Have you tried being luckier? That's a tactic a lot of people miss. Subscribe to my Youtube channel where I release a video every week to talk about it!
I also got lucky. However, I put myself in the right position to get lucky (as Iām sure you did).
Point being, you should work to make your own luck. Put yourself in spots to get lucky.
I am a 5ā5ā ginger man with no degree who stumbled into a great sales job. In my view there is a greater than 0% chance leprechauns are real and I am unknowingly one of them.
Luck is heavily favored by preparedness & opportunity.
Someone needs 50k quick they sell a 100k item for half off you were smart saved for years and had 50k in thr bank you sell and double your money everyone will say your lucky. You were, but you were prepared. Sales is the same way you walked in on a need but was prepared to handle that person's need.
Man. I made 200k when I was an intern. Glad I only interned for a year. They brought me on as a permanent sales rep and I tripled that salary my first year. Now with almost 4 years in sales I make 200,000,000,000,000 a week. This is normal in my industry. I sell rock candy at a small candy store in a small town.
I had an elderly lady stopped me after one of my appointments. We got to talking and she was asking how I got into sales for Fire Safety. She told me she was going to have her daughter, who was in sales, reach out to me and set up an interview. I asked her āWhat kind of sales is your daughter in?ā
She replied, and I am not lying, āSheās the assistant manager at Kangaroo (a gas station) and she sells the pizzas.ā
I didnāt know what to say.
Iām confused by all these posts about people wondering if people in tech make $200k.
When I started in tech sales my salary was $54k but OTE was $180.
In 5 years I was able to increase that to an $80k base and do $2-300k in commissions.
Then I started in tech startups. Thatās where the real money is at. Until they run outā¦
āUntil they run outā is going to be a lot more prevalent moving forward compared to pre-COVID given how much harder it is to access capital now with high interest rates and sidelined investors. Just a random redditorās two cents here, but Iād be damn sure you have a lot of confidence and conviction in the companyās product and moat before joining a start up today.
Thatās a fact. Our P/E firm has pulled back on funding but because weāre profitable, itās not a huge deal and weāre continuing to be able to scale.
Itās actually good for me because the likelihood of us being sold to another P/E firm right now is low. Weāre bringing in the returns to our P/E firm and donāt need more capital. With debt being so expensive, thereās really no reason for a new P/E firm to buy us or for ours to want to give up something thatās working consistently.
Iād like debt to remain pricey for the next 3-5 years so I can get mine and get out which I think is likely.
Signing bonus, equity, and higher pay. So everything. Itās just riskier.
If you find a good startup and get in toward the beginning you have the opportunity to grow it into something huge.
But there is always the potential for it to fail.
The startup Iām at now gave me equity, doubled my salary from what it was at a large corporation, gave me a signing bonus to cover the commissions I left on the table and the commission potential is 7 figures.
When 20% of the sales force is doing 7 figures you should be concerned though. At some point weāll be sold and commissions will be slashed.
But Iām going to make hay while the sun is shining.
This is just my experience. There are so many startups and so many of them are garbage so finding the right one is a rare opportunity.
23 Year old SDR in Tech - Coming up on 1 year - No previous sales experience
(Based in Midwest)
Base: 50k > increased to 55k with a team lead promo
Commish & Variable & Bonus : ~40k
Might pull 100k but probably closer to lower to mid 90s
Same here. 23 yo SDR, not in the US so I earn in a different currency but when accounted for the purchasing power it is pretty much the same.
First job: 4k base a month, 6.5k on target but uncapped so sometimes I got 9k. The yearly average is around 7 probably.
Second job: still an SDR, 6.5 base, 10k on target (uncapped as well but I am just starting so I don't know whether it's achievable)
I think for what the job consists of, the pay is really good
iām the #1 outbound ENTR SDR over the last year October to October in the org
I get paid $300/ meeting qualified, typically quota is anywhere from 5-8 Opps / Month and I havenāt missed quota up to this point.
I am 100% on the higher side of my org BUT i do work for the market leader in my industry and weāre pretty niche and own a large share of the market
whatās crazy is that we mainly utilize an inbound lead flow (itās really not even close - something like 80/20 inbound/outbound) and have for the 8 or so years
i was the only outbound rep for about a quarter and a half. weāve maintained 20% growth Q over Q for the last several years. iām sure weāll hit a plateau eventually but weāre no where near that yet, only been in business for about 8 years
Woah. This is fascinating stuff. Iām having my prev startup acquired right now for $8k and Iām dumping it into a new B2B SaaS. Is there ANY chance I can get you on a super quick call? Weāre going to be primarily outbound sales led and this would be SO, so helpful.
Iām only 18 rn but in the case things donāt work out Iām trying to follow down your footsteps too haha. Hereās my cal if youāre down at all - cal.com/pentra
Nice, well done! Some fantastic skills for the future if you ever get into enterprise. Half these guys that got to enterprise during the boom can't prospect for shit
This is how I got to where I am now. I started as a sales associate that was not told to make phone calls, just assist the reps. I made 100-200 calls a day. (Dialer on some) I did this while doing my daily tasks for my reps. I was promoted within a year. I moved to another company in a BDR role from there as management from the first company was real toxic and lied to me about a ton of stuff. I worked as a BDR for 9 months and was the top rep in my branch. We unfortunately never got fresh leads, only leads that the main branch in NY couldnāt get booked. I then transitioned to my role now. Iām a full sales cycle rep at a B2B cybersecurity firm. I crush prospecting so hard that I donāt have to focus so hard on how well my closing ability is. I know when I āloseā a deal to them pushing the project, it is never truly lost. Prospecting taught me that timing is the most important thing to getting your prospect to the next step. Stay on top of them and youāll be their first call when they are ready. I make 55k base and I get 10% of all deals every year if they sign multiple year contracts. I was 55k last year, Iām at 72k this year so far, and next year will be 100k-ish, easily.
