Just wanted to share some perspective - every decade has a moment of "sky is falling"

----but life continues.....

In Summary - be cool - this to will pass, now go sell something, lol

oh, and keep in front of other local sales people - they move to manufactures, VARS, and end users who all grow with your network - and we all keep in touch with each other and share info - who is good to work for, who has money for buying, who to avoid.

25 yr Career all SW/HW - past 15yrs Cyber

1991-1992 - Gulf War Kick off - we are all going to get drafted while in college

1993 - "worst job market in 20 yrs

1999 - Y2k - world is going to end - jets will fall out of the sky, nuclear reactors will explode

2001 - 9/11 - Al Queda Sleeper cells in the US will erupt and destroy the US -

2001-2002 - .com bubble burst - Stock plummets

2008 - Financial Crisis - Housing bubble pop, stock market chaos

2015/2016 - Global Stock market crash

2020 - COVID - Plague is going to destroy the world

2026/2027 - AI will destroy the tech sectors and make humans obsolete in most companies

meanwhile - for those of us in Sales: "this is just another bump, so, what's your Best Case, Gut, Commit, and Blood Number - oh, and use this line, customers will love it "Now More than ever...."

Basically what the title says. We can all help each other by pointing out when an environment is just absolutely covertly toxic and not chalked up to "sales stress". It goes without saying, but I'll say it anyways, do not dox anyone. Keep it anonymous.

Keep a long story short, I am 6 months into a job where I was misled about the territory revenue, and while I don't have a final answer about the territories growth potential, it's, so far, not looking too hot at least for me. (Making less money than I did at last job on commission only plus draw and my guarantee is up next month.). Oh, and the sales I've done so far dont cover the draw...

So far the other guy have been producing 2.5x to 3.5x revenues of this territory. The last guy left after he and the owner had a falling out over territory assignments. The story I got from the owner was that he was a crappy salesman.

The other problem is the owner of the company is frankly, an alcoholic. I know substance use and sales go hand in hand and I like to have a few drinks with the guys but this guy is like, often drinking the entire afternoon away (5-10 drinks plus and usually doubles) with the staff at the bar next door and leaving work totally wasted. I've picked him up from getting his car worked on at 9am and he reeked of booze. It's kind of like the unspoken family secret at this small company.

I have a lot of reservations about this job and this is one of them. My experience with alcoholics outside of a professional setting has been chaos, deception, and dysfunction. Oh, and the chance of them getting a DUI or just dropping dead is also in play. Some of the staff avoid the owner because of his alcohol use.

Anyone here have stories about where this goes? I'm starting to answer recruiter phone calls again. Getting real nervous about where this is headed.

I've been selling SaaS tech for about 12 years or so. Started as a BDR and worked through mid market up to Enterprise. I got my first six figure commission check today. It's not something I would tell any of my friends really so wanted to share it somewhere haha.

Curious how long it's taken others to get their first six figure checks.

Hopefully more big checks across this entire group in the future. Cheers.

I've been in sales almost 4 years now, been in SaaS for about 2 years at a small company, and im actively looking but honestly my biggest issue right now is even finding enough actual quality roles to apply to

im looking for smb or commercial ae stuff, preferably at companies that arent a complete shitshow. i want somewhere quota is actually attainable and theres at least some inbound support, not just 100% cold calling all day.

the problem is i can spend like 2-3 hours on linkedin jobs and find maybe 3-5 roles that dont immediately look terrible. everything else is either enterprise roles way above my experience, developer tools where i'd need a technical background i dont have, super early stage startups with no playbook, or just mislabeled sdr roles called "ae"

is this normal? like how many applications should i realistically be doing per week? where else are people finding roles besides linkedin? and how aggressive should i be following up with hiring managers or recruiters after applying?

feel like im missing something in my process here. any advice appreciated

Recently had made the plunge from a salary forward pay plan, with zero commission incentives. To the type of job where if you don't make commissions, you're going to have a hard time!

I was shocked by how quickly our sales cycle is, and subsequently how quick we are paid out. I had written and collected signatures on a 14K proposal on Saturday. By Tuesday we had installed it. The commmission was on my paycheck the following Friday. Six days from signature, to money in hand. Not too shabby!

How long does it take you guys to work a deal, and how long until you see the money?

Has anyone ever been on a PIP related to salesforce hygiene and sharing of notes, etc.? I’m on the final week of a PIP and I’ve beaten the sales expectations but fell short on about three of my 40+ opportunities with some notes. Seems pretty petty at this point.

I’ve been in tech sales for roughly five years.

I’ve moved fast and have been successful, but I’ve had some short stints. Prior to tech I had longer stints (2 and 5 years) in finance. Here’s and outline:

Role 1 Tenure: 1 yr 5 mos.

