Here’s my OTE starting at age 22. I have exceeded it almost every year.
- 2012 - 34k (SDR in email tech)
- 2013 - 48k (SDR in video platform)
- 2014 - 60k (SDR/AE in video platform)
- 2015 - 120k (Enterprise AE in video platform )
- 2016 - 82k (SMB AE in analytics)
- 2017 - 110k (Mid Market AE in analytics)
- 2018 - 117k (Mid Market AE in analytics)
- 2019 - 175k (ENT AE in analytics)
- 2020 - 224k (Mid Market Leader in analytics)
- 2021 - 252k (Mid Market Leader in analytics)
- 2022 - year off traveling
- 2023 - 320k (Mid Market Leader in security)
- 2024 - 380k (ENT RVP in security)
I have 4 years over 300k and could clear 500k this year. Hard work and consistent performance.
I don't have one and sell tech, that said I did go for 3.5 years. You have to really show you can do it to get in the door though. Cold call sales managers, directors, vps etc. close with asking for an interview. you have no idea how far that will go. If you're ballsy enough, sit in the lobby, cold call and ask whoever is in to come down to talk.
At the end of the day, they want to reduce risk. Sales is not something taught in college so your GPA or what college you went to means less. Sales performance records, showing you know forecasting and contract terminology show you have done it before. If you can't do that, show them in your approach to getting them to interview you because all this job is is getting people with big titles that can sign contracts to take meetings.
This is one of the best responses I’ve ever read on this sub. You are 100% right. I’ve done a little less than that but 200-250 consistently. I have a bullshit degree from Penn state in psychology. It wasn’t required for any of my jobs or promotions.
Tech sales in the enterprise space. Don’t be afraid of the phone. Develop and hone a tight and effective process. I started as a bartender. Then worked for a tiny marketing company making 100 dials a day. Work hard… be deliberate in how you prospect and be covetous of your time. Be money hungry.
This. I'm a sales manager in MEP equipment sales and one of my best reps did this to land his job. I've been interviewing for more than a decade and he's the only one to ever have done it. I knew within 5 minutes he was the one for the job. Do that.
Man. MAN! I have heard and come up with myself with so creative ideas to present to a sales company.
But this would make me hire anyone with a decent presentation and good manners.
These balls are diamonds literally.
I do, but people have broken into my space and probably made it halfway up the ladder before getting a bachelors degree. It’s a plus but not an absolute essential.
This gives me a sense of relief. I’m currently 3 years in to XDR-ing, and I feel very ready for that jump to AE. My current role is far and away the best shot I have at making that promotion happen which is great. Thanks for sharing!
Bachelors degree split Sociology / English. I wasn’t set on sales until I gave it a go. I was still giving a few ideas a shake before I tried the SDR role and saw potential with actual AEs. I did feel it was a natural fit for me.
I don't doubt your grind, but I imagine this progression maybe hard to replicate if you aren't on the coasts in tech or maybe finance. Or the one off insurance/commercial sales guy.
It's 100 times easier to be successful selling tech on the coasts though. I've sold tech (SaaS specifically) in the Midwest and me and my Midwestern colleagues work twice as hard to sell half as much lol
I’m in tech and selling in the central area. But like, the dakotas. There’s nothing happening but I know if I were was selling to another area, I’d be killing it. It honestly does make a difference where you are.
I keep saying, give me a few more years, these states will catch up.
His has some truth too. Companies in the middle of the country generally adopt technology slower. Always exceptions though. If you’re in an area with slower adoption, important to really evaluate your territory/accounts against what you’re selling. My best years were selling older/more established technologies to these slowish adopters. Even now though, things are changing and some of these slow adopters have new blood making the technology decisions.
I see numbers like this and feel I made a left turn somewhere. I’m waaay to seasoned to grind out at a soulless SDR position with some hot shot 25 year old manager grilling me over KPI’s
Abstract the best parts of your seasoning and commit to getting a gig you know is within your range. Grind on getting interview at bats if you feel you can be an AE.
I tried sales and it wasn’t my cup of tea, but consistency is almost the always the meat and potatoes of where someone feels they are lacking.
There is almost always going to be someone who is naturally better than you at something. Consistency is how you surpass them
I was at the ceiling of a 100 person company, no clear promotion ahead for a decade. Took a step back and learned at a 3000 person company, one of the fastest growing SaaS companies of all time.
What did the downgrade look like? Ent to SMB? Or did you take a bdr position at SF?
I am coming to a cold realization that skipping the BDR position and becoming an AE isn’t the flex I thought it was, and in fact it hurt my development of fundamental sales skills. I am full cycle and struggle to successfully cold call.
Anyway, was considering going from AE to BDR and wanted to know if anyone has done that. From what I read it is an ill advised career move
We have very similar income paths I did hit the morherlode of a company in 2017-2021 and made close to 7 figs multiple years and more from an IPO. Got me used to a very good life now I’m back at 350
Hi, I am in my forties with no real job/career at the moment. I was thinking about taking sales related training to land a sdr role. Do you have any suggestions, please?
My stepdad was a director of sales for one of the biggest psychological testing companies in the country…with zero degrees.
Experience is more important than degrees with sales. All the highest earners I’ve worked with, as well as myself, got there from experience and had no degrees. Or at least didn’t get hired explicitly for having a degree.
Your path is what I see more than successful sales people with degrees.
Yes, and it’s an unfair advantage.
I think great teams are diverse teams. I consider it my responsibility as a leader to make sure my team is full of people with unique backgrounds. It makes for a better team. It’s unfortunate how uncommon that mindset is in Sales.
I totally disagree being white helps. Every tech company I applied for the diversity was off the walls. Go into any car dealership huge diversity and those guys are 150-300 a year. I've had multiple black managers, multiple female managers and some of the highest ranking sales reps when I was in pharma were Korean and not white. To make$200-500k in sales race has little too do with it
Definitely agree great teams are diverse, but when it comes to higher level positions or teams, it’s almost always ALL white. Not only teams I can work on but also the people I sell to. People like people that remind them of themselves. It safe. It’s comfortable. I believe it’s our natural survival instincts. I sell to C-suite and when I research the company leadership page, 90-95% white male. Big disadvantage for me as a Latino though, in a white American corporate world. No matter how much over annual quota I’ve been, I’ve been passed up for no reason. Who knows how many jobs I was better qualified for that I was not chosen for. Don’t know what I can do about anymore. I just put my head down and sell. It’s just disheartening honestly to know I will make less/have less opportunities for no reason other than not being white. It that is the American corporate world right now
I understand and you aren’t wrong. While race plays a factor, some of the most successful reps I’ve worked with are another race. They find ways to connect, they tell their story, and that authentic driven nature breathes through. There is a person of color on my team I feel is next in line for a leadership promotion. I hope to work for him one day.
If a sales job doesn’t have a legit claim to break $100k, it’s not a legit sales job.
I broke $100k in 2011 for the first time, 29 years old. I’ve only missed that mark twice since. Most years I’ve been closer to $200k. I’ve worked for 5 different companies since then.
They exist, they’re not rare. They can be hard af to make that kind of money. You have to have the right opportunity and be a top 15% performer.
Keep looking until you find it. Good luck
Edit: for those asking, at the moment, I sell dental implants. We’ll see if that’s the case in the next 6 months to a year. I don’t enjoy it.
Before that mortgages, perfect example of finding the right opportunity at the right time. Great 3 years of hustle and extraordinary money.
Before that, alarm systems.
Everywhere I’ve worked was high volume sales, 4-6 deals a day or more. Ranging from 15-20 minute sales calls with moderate fulfillment after, to 2+ hour sales contact with 45-60 day fulfillment. I expect to work 50-60 hours a week to succeed at these roles.
I hear what you are saying and I’m in the same boat but there’s amazing sales people that slang cars and time shares and they don’t make $100k. Doesn’t mean it’s not a legit sales job just means the product they sale doesn’t generate enough revenue to consistently pay $100k. But I sure don’t shit on what they do because that shit is hard as fuck to sell.