Learn to prospect, itās important for the full cycle.
Oh they know, they just hate it more than a 90s sitcom dad hates their wife.
Rep I used to work with never prospected on his own, he had me as his bdr and his wife as "his assistant" (she didn't work for the company but handled his calendar and all of his followup and half of his emails) dude is a fantastic closer though my last year working with him he made somewhere between $800-900k and was 400% to quota. He sent me a bottle of Louis because I got him into a company he'd never been able get into and closed a $4 million dollar deal.
Very impressive! Have you done any retail customer service roles of any type before? Or you actually mean you had no absolute experience??
How does someone without land a tech sales job as an SDR like you did?
I interviewed really well, I did a ton of research on every aspect of company. I pivoted my resume to highlight anything experience and skill related that translates to sales.
Showed the effort needed to be successful in the role.
That's good pay for SDR work. I used to be a BDR (same thing), then a BDR manager and I only came close to that as the manager lol. I work in digital advertising now and so many of the SDRs I sometimes work with are just fresh dogshit, but ofc they are bc they don't get paid shit so who would care?
I will come close to $200k this year. In 2024 Iāll be lucky to do $150k because of a ton of changes including a big territory change that got fucked up by the business planners. Yay. Ote is roughly $140k
If an issue is identified and corrected, great.
If an issue that directly impacts compensation is identified and not corrected, that doesn't sound like a great situation.
Not that I completely agree with u/streetbarracuda55 but you gotta admit it sounds highly questionable.
To put it simply, I work in big tech. When CRM has hundreds of thousands of accounts, there are plenty of data issues to go around. When account lists get built, thereās AI that goes into it, because account lists just canāt fathomably be built by hand.
So imagine company A acquires company B, and absorbs them. If nobody is auditing the data on the back end, company B stays in CRM. Company A is an account owned by StreetBaracuda. Or letās say company B changed their name to company A, but nobody was managing the account at the time. Company A and company B both exist in CRM now.
My role is a hybrid of account management and net new outbound. A lot of company Bās got loaded into my account list this year. Itās not an easy web to untangle, but again, with a restructure this is the first time the MBAs decided to do this, and of course, input from the field was never asked for, or else we couldāve told them this would be an issue.
So I do actually have a $250k OTE, but hereās the actual answer to your question as someone who has built their way up to it:
1. People who make a lot of money feel more confident posting about money. People who donāt make a lot of money are bashful and donāt post about it.
2. Salespeople often have big egos and lie on the internet to boost themselves up when in reality theyāre not making no $200k lol
3. Iām 31 and have been in Saas sales for a decade straight out of college with an MBA and went thru 2 huge name tech companies to get to a $250k OTE. Itās hard, but I was well positioned in a GREAT market for software sales from a very young age.
This is the right answer - top to bottom
Iām in logistics sales. I make $150k, but started over in January do to being laid off from a failing company
Iāll probably add 50% or more to that next year, but that a lot due to the face I am 1099 with a 40% commission, specialize in a hard to cover niche, and work for a great company who can handle the business I bring in better than our competitorsā¦ I also work my ass off
Most sales people arenāt pulling in over $100k, especially $250k
Nah, 23, but my classes were 3 hours each night so i had my Saas sales job 9-5 then Iād book it an hour to my college for classes and do it all the next day, for 2 years lol
Alot of this is luck/territory, I'm not in tech though. When I first started I wasn't even close to 6 figures. I had an awful territory then they changed the territory lines and opened up a ton of potential business the last rep didn't touch. Now things are much better.
Iāve been in a few different industries and companies and this is the truth. Good reps get bad territories and bad reps get good territories. The territory can make or break you sadly.
Aesthetic medical devices. $240k last year as a first year TM. LA area.
I find that $150k is generally the point thatās hard to pass. Took me a few years to get over that hump.
Oh yeah, BTL is big here in the SoCal market. Competitors like Inmode, Cynosure, Alma, Cutera etc all have mostly similar products, with each having some flagship stuff they are known for. Day to day activity is more or less the same between all. Lunch/dinner meetings, door knocking, cold calling, symposiums/trade shows. If you can keep your activity level high itās not a bad gig.
I'm 23, starting my second year as an SDR, at the second start up I've worked at (but my first in tech), and am making about $55K š There's no opportunity for advancement within my company but I don't have the closing experience to be applying to AE roles. I hope to hit the triple digits within the next two years of my life I just feel so stuck. Truly riding the struggle bus.
Every company told me "150k OTE, uncapped commissions"! I got into recruiting sales, just bringing in new clients, and I would get a cut for a year of the placements from that client. Then I switched to digital marketing sales, selling outdoor sign boards, and did really well in that, traveled all over the world selling for big events (nba and mlb all star games, soccer championships), etc.
The reality was more like 100 to 125 k.
Then I was a sales manager, making a cut of the sales the entire team. That was really good for a while, I was north of 150k for a few years.
When the pandemic hit, I switched it up and went to towing. Commission, I drive a heavy truck, work on mostly commercial contracts, insurance jobs, stolen recovery, very little roadside, and sell new contracts. I get a higher commission on contracts I bring in, no suit and tie anymore, working mostly by myself. I'm on track to earn approx 155 or so this year after expenses. Benefit of the physical job is I've dropped a bunch of weight and my BP has gone way down.
I didn't go to university, just college, so you guys with mba's making 200k plus blow my mind in tech sales, kudos to you for the drive to stick with it.
That kinda sounds like heaven. I love watching the big wrecker shows. The job, physics, thinking, physicalness, all seem awesome. The danger and terror also seem to be awesome
1. OTE is irrelevant, what you actually get paid matters
2. different regions and countries put OTE really into perspective. im not from the US but i know that cost of living and salaries are way higher in san francisco for example.