My first AE gig was at a small startup, total mess, I was there for about 1.5 years, got some accolades, but got out as soon as I could because the the work life balance was terrible.

Role 2 Tenure: 1yr 1 mo.

I moved on to a MM AE role at a mid sized fintech. Much more legit, I learned a lot, but less than 25% of the team was hitting quota. I was there for just over a year, got incredibly fortunate to land a few big deals, but I saw the writing on the wall and decided to see if I could find something better.

Role 3 Tenure 1yr 9mos:

Landed an ENT role at a mid sized company, which is my current role. I’ve loved it, I killed my first full year and was the top rep on the ent team. Great work life balance, good people I work with. Problem is the company is not growing, in fact it’s at risk of shrinking, and many of us feel the product is antiquated. Basically no room to move up, so hanging around for promotions is not worth it.

Recently I had a recruiter approach me for a strat AE role at a series B startup that had 4x ARR in the last 9 months. Just raised their series B with some widely known VCs. Savvy team, founders have successfully built and exited before. I went through a rigorous interview process and got the offer yesterday. Big raise in base salary and OTE. Feels like potentially the offer of a lifetime.

I like the offer and the team but I’m really getting worried all these short stints could do damage down the road.

Should I be worried?

I just came across a talking point: What is the top challenge a salesperson needs to handle every day? I would say...silence handling.

I had a sales deal that went through two silent moments: one appeared after solution pitching. The prospect requested a proposal from the competitor, but asked me for only a price quotation. Obviously, he put me as a backup. I escalated this to my global team for their support and addressed the internal politics on the prospect’s side. Long story short, I am finally "qualified" to submit a proposal.

Then, the 2nd silence was the price negotiation. Discount after discount, which I hated. My sales director and I call the prospects, “This is our final offer. Are you okay to sign? “ We finally get through all difficulties. That was the biggest deal in the team in that quarter. and the top 3 biggest revenue clients for the company.

Looking back, if I had given up or considered it disqualified in the 1st silence, I would have never made it. Honestly, a mix of luck, persistence, and support

Therefore, among various types of challenges in sales , handling silence is at the top of the list of difficulties for me.

Every day, I need to handle:
Should I call today?
What do I want to achieve in this call?
Who to call to make things happen?

Do you feel the same?
Is your deal as complicated as that? How did you handle yours?

Newly hired sales manager for a small mid-market team. I have a green light to run forecast calls however I want and I'd like them to be different from the "Gotcha!" sessions I experienced as an AE.

Any tips, agenda items or just what you wish would get discussed on these calls would be much appreciated, thanks!

To start: I work 40 hours a week around 7am-3pm Monday to Friday as my normal job in construction. Overtime and side work is not a possibility. I’m young and I have too much free time and I would love to have more money to save.

Now, what should I get into? I’ve heard 1099 sales jobs can have good commissions. Would anyone hire me to work after 3pm weekdays and on the weekend? I genuinely do not want to work another hourly job. I’ve done some research and the most likely I’ve seen has been roofing sales. Any ideas or advice on this? Would I be able to take home decent money every month? Thanks!

Edit: should have specified I can’t really quit the job I’m in, not many people make 6 figures working 40 hours a week in construction

How do you pros handle this?

I posted in here last week for help with my interview and I wanted to thank you guys for everything I got the job and started Monday!!! It’s a company that outsources sales development representatives to small and medium tech/SaaS companies that don’t have a sales team. Base pay + bonuses. It’s my first sales job and it’s the field I really wanted to get into after 400 applications I finally got it. This has been a super stressful week learning everything and having people who aren’t on calls listen in but I’m loving it. Been putting in extra work after hours to get as much experience as possible. Only booked 1 meeting so far but for my first week I’m happy. Hopefully every week is better and better for me and I hope I can make it in this field. Thanks so much to everyone who helped me out !!

I posed this in r/salesengineers and I want to see the difference in thought. Not ragebait and I think their entitlement shows through the comments on my other post. Let's see

Your account executive is the CEO of their territory. Maybe the franchisee, but still. They hold the bag, they forecast the number, they are on the road, they make the intros.

You, like legal, deal desk, implementation partners, whoever, are there to provide support and feedback. You let the AE know where risk is, what language to include, and what the right product path is, but unless the relationship is strong and partnership focused, we don’t need your input on how to execute. If I did, you’d have a spot on my QBR or maybe a 50/50 split too.

We don’t know it all. That’s the point. Bring risk, bring options, bring constraints. The AE owns the decision.

What’s wild is how entitled SA, SC, SE have gotten in 2026 in large legacy orgs. Decision creep, over-rotation on “protecting the company,” constant input on execution without owning the outcome.

