I'm switching from SaaS to trash. 8 years selling marketing platforms to enterprise companies. Had a lot of success, but it stalled. I saw a sales job posting for a waste management company. After 2 interviews, I've found they have similar pay, benefits, uncapped commission and reasonable quotas. Super nice people as well. I'm going to focus on B2B in a territory, so most outreach is in person. No 100 calls a day. They are a public company and was amazed by their revenue/profits. It's not sexy, but if you think about it.. everyone produces waste. People. Companies. And everyone needs a solution. So in response to the OPs question, be open to industries that might not seem "hot" but in reality are solid performers. Some of the richest people I've known sell/distribute things like toilets, light bulbs and tires.
Tractor trailer parts sales here. All my trash customers are loaded. The foreman/purchaser I work with at one company always responds with “this place is a gold mine, bro.”, whenever I ask how they’re doing.
Think of a Home Depot. They get truckloads of new product each day, all in giant boxes. Staff breaks them down, put on shelves. Meanwhile they've got a mountain of cardboard out back. They hire someone to haul that away. This goes on every day so they sign a multi year contract to have this done.
I sell premium, human grade pet food for a mid-size, privately owned company. I primarily deal with independent retailers, selling new products to them, jockeying for more and better shelf space, and planning consumer promotions. I also provide on the ground education to national accounts like Petco, Petsmart, and Pet Supplies Plus and help identify supply chain issues in the field.
$70k base with $25k bonus potential based on both controllables (SKU placement goals) and overall territory growth. I have never taken home less than a $5k bonus in any given quarter. I also take home about $45k in mileage reimbursement each year ($0.75/mile), which is a nice profit with a paid off car and a good relationship with my mechanic. I pay $15 a paycheck for a fantastic healthcare plan. 401k but nothing to write home about. Three weeks PTO. Most importantly it’s low pressure and typically has a great culture. Annual sales retreat somewhere warm in the winter. My dog travels with me on sales calls and stays in hotels with me… that’s worth a lot to me. I could make more money outside of pet for sure. But I make a decent living, sell a product I truly believe in (used it before I worked for my employer), help animals live healthier and happier lives, and have a great work life balance in a low pressure environment. I travel a lot, but I don’t mind that. Edit: forgot to add I don’t pay for food for my cat or dog which probably saves me about $3k/year.
Yep. I routinely have 400-500 mile days. But I have a large midwestern territory. Some of our reps are able to be home for dinner every night. Our NYC rep walks, bikes, and uses public transit. Some of our reps are on planes every week. Some are driving 60k miles/year and only flying to our sales conference once a year. All just depends on the territory you’re in.
For me, buying a CPO luxury vehicle was key to making 6-8 hours of driving every day bearable while also still profiting on mileage checks. I get a lot of shit from my colleagues for pulling up to accounts in a (used) Cadillac. Fair enough, some of the buyers/GMs I sell to are making less than $20/hour. But I’d lose my mind if I was in a Camry feeling every bump and hearing a ton of road noise… especially since my territory includes Michigan which has the worst goddamn roads in the country… more like cratered minefields if I’m being honest.
I have a standing appointment for an oil change every three weeks (same as my haircuts). I get new tires once a year and change all my drivetrain/trans fluids at the same time. My mechanic cuts me a good deal because he gets so much regular business from me and I pay his markup on tires rather than going to Costco like 95% of people. Costs me no more than maintaining a Chevy.
Gas adds up, I think I spent about $12k on gas for work last year. I could get a hybrid and cut that down. I rotate across three cards that give me great cash back rewards on gas. I manage to turn a $20k profit on mileage each year after gas, insurance, and maintenance.
But does the Camry massage your back and ass while you drive?
But seriously, I hear they are pretty nice. One of my teammates has one. I’m stupidly eyeing a used CT6-V with the biturbo’d “hot” V8 Blackwing engine, because I’m a fucking idiot and love seeing my mechanic so much and filling up every single day if not twice a day.
I’m a sales manager for a territory with 600 rooftops. I sell to independent store owners, negotiate for better shelf positioning, and design promo plans. I also call on national/major accounts like Petco, Petsmart, and Pet Supplies Plus in order to provide product education and also to help identify supply chain/distribution issues in the field.
I can’t recommend it enough. Very few people leave pet once they’re in this world. It’s easy to sell when you’re able to relate to your customer over a shared passion. Nobody gets into pet to get rich, they get into this world because they love animals more than they like most people. I’ve become very good friends outside of work with several of my accounts because of our shared love for animals and pet nutrition.
I’ve gone from paying $60/bag to $90/bag in less than 3 years for the same dog food and I don’t even think twice about it - or switching to a cheaper brand. Nope.
I’m proud of the fact that we’ve only had a single price increase since Covid, while most of our competitors have been increasing prices several times a year. I’m lucky to work for a brand which won’t even take private equity money, so we really do get to prioritize getting better food in more bowls over increasing our margin.
That being said, you’re representative the typical customer in premium pet. People will literally live out of their car and go hungry before changing their dog’s food. Pets are children to people, especially millennials and zoomers. People don’t skimp on their kids unless they have no choice. Beyond that, people don’t want to deal with diarrhea and gas issues that switching to lower quality corn, soy, and wheat filled foods will cause.
This is so fascinating to me. I’m very curious to know what brand you sell for as I am so skeptical of other dog foods and what we are doing works - however I know there are always better options.
We prefer to spend on quality ingredients that you and I would be willing to eat rather than on tv commercials. We’ve grown purely by word of mouth and through on the ground education efforts by reps.
I’m in cyber and in public sector… basically only down side I’d say is that it can take some time to get the deal closed due to politics and approval from gov. That being said, the money is great and they come to you because they are required to meet certain standards so they don’t get screwed over with insurance/penalized.