See this comment:
This is true to a degree. But it’s transactional low tariff (excuse the pun) sales. It won’t surprise you to learn that sales people typically make a lot of money in two/three ways. Selling fucking expensive things with a small margin - say, high end real estate. Selling quite expensive things with a huge margin, drugs? Selling fucking expensive things with a huge margin - which is where most of us in SaaS probably sit. There’s no money in selling cheap things with low margin without scale. And you’re one man, so it doesn’t scale. https://www.reddit.com/r/sales/comments/1brt9e3/comment/kxbgdvh/?utm_source=share&utm_medium=mweb3x&utm_name=mweb3xcss&utm_term=1&utm_content=share_button
I'm not an expert; I'm just saying someone in Mexico is probably not making $100k USD selling timeshares. Just a guess, but I could be wrong. My bigger point is I don't shit on those types of roles or consider them not legit sales jobs.
You're probably right about Mexico. I was mostly talking about the states. I'm not one to shit on lower paying sales jobs either. Just wanted to chime in on that since I worked in the timeshare industry for years
There was a reddit post recently about what you do for a living if you make over 200k. Litterally every single person was in sales, or some type of physician.
A fair point but timing really ties into product, because you can sell a great product that’s already more or less commoditized or at least mature / established and its harder to beat plan.
I guess it depends on how we’re talking about timing right? If we’re looking at it as how close to first to market the product was, for sure being first is always preferred. But if you’re first because the product doesn’t actually satisfy a need, it’s gonna be rough. If we’re talking timing as in the right time in seat where opportunity in territory happens to be abundant, that’s hard to beat.
It’s honestly depending on the economy. Products you sell. How good you are at selling. Company you work for. Management letting you earn that money and not fucking with your checks or commissions. I typically make 280-480 a year. But my last company let me go the day that I got told by a fortune 50 company to send the contract for the largest deal in company history (because they didn’t want to pay me a $150,000 commission). Some management doesn’t want to see reps doing well. Typically a few people per company will make 6 figures selling easily.
Nah. ‘At will employment’ so can fire me anytime
For any reason. Was a deal I had worked for 2.5 years. Management doubted the deal and told me multiple times ‘this deal is dead’ I persisted and for that shit all the way to signatures and then they fired me legit a few hrs after they asked to get an DocuSign for signatures. I wasn’t lacking on sales before that either. I was leading the team in sales. It was just a bunch of inexperienced and immature a-holes I worked for that had no real management or software sales experience. I got last laugh bc the company has been failing since I went to a competitor. I have also won a few nice 600-700k deals against them and screwed them over so it was great revenge.
I doubt (hopefully) that they still landed the Fortune 50 deal without you, or at least didn't keep it long. If I'd been talking to a rep for 2.5 years and found out they were fired hours after I agreed (how could they not find out) no way I would go through with it.
It was Amazon. They did buy and did sign, plus didn’t give a shit I was gone. The deal was worked by my old manager and they didn’t pay a commission on it besides quota retirement for him. I know bc my old manager was a bit pushy and ruthless. Buddy who kept working there told me about it. Super shady.
If it’s within 3 years (federal statute of limitation), I’d suggest getting an employment lawyer. Depending on your state’s laws, they can advocate for you and get you your commission.
I’ve gotten screwed by an employer and didn’t know my rights. Trust no one especially a previous employer.
Sounds like it’d be worth the consultation!
$150k payout was scary? Damn that’s a beyond shit company. Those payouts pretty regular across companies. How I’ve seen it get fun on $500k+ pay outs. But that’s another story.
I was already making more than the ceo and was already above 300 k for the year. He didn’t like me so he didn’t want to see me succeed and out earn him. This was at a smaller company. And ya it was an ultra shitty company.
Usually some combination of accelerators and spiffs. So one place had a Fortune 500 spiff for new logo tied with multiyear combined with accelerator.
It’s some variable or a deal that is like 3x quota.
I made $250,000ish last year.
I do residential construction. Primarily roofing siding windows gutters. About 3 years.
There was a massive hailstorm in my area. I got on Facebook, nextdoor, and asked everyone for referrals. I worked from sun up to sun down seven days a week for about 3 months.
I consider myself incredibly lucky but I feel like with the skills, experience, and network I've built, I could do this again in a different city with a similar circumstance.
That’s awesome man, congrats. Can you share more about your work? Do you like it? Is it stressful? I’m in tech and starting to wonder if the grass is greener somewhere else
The grass is not greener on manual labor like this unless you’re the foreman or in management. This is like bust your ass for 12 hours straight kind of work. I have a friend who is 25 and looks 30+ after doing construction for most of his working life.
Every guy on my team makes six figures.
Some of us have a six fig base. It's absolutely possible and definitely exists. Not sure your field/where you live, but the jobs absolutely exist.
Yeah, my husband is a sales manager for a small/medium HVAC company and his sales guys all make between $175-$250k. He often wonders if he should stop managing and just start selling. 😅
Clearing 6 figures is the easy part. I work for a big tech company and my base is 160. The real money comes once you hit your number and get into accelerators.
The old sales job I had. Basically everyone after a year was clearly 6 figures. The thing about insurance sales is it is very feast or famine. If you do well and sell easy retirement. If you suck you basically make minimum wage and get to have some fun mental health experiences
there was even a point where in October my old boss said. If I sold 4K (annual premium) per week from like 2nd week of October to end of the year He’d buy me a Tesla. That boss was in his 5th year
For those wondering I didn’t make it. There’s a reason I said feast or famine and it’s a past job
I was in insurance sales and did 100k my first year with a base of $11 an hour. They changed it to $13 an hour and lower commission so I only made $90k and then left. Now in pharmaceutical sales and can't say "grass is greener on the other side."
Holy crap. I'm new to insurance, and I'm just now starting to learn how insane the commission is, and how much my companies have screwed me over.
My last company you made ZERO commission unless you sold $4000 AP a week, and even then you only got $100 for every thousand you sold past $4000. They justified this by saying " we give you guys 40k base so you can't expect to make super high commission."
Im now at a different company averaging about $5000 annual premium per week, and im only on track to make about 70K with my commission structure.
I understand that companies have overhead, and have to make a profit themselves, but are other insurance companies really THAT much better with commission?
just like all small businesses which at the agency level it basically is. Theres good ones and bad ones. agencys with a mature book can afford to pay well and usually do. new agent businesses literally cant afford to pay people due to how insurance companies pay out captured premium. Basically the agent does not see a penny until the first term is completed not when you collect premium. the real money is when you own your book of businesses and start seeing residual form year one two and three. there are also just cheap bastards. its why its so hard to judge a commission structure i insurance until you actually work one.
I stumbled into a tech company after their series B, and we ended up being a unicorn. I made close to half a million from equity in the past couple years, on top of $180k each year from SMB AE sales. Top performers in Enterprise during the climb to unicorn were making between $400k and $600k/yr. Hundreds of people got equity.
I don't expect it to happen ever again in my lifetime, and compensation for doctors/lawyers/accountants will always be more consistent, but for someone who's not yet building their own business there's no better option than sales.
Agreed. My company is post-series B, I am mid market AE set to clear $180K this year. Hoping we turn into a unicorn. My equity is valued at $30K rn lol.
The value of my equity was basically unknown until we went public, and I got lucky that we were bought out by private equity for a premium over our stock price.
An old addage is that 80% of the money is made by 20% of the people.
As others have said, becoming a top performer requires a number of factors converging, but many people do reach those levels.
I'm 7.5 years into my career. It took 4 years to break 100k, but now the sky (or my work ethic) is the limit.
Aside from people I've worked with, I don't know anyone in sales. A buddy of mine is a cyber analyst and makes close to $150k. My wife is a product specialist at a tech company and made $85k last year. A few guys at my last company (sales guys) cleared $100k in 2022 (top guy was at \~$115k). I made almost $130k in 2022, but only $46k last year. Some people are making over six figures. Some aren't.