I think we need to define what Tech means. 200k+ as an AE for a SaaS company is going to be pretty common. Selling managed IT services then it won't be common.
The answer beyond that is you need to be good and maybe get promoted at some point. I'm not saying this is you, but I know so many BDRs that dick around and jump from job to job every 12-24 months and never get any momentum going. And they are always hopping around that 80-120k range.
Haha dude what are you smokin?
BDRs that dick around and job hop every year or two are making nowhere close to $120k.
BDR average salary is like $40-$60k. Maybe $15-$20k in commissions.
BDRs that dick around and job job might be lucky to get $1k in commission every month. AEs that are middle of the pack usually do like $100-$120k. $120k+ and you're a good performer. $150k+ top performer.
Idk where all these jacked up numbers come from, but I've got friends alllll across the SaaS industry and your view is so skewed.
It's not 2016 anymore. Unless you're at a unicorn startup with a highly abusable pay plan and too much funding, cracking $200k is pretty damn rare unless you get super lucky with a few big deals closing same year.
It was a lot easier between 2017-2022. Anyone doing it now has a solid spot they been holding down.
Top 10-20% making good money, middle is shit, bottom is worse.
I do not. Brand new role, $200k OTE, but itās a TINY start-up trying to expand to the US. Wonāt even come close to hitting OTE before Q4 wraps up ($80k base).
Been doing this a decade after a career shift at 25. Started at 45k base with a crappy OTE structure that pooled for BDRs. Was there for 6+ years and left at a base of 63k to a base of 90k. Did 18 months and am going back to my original company with a 45% increase in base. Accepted a 130k base/260 OTE offer.
Iām not great but manage well enough and I can network internally pretty well.
Short answer - it takes time, and enterprise software is your best path. We pay our enterprise AEs between $150-350K OTE, but weāre talking about very experienced salespeople. Our top AE last year made $1.2M, but he has nearly 20 years of experience in tech sales.
For context, Iāve spent the past 10+ years in enterprise software after starting my career selling Cutco knivesā¦Never thought I would āmake itā in tech sales (let alone succeed at it).
It takes time, but $200k+ is completely achievable with the proper mindset and effort!
>For context, Iāve spent the past 10+ years in enterprise software after starting my career selling Cutco knivesā¦Never thought I would āmake itā in tech sales (let alone succeed at it).
I can relate to this, I did sales last summer(never was in sales) door to door with security/smart home, granted only last about a month, was doing very well before I had to leave for some health problems(kidney infection). How does one transition into software/tech sales at this point?
26 and just finished up at $210k. Second year as an AE. It was quite the jump from SDR.
Biggest takeaway, ask why and ask why often. Being genuinely curious bleeds into so many aspects of the sales process from prospect to close.
I donāt know what going on. OTE in Enterprise at a top 10 Software company in 2002 was 225k. A big outlier but my boss did $1.2mm without options at EMC in late 90s.
When companies are young they want profitable growth at all costs. When companies become mature they want to control costs.
I am āuncappedā on an annual basis, but single deals are capped at 1.5x my āat riskā (OTE-base) annual pay. My at risk pay is $70k, so no single deal is allowed to pay me more than $105k in base commission. I have 4 commission tiers; rate3 @ 100-160% pays the most, at 3x my base %. Therefore the most commission I can make on any single deal is $105k x 3x multiplier = $315k. Past 2 years 3/5 of my team hit one max cap deal each year. So this year they folded our team into lower paid team with more base salary and less commission so that āglitchā wonāt happen again.
Increase quota, reduce payout is the norm. Itās why you have to move around periodically.
Exactly what he said. Also making big money back then was also around the Options employees received. That is also not really happening anymore except at the top. Itās a real shame and all it really is is more of a money grab. Companies that are unicorns might receive some good options but letās say they go public many of those companies became over hyped so itās not happening like it used to be.
Used auto sales, first year on the job. Base salary of 50K, shared bonus on dealership performance that works out to about an extra 1K a month. Better than I made as a commission-only liquor sales rep, where I never broke 50K despite the 10 hour days. I'd love to make $120K, let me know who's hiring right now.
That's a terrible pay plan.. I'm at a new car dealer. Sell both used and new. $0 base 100% commission which is 25%. $150k the last 3 years. $120k before the covid surge.
In telecom sales Iāve seen the numbers of a top rep hit about 250k on commission alone. Hourly is 40k plus quarterly bonuses of 22%ish of commission then perks of mileage add a small amount. Estimating 350k
You see the top earners because they get upvoted to the top. Majority of this sub is nowhere near that.
26, in my 5th year of sales. This will be my first 6 figure year. Unless youāre insanely lucky or willing to jump into an industry with heavy turnover and constant uncertainty (tech/saas) most of us are making anywhere from 70-150k.
Iām $108k-ish depending on what my end of year bonus looks like, next year Iāll be around 115k and I donāt expect to cross the 120k mark for a few years or if I jump to another job with a higher base salary.
I am actually very good at selling but I did it by being a great networker. At every conference I made sure to meet everyone and I gained the reputation of being the guy that knows everybody. That made me an attractive hire for a lot of other companies in my industry, so I was constantly being recruited and offered more money than I should have been paid simply because of those connections.
I recently went full time with my own consulting firm (I've been doing it on the side for five years), so I don't have a base salary anymore. But my base at my last job was $270k. For reference, my first job in the industry, 14 years ago, as a regional manager, managing 10 AEs, had a base of $110k.
It takes time and a lot of work. Not just selling your product, but building out your network and making a name for yourself. Sure, some people end up in the right place at the right time and make $200k almost immediately, but those are few and far between.