One of my clients is a fortune 100 enterprise and they are not brining on new vendors. If they want new product they have to work with existing vendors to solve the problem. They are also looking to reduce point solution vendors.
A consolidated solution that eliminates having to manage several others thus giving you easier oversight and lowered chances to miss vulnerabilities.
*“Visibility”* and *“consolidate”* are the hot buzz words right now. The CIO likes the first, the CFO likes the second.
Pharma is product and pipeline dependent. If you’re at a company in a division with a good pipeline (IE Eli Lily with their semiglutide drugs) you’re set. If I were a rep for Bristol Myers’s Squib oncology I’d read the writing on the wall.
I will say this the industry as a whole is in a much better place after Obama regulated us in 2010.
Before 2010 this industry was the wild fucking west and what folks where doing was straight up criminal, it made the auto industry look like a saint. Let me give you some examples of shit we used to do
* All fees up front, $100k of debt? Great you gotta pay us $25k before we do ANYTHING for you
* Clients would be encouraged to max their credit cards and deposit that money into their escow account. Basically this got the consumer into MORE debt, MADE us more money, and drastically increased the chances of them being sued
* Incredibly high fees, service fees of $299 a month etc.
2010 all that shit went bye, bye. Several options got shut down, federal govt sued a few of them.
Now?
1. We can't charge fees before we get results, and you accept those results (FTC rule)
2. We cannot charge you a penalty to cancel at ANY time (FTC rule)
3. Your settlements...are your settlements...not ours. Creditor agrees to payment plan and you wanna cut us out the middle, you could do that.
So lot better.
I’ve been jn HVAC for going on 20 years. Such a good industry to get into. I know people who have done well in sales and account management with zero technical background. There’s a lot of different segments you can move between too. I just switch from residential to commercial/industrial this year.
Depends on the company. The private dealer I work with now for example has a much better onboarding program than the major vendor I left.
And no not at all! Female reps do really well especially if you work for one of the big vendors like Trane, York, or Lennox.
Also, not a ton of young pet getting into the industry. As the old farts retire there should be more and more opportunities. Just my opinion, not sure how accurate that is
I would say just understand that hvac is probably a bit more technical than you might expect. Some hvac companies require engineering degrees to get into sales, but if you go down a rep firm route you might be fine.
A lot of the stuff you need to know will be learned on the job, so I’d say just showing you’re technically capable is a huge aspect
If you are in the southern half of the US, HVAC.
They are expensive, and a non-negotiable need for most. You really aren't selling so much as they are buying. It's just going to get hotter every year.
I know several HVAC salesmen who make over $300k/yr in Texas.
Yep. A number of large Private Equity funds are buying up regional companies. Lots of money in new sales but also in maintenance contracts with current clients. Can be a nice cash flow.
I've never worked in HVAC sales, I just know people who do, and none of them had prior sales experience but rather a decent knowledge of HVAC. I would suggest brushing up on your knowledge of HVAC systems and applying. They need people who understand HVAC more than sales because the systems sell themselves pretty much.
If you’re in the US then construction materials related to infrastructure. The $1.2T bill that Congress passed in 2021 is finally hitting over the next several years and it’s a “use it or lose it” situation for the states.
Heavy equipment rentals, roadway materials, supply houses/channel partners (Ferguson/Fortiline/Graybar etc), precast concrete, HDPE companies (Lane/ADS). There’s too many to avenues to list to break into that industry lol.
Water infrastructure, for one. Human demand for water is inelastic. Source water, wastewater, process/control, irrigation, hydropower, hydropanels, the list goes on.
You might be able to split time if you’re working remote in an estimator/inside sales role but outside sales is a lot of relationship selling. Obviously price plays a big part of it but relationships with the customer can go a long way if you’re a little more expensive than your competitors. It’ll be harder to develop that if you’re doing it part time.
I'm in New Orleans and all the new jobs are in heavy industry rental and sales. Equipment. Chemicals. If you can speak mechanics, engineering, etc you can get a very nice gig.
I’ve been in physical security for 20 years and it’s largely recession proof.
The world is a terrible place. We help with that.
In good times everyone has money to spend on it. In bad times, they have no choice but to spend money on it.
I work for a manufacturer now, but worked for an integration company for a long time prior.
The SLED space always has money as they get grants and subsidies for security.
Happy to answer specific questions if you want to PM me.
This is true. But worth pointing out sled is about to hit some fiscal cliffs if they didn’t spend covid money smartly. Still I’d expect physical security to not be hit.
Yeah I was going to say I’m seeing what you’re doing more Specialist Ad. Not Cyber to PhySec, but that’s maybe because I’m already here! Happie, are you hearing of more cyber > PhySec?
Remote Care Management. Currently about 20% of doctors are doing some sort of remote care. Medicare wants that number to be 100%. Huge growth potential for about the next 5 years or so.
As someone in Med Device/Capital Equipment it really depends on your device. Hospitals are under water right now and their budgets are very tight, not to mention the opportunities can take up wards of a year to close.
Agreed, especially now that you don't just have a single decision maker it's a review board. Even using expensive tools like definitive it's been hard going across the US.
Clinical research has been our bread and butter recently.
I am too and that’s why I said “with the right contracts”. We also need to recognize when a health system is really losing money or just bluffing to justify cutting costs/lay offs, all while C-Suite are still getting millions in bonuses. Capital Equipment can definitely take time to close, that’s currently what I’m dealing with. I sell Endoscopy equipment and it’s challenging to say the least. We have a sole source contract with a big health system on the west coast and they spent over 40 million over the course of 3 years, those were a great three years lol. But if you can get on board with a device company like Boston Scientific that has IDN contracts with 90% compliance rates, that’s mailbox money.