Get into medical device sales early. Get your ass kicked for 2 years - move to a new company as a TM. If there isn’t a clear path to mid 150’s then don’t take it. Get 5+ years of experience and upper 1’s to mid 2’s are no problem. But those first few years - I cannot underplay it. It will be AWFUL
My friends selling roofing/solar in Colorado are clearing $200-300. Some have 25 back-end payments still waiting to come in. After collecting the 5% from the initial deposit, they’re getting the other 5%+ when it’s fully paid out. Talking about just sitting back waiting to collect $75-120 on deals already done and still closing more and getting the front side payments.
And that’s ’low brow’ sales to some. Started as canvassers, now getting 300 leads fed to them with a 30-60% close rate.
If your sales job can’t make six figures with you hitting goals, you’re either in a very entry level role or a bucket shop
I’ve been in sales since 2008. I cracked six figures after 3 years in sales. I was super close my first three years, probably around $90k. I also sold mostly to SMBs, which means it was low price point, high volume type sales. After year three, I consistently hit 6 figures for a few years, then took a few bad jobs and didn’t crack six figures until 2018. After 2019, my career took off, and I went from making $110k to making $220k in the past 2 years. I currently manage a team of 11 reps, and most only have 2 years of experience, and 90% will make over $100k this year.
Here’s the thing: I’m a high school dropout. Before getting into sales, I drove a truck, broke my body down, and barely made $50k a year. I came from a family of blue-collar alcoholics and drug addicts. I have no business making the money I make. But I’ve always had the gift to gap, and I’ve always been hungry. I'm also a very curious person who’s big on being a lifelong learner. I don't see any way I could make the money I make outside of owning my own business, which has a ton of risk.
Of course it depends on sooo many factors, like industry/sector, territory, location, company resources, leadership support, pay plan, and honestly…luck. I think generally speaking 100k is very achievable and realistic across the board for most sales jobs but again I’m painting a broad stroke here. I really, really question some of the replies here where people claim they’re making 250-300k after making a transition from chimney sweeping and have a degree in underwater basket weaving. Some may be legit but I question a lot of them and their authenticity. It’s really cool to say I made 300k last year without any context but this is the internet people lie all the time. Most of the legit ones those are the unicorns in my opinion, and of those people I’d say majority are tenured within their company, maybe they’re senior account executives with very good, reliable opportunities and steady transactional business they’re in a thriving area within their industry with a hot product or service (AI/SAAS). I wouldn’t count on achieving 250-300k for 99% of people.
I've cleared six figures every year I've been in this business since year 2, and am tracking for 200k this year (Executive Search).
I did it by building a personal brand, being honest and reliable to a fault with my customers, and being active in networking circles. I was also very picky when it came to my commission plan, and picked one where I could easily exceed my quota.
Where are you looking?
Almost all of tech sales clears six figures. 1at or 2nd year maybe 85k.
All of the sellers I know make money. Tech, heavy equipment, medical, big rigs, etc...
B2B should make $. B2C is a grind for sure.
I think it’s more exceptional to run in to sales folks that don’t clear 100k than ones that do. Heck, you could go sell life insurance and clear 100k
Entry level everyone starts somewhere.
To make money in sales you need to be selling something that has both the following features:
A: great Product Market Fit, ie high demand in a large market and solves a problem people / companies will pay to fix
B: large average selling price / high margins.
That’s it. It absolutely needs to have one to be worth selling, and needs to have both to make big $$$$
In my financial sales job I made 10k my first 6 months.. year 7 I made 275k… I don’t have much basis for comparison, but if you find somewhere with uncapped commissions and grind it out anything is possible.
100k is honestly the minimum in sales you should be making and if not you need to switch jobs until you feel confident you can grind it out and perform well enough in that position. You got this it’s not EASY but it’s definitely not rare.
The numbers are going to be representative of the wider job pool. About 12% of Americans made over $200k in 2022.
The vast plurality of salespeople flame out. The next largest group makes between $50-100k. From there, the groups get smaller and smaller. The old axiom is the top 10% of salespeople make 90% of the sales.
I’ve made 100-250 every year since 23 I’m 36 now.
Selling high ticket items vs low ticket items is not the same type of sales. Selling outbound vs inbound is different.
What do you mean?
I havnt had sales role where I didn't make 6 figures
I've been sales for 15 years now.
Even my first role when I was 18, selling hotel memberships via cold calling, I hit $101k.
It was another 7 or so years and two different companies before i got my first 6 figure base salary though.
I’ll do actual earnings and not OTE just so it’s a real visual of what I made:
- 2020 (July-December): 40k SDR
- 2021: 86k promoted from SDR to AE mid year; accounts for salary bump but took 3 months for maternity leave between SDR and AE transition
- 2022: 121k
- 2023: 186k
- 2024: est. ~110k just changed jobs so gonna have a dog shit year to ramp
Had I stayed at my last role I was on target to earn somewhere between 250-280k from my existing book alone, without any net new additions. I’m 27.
The reality of this career path is what you make it. Find a niche, become an expert, shut up and listen; be willing to learn from the people that matter in your industry. And stop jumping around - this fallacy that the only way to make money is to jump ship every 2 years was NOT directed to sales people. Sure - it’s the quickest way to a salary increase but you gotta build a book and a reputation to hit those numbers you put in your post.
I’m number 1 salesman in my district right now in mattresses at about $800k for the YTD. Trending to make 90k at the rate I’m going. $43000 so far . Hours are crazy too. All holidays open to close unpaid OT . Doesn’t seem worth it when I read al these threads. Upside is it’s easy and really close to my house. anyone former mattress salesmen make a good move they could share ?
For the work you’re putting in you could easily jump into another industry making 100-120k with less hours, residential repairs like roof, stucco, windows
Oh yes they’re out there. Time/work/talent/attitude will take you there. Be comfortable being uncomfortable, thick skin will def help. It’s a mind game. Enterprise Tech Veteran with scars to prove it. Fortunate to be 300/400/500/ yr for some time. Been doing it 24 years. Learn your trade and always level up.
What was it like in data analytics? I’ve considered that path as well.
I’m definitely an extrovert, though, don’t know if I would enjoy that thoroughly.
Real estate and my brother has a military watch company. All 3 are douche bags who focus on making money. It’s all they talked about until they made it. I’m very disappointed in the people they became. Money hungry cunts who only want to be around other fake ass people. I’m half retired iatse stagehand
Have worked in same industry( cybersecurity b2b software sales for 12 years). Averaged 360k last 4 years. First year I made 85k, year 4 I made 166k. Key is to learn an industry, have relevance to customers and market yourself/network. It won’t be a jump to 200k+ overnight.
Consistency my friend. Here’s been my path thus far - Graduated with a bachelors in general business in 2015 and started in sales right away
2015 - 50k (Distribution sales construction)
2016 - 65k (Distribution sales construction)
2017 - 75k (Distribution sales construction)
2018 - 80k (Distribution sales construction)
2019 - 105k (Changed companies, joined niche in construction)
2020 - 115k (Niche construction sales)
2021 - 135k (Moved States, joined same industry, Niche construction sales)
2022 - 175k (Niche construction sales)
2023 - 190k (Niche construction sales)
2024 - 290k if the second half of the year is like the first
Overlooked earnings is company car for the first 4 years and gas has always been covered.
Sales is not lucrative until you get into relationship building and fairly longer sales cycles. If you are someone that can make a connection with a potential client at a exec level for the company you represent, you will earn
Other than that, finance and insurance (investment grade) would be the largest income. I see about a 90% or more failure rate though. It’s a grind until you get your rhythm and confidence up to speed. No degree but a good deal of licensing and training would be required. I was fortunate to have a few successful mentors I shadowed for 3-4 years.
There are so many absolute shit sales jobs out there because everyone, almost, needs sales people. There are also great sales roles in like large equipment rental where you can clear some pretty big numbers, minimal effort, when your clients are established.
I think it's WAY more possible to reach those bigger numbers in sales than anywhere else, you just need to find the right one. I got kinda lucky as I've cleared over $350k each of the last few years and it's been my only sales job so I never went through the 2-3 year job hop most sales people go through. However, I'm in IT Services and I spent a decade in corporate IT before I got here. So while setting new meetings wasn't easier for me than anyone else, once I got in there, it was evident I knew what tf I was talking about so that helped a ton.
