• I’ve asked this question at the end of two different interviews, and both times the interviewer said they really appreciated that question.

Hey guys I have a customer who is pissed at me and feels I inaccurately presented the product, I have to get on a call with them next week and they are probably going to yell at me. My boss will be on with me and has my back but I can’t stop thinking about it and ruminating on my anxiety of it. Can y’all please tell me chill thank you

A buddy of mine joined an SDR placement community. You pay ~$3k–$5k upfront, and if you don't land a job in 6 months, you get a full refund. Sounds riskfree, but here’s their actual business model:

It's a pure volume trap. They process hundreds of clients at once and hand you basic, free tier advice (recruiter lists, cold outreach scripts).

Out of the masses, let's say 10% actually hustle and land a role. The community claims credit and pockets the $5k. The other 90% fail and get refunded.

The agency takes zero risk. They just walk away with pure profit from the top 10% who did all the heavy lifting and would have gotten hired anyway.

TL;DR: Don't pay thousands for a glorified checklist. The scripts and interview prep are free online. Save your money and do the outreach yourself.

• It is an Inside Sales HVAC role
• Here are some questions I am considering asking. How would you rate them, and how many should I ask?

1. What does success look like for this role?
2. What are the biggest goals that COMPANY is currently working towards, and what could I contribute in my role to help achieve those goals?
3. Can you describe the ongoing training and certification programs that were mentioned in the job description?
4. What separates people that are successful in this role from those that aren't? 
5. A year after being hired, what would I have needed to accomplish to leave no doubts that I was the right choice? 
6. What career growth can I expect? Outside sales, management, etc.
7. Are there any particular brands that you're currently selling that are the most successful?
8. What are generally the biggest challenges people encounter in this role, and what have proven to be the best ways to overcome them?
9. What sets you apart from other HVAC companies?

I’m a developer, not a salesperson. I’m interested in building a tool for people who sell to other organizations, and I’m trying to understand how that actually works before I build anything serious. I started on this after a friend in the industry complained about the tools he’s stuck with.

Short study (about 10 minutes.. no email or name required). It covers how you find opportunities now, what you’re using, and how you’re paid, since that changes who the thing should be for. Partway through I describe what I’m thinking of building and ask what you make of it, so you’ll see the idea rather than just feeding me data about it.

Nothing to buy or sign up for. There’s an optional email box at the end if you’d be willing to take follow-up questions, and it’s the only field that asks who you are.

https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLScv6T1NUjXKzfdTaIn8vYGgpWXs-dr1ZQH4h3Fy_390KD0MhQ/viewform

If you’d rather not click a form, answers in the comments are just as useful to me:

1. Think about the last new customer you found who didn’t come from a referral or an inbound enquiry. How did you actually find them?

2. What kind of news or event about a company makes you think “I should reach out to them”?

3. Are you using anything today to spot that kind of thing? If it’s a paid service, does your company cover it or do you?

4. Do you work a defined territory? If so, how is it defined?

I have an interview with ADP for Entry Level Outside Sales Associate. I have experience in real estate, mortgages and home renovation sales. I'm looking to get away from the B2C grind and get in somewhere b2b that will train and had a good name for my resume.

A recruiter from Charlie Health reached out to me on LinkedIn for a remote inside sales position. I chalked it up as a scam and ignored it for a while until she followed up once more. I scheduled (what would’ve been) a meeting for today. I did my research and the company is legit but not my cup of tea. More importantly, I couldn’t find a single thing about the inside sales position at Charlie Health. I had a bad feeling about it so I ended up cancelling the meeting.

Has anyone interviewed for the inside sales role with Charlie Health? The pay was decent and they aren’t asking for too much experience in sales.

I am 23 and Currently work in commercial HVAC sales selling maintenance agreements. Im completing my second year right now, I sold….

Year 1 220% quota $110,000/$50,000
Year 2 130% quota YTD $164,000/$125,000

Year 1 base was $60k and I totaled $82k
Year 2 bump to $65k base and i estimate I’ll end around $97k this year?

Im relatively happy in the role and could see myself staying another 1-2 years… but I’m curious what roles I should keep my eye open for to help advance my career. I can’t help but feel like with my quota attainment, I could be a strong candidate for a role with a much higher base.

Do I try to work for an OEM? Construction? Manufacturing?

I just want to stay ahead of the curve and continue to learn.

Any advice is welcome.

Is this a masterful psychology play to appear like you’re already winning so much it doesn’t matter when you lose or when you do that you were a “good sport” about it? Why do sales people say this to customers. Should I be saying it too? Just to get a grip on when I gotta roll in the mud with pigs by seeming like…. Im not that competitive?

I'm in a very fortunate position currently and received an offer for an industrial cable manufacturer. Here are the comp details:

120k base

Car allowance

Total comp with commission 140 to 160k

I'm currently working at a IoT network manufacturer with the following comp:

80k base

- I'll soon be taking accounts from one of my colleague who is leaving the company so I'm expecting total comp up be: 120-200k next year.