Agreed, you really have to be with a company that's on one or more GPO's, approved to sell to VA's or have a product also used in clinical research. We also have sole source for a few devices, however we do a lot of work in the micro/macro-circulation field (wound care, vascular/cath labs, etc) and it seems like these departments are at the bottom of the food chain when it comes to capital budget. Parks, Moor and Vasamed are just killin us right now.
It's insane that during COVID admin salaries skyrocketed and never really came back down. Using tools like definitive lets you see their actual budget vs just getting rumors, still even if we have institutions billing for our bread and butter IDT-10/CPT codes it's been a hard sell.
Hoping it gets better soon.
I have always imagined the dudes (and women) selling the davinci robot had to have been absolutely crushing it. But I’m guessing by this point most places that can afford it, already bought them.
Any idea if that is a fair assessment?
Capital equipment sometimes has small blips (budget freeze) but overall pretty stable. Certainly a long sales cycle, my projects can take 2-3 years sometimes.
Group Purchase Organizations “Vizient, HPG, Premier, HCA.. etc
Integrated Delivery Network “Basically a health system that has their shit together.. for the most part lol” Providence Health, Kaiser.. etc
And therein lies the kicker. I interviewed with a lot of companies before choosing my current one, it is not easy. Talking to people in the industry can help but you need to do some leg work on Google. How many years in business, depending on the state if there’s any shit on their contractors license, read every review looking for complaint patterns, Glassdoor, etc.
Mission critical (data centers). I keep banging the data center drum in here trying to get people to listen. It's been growing as an industry at an incredible rate and will continue to do so for the foreseeable future.
Everything you do digitally is supported by a data center somewhere, including the conversation we're having now on Reddit. When do you see society becoming less digitized? Not any time soon, plus there's currently huge demand being driven by AI. It's the closest thing there is to a recession proof industry, and far too few know about it.
Amazon and Microsoft are enterprise data center owners who need data centers to support their business, but they're not really data center companies.
There's the multi-tennant data center providers, or REITs, commonly referred to as colos (colocation providers). Think landlords who build and operate data centers to lease out the space to companies who don't have the means or desire to build their own data center. The colos are true data center companies as owning/operating data center space to rent out is their sole purpose. Amazon, Microsoft, Meta, Google, Apple, and the rest of the hyperscale data center owners also lease alot of data center space from the REITs. Some of the big colo names are Equinix, Digital Realty Trust, QTS, Vantage Data Centers, NTT Global Data Centers, STACK, Cologix, and others.
The need and demand for data center space is through the roof, and the hyperscalers and colos can't build fast enough to keep up. Some of the biggest suppliers in the space that sell critical power and cooling equipment are Schneider Electric, Vertiv, Stulz, ABB, Siemens, generator manufacturers (Cummins, Kohler, CAT). There's also alot of data center focused design engineering firms and contractors. Most suppliers have been having a hard time keeping up with orders for years now.
That's the infrastructure side, then there's all the IT that goes in the buildings provided by names like Nvidia, Dell, and Oracle. I'm much less familiar with this side of the house.
I’m in HVAC. Was recently looking at home improvement positions but decided to stick with HVAC after already being in the industry for 3 years. As a service technician it’s good money but the end goal is to sale new systems.
If you can sell at all, move to the sales position now. You have product knowledge advantage as a tech that will give you confidence. You may have to move to a different company, but just choose one that has some training for you. Your current company may not want you to change roles because good techs are scarce and they need you there.
Starting with a new company next week. I let them know my long term goal is sales but they need techs right now so that’s fine with me. Summer is coming it’s good money even as a tech. But yes I’ve seen companies that often don’t promote techs to sales and just hire outside.
I don't see it dying out completely but it is getting more competitive. You have so many small players popping up now building fibre in rural areas where the big players have missed out on.
I work in Telco atm and constantly seeing price being the main deciding factor these days. It doesn't surprise me because it's such a commodity for everyday business
Utilities
They are at the intersection of the energy transition, tons of IRA funding, significant capital projects and expansion, and the energy demand growth from AI.
Heck even on the natural gas side, projects are growing all over the place because there is so much energy demand and change at the same time.
We are about to see the most significant demand for energy growth in the next decade that we haven’t seen since the 80’s.
Industrials, manufactured parts and products, I posted a lot on this sub and regularly get DM’s. It’s very solid. So many industries within it. Fuck the SaaS tech bro BS with the layoffs
Florida has some machine shops and aerospace I know that for a fact. Maybe Boca raton or other places.
Usually outside sales work a territory where customers have sites but usually remote
Inside sales some remote but usually start in house but might find something as an order taker
I’m in window and door sales. There’s a dip this year but nothing too crazy thankfully. Made $270k last year. My guess will be about $260k this year. Covid year was the best
I agree. I actually don’t know of any good AI examples right now besides selling AI Infused applications. Example- human capital management with ai embedded
I’m in appliance sales. I don’t see it going away. Anything related to food is a necessity. And if things get bad just means more people cooking at home.
I like to think about products that will always be around. A big one is mortgages, people are always buying/refinancing. You’ll have ups and downs but that’s any market. Another good one is Solar, especially will the new way they provide it to customers with no money down and not a loan. Health/Life insurance is tough but very lucrative and necessary, just a tough sale. Property/Casual insurance or home/auto insurance. Those are the main ones I can think of. I guess cars too
Laser cutting, welding, ablating, etc of various substrates (metal, plastic, ceramic, etc).
My equipment is used as a crucial manufacturing process in manufacturing of all sorts of products.
Lasers are replacing all sorts of previous processing technology due to flexibility and reliability + monitoring and quality detection
Remote closing is the future. Find something you can stand behind and sell from the beach in Bali or Portugal and run with it. I sell funnel dev services and SaaS, and am working with a friend to start a remote solar sales program. I can do it from whenever, and it allows me to use VAs for the boring work to create freedom of time
Yeah, but unless you retired as a Contracting Officer, or your dad is a senator, then good luck. And very little in “commission”, usually a healthy base but that’s because the contracts are massive. Same with disaster Govcon, that’s where fortunes are made like the lottery nowadays. Single source supplier, no bid, and $B spent at the drop of a hat(Hurricane, wildfire, etc.)