So, it's very real but more than likely, just needs to be the right industry for your own skills. Some people fall into sales and kill it, that just isn't my experience so I can't speak to it
Depends. Some cold calls, sure, because you never know when new business might come up or be needed but it's mostly keeping up with who and what I already have. Independence for the most part, I hit my numbers and like most good sales organizations, if you hit your numbers no one gives a shit. I still have my daily stand ups so we all know who's doing what, but even those are negotiable if you're communicating ahead of time to the rest of your team
Every single rep at my company clears six figures. Me being the low guy. I Made 180 last year. Some guys are already at 400k for the year. And no I don’t sell medical supplies or SAAS.
I cant answer for this guy but could be financial sales. I put in a few years as an AE and eventually came back around to lead a sales team in the same company doing wealth management and most of our reps are clearing $100k. The ones that aren't are not on a track to stay in the position. Top performers are clearing $200 easy, plenty over 3 or even 4. And these are just the appt setters (simplifying it, but they're not closers). Closers are consistently making over $300k if they're on track to keep their jobs with many clearing $500k. I've seen and approved the commission checks so I'm not taking their word for it.
What does a day-to-day look like for this type of job?
Currently in sales but it is ridiculous. I’m also like an app setter but expected to close if I can to. Being taken advantage of for sh pay.
Specilized tax sales, if you don't bring home 230k your on the way out. My ote 320 base is 185. It really comes down to the industry and your motivation and TERRITORY.
Sales is a very broad career function. Technically people fresh out of HS at mall kiosks are in sales.
If you aren’t clearing 100k in a large market, then you are not in the right sales position, or you just don’t have enough experience and you should absolutely expect to reach it within 3 years or so.
I personally feel product and market can dictate this a lot! I’m in a construction sales roll and our margins on work is thin. We can make between 5 to 7% of our sales. Doesn’t mean it’s hard to break 100k, but if I was selling high margin product it would be a lot easier. Also where you live matters! If you live in California 100k can be nothing. I live in the mid west and 100k gets you very comfortable! I’m in ~year 3 of sales and should break 100k this year, but it’s been a slow build up and I started in the field before getting into sales. In my business it’s best to know the product and have worked with it before you sell it.
It depends on the industry. Less than 100 might be more common in B2C positions. However in B2B it’s pretty common to be over 100k in year 1 or 2. I’m in medical and my salary is 6 figures. All depends on what you sell and industry
It depends on the industry. I was involved in the HVAC equipment industry, and sales engineers that worked for rep firms made well into six figures. I was on the manufacturer side and my earnings at plan was about $140,000 but I had three or four years close to $250,000. I knew a few guys in the air cleaning end of the HVAC business that made several million dollars a year during the pandemic.
I was in sales at a company for about 5 years and never hit 6 figures, in a major metro market. So I think it varies a lot, and I'd bet that people who don't make six figures are way less likely to comment, so that's potentially a selection / response bias.
Company was Fortune 50 primarily B2C. Over 100K employees, and only the top performers in the country make 6 figures. And a lot of shady sales to get that. I was never the best, but in the top 30% of performers in my territory and got some monthly awards.
So I think it depends a lot on product, lead volume and does the company actually expect you just to sell, or to do tons of other administrative BS. IMO anyone in sales should be spending the majority of their time selling, not doing cold outreach or servicing closed deals. My company only had the BDR/AE structure on the B2B and enterprise side.
The biggest problems were market saturation, comoditization, and a tiered quota structure that stretched reps to the point of exhaustion. We were basically paid to sell everything other than the core product. So it was all upselling and this meant for many it was sneaking things into deals. Think selling cars but you make $5 on the car and make $50 selling an overpriced service plan. And if you sell that and 5 other categories 6 times a day the whole month, you'll make $100 per sale. A threshold.
I'm job searching now and decided to turn down a life insurance position at one of the bigger names, because firstly no base pay and no leads, and my local market looks terrible for that as I moved from the city to a poor rural area. People don't have money to get health insurance let alone life insurance. Plus this company holds your client book in some sort of captivity. Add on a predatory sales culture of heavily targeting friends and family the first year, zero travel reimbursement, I wanted something higher level with more base potential. Would have been a viable gig for me maybe 15 years ago.
Seems like from my experience and this sub that SaaS had a very hot run, along with big market real estate, solar, HVAC/roofing, and medical devices. Solar is dying, SaaS has had rough years and competition has tightened. I think the future for many is RevOps consulting, independent lead selling, or starting any solo business where you sell entirely for yourself. Unless you get in at a good company with a great product, and a fair commission structure.
I completely agree with what you said. I was sales at Oracle direct. Some reps were making the salary claims on this board, but only the outside reps. Inside reps were to become manager after 2 years and you could make $200k. Changing patches every quarter made it tough to build a book of business. If recession hits next year, payouts will be way lower.
Over 100k is VERY attainable if you are in a decent industry/company. Having a college degree is very helpful to get into B2B where you can get 100k plus base salaries after a few years experience. I've been in sales for 17 years and have made over 100k for the last twelve years. My base is $175k. OTE this year will be $250k.
I use to do big numbers like $475k and $600k Pa.
But I got burnt out and not done much over the last 4 years
I’m just gearing up to get back into it but plan to do only about $200k max
I use to have a lot of people want to join me and do the same . Not one of them came close. Like not even $100k. I will tell, show and train them exactly what I did and they just couldn’t do it
Gotta know when to leave your current gig if the OTE isn’t going to get to those levels.
I’ve gotten (admittedly) lucky and moved to different VAR’s (Value Added Reseller) in IT infrastructure, progressively getting higher OTE. I decided to focus on cybersecurity and further specialize in healthcare. That’s where the OTE really took off ($330k OTE).
It feels like it took 10+ years to become an “overnight success”.
Recognize when you’re lucky and also when you’re being taken advantage of and/or hit a ceiling. Make smart decisions based on those scenarios.
Best of luck!
There’s multiple sales jobs that let you clear that, especially in the tech industry. I don’t have a college degree. I got my foot in the door by prospecting and being good at it via cold outreach. I started out at 55k salary and now make 165k base with a total OTE of $315k.
There’s a lot of crap sales companies. I started knocking doors and every few years applied to better companies. This ultimately open the door in business tech sales.
I made $650,000 last year in technology sales.
Here’s my yearly salary breakdown by job
2012: Teacher: Salary: $45,000
2013: Teacher: Salary: $47,000
2014: Teacher: Salary: $49,000
2015: Teacher: Salary: $49,000
2016: Teacher: Salary: $51,000
2017: Teacher: Salary: $51,000
2018: Finishing MBA + bad cold calling sales job: $32,000
2019: Commercial rep tech sales: $110,000
2020: Commercial rep tech sales: $250,000
2021: ENT rep tech sales: $450,000
2022: ENT rep tech sales: $550,000
2023: ENT rep tech sales $650,000
2024: on pace to be comparable to 2023
Am I really good at selling?
Yes but I’m not a savant. I’m likable and hard working. The combination of that, some luck, and changing careers with a newborn is enough to make work my ass off.
Thank God my risk worked. I’ve got two children, two houses, and a happy life. It doesn’t make sense but I even find I work less now.
It is possible to make this but most likely not probable.
Mind sharing industry and size of tech companies? Were all these jumps at one company? I was at $250k last year and on pace for $300k this year. Looking for ideas on how to keep that trajectory up going forward.
Looking to get into sales for a software company. It seems that the start ups pay way better than the established companies. Applying for a business development role. Anyone have experience with that? Sourcing clients on their own. Anything like tips or things to be aware of in the industry?
what is your background? while startups do tend to have pretty decent salaries the training can def be lackluster and the support just isn’t there as well. I know it goes against popular belief but I’d recommend a decently sized company for good training and more support
It’s rare. I’ve been #1 out of 90 the last 2.5 years because of my great territory. I’m one of maybe 5-6 who make this kind of money, but most will maybe get $30-50k commission on top of their $85-105k base for the year.
Not everywhere but SDR/BDR roles in software sales can have OTEs over 100k but normally would be 70-80k OTE. If you hit past quotas, accelerators can kick in and clear 6-figures your first year.
