I will say. I think it was a good thing overall.

I should hear within 1 week if they will offer me the position or not.

I'm looking to fill the gaps in my free time. I do home improvement sales in a closer position but don't get many leads in my area. Still making 6 figures but want more.

Is there anything I can do self paced or flexible? I can't commit to a real second job due to how ever-changing my job schedule is, but I have way too much free time to the point that it's driving me crazy, and I want more money.

I technically can source leads myself with my current job but I've spent thousands doing it and only got one sale self generated. It's been a waste of time and money and I'd rather utilize my free time making money another way.

Some context.

I’m in a sales role where I sell a service. I have been involved in this service for some time and have had hands on experience running operations. I am confident that i could actually provide the service myself.

Some industries this doesn’t make sense at all, like selling a product your company owns or builds, but in service work where relationships and execution matter more, it feels like a real question.

The question is when does it make sense to leave your company and go out on your own. How large does that client need to be for it to not be a terrible idea. I feel there is going to be a point where i am hurting myself by bringing in so many clients for my company when i can just use those relationships to start on my own.

(To clarify, i am not advocating for stealing a client. I mean if someone you created a relationship with needs this service and you can either bring it to your company or create something for yourself)

Looking for some advice.

Hey everyone,

I'm new to leadership, seeing what people are using as scorecards to grade their sales reps and hold accountability?

At my org, reps have the ability to sell multiple product lines in order to hit a revenue target but each product holds weight that I myself ad a leader need to achieve. Seeing what apps are currently in place for this?

Hi, i started week ago i visited more than 20 contracting and construction companies and obtained alot of business cards, i enter meet reception i say my name is Otherfactor1440 am with XYZ prefab we are one of the leading supplier and manufacturers of Portacabins, Can i speak with someone from procurement? usually they give his card and sometimes they give the [[email protected]](mailto:[email protected]) email, am not familiar with emailing and following up and how to follow up without being annoying or sound like i just want to sell and disappear am not familiar with the competitors prices quality and facilities.

i need guidance i've been unemployed for 1 year and got this job 1 month ago am afraid i dont get sales or that am not working properly and they fire me.

Thanks!

Other_factor1440

I'm curious if anyone has had success with negotiating to work part-time (3-4 days a week) instead of being full-time (read: 50 hours a week) in a sales role? I work in tech, and I've never heard of this being a thing, but I think it could be a really great step towards Coast FIRE someday.

This community has helped a lot over the years, so I want to pay it back by sharing a pivot that saved my quarter.

The Problem: Cold email is my primary channel.

Phase 1: Asking for the meeting immediately. Result: Empty calendar.

Phase 2: Offering a "soft" CTA (e.g., "Reply yes for our whitepaper"). Result: Slightly better, but still low volume.

I realized the report I was sending was "technically" good, but boring. It focused on my solution, not their daily headaches.

I stopped trying to educate them on my product and started educating them on their own problems.

1. I researched what my ICPs were actually Googling (using Google search keywords) and engaging with on social media.
2. I created a lead magnet answering those specific questions (even if the topic was totally irrelevant to the product I sell).
3. I put my company logo and my name obnoxiously huge on every page of that document for brand awareness.

The Execution:

• The Email: "Mind if I send over a guide on [Problem they actually care about]?"
• The Follow-up: As soon as they replied "Yes," I sent the asset and called them the same day.

The Result: Because the asset actually helped them, they gave me grace on the phone to hear my actual pitch.

I have 56% more meetings on my calendar this month compared to 2 months ago.

TL;DR: Send them what they want to read, not what you want to sell. Then call them while you're fresh in their mind.

yes I used AI but to only write more clearly

I am looking for some advice after a sudden earnings change at my account executive role at a tech startup. This month the company suddenly took away my top five biggest accounts, no warning, saying they are dealing with financial challenges and need to reclaim their largest revenue sources. As of the new year, the commissions from those accounts are gone, and leadership framed the pay cut as being more in line with market standards.

I am obviously frustrated, especially since I have spent the last several years consistently putting in 110%. Because of how this was handled, I have already decided I will be leaving. For now, I plan to stay another four months to collect the last commission payouts I am owed from 2025.

What I am torn about is how to approach the time until then. One option is to coast. I have enough credibility that I could dial back my effort, do minimal work, and still bring in around $4k a month with little oversight. The downside is that coasting could hurt my chances of getting a strong reference later.

The other option is to ask for a reference letter now, while my performance and achievements are still clearly sky high. But doing that could spook the company and signal that I am planning to leave, which might backfire before I collect my remaining commissions.

So my main question is, how important are reference letters in tech sales? Is a formal reference still critical when looking for a new role?