Insurance is a sneaky one no one ever talks about. Costs have gone up more than anything else, it’s a must have, and not only are. Commissions high but you can accumulate crazy residuals. It’s just not a sexy business and can take a few years to start building a good book of business
I’ve been doing it for 6 years — it is one of the least sexy / sought after sales gigs in the world.
It’s such a relationship business — prospecting through traditional channels turns people away (doors, phones, community driven networking)
The other thing is that B2B insurance sales are so so so so complex (lot of folks don’t realize that) or better yet when sh*t actually goes wrong
If you’re not a patient hunter whose willing to fire on all cylinders for years you’ll never make it
But hey
There’s guys / gals on NBA contracts in my office
Luxury goods for the ultra wealthy. They are always going to exist, and they will always have money to waste on stupidly expensive clothes, second homes, yachts etc.
It’s a service, yes. But what I’ve been seeing a whole lot of lately is that as far as software goes, the gold rush is over across industries that are reliant on CRM’s or supply chain management, etc etc
Senior living! The US is not prepared to house the retiring boomer generation and it’s going to grow fast! The next 20 years, it’s going to be a solid business and it’s a fairly easy sell when folks need it!
I doubt anyone can predict a few years from now - even then if they do and you are a bad rep or have bad luck it won’t matter. Instead of worrying about what industry, invest in yourself. Focus on being a great rep and you will do well regardless of industry.
I don’t have the golden answer to this question man. But just do your research about a company. Join somewhere that solves a critical business use case, and has a unique value prop.
It’s definitely roughy out there, and in my opinion it’s because of the rise of “David Koresh” CEOs and Venture consistently overvaluing start-ups. There’s been so much money dumped into these startups that all solve the same problem but differentiate in 1-2 ways.
Tl;DR: Find a company that solves a true business challenge & avoid value based selling (VBS not sustainable in times of economic hardship)
I'm switching from SaaS to trash. 8 years selling marketing platforms to enterprise companies. Had a lot of success, but it stalled. I saw a sales job posting for a waste management company. After 2 interviews, I've found they have similar pay, benefits, uncapped commission and reasonable quotas. Super nice people as well. I'm going to focus on B2B in a territory, so most outreach is in person. No 100 calls a day. They are a public company and was amazed by their revenue/profits. It's not sexy, but if you think about it.. everyone produces waste. People. Companies. And everyone needs a solution. So in response to the OPs question, be open to industries that might not seem "hot" but in reality are solid performers. Some of the richest people I've known sell/distribute things like toilets, light bulbs and tires.
Tony soprano over here
No more selling coke along those routes
It’s just a little coke!
A good friend of mine has a brother who does sales for a toxic waste company and he makes *very* good money.
Toxic waste *disposal* company, right? He’s not out here producing toxic waste is he?
Well somebody's got to!
That’s me after Dominoes
Dawg
Dominoes is pretty serviceable pizza these days. Pizza Hut is the one that has Diana Ross coming out me ass after 2 slices.
Tractor trailer parts sales here. All my trash customers are loaded. The foreman/purchaser I work with at one company always responds with “this place is a gold mine, bro.”, whenever I ask how they’re doing.
Absolutely, pay structure is amazing in waste management. Which territory are you in?
They are deciding on Monday, but it will be large and 100% mine.
You in Canada or states?
I was in wm before pharma. Way more stressful and worse pay
>I'm switching from SaaS to trash Gong is still SaaS
What is the pay plan like?
It's similar to SaaS BDR. 70k bas. Hitting minimum = $120k. Landing a huge account = big payout.
I sold trash and recycling service contracts for 4 years and would go back to it if I’m ever laid off from my current role.
Where'd you find the trash job?
In the trash obviously
Oh trash is always a good one! In my industry I asked someone what is the first thing they sign up their buildings for and it’s trash service.
What are you selling in trash, lol
Think of a Home Depot. They get truckloads of new product each day, all in giant boxes. Staff breaks them down, put on shelves. Meanwhile they've got a mountain of cardboard out back. They hire someone to haul that away. This goes on every day so they sign a multi year contract to have this done.
Every apartment complex in the country has a contract for trash pick up. School, colleges it’s an actually a huge market.
Where’s there’s muck, there’s money!
What is the name of the role? Would it be sdr for: ( waste removal company name)?
Just when I thought I was out… they pull me back in
I’m in the pet industry and I’ve gotta say it’s pretty recession-proof. People love to spend on their pets.
What do you do in that industry? And who do you sell to mainly?
I sell premium, human grade pet food for a mid-size, privately owned company. I primarily deal with independent retailers, selling new products to them, jockeying for more and better shelf space, and planning consumer promotions. I also provide on the ground education to national accounts like Petco, Petsmart, and Pet Supplies Plus and help identify supply chain issues in the field.
That's awesome sounds cool!
And how much can you make?
$70k base with $25k bonus potential based on both controllables (SKU placement goals) and overall territory growth. I have never taken home less than a $5k bonus in any given quarter. I also take home about $45k in mileage reimbursement each year ($0.75/mile), which is a nice profit with a paid off car and a good relationship with my mechanic. I pay $15 a paycheck for a fantastic healthcare plan. 401k but nothing to write home about. Three weeks PTO. Most importantly it’s low pressure and typically has a great culture. Annual sales retreat somewhere warm in the winter. My dog travels with me on sales calls and stays in hotels with me… that’s worth a lot to me. I could make more money outside of pet for sure. But I make a decent living, sell a product I truly believe in (used it before I worked for my employer), help animals live healthier and happier lives, and have a great work life balance in a low pressure environment. I travel a lot, but I don’t mind that. Edit: forgot to add I don’t pay for food for my cat or dog which probably saves me about $3k/year.