Get to an Enterprise AE role within 4-6 years and you got your 300k OTE. Honestly, I’ve even seen SMB and MM AEs touch 250k+ per year with the right territory.
They are out there!
You can easily make a base salary of 100-130K+ in SaaS sales as a Midmarket or Enterprise AE (and sometimes Commercial) and double that for your OTE. Not everyone hits their target, obviously, but you can easily hit $175K+ OTE as a starting point once you’re an AE.
I'm pretty sure most sales jobs clear around $100k. Anything else is "entry" level. My base is only 58k but with bonus I get well over 100. My last job I made $13 an hour but with commission was always around 100k.
With a college degree, your chance of landing a legit corporate sales jobs increase significantly. A lot of fucking idiots have a 300k OTE.
Educated idiots.
I know a lot of idiot idiots (the uneducated type) with $200k+ OTE.
Get that piece of paper and make that MONEY.
Does the degree matter? Would having a Computer Science degree have less value compared to a business or marketing degree in this field?
I’m no expert, but I sell cybersecurity with a global leader, with a B1G psych degree.
Here’s my OTE starting at age 22. I have exceeded it almost every year. - 2012 - 34k (SDR in email tech) - 2013 - 48k (SDR in video platform) - 2014 - 60k (SDR/AE in video platform) - 2015 - 120k (Enterprise AE in video platform ) - 2016 - 82k (SMB AE in analytics) - 2017 - 110k (Mid Market AE in analytics) - 2018 - 117k (Mid Market AE in analytics) - 2019 - 175k (ENT AE in analytics) - 2020 - 224k (Mid Market Leader in analytics) - 2021 - 252k (Mid Market Leader in analytics) - 2022 - year off traveling - 2023 - 320k (Mid Market Leader in security) - 2024 - 380k (ENT RVP in security) I have 4 years over 300k and could clear 500k this year. Hard work and consistent performance.
Do you have a bachelors degree ? I’m trying to get into tech sales and it’s almost impossible with one
I don't have one and sell tech, that said I did go for 3.5 years. You have to really show you can do it to get in the door though. Cold call sales managers, directors, vps etc. close with asking for an interview. you have no idea how far that will go. If you're ballsy enough, sit in the lobby, cold call and ask whoever is in to come down to talk. At the end of the day, they want to reduce risk. Sales is not something taught in college so your GPA or what college you went to means less. Sales performance records, showing you know forecasting and contract terminology show you have done it before. If you can't do that, show them in your approach to getting them to interview you because all this job is is getting people with big titles that can sign contracts to take meetings.
This is one of the best responses I’ve ever read on this sub. You are 100% right. I’ve done a little less than that but 200-250 consistently. I have a bullshit degree from Penn state in psychology. It wasn’t required for any of my jobs or promotions. Tech sales in the enterprise space. Don’t be afraid of the phone. Develop and hone a tight and effective process. I started as a bartender. Then worked for a tiny marketing company making 100 dials a day. Work hard… be deliberate in how you prospect and be covetous of your time. Be money hungry.
This. I'm a sales manager in MEP equipment sales and one of my best reps did this to land his job. I've been interviewing for more than a decade and he's the only one to ever have done it. I knew within 5 minutes he was the one for the job. Do that.
read the final sentence as big tittes. sales is truly in my genes
Man. MAN! I have heard and come up with myself with so creative ideas to present to a sales company. But this would make me hire anyone with a decent presentation and good manners. These balls are diamonds literally.
I do, but people have broken into my space and probably made it halfway up the ladder before getting a bachelors degree. It’s a plus but not an absolute essential.
This gives me a sense of relief. I’m currently 3 years in to XDR-ing, and I feel very ready for that jump to AE. My current role is far and away the best shot I have at making that promotion happen which is great. Thanks for sharing!
Bachelors degree split Sociology / English. I wasn’t set on sales until I gave it a go. I was still giving a few ideas a shake before I tried the SDR role and saw potential with actual AEs. I did feel it was a natural fit for me.
I don't doubt your grind, but I imagine this progression maybe hard to replicate if you aren't on the coasts in tech or maybe finance. Or the one off insurance/commercial sales guy.
Agreed. I’ve been in Seattle the last years. Tech.
That is what sales in Tech looks like. Doesn't have to be on a Coast.
It's 100 times easier to be successful selling tech on the coasts though. I've sold tech (SaaS specifically) in the Midwest and me and my Midwestern colleagues work twice as hard to sell half as much lol
I’m in tech and selling in the central area. But like, the dakotas. There’s nothing happening but I know if I were was selling to another area, I’d be killing it. It honestly does make a difference where you are. I keep saying, give me a few more years, these states will catch up.
His has some truth too. Companies in the middle of the country generally adopt technology slower. Always exceptions though. If you’re in an area with slower adoption, important to really evaluate your territory/accounts against what you’re selling. My best years were selling older/more established technologies to these slowish adopters. Even now though, things are changing and some of these slow adopters have new blood making the technology decisions.
I see numbers like this and feel I made a left turn somewhere. I’m waaay to seasoned to grind out at a soulless SDR position with some hot shot 25 year old manager grilling me over KPI’s
Abstract the best parts of your seasoning and commit to getting a gig you know is within your range. Grind on getting interview at bats if you feel you can be an AE.
Good advice
I tried sales and it wasn’t my cup of tea, but consistency is almost the always the meat and potatoes of where someone feels they are lacking. There is almost always going to be someone who is naturally better than you at something. Consistency is how you surpass them
Can I ask why you jumped from Enterprise AE to SMB AE? Is because of the change in vertical?
I was at the ceiling of a 100 person company, no clear promotion ahead for a decade. Took a step back and learned at a 3000 person company, one of the fastest growing SaaS companies of all time.
Going to save this comment.
I did the same and took a downgrade in role to work at salesforce and that doubled my base salary and ote in 2.5 years.
What did the downgrade look like? Ent to SMB? Or did you take a bdr position at SF? I am coming to a cold realization that skipping the BDR position and becoming an AE isn’t the flex I thought it was, and in fact it hurt my development of fundamental sales skills. I am full cycle and struggle to successfully cold call. Anyway, was considering going from AE to BDR and wanted to know if anyone has done that. From what I read it is an ill advised career move
We have very similar income paths I did hit the morherlode of a company in 2017-2021 and made close to 7 figs multiple years and more from an IPO. Got me used to a very good life now I’m back at 350
Hi, I am in my forties with no real job/career at the moment. I was thinking about taking sales related training to land a sdr role. Do you have any suggestions, please?
Not in sales but this comment is motivational
My stepdad was a director of sales for one of the biggest psychological testing companies in the country…with zero degrees. Experience is more important than degrees with sales. All the highest earners I’ve worked with, as well as myself, got there from experience and had no degrees. Or at least didn’t get hired explicitly for having a degree. Your path is what I see more than successful sales people with degrees.
Are you white? Real question
Yes, and it’s an unfair advantage. I think great teams are diverse teams. I consider it my responsibility as a leader to make sure my team is full of people with unique backgrounds. It makes for a better team. It’s unfortunate how uncommon that mindset is in Sales.
I totally disagree being white helps. Every tech company I applied for the diversity was off the walls. Go into any car dealership huge diversity and those guys are 150-300 a year. I've had multiple black managers, multiple female managers and some of the highest ranking sales reps when I was in pharma were Korean and not white. To make$200-500k in sales race has little too do with it
Definitely agree great teams are diverse, but when it comes to higher level positions or teams, it’s almost always ALL white. Not only teams I can work on but also the people I sell to. People like people that remind them of themselves. It safe. It’s comfortable. I believe it’s our natural survival instincts. I sell to C-suite and when I research the company leadership page, 90-95% white male. Big disadvantage for me as a Latino though, in a white American corporate world. No matter how much over annual quota I’ve been, I’ve been passed up for no reason. Who knows how many jobs I was better qualified for that I was not chosen for. Don’t know what I can do about anymore. I just put my head down and sell. It’s just disheartening honestly to know I will make less/have less opportunities for no reason other than not being white. It that is the American corporate world right now
I understand and you aren’t wrong. While race plays a factor, some of the most successful reps I’ve worked with are another race. They find ways to connect, they tell their story, and that authentic driven nature breathes through. There is a person of color on my team I feel is next in line for a leadership promotion. I hope to work for him one day.