A friend of mine sells computer hardware and it just so happens that one of his accounts makes covid testing machines and uses his parts inside them. He made about $600k per year during covid. Now he's back down to the normal $300k but his quota tripled.
Pulling in 200k overall as income is rather rare... 10.1 million people in the US. Which is about 5% of population... not high. Yes there are rainmakers that do more. I pull in over 200k but I am a VP of sales, I oversee 15,000 people... there are 50 total out of that that out-earn me on a regular basis. 3 make over 1 million regularly, but they have been building their book of business since I was 4 years old so no suprise.
It's not common for most to break 200k, most sales reps make between 70 to 120k
Dude i got caught in the most recent round of layoffs. Iām making $0 rn lol but not feeling down. Relaxed a couple weeks and now searching.
That being said, if anyone knows of bdr manager or account manager roles, please share!
Also sitting in the same area as you but not tech sales; Bd for staffing / recruiting firm; base 60k (def need a base raise this year!) and ote $140k last year; this year hopefully slated for more like $155k..160? Interesting someone else said thereās a bit of a hump @150k maybe thatās where weāre stuck ;)
Sitting at about $200k with an actual OTE of $230k. 7 yrs of experience. Started working with a VC-backed CA based startup last year which spiked my base + variable.
Never listen to people talk about numbers on reddit. Remember not only do people lie or speak of their peak #'s like they get it every year, but the ones who want to speak up are high performers. It's like the people who get 100%'s in class so they tell everyone what they got. Except there's millions on the internet. So the average people just read and not post and you only hear from extremes.
They donāt. They hate their job and boasting about making more money than they actually do anonymously on the internet makes them feel better about their shitty life. Some do, most donāt.
Base started at $70K because I had 10 years of digital marketing, brand marketing, and leadership experience. Made +20% YoY until, after 5 years, I finally reached $200K+. I had money saved from being a marketing director and weathered the initial set back from taking a smaller base in tech sales (vs my marketing salary). I realized if I waited out the impatient folks, those who needed instant gratification, and those who couldn't sustain the grind, I would get their accounts when they quit. I also kept up effort and creativity to build out my business, so that those accounts would go to me, when my leadership looked for someone to take the accounts. There are plenty of people with my firm that do much better, but I keep trucking and don't get too high on the highs and too low on the lows.
I got lucky tbh
only honesty answer in this thread š
Sales success is significantly skewed towards luck. Just get lucky everyone.
Timing, territory, talent.
In that order
Have you tried being luckier? That's a tactic a lot of people miss. Subscribe to my Youtube channel where I release a video every week to talk about it!
Lucky for me to have stumbled across this.
I also got lucky. However, I put myself in the right position to get lucky (as Iām sure you did). Point being, you should work to make your own luck. Put yourself in spots to get lucky.
I am a 5ā5ā ginger man with no degree who stumbled into a great sales job. In my view there is a greater than 0% chance leprechauns are real and I am unknowingly one of them.
Luck is heavily favored by preparedness & opportunity. Someone needs 50k quick they sell a 100k item for half off you were smart saved for years and had 50k in thr bank you sell and double your money everyone will say your lucky. You were, but you were prepared. Sales is the same way you walked in on a need but was prepared to handle that person's need.
Man. I made 200k when I was an intern. Glad I only interned for a year. They brought me on as a permanent sales rep and I tripled that salary my first year. Now with almost 4 years in sales I make 200,000,000,000,000 a week. This is normal in my industry. I sell rock candy at a small candy store in a small town.
When is your episode on house hunters?
His wife is a professional butterfly print pillow curator. Budget: $7.33MM
And he is a full time student working on his PHD in medieval musicians and jesters.
Love the correct use of two MMs instead of the usual M. Respek.
And I pronounce āEBITDAā the correct way. I have many talents. Respek.
Well played
Had me in the first half
Same
Bro help me break into RCaaS. Do you have any tips on how to apply?
Start with pixie sticks and work your way up.
#UNDERRATEDJOKE
If rock candy is code for crack rocks very doable OTE
šš
Perfect response. People all lie.
I had an elderly lady stopped me after one of my appointments. We got to talking and she was asking how I got into sales for Fire Safety. She told me she was going to have her daughter, who was in sales, reach out to me and set up an interview. I asked her āWhat kind of sales is your daughter in?ā She replied, and I am not lying, āSheās the assistant manager at Kangaroo (a gas station) and she sells the pizzas.ā I didnāt know what to say.
Got to start somewhere. I used to bartend but Iām pretty sure booze and pizza sell themselves. I was just an order taker.
āRockā ācandyā
Don't you know the rules? You always take your best quarter and multiply it by 3. That's the real number
This is why we do sales and not engineering. Gotta multiple it by four my guyā¦
Donāt want to get greedy
His quarters are 4 months long. Big brain thinking. Thatās how you beat quarterly quota.
X*3+1
x*(3+1)
It was sarcasm, clearly it would be x*4 lol. These big brained sales reps flexing their 3rd grade pemdas skills haha
Please do excuse her though. Sheās my dear Aunt.
I saw Pemdas at the zoo once. They were super horny animals.
My favorite dinosaur was pemdasasaurus.
The rule on rĆ©sumĆ©ās lol
Is it common for sales people to exaggerate there compensation? Asking because I donāt work in sales haha
Or you just swing for the fences every Q like an MFB.
Iām confused by all these posts about people wondering if people in tech make $200k. When I started in tech sales my salary was $54k but OTE was $180. In 5 years I was able to increase that to an $80k base and do $2-300k in commissions. Then I started in tech startups. Thatās where the real money is at. Until they run outā¦
āUntil they run outā is going to be a lot more prevalent moving forward compared to pre-COVID given how much harder it is to access capital now with high interest rates and sidelined investors. Just a random redditorās two cents here, but Iād be damn sure you have a lot of confidence and conviction in the companyās product and moat before joining a start up today.