-comp is highly dependent on factors I can't control like colleagues leaving their role and passing it down.

-my new customers are now finally buying but I haven't seen it come to fruition yet as these are long sale cycles.

My concern is around leaving a valuable position that makes me very highly desirable and moving into hardware mainly cables and value add. However, the new role has a lot more certainty with my compensation plan and doesn't depend on unknown variables. I will also be working from 8-5 instead of the standard 9-5 with the new company. That also comes with an existing account base to service and a goal to target new accounts.

Curious to get feedback from other sales reps to see where your thoughts would be on this one

Anybody going through government RFP portals to look for RFPs? What industries are you working for and what are you looking to sell? Wondering who uses those portals and how they use it. Thanks

Hello! I am interviewing for roles while still employed. For three companies, the hiring manager or recruiter either verbally told me I’m moving to the next interview, or there was an interview on the calendar, but that next step was abruptly cancelled & I received a generic message about other candidates being a better fit.

Is the market significantly more competitive, or do you think something fishy is going on?

I’ve never had this happen before. Been in sales 15 years, tech about 8.

What have you got for recomendations?

For anyone who's started a new role particularly new industry, for those who WFH, do you feel short changed at all versus what you'd learn on site?

For those who have no inbound leads and no marketing support, how do you handle the isolation and quiteness aside from scrolling on here?

My agency makes outbound calls, has been doing it since 2013. We call businesses. Last year zero percent had AI screening/AI receptionists answering. Now it's about 5%. That may seem small but the math people on this sub will understand a zero to 5% adoption within one year. Next year it'll be 10%, then exponential. AI is extremely skilled at handing inbound calls, property routing them, qualifying leads, booking appointments. Within 5 or so years, you'll be making calls, AI will be answering.

Watched a vid yesterday of a SDR making 55 hours of calls to execs with a 6% answer rate. That 6% answer rate will go to zero percent.

I hire from time to time. I'm a small fish in a big pond but it's stunning to me when I'm interviewing sales reps, and it's in my job posting that it's cold calling, the number of reps who are like "well, I mean cold calling to start? When would I just work inbound leads?

My reply is always the same; "For inbound, that's a secretary position. I'm looking for sales reps." I mean...wow.

Not looking to quit. I love the product, and the base pay is good. I need strategy.

The crux: my manager's philosophy is "we all help each other." But in my case, help only flows one way. My territory is small. My peer's is about 10x bigger and full of pre-sold global accounts. When I go above and beyond for the team, it builds her numbers. Even if she helped me back, it would be on accounts a tenth the size. And when I ask for a structure that makes it win-win, I'm seen as "only caring about money."

Background: technical sales, selling a brand-new technology customers have never heard of. Former senior R&D. At trade shows, I convert about 95% of in-person conversations into leads, and 30–40% follow up afterward. My colleague has converted no conversations into leads or project due to not being technical, not being able to figure out the value proposition due to poor HQ training and due to being very junior in terms of career. Otherwise a nice person.

What's happened:
- I did the hard sell-in on two of her biggest accounts. They'll close in her name.

- My manager's boss has burned me three times: he gave my original territory and the commission I'd built toward to a new hire (who he had a long term previous working relationship with), and sneaked in and stole a major global corp leadI'd opened. I trust my manager, but not the system he’s stuck working under (ie his boss) so now I don’t trust that things wi work out fairly unless we establish guardrails up front

- The greater team hasn't really started selling this line yet. Like most raw material companies, ours explains what the product does, not why it matters for a customer's brand or ROI. I've worked out those value props by sector and audience, offered to build training, and asked if it could be a formal role, hence my very high conversion rate. I was genuinely excited to help the company grow.

My manager heard "she won't help unless she's paid." He got promoted by helping others for free. Every time I raise this, I feel like I'm digging a deeper hole.

Questions:

1. How do you stay a generous team player when the system only rewards one side?
2. How would you pitch a formal role so it lands as a business case, not a grievance?
3. Any career coaches who specialize in internal positioning for salespeople?

For reference, my colleague will be getting about $1M in commission in 3yrs once all this global accounts that came to her presold by me and our EU team close so this is ALOT of money on the line. This type of commission is not normal in our industry. Subsequent years she will be getting $500k, unless she loses the accounts. She won’t though, they will grow like weeds because these giant customers have smart enough teams to see something good and jump on it.

Thanks.

What is everyone’s thoughts and opinions, and if you’re using them, strategies with voicemail drops? Bonus points if your company or team is a zoom contact center shop.

EDIT: by voicemail drop I mean automated leaving voicemails that are pre-recorded once the VM picks up. You click a button and head to the next call, and the system leaves a vm after the prompt.

Some on my team swear they need it. I think it’s gimmicky but open to it if it’s a proven winner for others.