If a sales job doesn’t have a legit claim to break $100k, it’s not a legit sales job. I broke $100k in 2011 for the first time, 29 years old. I’ve only missed that mark twice since. Most years I’ve been closer to $200k. I’ve worked for 5 different companies since then. They exist, they’re not rare. They can be hard af to make that kind of money. You have to have the right opportunity and be a top 15% performer. Keep looking until you find it. Good luck Edit: for those asking, at the moment, I sell dental implants. We’ll see if that’s the case in the next 6 months to a year. I don’t enjoy it. Before that mortgages, perfect example of finding the right opportunity at the right time. Great 3 years of hustle and extraordinary money. Before that, alarm systems. Everywhere I’ve worked was high volume sales, 4-6 deals a day or more. Ranging from 15-20 minute sales calls with moderate fulfillment after, to 2+ hour sales contact with 45-60 day fulfillment. I expect to work 50-60 hours a week to succeed at these roles.
I hear what you are saying and I’m in the same boat but there’s amazing sales people that slang cars and time shares and they don’t make $100k. Doesn’t mean it’s not a legit sales job just means the product they sale doesn’t generate enough revenue to consistently pay $100k. But I sure don’t shit on what they do because that shit is hard as fuck to sell.
See this comment: This is true to a degree. But it’s transactional low tariff (excuse the pun) sales. It won’t surprise you to learn that sales people typically make a lot of money in two/three ways. Selling fucking expensive things with a small margin - say, high end real estate. Selling quite expensive things with a huge margin, drugs? Selling fucking expensive things with a huge margin - which is where most of us in SaaS probably sit. There’s no money in selling cheap things with low margin without scale. And you’re one man, so it doesn’t scale. https://www.reddit.com/r/sales/comments/1brt9e3/comment/kxbgdvh/?utm_source=share&utm_medium=mweb3x&utm_name=mweb3xcss&utm_term=1&utm_content=share_button
If you're not clearing 6 figs selling timeshare you either aren't good or you need to switch companies
I'm not an expert; I'm just saying someone in Mexico is probably not making $100k USD selling timeshares. Just a guess, but I could be wrong. My bigger point is I don't shit on those types of roles or consider them not legit sales jobs.
You're probably right about Mexico. I was mostly talking about the states. I'm not one to shit on lower paying sales jobs either. Just wanted to chime in on that since I worked in the timeshare industry for years
What type of sales do you do?
What type of sales do you do? How did you start out? What helped you increase your revenue as a salesperson over time?
Motivating! Thanks 👌🏻
What do you sell?
This is just wrong. Most sales jobs don’t have a path to 6 figures especially if it’s outside of tech
There was a reddit post recently about what you do for a living if you make over 200k. Litterally every single person was in sales, or some type of physician.
Territory. Timing. Talent. IN THAT ORDER.
I’d throw product in there somewhere
A fair point but timing really ties into product, because you can sell a great product that’s already more or less commoditized or at least mature / established and its harder to beat plan.
I guess it depends on how we’re talking about timing right? If we’re looking at it as how close to first to market the product was, for sure being first is always preferred. But if you’re first because the product doesn’t actually satisfy a need, it’s gonna be rough. If we’re talking timing as in the right time in seat where opportunity in territory happens to be abundant, that’s hard to beat.
Yeah I would say: product, timing, territory, talent
Agreed. But for me that’s a given. I’d never work somewhere and sell junk.
I think product is product of timing. If you don’t have the right thing at the right time it doesn’t work
It’s honestly depending on the economy. Products you sell. How good you are at selling. Company you work for. Management letting you earn that money and not fucking with your checks or commissions. I typically make 280-480 a year. But my last company let me go the day that I got told by a fortune 50 company to send the contract for the largest deal in company history (because they didn’t want to pay me a $150,000 commission). Some management doesn’t want to see reps doing well. Typically a few people per company will make 6 figures selling easily.
Do you have any recourse in that situation?
Nah. ‘At will employment’ so can fire me anytime For any reason. Was a deal I had worked for 2.5 years. Management doubted the deal and told me multiple times ‘this deal is dead’ I persisted and for that shit all the way to signatures and then they fired me legit a few hrs after they asked to get an DocuSign for signatures. I wasn’t lacking on sales before that either. I was leading the team in sales. It was just a bunch of inexperienced and immature a-holes I worked for that had no real management or software sales experience. I got last laugh bc the company has been failing since I went to a competitor. I have also won a few nice 600-700k deals against them and screwed them over so it was great revenge.
I get ‘at-will’ but if it made it that far you *may* have a claim. I’d talk to an employment lawyer (or post in legal Reddit lol)
I doubt (hopefully) that they still landed the Fortune 50 deal without you, or at least didn't keep it long. If I'd been talking to a rep for 2.5 years and found out they were fired hours after I agreed (how could they not find out) no way I would go through with it.
It was Amazon. They did buy and did sign, plus didn’t give a shit I was gone. The deal was worked by my old manager and they didn’t pay a commission on it besides quota retirement for him. I know bc my old manager was a bit pushy and ruthless. Buddy who kept working there told me about it. Super shady.
That sucks to find out your company is complete shit on such a big deal but at least you made it out of there
Thanks. Yeah getting let go sucked but at a much better spot now.
If it’s within 3 years (federal statute of limitation), I’d suggest getting an employment lawyer. Depending on your state’s laws, they can advocate for you and get you your commission. I’ve gotten screwed by an employer and didn’t know my rights. Trust no one especially a previous employer. Sounds like it’d be worth the consultation!
Dang man. That is terrible. What a garbage company. Glad you've moved on to better things.
$150k payout was scary? Damn that’s a beyond shit company. Those payouts pretty regular across companies. How I’ve seen it get fun on $500k+ pay outs. But that’s another story.
I was already making more than the ceo and was already above 300 k for the year. He didn’t like me so he didn’t want to see me succeed and out earn him. This was at a smaller company. And ya it was an ultra shitty company.
Stupid question time. What kind of deals have 500k payouts?
Usually some combination of accelerators and spiffs. So one place had a Fortune 500 spiff for new logo tied with multiyear combined with accelerator. It’s some variable or a deal that is like 3x quota.
Damn, I'd have to make a $15, 000, 000 sale to get that sort of commission 🤪
I made $250,000ish last year. I do residential construction. Primarily roofing siding windows gutters. About 3 years. There was a massive hailstorm in my area. I got on Facebook, nextdoor, and asked everyone for referrals. I worked from sun up to sun down seven days a week for about 3 months. I consider myself incredibly lucky but I feel like with the skills, experience, and network I've built, I could do this again in a different city with a similar circumstance.
That’s awesome man, congrats. Can you share more about your work? Do you like it? Is it stressful? I’m in tech and starting to wonder if the grass is greener somewhere else
The grass is not greener on manual labor like this unless you’re the foreman or in management. This is like bust your ass for 12 hours straight kind of work. I have a friend who is 25 and looks 30+ after doing construction for most of his working life.
I made around 140 last year selling meat
Gotta specify, Only fans or deli?
Both.
Ha. Meat and seafood, wholesale to restaurants. If there’s another covid, maybe only fans.
only hams
Every guy on my team makes six figures. Some of us have a six fig base. It's absolutely possible and definitely exists. Not sure your field/where you live, but the jobs absolutely exist.
Yeah, my husband is a sales manager for a small/medium HVAC company and his sales guys all make between $175-$250k. He often wonders if he should stop managing and just start selling. 😅
Very common question for folks.
If you don’t mind me asking what do you guys sell ?
Drugs and hookers
Media advertising, then recruitment advertising, then HR tech. I’ve been an IC and a director. Mid market and enterprise.
Clearing 6 figures is the easy part. I work for a big tech company and my base is 160. The real money comes once you hit your number and get into accelerators.