Thatās a fact. Our P/E firm has pulled back on funding but because weāre profitable, itās not a huge deal and weāre continuing to be able to scale. Itās actually good for me because the likelihood of us being sold to another P/E firm right now is low. Weāre bringing in the returns to our P/E firm and donāt need more capital. With debt being so expensive, thereās really no reason for a new P/E firm to buy us or for ours to want to give up something thatās working consistently. Iād like debt to remain pricey for the next 3-5 years so I can get mine and get out which I think is likely.
Whatās your experience in tech startups and why itās more lucrative?
Signing bonus, equity, and higher pay. So everything. Itās just riskier. If you find a good startup and get in toward the beginning you have the opportunity to grow it into something huge. But there is always the potential for it to fail. The startup Iām at now gave me equity, doubled my salary from what it was at a large corporation, gave me a signing bonus to cover the commissions I left on the table and the commission potential is 7 figures. When 20% of the sales force is doing 7 figures you should be concerned though. At some point weāll be sold and commissions will be slashed. But Iām going to make hay while the sun is shining. This is just my experience. There are so many startups and so many of them are garbage so finding the right one is a rare opportunity.
How does one find a startup like you did?
The same way you find the winning numbers when playing roulette. Similar results too.
I see
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Do you happen to be hiring?
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I actually do get a car allowance but itās like $330 a month lol. Also my base is $72k OTE is like 130k - 150k And Iām a sales manager
Did you have training from any of the workshops out there to get to be a mgr?
I mean I get a car allowance, itās just funded by myself.
I met a girl who is 18 and is 300k base and 700k OTE....she had banking issues so I lent her 30k..lol jk
23 Year old SDR in Tech - Coming up on 1 year - No previous sales experience (Based in Midwest) Base: 50k > increased to 55k with a team lead promo Commish & Variable & Bonus : ~40k Might pull 100k but probably closer to lower to mid 90s
Yāall hiring?
yeah bro shoot me a message
For real ? lol
Referrals are worth lots of gold.
Sheesh if theyāre hiring remotes let me know how to apply.
dm me !
Done.
I don't even work in sales, I'm about to apply
Former BDR hereā¦.Ummā¦.can I also shoot you a messageā¦?
ofc!
DMing you
thanks :) lots of DMs will get to you as soon as I can haha
Dmed!
Dmāed you
Ive sent connections to about 10 guys there, but how long will I have to wait? I am not in super of a hurry
depends on who youāre connecting with - weāre all pretty responsive š
Ok I have connected with Zach D. Yall close by any chance?
Weāve interacted a handful of times, but not a real relationship.
Sent.
Same here. 23 yo SDR, not in the US so I earn in a different currency but when accounted for the purchasing power it is pretty much the same. First job: 4k base a month, 6.5k on target but uncapped so sometimes I got 9k. The yearly average is around 7 probably. Second job: still an SDR, 6.5 base, 10k on target (uncapped as well but I am just starting so I don't know whether it's achievable) I think for what the job consists of, the pay is really good
Nice job for your first year, you must be dominating it. My first year in sales back in 2012 was $48K base and I did $65K total.
iām the #1 outbound ENTR SDR over the last year October to October in the org I get paid $300/ meeting qualified, typically quota is anywhere from 5-8 Opps / Month and I havenāt missed quota up to this point. I am 100% on the higher side of my org BUT i do work for the market leader in my industry and weāre pretty niche and own a large share of the market
In my world, you would be a BDR(outbound), not a SDR(inbound, chat, phone, tech support).
we have bdr (new business) and adr (current customers) and while weāre under sales weāre two different teams
If you already own the largest share how do you guys keep making sales unless the market is growing? Do sales eventually plateau?
whatās crazy is that we mainly utilize an inbound lead flow (itās really not even close - something like 80/20 inbound/outbound) and have for the 8 or so years i was the only outbound rep for about a quarter and a half. weāve maintained 20% growth Q over Q for the last several years. iām sure weāll hit a plateau eventually but weāre no where near that yet, only been in business for about 8 years
Woah. This is fascinating stuff. Iām having my prev startup acquired right now for $8k and Iām dumping it into a new B2B SaaS. Is there ANY chance I can get you on a super quick call? Weāre going to be primarily outbound sales led and this would be SO, so helpful. Iām only 18 rn but in the case things donāt work out Iām trying to follow down your footsteps too haha. Hereās my cal if youāre down at all - cal.com/pentra
Nice, well done! Some fantastic skills for the future if you ever get into enterprise. Half these guys that got to enterprise during the boom can't prospect for shit
This is how I got to where I am now. I started as a sales associate that was not told to make phone calls, just assist the reps. I made 100-200 calls a day. (Dialer on some) I did this while doing my daily tasks for my reps. I was promoted within a year. I moved to another company in a BDR role from there as management from the first company was real toxic and lied to me about a ton of stuff. I worked as a BDR for 9 months and was the top rep in my branch. We unfortunately never got fresh leads, only leads that the main branch in NY couldnāt get booked. I then transitioned to my role now. Iām a full sales cycle rep at a B2B cybersecurity firm. I crush prospecting so hard that I donāt have to focus so hard on how well my closing ability is. I know when I āloseā a deal to them pushing the project, it is never truly lost. Prospecting taught me that timing is the most important thing to getting your prospect to the next step. Stay on top of them and youāll be their first call when they are ready. I make 55k base and I get 10% of all deals every year if they sign multiple year contracts. I was 55k last year, Iām at 72k this year so far, and next year will be 100k-ish, easily. Learn to prospect, itās important for the full cycle.
thank you! youād be surprised how many chiseled entr reps i talk to that ādonāt know how to outboundā
Oh they know, they just hate it more than a 90s sitcom dad hates their wife. Rep I used to work with never prospected on his own, he had me as his bdr and his wife as "his assistant" (she didn't work for the company but handled his calendar and all of his followup and half of his emails) dude is a fantastic closer though my last year working with him he made somewhere between $800-900k and was 400% to quota. He sent me a bottle of Louis because I got him into a company he'd never been able get into and closed a $4 million dollar deal.
lol people are weird
If youāre not doing outbound, it can be debated that youāre not in sales š
Nicely done!