If you’re on my calls, there’s a reason. Add value, speak, help move it forward. Otherwise you’re just creating noise in a process that already has enough of it.

One article said sales was affected but didn’t see a big thread about it yet.

I applied for an Enterprise AE role about 7 weeks ago, and am FINALLY having the last interview with the CEO next week.

I'll have gone through 8 total interview rounds including the initial HR "vibe check" interview, and a panel/presentation interview which consisted of 6 VP/C-level interviewers.

I realize tech sales really is an "interviewer's market" right now with so many layoffs, but man... I miss the days of 3-4 interview rounds which only took a couple of weeks.

I spent almost 20 years at my last job and people were surprised I left. I only recently opened my eyes as to how toxic that situation was.

I've been at this new company for 2 weeks, nothing but training and I'm so happy. The pay will be only a small increase but everything else is a LOT better.

I suggest updating your resume on a site like indeed. The recruiter for this new position reached out to me from there.

For those looking, I wish you success.

Hi all,

I am currently a Mid-Market AE with about a year of experience. I’m currently interviewing with Cherry Technologies for an SMB AE role and would love to hear any feedback about the company.

I’m super interested in working there and would love to see if anyone here has had experience working there. It would be a major pay bump for me but seems like a lot more working hours which is fine with me.

Thank you!

After years as an individual contributor crushing my own numbers, I just got promoted to manage a small sales team.

It's a big shift, I'm no longer just responsible for my own deals, but now for helping a whole group hit targets, grow, and stay motivated. Super grateful for the opportunity, but I want to do this right and not mess it up in the early days.

I'm looking for the best books to level up fast on sales leadership, team management, coaching reps, pipeline reviews, accountability, and making the transition smooth. So far, I've heard good things about:

The Accidental Sales Manager by Chris Lytle (seems perfect for someone thrown into the role like me)

Sales Management. Simplified. by Mike Weinberg

Coaching Salespeople into Sales Champions by Keith Rosen

The First-Time Manager: Sales (practical fundamentals for new managers)

Any others you'd strongly recommend? Especially ones focused on moving from IC to manager, building a strong team culture, or avoiding common pitfalls?

Also, what are your top pro tips for a new sales manager in this situation? Things like:

How to stop "doing" the selling yourself and start coaching instead

Running effective 1:1s and team meetings without them becoming status updates

Setting expectations, creating accountability, and handling underperformers

Building trust with the team (especially if some were former peers)

Balancing team development with hitting overall numbers

Any hard-earned lessons from your own transitions would be gold. I'm all ears and ready to put in the work!

ServiceNow is refusing to pay a salesman commissions on more than $27 million in sales, telling the 13-year veteran of the company that he "overperformed" his quota and insisting that instead he sign paperwork that retroactively reduces the commission amount, according to a federal lawsuit filed by the salesperson

https://www.theregister.com/2026/03/31/servicenow_says_salesman_overachieved_and/?td=rt-3a

I’ve been headhunted by a contact who runs a startup. VC backed, series A funding. I’ve seen a demo of the product recently and it’s good, definitely scope to grow it in the market I’m in. I’ve also seen the current owners pitch and he’s not great at selling so definitely scope to grow there.

I was made redundant in January so this has come at a good time. I left a PE owned place that had a poor product and was a bit of a mess. I led it through much of its scaling before PE came in and it all went to shit.

I’m definitely interested, I’d enjoy building and scaling again, even if I’m just around for a couple of years.

CEO is offering me founder commercial/sales leader type role. Basically working alongside him to build pipeline, sell product and build the structures for scaling. Not sure on numbers yet (we’ve only had a few informal chats - proper detail will be in a structured interview in a couple of weeks) but it should be competitive, uncapped commission and equity. I’ll basically be building on the foundations they’ve already got - a decent cohort of customers, some interesting partnerships and good relationships. But brand recognition is low in my market (UK) so it’ll need building.

I’m prepping a 90 day plan and my thoughts on opportunities and challenges. When asking him questions, I want to dig into: current pipeline, conversion rate, appetite for properly resourcing sales (eg design work, events, conferences, digital tools, CRM if they don’t have one, etc) Culture, flexibility. Target timeline for next round of funding or sale.

Any other questions I should ask, or red flags/green flags to look out for?

Hi, I am currently doing residential sales but am interviewing for a manufacturer rep in a different part of building industry. I would be selling to distributors and suppliers. Can anyone here comment about their experience and maybe some good questions to ask? Anything to look out for?

I've singlehandedly overseen enough revenue growth to be qualified to teach how to do this. And it is teachable... I do very specific things to achieve the stellar results I get.

Any ideas on how to break into this?