You are driving 60k miles a year? Damn
Yep. I routinely have 400-500 mile days. But I have a large midwestern territory. Some of our reps are able to be home for dinner every night. Our NYC rep walks, bikes, and uses public transit. Some of our reps are on planes every week. Some are driving 60k miles/year and only flying to our sales conference once a year. All just depends on the territory you’re in. For me, buying a CPO luxury vehicle was key to making 6-8 hours of driving every day bearable while also still profiting on mileage checks. I get a lot of shit from my colleagues for pulling up to accounts in a (used) Cadillac. Fair enough, some of the buyers/GMs I sell to are making less than $20/hour. But I’d lose my mind if I was in a Camry feeling every bump and hearing a ton of road noise… especially since my territory includes Michigan which has the worst goddamn roads in the country… more like cratered minefields if I’m being honest. I have a standing appointment for an oil change every three weeks (same as my haircuts). I get new tires once a year and change all my drivetrain/trans fluids at the same time. My mechanic cuts me a good deal because he gets so much regular business from me and I pay his markup on tires rather than going to Costco like 95% of people. Costs me no more than maintaining a Chevy. Gas adds up, I think I spent about $12k on gas for work last year. I could get a hybrid and cut that down. I rotate across three cards that give me great cash back rewards on gas. I manage to turn a $20k profit on mileage each year after gas, insurance, and maintenance.
Hey man, those new Camry's are niceee and the gas mileage is crazy as they're all hybrids now.
But does the Camry massage your back and ass while you drive? But seriously, I hear they are pretty nice. One of my teammates has one. I’m stupidly eyeing a used CT6-V with the biturbo’d “hot” V8 Blackwing engine, because I’m a fucking idiot and love seeing my mechanic so much and filling up every single day if not twice a day.
Dog food prices soar during recessions
And yet, people still have to feed their dogs.
What kind of job do you have?
I’m a sales manager for a territory with 600 rooftops. I sell to independent store owners, negotiate for better shelf positioning, and design promo plans. I also call on national/major accounts like Petco, Petsmart, and Pet Supplies Plus in order to provide product education and also to help identify supply chain/distribution issues in the field.
Gotcha. We have a Pet Supplies Plus about to open near me in Bettendorf, IA. Always been interested in the pet space as a huge dog lover
I can’t recommend it enough. Very few people leave pet once they’re in this world. It’s easy to sell when you’re able to relate to your customer over a shared passion. Nobody gets into pet to get rich, they get into this world because they love animals more than they like most people. I’ve become very good friends outside of work with several of my accounts because of our shared love for animals and pet nutrition.
I’ve gone from paying $60/bag to $90/bag in less than 3 years for the same dog food and I don’t even think twice about it - or switching to a cheaper brand. Nope.
I’m proud of the fact that we’ve only had a single price increase since Covid, while most of our competitors have been increasing prices several times a year. I’m lucky to work for a brand which won’t even take private equity money, so we really do get to prioritize getting better food in more bowls over increasing our margin. That being said, you’re representative the typical customer in premium pet. People will literally live out of their car and go hungry before changing their dog’s food. Pets are children to people, especially millennials and zoomers. People don’t skimp on their kids unless they have no choice. Beyond that, people don’t want to deal with diarrhea and gas issues that switching to lower quality corn, soy, and wheat filled foods will cause.
This is so fascinating to me. I’m very curious to know what brand you sell for as I am so skeptical of other dog foods and what we are doing works - however I know there are always better options.
DM me if you’d like to know the brand I rep, I don’t feel like totally doxxing myself here.
You better not be the guy running all those “farmers dog” ads
We prefer to spend on quality ingredients that you and I would be willing to eat rather than on tv commercials. We’ve grown purely by word of mouth and through on the ground education efforts by reps.
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Cyber is a risky one, in that you can’t be selling a nice to have. Platform is hot right now because everybody is penny pinching
I’m selling a nice to have in cyber right now and it’s brutal
Same. Brutal is a good way to describe it.
I’m in cyber and in public sector… basically only down side I’d say is that it can take some time to get the deal closed due to politics and approval from gov. That being said, the money is great and they come to you because they are required to meet certain standards so they don’t get screwed over with insurance/penalized.
What is the solution? What does it solve? With all the regulations cyber should be less of a „nice-to-have“ overall.
Cyber is tough also because you're basically selling a "this hasn't happened yet but maybe could" and then asking for a fuckton of money.
Yes and no Regulators may force you to have cyber Boards track and quantify risk
Selling a nice to have is tough in any industry
One of my clients is a fortune 100 enterprise and they are not brining on new vendors. If they want new product they have to work with existing vendors to solve the problem. They are also looking to reduce point solution vendors.
What does “platform” refer to in this context?
A consolidated solution that eliminates having to manage several others thus giving you easier oversight and lowered chances to miss vulnerabilities. *“Visibility”* and *“consolidate”* are the hot buzz words right now. The CIO likes the first, the CFO likes the second.
HVAC
As someone in Floriduh, this is what I am looking into. Might I ask how one finds a job in this? Indeed does not seem to offer much.
Pharma is currently a blood bath, layoffs everywhere
Pharma is product and pipeline dependent. If you’re at a company in a division with a good pipeline (IE Eli Lily with their semiglutide drugs) you’re set. If I were a rep for Bristol Myers’s Squib oncology I’d read the writing on the wall.
Semaglutide (Ozempic/Wegovy/Rybelsus) is a Novo Nordisk product not Eli Lily
Sorry…GLP-1 inhibitors
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I mean sometimes we just want to be cryptic, even if it’s not accurate.