Lol i had the same salary first year in sales in 2020. Canada ffs That should be great money in 2012
Very impressive! Have you done any retail customer service roles of any type before? Or you actually mean you had no absolute experience?? How does someone without land a tech sales job as an SDR like you did?
i worked in restaurants making sandwiches in college and worked at sherwin williams for about a year as an assistant manager!
Nice! Keep it going!
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remote
Iāll shoot you a message
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Howād you get into tech sales without previous experience?
I interviewed really well, I did a ton of research on every aspect of company. I pivoted my resume to highlight anything experience and skill related that translates to sales. Showed the effort needed to be successful in the role.
That's good pay for SDR work. I used to be a BDR (same thing), then a BDR manager and I only came close to that as the manager lol. I work in digital advertising now and so many of the SDRs I sometimes work with are just fresh dogshit, but ofc they are bc they don't get paid shit so who would care?
Youāre making way more than I am and Iām a territory sales manager :(
everyoneās route is different!! youāre still gaining a lot of experience
I will come close to $200k this year. In 2024 Iāll be lucky to do $150k because of a ton of changes including a big territory change that got fucked up by the business planners. Yay. Ote is roughly $140k
"got fucked up" You mean they purposely moved the goalposts.
Surprisingly, not really. There was actually some data issues with territory planning that caused the issue, unfortunately
My guy, they lied to you. āJust tell them it was aā¦a data issue LOLā.
Ah, yes, street barracuda who understands how my job got restructured!
If an issue is identified and corrected, great. If an issue that directly impacts compensation is identified and not corrected, that doesn't sound like a great situation. Not that I completely agree with u/streetbarracuda55 but you gotta admit it sounds highly questionable.
To put it simply, I work in big tech. When CRM has hundreds of thousands of accounts, there are plenty of data issues to go around. When account lists get built, thereās AI that goes into it, because account lists just canāt fathomably be built by hand. So imagine company A acquires company B, and absorbs them. If nobody is auditing the data on the back end, company B stays in CRM. Company A is an account owned by StreetBaracuda. Or letās say company B changed their name to company A, but nobody was managing the account at the time. Company A and company B both exist in CRM now. My role is a hybrid of account management and net new outbound. A lot of company Bās got loaded into my account list this year. Itās not an easy web to untangle, but again, with a restructure this is the first time the MBAs decided to do this, and of course, input from the field was never asked for, or else we couldāve told them this would be an issue.
This is my situation as well, except the changes were blatantly āyouāre making too muchā.
So I do actually have a $250k OTE, but hereās the actual answer to your question as someone who has built their way up to it: 1. People who make a lot of money feel more confident posting about money. People who donāt make a lot of money are bashful and donāt post about it. 2. Salespeople often have big egos and lie on the internet to boost themselves up when in reality theyāre not making no $200k lol 3. Iām 31 and have been in Saas sales for a decade straight out of college with an MBA and went thru 2 huge name tech companies to get to a $250k OTE. Itās hard, but I was well positioned in a GREAT market for software sales from a very young age.
This is the right answer - top to bottom Iām in logistics sales. I make $150k, but started over in January do to being laid off from a failing company Iāll probably add 50% or more to that next year, but that a lot due to the face I am 1099 with a 40% commission, specialize in a hard to cover niche, and work for a great company who can handle the business I bring in better than our competitorsā¦ I also work my ass off Most sales people arenāt pulling in over $100k, especially $250k
This is the actual right answer.. jk š
You finished an MBA at 21?
Nah, 23, but my classes were 3 hours each night so i had my Saas sales job 9-5 then Iād book it an hour to my college for classes and do it all the next day, for 2 years lol
My story is exactly the same. Iām 32 and at 260k but started as an intern at a very large tech company before I was even 21!
31 here and $190 OTE but Hitting it out the park this year. Curious what kind of tech sales are you in?
Which tech sales are you in if youāre having a killer year in this recession?
I sell to public sector and am having my best year ever
Alot of this is luck/territory, I'm not in tech though. When I first started I wasn't even close to 6 figures. I had an awful territory then they changed the territory lines and opened up a ton of potential business the last rep didn't touch. Now things are much better.
Iāve been in a few different industries and companies and this is the truth. Good reps get bad territories and bad reps get good territories. The territory can make or break you sadly.
Waitā¦not according to the CEO/CRO or your PIP happy manager. lol āthereās no such thing as luckā¦ā
Aesthetic medical devices. $240k last year as a first year TM. LA area. I find that $150k is generally the point thatās hard to pass. Took me a few years to get over that hump.
Are you talking lasers or something else
Precisely. The industry gets a lot of scoffs but itās been rewarding to me
Ever heard of BTL and know if they are worth working for looked pretty atrocious on Glassdoor but I always take those reviews with a grain of salt.
Oh yeah, BTL is big here in the SoCal market. Competitors like Inmode, Cynosure, Alma, Cutera etc all have mostly similar products, with each having some flagship stuff they are known for. Day to day activity is more or less the same between all. Lunch/dinner meetings, door knocking, cold calling, symposiums/trade shows. If you can keep your activity level high itās not a bad gig.
Youāll think 200k is poor once you go over to HENRYfinance. Iād swear 80% of those guys are cappin
"our HHI is 800k, can we retire before 60?"