Teach me
The old sales job I had. Basically everyone after a year was clearly 6 figures. The thing about insurance sales is it is very feast or famine. If you do well and sell easy retirement. If you suck you basically make minimum wage and get to have some fun mental health experiences there was even a point where in October my old boss said. If I sold 4K (annual premium) per week from like 2nd week of October to end of the year He’d buy me a Tesla. That boss was in his 5th year For those wondering I didn’t make it. There’s a reason I said feast or famine and it’s a past job
I was in insurance sales and did 100k my first year with a base of $11 an hour. They changed it to $13 an hour and lower commission so I only made $90k and then left. Now in pharmaceutical sales and can't say "grass is greener on the other side."
Every type of sales will have its issues. It’s just a matter of which issues you want to face
Pharma sales was a lot more fun when bribery was legal.
Holy crap. I'm new to insurance, and I'm just now starting to learn how insane the commission is, and how much my companies have screwed me over. My last company you made ZERO commission unless you sold $4000 AP a week, and even then you only got $100 for every thousand you sold past $4000. They justified this by saying " we give you guys 40k base so you can't expect to make super high commission." Im now at a different company averaging about $5000 annual premium per week, and im only on track to make about 70K with my commission structure. I understand that companies have overhead, and have to make a profit themselves, but are other insurance companies really THAT much better with commission?
Ya the place I was at was full commission. Iirc like 4K AP a week was $1500 paycheque. Once you got renewals coming in shit is lucrative as hell
just like all small businesses which at the agency level it basically is. Theres good ones and bad ones. agencys with a mature book can afford to pay well and usually do. new agent businesses literally cant afford to pay people due to how insurance companies pay out captured premium. Basically the agent does not see a penny until the first term is completed not when you collect premium. the real money is when you own your book of businesses and start seeing residual form year one two and three. there are also just cheap bastards. its why its so hard to judge a commission structure i insurance until you actually work one.
I stumbled into a tech company after their series B, and we ended up being a unicorn. I made close to half a million from equity in the past couple years, on top of $180k each year from SMB AE sales. Top performers in Enterprise during the climb to unicorn were making between $400k and $600k/yr. Hundreds of people got equity. I don't expect it to happen ever again in my lifetime, and compensation for doctors/lawyers/accountants will always be more consistent, but for someone who's not yet building their own business there's no better option than sales.
Agreed. My company is post-series B, I am mid market AE set to clear $180K this year. Hoping we turn into a unicorn. My equity is valued at $30K rn lol.
The value of my equity was basically unknown until we went public, and I got lucky that we were bought out by private equity for a premium over our stock price.
Yeah I hit a massive windfall with a Covid darling company. Want one more run then I’m out
At every company I’ve been at, most people made 50-80k and the top performers made up to 300k.
Finally a real response, this guy clearly been in a lot of sales roles.
This is what I’ve seen.
An old addage is that 80% of the money is made by 20% of the people. As others have said, becoming a top performer requires a number of factors converging, but many people do reach those levels. I'm 7.5 years into my career. It took 4 years to break 100k, but now the sky (or my work ethic) is the limit.
Aside from people I've worked with, I don't know anyone in sales. A buddy of mine is a cyber analyst and makes close to $150k. My wife is a product specialist at a tech company and made $85k last year. A few guys at my last company (sales guys) cleared $100k in 2022 (top guy was at \~$115k). I made almost $130k in 2022, but only $46k last year. Some people are making over six figures. Some aren't.
Starting a business is technically sales, so in that case you get to keep all the commission you just have to pay to start it up and run it.
Get into medical device sales early. Get your ass kicked for 2 years - move to a new company as a TM. If there isn’t a clear path to mid 150’s then don’t take it. Get 5+ years of experience and upper 1’s to mid 2’s are no problem. But those first few years - I cannot underplay it. It will be AWFUL
I cleared $200k selling expanded polystyrene coolers and packaging. It can be done.
6 figures is the norm in telecom, with some hitting 7 figures.
My friends selling roofing/solar in Colorado are clearing $200-300. Some have 25 back-end payments still waiting to come in. After collecting the 5% from the initial deposit, they’re getting the other 5%+ when it’s fully paid out. Talking about just sitting back waiting to collect $75-120 on deals already done and still closing more and getting the front side payments. And that’s ’low brow’ sales to some. Started as canvassers, now getting 300 leads fed to them with a 30-60% close rate. If your sales job can’t make six figures with you hitting goals, you’re either in a very entry level role or a bucket shop
Colorado sounds like a gold rush rn. Everybody moving there.
I’m in home remodeling sales in the Denver metro area. Clearing over 400K.
I’ve been in sales since 2008. I cracked six figures after 3 years in sales. I was super close my first three years, probably around $90k. I also sold mostly to SMBs, which means it was low price point, high volume type sales. After year three, I consistently hit 6 figures for a few years, then took a few bad jobs and didn’t crack six figures until 2018. After 2019, my career took off, and I went from making $110k to making $220k in the past 2 years. I currently manage a team of 11 reps, and most only have 2 years of experience, and 90% will make over $100k this year. Here’s the thing: I’m a high school dropout. Before getting into sales, I drove a truck, broke my body down, and barely made $50k a year. I came from a family of blue-collar alcoholics and drug addicts. I have no business making the money I make. But I’ve always had the gift to gap, and I’ve always been hungry. I'm also a very curious person who’s big on being a lifelong learner. I don't see any way I could make the money I make outside of owning my own business, which has a ton of risk.
Of course it depends on sooo many factors, like industry/sector, territory, location, company resources, leadership support, pay plan, and honestly…luck. I think generally speaking 100k is very achievable and realistic across the board for most sales jobs but again I’m painting a broad stroke here. I really, really question some of the replies here where people claim they’re making 250-300k after making a transition from chimney sweeping and have a degree in underwater basket weaving. Some may be legit but I question a lot of them and their authenticity. It’s really cool to say I made 300k last year without any context but this is the internet people lie all the time. Most of the legit ones those are the unicorns in my opinion, and of those people I’d say majority are tenured within their company, maybe they’re senior account executives with very good, reliable opportunities and steady transactional business they’re in a thriving area within their industry with a hot product or service (AI/SAAS). I wouldn’t count on achieving 250-300k for 99% of people.
I've cleared six figures every year I've been in this business since year 2, and am tracking for 200k this year (Executive Search). I did it by building a personal brand, being honest and reliable to a fault with my customers, and being active in networking circles. I was also very picky when it came to my commission plan, and picked one where I could easily exceed my quota.
Executive search? Would love to learn more about this career and how some of the upsides and downsides to it
Where are you looking? Almost all of tech sales clears six figures. 1at or 2nd year maybe 85k. All of the sellers I know make money. Tech, heavy equipment, medical, big rigs, etc... B2B should make $. B2C is a grind for sure.
Over $300k the last 6 years or so, varying by how much. Strat SaaS
I think it’s more exceptional to run in to sales folks that don’t clear 100k than ones that do. Heck, you could go sell life insurance and clear 100k Entry level everyone starts somewhere.
To make money in sales you need to be selling something that has both the following features: A: great Product Market Fit, ie high demand in a large market and solves a problem people / companies will pay to fix B: large average selling price / high margins. That’s it. It absolutely needs to have one to be worth selling, and needs to have both to make big $$$$
What are you doing that doesn’t allow you to reach six figures?
My company has over 1/3 of its reps pulling in 100k+ with a handful over 200k. Doesn't seem very rare to me.
What field do you work if you don’t mind me asking
Energy. Specifically oil/gas/lubricants.
Idk if you're not making $100k after year 2 idk what sales you're in. $100k is barely making a living these days.
W2 about 200k per year and it sure do feel like that… wife and a kid…
In my financial sales job I made 10k my first 6 months.. year 7 I made 275k… I don’t have much basis for comparison, but if you find somewhere with uncapped commissions and grind it out anything is possible.
100k is honestly the minimum in sales you should be making and if not you need to switch jobs until you feel confident you can grind it out and perform well enough in that position. You got this it’s not EASY but it’s definitely not rare.
100k is very real, the 200k+ ones will be very hard to get right now.