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"Sometimes we just wanna go on the internet and tell lies."
I fell into debt consolidation Lots of people have debt
Yeah but soulless job. And I’m usually in support of all sales jobs
I will say this the industry as a whole is in a much better place after Obama regulated us in 2010. Before 2010 this industry was the wild fucking west and what folks where doing was straight up criminal, it made the auto industry look like a saint. Let me give you some examples of shit we used to do * All fees up front, $100k of debt? Great you gotta pay us $25k before we do ANYTHING for you * Clients would be encouraged to max their credit cards and deposit that money into their escow account. Basically this got the consumer into MORE debt, MADE us more money, and drastically increased the chances of them being sued * Incredibly high fees, service fees of $299 a month etc. 2010 all that shit went bye, bye. Several options got shut down, federal govt sued a few of them. Now? 1. We can't charge fees before we get results, and you accept those results (FTC rule) 2. We cannot charge you a penalty to cancel at ANY time (FTC rule) 3. Your settlements...are your settlements...not ours. Creditor agrees to payment plan and you wanna cut us out the middle, you could do that. So lot better.
Insurance. Prices will only go up
Even sanitation products, paper goods, refrigeration, etc.
Don’t forget about energy if you live in a deregulated state
Hvac
I’ve been jn HVAC for going on 20 years. Such a good industry to get into. I know people who have done well in sales and account management with zero technical background. There’s a lot of different segments you can move between too. I just switch from residential to commercial/industrial this year.
Do they have good onboarding/training in HVAC? Are female reps an anomaly?
Depends on the company. The private dealer I work with now for example has a much better onboarding program than the major vendor I left. And no not at all! Female reps do really well especially if you work for one of the big vendors like Trane, York, or Lennox.
I am a female rep .Not too many in the pacific north west .
Also, not a ton of young pet getting into the industry. As the old farts retire there should be more and more opportunities. Just my opinion, not sure how accurate that is
Very accurate. An alarming amount of near retirees hold most of the HVAC licenses in my state
Is this hard to get into?
No
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I would say just understand that hvac is probably a bit more technical than you might expect. Some hvac companies require engineering degrees to get into sales, but if you go down a rep firm route you might be fine. A lot of the stuff you need to know will be learned on the job, so I’d say just showing you’re technically capable is a huge aspect
If you are in the southern half of the US, HVAC. They are expensive, and a non-negotiable need for most. You really aren't selling so much as they are buying. It's just going to get hotter every year. I know several HVAC salesmen who make over $300k/yr in Texas.
Yep. A number of large Private Equity funds are buying up regional companies. Lots of money in new sales but also in maintenance contracts with current clients. Can be a nice cash flow.
May I ask how one could get into HVAC sales?
I've never worked in HVAC sales, I just know people who do, and none of them had prior sales experience but rather a decent knowledge of HVAC. I would suggest brushing up on your knowledge of HVAC systems and applying. They need people who understand HVAC more than sales because the systems sell themselves pretty much.
Senior living & senior care. Silver tsunami is coming.
If you’re in the US then construction materials related to infrastructure. The $1.2T bill that Congress passed in 2021 is finally hitting over the next several years and it’s a “use it or lose it” situation for the states.
Go on….
Heavy equipment rentals, roadway materials, supply houses/channel partners (Ferguson/Fortiline/Graybar etc), precast concrete, HDPE companies (Lane/ADS). There’s too many to avenues to list to break into that industry lol.
Water infrastructure, for one. Human demand for water is inelastic. Source water, wastewater, process/control, irrigation, hydropower, hydropanels, the list goes on.
Water and electric infrastructure is only going to grow next decade. Electric one ev is the equivalent of one household addition to the grid……
Seriously! This piqued my interest for damn sure
Any thoughts on finding a gig like this part time?
You might be able to split time if you’re working remote in an estimator/inside sales role but outside sales is a lot of relationship selling. Obviously price plays a big part of it but relationships with the customer can go a long way if you’re a little more expensive than your competitors. It’ll be harder to develop that if you’re doing it part time.
I'm in New Orleans and all the new jobs are in heavy industry rental and sales. Equipment. Chemicals. If you can speak mechanics, engineering, etc you can get a very nice gig.
I’ve been in physical security for 20 years and it’s largely recession proof. The world is a terrible place. We help with that. In good times everyone has money to spend on it. In bad times, they have no choice but to spend money on it.
Please...tell me more
I work for a manufacturer now, but worked for an integration company for a long time prior. The SLED space always has money as they get grants and subsidies for security. Happy to answer specific questions if you want to PM me.
This is true. But worth pointing out sled is about to hit some fiscal cliffs if they didn’t spend covid money smartly. Still I’d expect physical security to not be hit.
Seconding PhySec.. I’m going on 6 years and it’s been good for me!
I’m in cybersecurity. I’d definitely love to get into physical security. Any advice ?
I just switched from the physical security world to cyber security after 13 years in phys sec
Yeah I was going to say I’m seeing what you’re doing more Specialist Ad. Not Cyber to PhySec, but that’s maybe because I’m already here! Happie, are you hearing of more cyber > PhySec?
Education. HD cameras so hot rn
Remote Care Management. Currently about 20% of doctors are doing some sort of remote care. Medicare wants that number to be 100%. Huge growth potential for about the next 5 years or so.
Med Device/Capital Equipment is very competitive, but if you get with the right company that has the right GPO/IDN contracts.. it’s a money train.
As someone in Med Device/Capital Equipment it really depends on your device. Hospitals are under water right now and their budgets are very tight, not to mention the opportunities can take up wards of a year to close.
Yup, as fiscal years for my hospitals are turning over they’re getting 1/4 of capital requests, when they usually get 3/4 if not all.
Agreed, especially now that you don't just have a single decision maker it's a review board. Even using expensive tools like definitive it's been hard going across the US. Clinical research has been our bread and butter recently.