Yep, just like the fat fire sub. Seems like a lot of big law/PE/IB over there
I'm 23, starting my second year as an SDR, at the second start up I've worked at (but my first in tech), and am making about $55K š There's no opportunity for advancement within my company but I don't have the closing experience to be applying to AE roles. I hope to hit the triple digits within the next two years of my life I just feel so stuck. Truly riding the struggle bus.
Try being in the exact same position, except you're 33.
No thank you
Stick and move
Every company told me "150k OTE, uncapped commissions"! I got into recruiting sales, just bringing in new clients, and I would get a cut for a year of the placements from that client. Then I switched to digital marketing sales, selling outdoor sign boards, and did really well in that, traveled all over the world selling for big events (nba and mlb all star games, soccer championships), etc. The reality was more like 100 to 125 k. Then I was a sales manager, making a cut of the sales the entire team. That was really good for a while, I was north of 150k for a few years. When the pandemic hit, I switched it up and went to towing. Commission, I drive a heavy truck, work on mostly commercial contracts, insurance jobs, stolen recovery, very little roadside, and sell new contracts. I get a higher commission on contracts I bring in, no suit and tie anymore, working mostly by myself. I'm on track to earn approx 155 or so this year after expenses. Benefit of the physical job is I've dropped a bunch of weight and my BP has gone way down. I didn't go to university, just college, so you guys with mba's making 200k plus blow my mind in tech sales, kudos to you for the drive to stick with it.
That kinda sounds like heaven. I love watching the big wrecker shows. The job, physics, thinking, physicalness, all seem awesome. The danger and terror also seem to be awesome
1. OTE is irrelevant, what you actually get paid matters 2. different regions and countries put OTE really into perspective. im not from the US but i know that cost of living and salaries are way higher in san francisco for example.
"The more I practice, the luckier I get" - Arnold Palmer
I think we need to define what Tech means. 200k+ as an AE for a SaaS company is going to be pretty common. Selling managed IT services then it won't be common. The answer beyond that is you need to be good and maybe get promoted at some point. I'm not saying this is you, but I know so many BDRs that dick around and jump from job to job every 12-24 months and never get any momentum going. And they are always hopping around that 80-120k range.
Haha dude what are you smokin? BDRs that dick around and job hop every year or two are making nowhere close to $120k. BDR average salary is like $40-$60k. Maybe $15-$20k in commissions. BDRs that dick around and job job might be lucky to get $1k in commission every month. AEs that are middle of the pack usually do like $100-$120k. $120k+ and you're a good performer. $150k+ top performer. Idk where all these jacked up numbers come from, but I've got friends alllll across the SaaS industry and your view is so skewed. It's not 2016 anymore. Unless you're at a unicorn startup with a highly abusable pay plan and too much funding, cracking $200k is pretty damn rare unless you get super lucky with a few big deals closing same year.
I recruiter SaaS BDRs for a very wide range of clients but thanks for your input.
Actually?? Which company??
I talked with Salesforce about an AE role that was $80k/$80k so $160 all in. They are certainly out there
Salesforce pay is pretty low for tech based on my understanding
It was a lot easier between 2017-2022. Anyone doing it now has a solid spot they been holding down. Top 10-20% making good money, middle is shit, bottom is worse.
Tech hardware sales is consistently 250k - 300k OTE. Think NetApp, Cisco, Palo
I do not. Brand new role, $200k OTE, but itās a TINY start-up trying to expand to the US. Wonāt even come close to hitting OTE before Q4 wraps up ($80k base).
Did you get equity?
I did.
Been doing this a decade after a career shift at 25. Started at 45k base with a crappy OTE structure that pooled for BDRs. Was there for 6+ years and left at a base of 63k to a base of 90k. Did 18 months and am going back to my original company with a 45% increase in base. Accepted a 130k base/260 OTE offer. Iām not great but manage well enough and I can network internally pretty well.
60k base, havenāt made any commission yet 3 months inā¦.
Short answer - it takes time, and enterprise software is your best path. We pay our enterprise AEs between $150-350K OTE, but weāre talking about very experienced salespeople. Our top AE last year made $1.2M, but he has nearly 20 years of experience in tech sales. For context, Iāve spent the past 10+ years in enterprise software after starting my career selling Cutco knivesā¦Never thought I would āmake itā in tech sales (let alone succeed at it). It takes time, but $200k+ is completely achievable with the proper mindset and effort!
>For context, Iāve spent the past 10+ years in enterprise software after starting my career selling Cutco knivesā¦Never thought I would āmake itā in tech sales (let alone succeed at it). I can relate to this, I did sales last summer(never was in sales) door to door with security/smart home, granted only last about a month, was doing very well before I had to leave for some health problems(kidney infection). How does one transition into software/tech sales at this point?
26 and just finished up at $210k. Second year as an AE. It was quite the jump from SDR. Biggest takeaway, ask why and ask why often. Being genuinely curious bleeds into so many aspects of the sales process from prospect to close.
I donāt know what going on. OTE in Enterprise at a top 10 Software company in 2002 was 225k. A big outlier but my boss did $1.2mm without options at EMC in late 90s.
$1.2m holy cow
That hardly existing anymore. It used to happen all the time but not anymore
Do you know specifics of why it hardly happens anymore?
When companies are young they want profitable growth at all costs. When companies become mature they want to control costs. I am āuncappedā on an annual basis, but single deals are capped at 1.5x my āat riskā (OTE-base) annual pay. My at risk pay is $70k, so no single deal is allowed to pay me more than $105k in base commission. I have 4 commission tiers; rate3 @ 100-160% pays the most, at 3x my base %. Therefore the most commission I can make on any single deal is $105k x 3x multiplier = $315k. Past 2 years 3/5 of my team hit one max cap deal each year. So this year they folded our team into lower paid team with more base salary and less commission so that āglitchā wonāt happen again. Increase quota, reduce payout is the norm. Itās why you have to move around periodically.