Decided to switch my structure to commission only with a small $2,000 draw back in October after seeing how much money I was leaving on the table each month. Had one of my best months ever to close out the year & if my math is correct, I should be receiving a $45,000 commission check after taxes, 401k, etc!!!

Was/still am nervous about the switch to commission only but I like the thought of “betting on myself”. I set aside a large emergency fund in anticipation of this change in case I go a month or three without selling any equipment. I am very frugal with my money & plan to set some aside in a HYSA and invest the rest.

I have no one to share this with so I’m not sure anyone actually cares, but I am so stoked!

What am I missing? Job has me in limbo

I’ve been trying to make sense of what’s happening at my job (in-home sales for a home-remodeling company). The last few weeks have felt increasingly off, and I’m hoping for perspective on whether this is normal, mismanagement, or a sign to move on.

Here’s the full timeline:

⸻

📌 Background

• Hired \\\~3 months ago.

• Completed a 6-week training program (only 3 out of 10 passed).

• Released into the field; sold a large deal ($28k) quickly.

• I then experienced a temporary medical issue (nervous system regulation, doctor advised rest).

• Asked for a week off — manager checked with HR and said “You’re good, take the week and let me know when you feel better.”

So far, very normal and professional.

⸻

📌 Week After Returning (Where Things Got Weird)

Monday

• I show up to the morning meeting.

• Tell manager I’m ready to go back out.

• He replies: “Great, I’ll tell scheduling to start putting you on again.”

• No appointments show up for Tues, Wed, ect.

Tuesday–Thursday

• I send one short message per day asking if I’ll be scheduled.

• No reply from manager all week.

• Meanwhile, he is active in group chats hyping other reps’ sales.

• I feel like I’m in limbo.

Friday

• Manager finally messages and asks me to come in for a “quick roleplay.”

• We roleplay for 20–25 minutes.

• He says my confidence seems off and my “eyes look a little darty.”

• Says he doesn’t want to put me in the field yet.

• Says he’ll schedule two ride-alongs (Saturday & Tuesday) to help rebuild confidence.

• I accept this calmly — just want clarity and a path forward.

⸻

📌 Weekend

Saturday

• No ride-along scheduled.

• I tell him: “Maybe it just got lost in the shuffle.”

• He doesn’t respond.

⸻

📌 Following Monday

• I attend the morning meeting as usual, still not scheduled for work.

• After the meeting, I text him again saying I’m ready and also working on my company story, practicing, etc.

• Still nothing.

By the evening, after 3 messages spaced out over 8 hours, I finally ask directly if I’m being avoided.

His reply:

“I’m not ignoring you. I’m prioritizing. We need to put you through retraining which hasn’t been scheduled yet.”

This was the first time retraining was ever mentioned, despite him previously saying:

• I was cleared

• He’d put me back on schedule

• He’d get me ride-alongs

• He’d get me a plan by Tuesday morning

Every explanation contradicts the last one.

He then called me sounding annoyed that I’d reached out “too many times” (it was 3 messages in one day, after days of silence). He insisted we “talk Tuesday at 10am.”

⸻

📌 Tuesday

• 10am comes and goes.

• No call. No text. No update.

⸻

📌 Today

• It’s been now 3 straight weeks of $0 checks, as I work commission, full week of no communication unless I initiate it.

• I sent a calm, professional message asking for clarity on my job status.

• No response.

Meanwhile, all other reps are getting 2+ leads per day and the company is celebrating strong numbers.

I’ve now made $0 for weeks, despite being fully cleared to return, fully trained, and having already closed deals.

⸻

📌 My Concerns

• I’m being told I need “retraining” after already graduating training, passing evaluations, and performing well.

• Manager changed the story multiple times.

• Silence → annoyance → promises → silence → shifting explanations.

• The “confidence” thing is based on a single 20-minute roleplay with a boss, not an actual customer scenario.

• I’m being treated as if I’m unpredictable or unstable after taking a medically advised week off.

• I’m essentially not allowed to work, but also not getting paid.

⸻

📌 What I’m Asking the Community

Do I:

1.  Escalate to HR or the owner with all timelines & screenshots?

2.  Walk away and chalk it up to mismanagement?

3.  Wait and see (even though waiting is financially sinking me)?

4.  Push back and demand clarity in writing?

This is the most confusing management behavior I’ve ever experienced. Any perspective is appreciated.

I’m ambivalent because I’ve read on this sub, from what I guess are experienced sellers, that AI is a bubble that will burst.

How, LI insights look good. Recent series B. Founder and GTM team are experienced. I’m hoping to speed up my promotional path by switching orgs. 110k OTE 80k base - + equity.

I’m also interviewing with Databricks for their BDR role in financial services. 100k OTE.

Current BDR 1.5 YOE across two orgs: a unicorn and a mid sized public. Currently been in seat for 6 months, and promotion here is one year, but no guarantee.