I’m an experienced sales professional who recently started an inside sales position with a home improvement company.

We receive leads from third-party lead providers, and management has implemented a mandatory follow-up sequence that I’m finding rather excessive.

Here’s the breakdown:

Day 1: Two calls, voicemail, text, email.

Day 2: Two calls, voicemail, text.

Day 3: Two calls, voicemail, text, email.

Days 4–10: Daily calls, additional voicemails, texts and emails.

That’s 14 phone calls, seven texts and three emails per prospect in just 10 days.

Follow-ups then continue periodically through Day 75.

I currently have approximately 75 leads to work, with new leads arriving daily.

Here’s the kicker: Almost everything is manual. I’m personalizing texts and emails, documenting activities and scheduling subsequent follow-ups individually in our CRM.

I have extensive sales experience, including enterprise B2B sales, and I’ve never encountered a follow-up process quite like this.

I’m genuinely curious what other sales professionals think.

Is this considered normal in home improvement sales?

Does anyone have experience with this kind of cadence actually producing meaningful conversions?

And wouldn’t most of this be better handled through CRM automation?

Landed an interview with the Unified Services team at Microsoft. Anyone currently on the team or have insight?

Looking for some guidance as I get going.

I’m 23 years old and have been working in the B2B VoIP telecom space for just over a year now. It’s been a great transition out of consumer sales that I did previously (1.5 year T-Mobile consumer, then 1 year Electronics store consumer sales). I work really hard everyday and it shows in my numbers. I’m the #1 rep in my role, and have achieved the highest numbers ever in my role. My boss respects me, and the other reps look to me for advice as the person that sells 3x what they do.

I guess my main thing is that I have noticed the company itself lately has started to cheap out on me now that I’m performing so well. I used to get a lot of gifts for my performance and they’ve cut back on that for specifically me, as well as they changed the commission structure to a decelerator past 300% above goal (last month I was 450% above goal) and so, I kinda feel like I should be getting paid more than I am.

Now I don’t want to come off pretentious as someone that came from a poor background, but my OTE is $87K and my actual earnings are more like $150K, which is great, but then I look at other roles that start at like 200k and I’m kind of thinking of looking at those companies.

Do I have enough experience with 1 year of consistent experience being the top at my company? How do I sell this on my resume, in an interview so that I could potentially qualify for something that I wouldn’t normally qualify for on paper without looking at my performance?

For anyone who’s made a similar transition, what did you do? What do you recommend? Should I wait for my presidents club award to come in and then move, or just consider my hard numbers as good enough proof and start looking now?

If it helps, here’s my timeline of jobs I’ve had

17 fast food cashier
18 in store clothing sales & shipping store associate
19 electronics store sales & repair
20 T-Mobile consumer sales
22 B2B VoIP/AI Inside Sales Representative/Account Executive

It is so tempting to dive in and start aiming for the jugular - "what are you currently using for X?" "What's your role in the organisation?" Please don't don't do this! That's like trying to view an organisation through a peephole.

Because now you're just getting a peephole view of the organisation and you're going to fail to understand what makes the organisation and decision makers really tick.

"So how is Regulation X affecting the Pharma Industry at the moment"

"I hear there is some patents expiring for Y category of drugs at the moment - will that you affect you?"

Now you're not specifically interested in regulations or patents expiring. What you're trying to do here is find out what really motivates the prospect. Because if you build enough rapport, you will get the prospect talking enough where they will leak out what's really important to them.

Now "zoom in" for even more information.

"What's your role exactly anyway?"

"Ah, you look after Z process. What would happen if that stopped in the morning?" "By the way, did that ever happen before? "What did you do?"

Now, you have enough ammo in your kit to ask really powerful and relevant questions about how your solution can help them. This might sound really obvious advice but it's surprising the amount of sales people who don't do this.

I sell on a small Net New inside sales team.

Recently has some layoffs and deals were moved to other peoples pipelines on the team from the laid off reps territories.

Director originally said any deal closes outside of territory would be split 3 ways to alleviate complaining about others getting better deals.

A more senior rep had actually been helping another rep start one of the larger more complex deals however that rep got laid off and said senior rep inherited his territory.

The deal got moved to the wrong rep by mistake and she continues to work it. On top of that she was given another large deal that is about to pop.

This senior rep called voiceing his frustration about how he has worked so hard all year (he is on top of the leader board) and this other rep has struggled and she basically gets handed the two biggest deals of the year at their end stage and will beat him. Also one was technically supposed to be in his territory.

Also he is unsure if the deal split is going to happen because they didn't split the previous deals from the previous quarter.

I would benefit but I told him I didn't want to go to management with him because I am new and 6 months in and didn't want to make waves but I understood how he felt.

If you were management what do you think the appropriate course of action would be?

Also for clairty I am not the manager I am another rep on the team and he was venting to me.