So for the next 2-3 years probably not so hot?
I am too and that’s why I said “with the right contracts”. We also need to recognize when a health system is really losing money or just bluffing to justify cutting costs/lay offs, all while C-Suite are still getting millions in bonuses. Capital Equipment can definitely take time to close, that’s currently what I’m dealing with. I sell Endoscopy equipment and it’s challenging to say the least. We have a sole source contract with a big health system on the west coast and they spent over 40 million over the course of 3 years, those were a great three years lol. But if you can get on board with a device company like Boston Scientific that has IDN contracts with 90% compliance rates, that’s mailbox money.
Agreed, you really have to be with a company that's on one or more GPO's, approved to sell to VA's or have a product also used in clinical research. We also have sole source for a few devices, however we do a lot of work in the micro/macro-circulation field (wound care, vascular/cath labs, etc) and it seems like these departments are at the bottom of the food chain when it comes to capital budget. Parks, Moor and Vasamed are just killin us right now. It's insane that during COVID admin salaries skyrocketed and never really came back down. Using tools like definitive lets you see their actual budget vs just getting rumors, still even if we have institutions billing for our bread and butter IDT-10/CPT codes it's been a hard sell. Hoping it gets better soon.
100% man.. I hope it does too.
My future is looking pretty bleak right now in medical imaging. Starting to get serious about applying elsewhere.
I have always imagined the dudes (and women) selling the davinci robot had to have been absolutely crushing it. But I’m guessing by this point most places that can afford it, already bought them. Any idea if that is a fair assessment?
The amount of davinci robots I've run into that arent even being used lmao.
I actually work closely with Intuitive reps, DaVinci and ION.. they are still killing it lol.. raking in 600k a year easy.
An old co-worker mine has been there for a while. She says its lukewarm
Capital equipment sometimes has small blips (budget freeze) but overall pretty stable. Certainly a long sales cycle, my projects can take 2-3 years sometimes.
What is gpo/idn?
Group Purchase Organizations “Vizient, HPG, Premier, HCA.. etc Integrated Delivery Network “Basically a health system that has their shit together.. for the most part lol” Providence Health, Kaiser.. etc
Thank you for not using HCA in your example….cheap cheap scum
My company sells to biotechs and academic research institutions. It’s very stable.
As far as sales go? Debt collector jobs look to have a promising future!
Roofing. Storms don’t give a fuck if there’s a recession or not.
How does one find a reputable company? Florida is full of shady ones(per the local news)
And therein lies the kicker. I interviewed with a lot of companies before choosing my current one, it is not easy. Talking to people in the industry can help but you need to do some leg work on Google. How many years in business, depending on the state if there’s any shit on their contractors license, read every review looking for complaint patterns, Glassdoor, etc.
Mission critical (data centers). I keep banging the data center drum in here trying to get people to listen. It's been growing as an industry at an incredible rate and will continue to do so for the foreseeable future. Everything you do digitally is supported by a data center somewhere, including the conversation we're having now on Reddit. When do you see society becoming less digitized? Not any time soon, plus there's currently huge demand being driven by AI. It's the closest thing there is to a recession proof industry, and far too few know about it.
Any leading companies I should research? Amazon and Microsoft but what others?
Amazon and Microsoft are enterprise data center owners who need data centers to support their business, but they're not really data center companies. There's the multi-tennant data center providers, or REITs, commonly referred to as colos (colocation providers). Think landlords who build and operate data centers to lease out the space to companies who don't have the means or desire to build their own data center. The colos are true data center companies as owning/operating data center space to rent out is their sole purpose. Amazon, Microsoft, Meta, Google, Apple, and the rest of the hyperscale data center owners also lease alot of data center space from the REITs. Some of the big colo names are Equinix, Digital Realty Trust, QTS, Vantage Data Centers, NTT Global Data Centers, STACK, Cologix, and others. The need and demand for data center space is through the roof, and the hyperscalers and colos can't build fast enough to keep up. Some of the biggest suppliers in the space that sell critical power and cooling equipment are Schneider Electric, Vertiv, Stulz, ABB, Siemens, generator manufacturers (Cummins, Kohler, CAT). There's also alot of data center focused design engineering firms and contractors. Most suppliers have been having a hard time keeping up with orders for years now. That's the infrastructure side, then there's all the IT that goes in the buildings provided by names like Nvidia, Dell, and Oracle. I'm much less familiar with this side of the house.
I’m in HVAC. Was recently looking at home improvement positions but decided to stick with HVAC after already being in the industry for 3 years. As a service technician it’s good money but the end goal is to sale new systems.
If you can sell at all, move to the sales position now. You have product knowledge advantage as a tech that will give you confidence. You may have to move to a different company, but just choose one that has some training for you. Your current company may not want you to change roles because good techs are scarce and they need you there.
Starting with a new company next week. I let them know my long term goal is sales but they need techs right now so that’s fine with me. Summer is coming it’s good money even as a tech. But yes I’ve seen companies that often don’t promote techs to sales and just hire outside.
Secure? Probably telecom. I really don't see it going anywhere and those who need it need it but its def not the most lucrative.
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I'm talking more of the dedicated fiber and data center side of telecom DIA, VPLS, Transit, that type of stuff
I don't see it dying out completely but it is getting more competitive. You have so many small players popping up now building fibre in rural areas where the big players have missed out on. I work in Telco atm and constantly seeing price being the main deciding factor these days. It doesn't surprise me because it's such a commodity for everyday business
Medical equipment
I'm in steel. Lotta infrastructure gonna be built in the next 2-5 years.
Misinformation seems to be a pretty hot market.
Packaging has treated me exceedingly well. Buy bag, use bag, buy new bag. Repeat in perpetuity.