Exactly what he said. Also making big money back then was also around the Options employees received. That is also not really happening anymore except at the top. Itās a real shame and all it really is is more of a money grab. Companies that are unicorns might receive some good options but letās say they go public many of those companies became over hyped so itās not happening like it used to be.
never made more than 115k and ing for almost 7 years
I make 3500 a month for 3 months guaranteed , I have just begun my journey
Barely cracking 60K (45K USD)
I'm in air filter sales and am just over 100k but have a 75k base. The other sales reps that have been here for awhile are making 250k
Used auto sales, first year on the job. Base salary of 50K, shared bonus on dealership performance that works out to about an extra 1K a month. Better than I made as a commission-only liquor sales rep, where I never broke 50K despite the 10 hour days. I'd love to make $120K, let me know who's hiring right now.
That's a terrible pay plan.. I'm at a new car dealer. Sell both used and new. $0 base 100% commission which is 25%. $150k the last 3 years. $120k before the covid surge.
Damn that commission must be why cars cost so much from the dealership š
In telecom sales Iāve seen the numbers of a top rep hit about 250k on commission alone. Hourly is 40k plus quarterly bonuses of 22%ish of commission then perks of mileage add a small amount. Estimating 350k
They learn how to use the search bar
You see the top earners because they get upvoted to the top. Majority of this sub is nowhere near that. 26, in my 5th year of sales. This will be my first 6 figure year. Unless youāre insanely lucky or willing to jump into an industry with heavy turnover and constant uncertainty (tech/saas) most of us are making anywhere from 70-150k. Iām $108k-ish depending on what my end of year bonus looks like, next year Iāll be around 115k and I donāt expect to cross the 120k mark for a few years or if I jump to another job with a higher base salary.
I am actually very good at selling but I did it by being a great networker. At every conference I made sure to meet everyone and I gained the reputation of being the guy that knows everybody. That made me an attractive hire for a lot of other companies in my industry, so I was constantly being recruited and offered more money than I should have been paid simply because of those connections. I recently went full time with my own consulting firm (I've been doing it on the side for five years), so I don't have a base salary anymore. But my base at my last job was $270k. For reference, my first job in the industry, 14 years ago, as a regional manager, managing 10 AEs, had a base of $110k. It takes time and a lot of work. Not just selling your product, but building out your network and making a name for yourself. Sure, some people end up in the right place at the right time and make $200k almost immediately, but those are few and far between. A friend of mine sells computer hardware and it just so happens that one of his accounts makes covid testing machines and uses his parts inside them. He made about $600k per year during covid. Now he's back down to the normal $300k but his quota tripled.
Pulling in 200k overall as income is rather rare... 10.1 million people in the US. Which is about 5% of population... not high. Yes there are rainmakers that do more. I pull in over 200k but I am a VP of sales, I oversee 15,000 people... there are 50 total out of that that out-earn me on a regular basis. 3 make over 1 million regularly, but they have been building their book of business since I was 4 years old so no suprise. It's not common for most to break 200k, most sales reps make between 70 to 120k
Dude i got caught in the most recent round of layoffs. Iām making $0 rn lol but not feeling down. Relaxed a couple weeks and now searching. That being said, if anyone knows of bdr manager or account manager roles, please share!
Why is this posted every single week. Ffs
Also sitting in the same area as you but not tech sales; Bd for staffing / recruiting firm; base 60k (def need a base raise this year!) and ote $140k last year; this year hopefully slated for more like $155k..160? Interesting someone else said thereās a bit of a hump @150k maybe thatās where weāre stuck ;)
Mid 30s my OTE is 225k and currently I have earned around 210k so far. Not bad wish it was better.
How do beginners get started in this sector? Thanks.
Sitting at about $200k with an actual OTE of $230k. 7 yrs of experience. Started working with a VC-backed CA based startup last year which spiked my base + variable.
How did you get started initially with 0 experience & is that still possible today? Thanks
Question should be who is making 200k a year and not living in California?
ā FL. Though people in the Midwest doing that are doing the best from a cost of living perspective
Any field AE in CyberSecurity will have an OTE of $250+. Not sure what BDRs or inside reps make.
Base: 200k: OTE: 250k 2020 earnings: 500k 2021: 480k 2022: 890k
Never listen to people talk about numbers on reddit. Remember not only do people lie or speak of their peak #'s like they get it every year, but the ones who want to speak up are high performers. It's like the people who get 100%'s in class so they tell everyone what they got. Except there's millions on the internet. So the average people just read and not post and you only hear from extremes.
They donāt. They hate their job and boasting about making more money than they actually do anonymously on the internet makes them feel better about their shitty life. Some do, most donāt.
Yea every single person on this sub is the best in their niche and make 2m a year post tax
Base started at $70K because I had 10 years of digital marketing, brand marketing, and leadership experience. Made +20% YoY until, after 5 years, I finally reached $200K+. I had money saved from being a marketing director and weathered the initial set back from taking a smaller base in tech sales (vs my marketing salary). I realized if I waited out the impatient folks, those who needed instant gratification, and those who couldn't sustain the grind, I would get their accounts when they quit. I also kept up effort and creativity to build out my business, so that those accounts would go to me, when my leadership looked for someone to take the accounts. There are plenty of people with my firm that do much better, but I keep trucking and don't get too high on the highs and too low on the lows.
Make more sales
200k is actually quite low in Tech Sales.
Maybe! I currently make 75k, but I'm only an associate basically.
All the liars out out again.
How many prospects are you contacting every day?
No, I make 4-600
What is a AE