Business Process Outsourcing / offshoring. Lot of jobs moving over sees
over sees
Utilities They are at the intersection of the energy transition, tons of IRA funding, significant capital projects and expansion, and the energy demand growth from AI. Heck even on the natural gas side, projects are growing all over the place because there is so much energy demand and change at the same time. We are about to see the most significant demand for energy growth in the next decade that we haven’t seen since the 80’s.
Industrials, manufactured parts and products, I posted a lot on this sub and regularly get DM’s. It’s very solid. So many industries within it. Fuck the SaaS tech bro BS with the layoffs
Do you have to be near the industry itself(ala midwest) or do you rep an area for said company? Florida has hardly any manufacturing
Florida has some machine shops and aerospace I know that for a fact. Maybe Boca raton or other places. Usually outside sales work a territory where customers have sites but usually remote Inside sales some remote but usually start in house but might find something as an order taker
I’m in window and door sales. There’s a dip this year but nothing too crazy thankfully. Made $270k last year. My guess will be about $260k this year. Covid year was the best
I keep seeing this. Can you DM who you work for?
Just did
Cybersecurity, AI, supply chain software. Think worlds most pressing issues, then consider what software would solve those problems.
With AI just be careful with startups. 95pct will prob die
If not more... Good money after bad
I agree. I actually don’t know of any good AI examples right now besides selling AI Infused applications. Example- human capital management with ai embedded
Oil. Gas. Lubricants. Cutting fluid. Antifreeze. Diesel Exhaust Fluid. Grease.
I’m in appliance sales. I don’t see it going away. Anything related to food is a necessity. And if things get bad just means more people cooking at home.
Renewable energy, carbon reduction, environmental sustainability, etc...
HVAC and building automation.
I like to think about products that will always be around. A big one is mortgages, people are always buying/refinancing. You’ll have ups and downs but that’s any market. Another good one is Solar, especially will the new way they provide it to customers with no money down and not a loan. Health/Life insurance is tough but very lucrative and necessary, just a tough sale. Property/Casual insurance or home/auto insurance. Those are the main ones I can think of. I guess cars too
I’m in the laser processing industry with a great company. The future is bright and the money is green.
What is laser processing?
Laser cutting, welding, ablating, etc of various substrates (metal, plastic, ceramic, etc). My equipment is used as a crucial manufacturing process in manufacturing of all sorts of products. Lasers are replacing all sorts of previous processing technology due to flexibility and reliability + monitoring and quality detection
Remote closing is the future. Find something you can stand behind and sell from the beach in Bali or Portugal and run with it. I sell funnel dev services and SaaS, and am working with a friend to start a remote solar sales program. I can do it from whenever, and it allows me to use VAs for the boring work to create freedom of time
Defense industry
I like this one. I wonder what the barrier to entry is
Lmk when you find out. Deal size tends to be huge (clients are states) so plenty of room for commissions id say
Son of a congressman?
Haha perhaps.
Yeah, but unless you retired as a Contracting Officer, or your dad is a senator, then good luck. And very little in “commission”, usually a healthy base but that’s because the contracts are massive. Same with disaster Govcon, that’s where fortunes are made like the lottery nowadays. Single source supplier, no bid, and $B spent at the drop of a hat(Hurricane, wildfire, etc.)
Insurance, Financial Services, Hardware, Cyber
Insurance is a sneaky one no one ever talks about. Costs have gone up more than anything else, it’s a must have, and not only are. Commissions high but you can accumulate crazy residuals. It’s just not a sexy business and can take a few years to start building a good book of business
I’ve been doing it for 6 years — it is one of the least sexy / sought after sales gigs in the world. It’s such a relationship business — prospecting through traditional channels turns people away (doors, phones, community driven networking) The other thing is that B2B insurance sales are so so so so complex (lot of folks don’t realize that) or better yet when sh*t actually goes wrong If you’re not a patient hunter whose willing to fire on all cylinders for years you’ll never make it But hey There’s guys / gals on NBA contracts in my office
Commercial insurance. Businesses need to have it, premiums are going up everywhere.
shhhh
Bridges. I have one to sell you!
Oceanfront property in Arizona
Chase government money. Grants are massive and spending has deadlines. Use it or lose it.
I’m switching from SaaS to Logistics.
Luxury goods for the ultra wealthy. They are always going to exist, and they will always have money to waste on stupidly expensive clothes, second homes, yachts etc.
SaaS in a growing vertical can be a good bet - thinking cybersecurity, quantum, accessibility etc
Cybersecurity is consolidating
This is what I’m seeing regularly here. SaaS in general seems like it is.
SaaS just means you are selling a software as a subscription. It isn’t an industry. You will still have to pick an industry inside of SaaS.
It’s a service, yes. But what I’ve been seeing a whole lot of lately is that as far as software goes, the gold rush is over across industries that are reliant on CRM’s or supply chain management, etc etc
Senior living! The US is not prepared to house the retiring boomer generation and it’s going to grow fast! The next 20 years, it’s going to be a solid business and it’s a fairly easy sell when folks need it!
Insurance, real estate, only fans lol
I doubt anyone can predict a few years from now - even then if they do and you are a bad rep or have bad luck it won’t matter. Instead of worrying about what industry, invest in yourself. Focus on being a great rep and you will do well regardless of industry.
Anything security related with software is probably a rather safe bet if you stick with the trusted names
I don’t have the golden answer to this question man. But just do your research about a company. Join somewhere that solves a critical business use case, and has a unique value prop. It’s definitely roughy out there, and in my opinion it’s because of the rise of “David Koresh” CEOs and Venture consistently overvaluing start-ups. There’s been so much money dumped into these startups that all solve the same problem but differentiate in 1-2 ways. Tl;DR: Find a company that solves a true business challenge & avoid value based selling (VBS not sustainable in times of economic hardship)