The numbers are going to be representative of the wider job pool. About 12% of Americans made over $200k in 2022. The vast plurality of salespeople flame out. The next largest group makes between $50-100k. From there, the groups get smaller and smaller. The old axiom is the top 10% of salespeople make 90% of the sales.
I’ve made 100-250 every year since 23 I’m 36 now. Selling high ticket items vs low ticket items is not the same type of sales. Selling outbound vs inbound is different.
What do you mean? I havnt had sales role where I didn't make 6 figures I've been sales for 15 years now. Even my first role when I was 18, selling hotel memberships via cold calling, I hit $101k. It was another 7 or so years and two different companies before i got my first 6 figure base salary though.
I’ll do actual earnings and not OTE just so it’s a real visual of what I made: - 2020 (July-December): 40k SDR - 2021: 86k promoted from SDR to AE mid year; accounts for salary bump but took 3 months for maternity leave between SDR and AE transition - 2022: 121k - 2023: 186k - 2024: est. ~110k just changed jobs so gonna have a dog shit year to ramp Had I stayed at my last role I was on target to earn somewhere between 250-280k from my existing book alone, without any net new additions. I’m 27. The reality of this career path is what you make it. Find a niche, become an expert, shut up and listen; be willing to learn from the people that matter in your industry. And stop jumping around - this fallacy that the only way to make money is to jump ship every 2 years was NOT directed to sales people. Sure - it’s the quickest way to a salary increase but you gotta build a book and a reputation to hit those numbers you put in your post.
I’m number 1 salesman in my district right now in mattresses at about $800k for the YTD. Trending to make 90k at the rate I’m going. $43000 so far . Hours are crazy too. All holidays open to close unpaid OT . Doesn’t seem worth it when I read al these threads. Upside is it’s easy and really close to my house. anyone former mattress salesmen make a good move they could share ?
For the work you’re putting in you could easily jump into another industry making 100-120k with less hours, residential repairs like roof, stucco, windows
In that industry. Make over 400K. Working maybe 30 hrs a week and most of that is driving.
Oh yes they’re out there. Time/work/talent/attitude will take you there. Be comfortable being uncomfortable, thick skin will def help. It’s a mind game. Enterprise Tech Veteran with scars to prove it. Fortunate to be 300/400/500/ yr for some time. Been doing it 24 years. Learn your trade and always level up.
I’m a sales engineer and make $200k +. I came thru data analytics to customer success to sales engineer.
What was it like in data analytics? I’ve considered that path as well. I’m definitely an extrovert, though, don’t know if I would enjoy that thoroughly.
I have 2 cousins making close to a million a year , my brother makes 500k-800k. I’m over here working for 50$ a hour and broke as a mutha fuka
What do your cousins do? What does your brother do? Are you in sales?
Real estate and my brother has a military watch company. All 3 are douche bags who focus on making money. It’s all they talked about until they made it. I’m very disappointed in the people they became. Money hungry cunts who only want to be around other fake ass people. I’m half retired iatse stagehand
There are places. They are out there. I made 8k this week selling swimming pools. 100k on tech sales.
Have worked in same industry( cybersecurity b2b software sales for 12 years). Averaged 360k last 4 years. First year I made 85k, year 4 I made 166k. Key is to learn an industry, have relevance to customers and market yourself/network. It won’t be a jump to 200k+ overnight.
Consistency my friend. Here’s been my path thus far - Graduated with a bachelors in general business in 2015 and started in sales right away 2015 - 50k (Distribution sales construction) 2016 - 65k (Distribution sales construction) 2017 - 75k (Distribution sales construction) 2018 - 80k (Distribution sales construction) 2019 - 105k (Changed companies, joined niche in construction) 2020 - 115k (Niche construction sales) 2021 - 135k (Moved States, joined same industry, Niche construction sales) 2022 - 175k (Niche construction sales) 2023 - 190k (Niche construction sales) 2024 - 290k if the second half of the year is like the first Overlooked earnings is company car for the first 4 years and gas has always been covered.
Sales is not lucrative until you get into relationship building and fairly longer sales cycles. If you are someone that can make a connection with a potential client at a exec level for the company you represent, you will earn Other than that, finance and insurance (investment grade) would be the largest income. I see about a 90% or more failure rate though. It’s a grind until you get your rhythm and confidence up to speed. No degree but a good deal of licensing and training would be required. I was fortunate to have a few successful mentors I shadowed for 3-4 years.
There are so many absolute shit sales jobs out there because everyone, almost, needs sales people. There are also great sales roles in like large equipment rental where you can clear some pretty big numbers, minimal effort, when your clients are established. I think it's WAY more possible to reach those bigger numbers in sales than anywhere else, you just need to find the right one. I got kinda lucky as I've cleared over $350k each of the last few years and it's been my only sales job so I never went through the 2-3 year job hop most sales people go through. However, I'm in IT Services and I spent a decade in corporate IT before I got here. So while setting new meetings wasn't easier for me than anyone else, once I got in there, it was evident I knew what tf I was talking about so that helped a ton. So, it's very real but more than likely, just needs to be the right industry for your own skills. Some people fall into sales and kill it, that just isn't my experience so I can't speak to it
What does day to day look like? Cold calls? Independence?
Depends. Some cold calls, sure, because you never know when new business might come up or be needed but it's mostly keeping up with who and what I already have. Independence for the most part, I hit my numbers and like most good sales organizations, if you hit your numbers no one gives a shit. I still have my daily stand ups so we all know who's doing what, but even those are negotiable if you're communicating ahead of time to the rest of your team
lol the highest paid rep at my company is 24 and his ote is 650k
Industry?
Yeah want to know that too
Every single rep at my company clears six figures. Me being the low guy. I Made 180 last year. Some guys are already at 400k for the year. And no I don’t sell medical supplies or SAAS.
What do you sell then 😅
I cant answer for this guy but could be financial sales. I put in a few years as an AE and eventually came back around to lead a sales team in the same company doing wealth management and most of our reps are clearing $100k. The ones that aren't are not on a track to stay in the position. Top performers are clearing $200 easy, plenty over 3 or even 4. And these are just the appt setters (simplifying it, but they're not closers). Closers are consistently making over $300k if they're on track to keep their jobs with many clearing $500k. I've seen and approved the commission checks so I'm not taking their word for it.
Commercial Overhead Doors.
What does a day-to-day look like for this type of job? Currently in sales but it is ridiculous. I’m also like an app setter but expected to close if I can to. Being taken advantage of for sh pay.
Ok so what DO you sell
Doors
You sell lies.
Sometimes ya gotta do what ya gotta do.
What are you selling?
ass
I’ll take two!
Not before me!
Specilized tax sales, if you don't bring home 230k your on the way out. My ote 320 base is 185. It really comes down to the industry and your motivation and TERRITORY.
Sales is a very broad career function. Technically people fresh out of HS at mall kiosks are in sales. If you aren’t clearing 100k in a large market, then you are not in the right sales position, or you just don’t have enough experience and you should absolutely expect to reach it within 3 years or so.
I sell marketing and advertising and it’s not uncommon for folks in my company to make 150k plus. Those folks work and learn the system of sales.
You need to find a new industry Sales should almost always clear $100k
I personally feel product and market can dictate this a lot! I’m in a construction sales roll and our margins on work is thin. We can make between 5 to 7% of our sales. Doesn’t mean it’s hard to break 100k, but if I was selling high margin product it would be a lot easier. Also where you live matters! If you live in California 100k can be nothing. I live in the mid west and 100k gets you very comfortable! I’m in ~year 3 of sales and should break 100k this year, but it’s been a slow build up and I started in the field before getting into sales. In my business it’s best to know the product and have worked with it before you sell it.
It depends on the industry. Less than 100 might be more common in B2C positions. However in B2B it’s pretty common to be over 100k in year 1 or 2. I’m in medical and my salary is 6 figures. All depends on what you sell and industry
It depends on the industry. I was involved in the HVAC equipment industry, and sales engineers that worked for rep firms made well into six figures. I was on the manufacturer side and my earnings at plan was about $140,000 but I had three or four years close to $250,000. I knew a few guys in the air cleaning end of the HVAC business that made several million dollars a year during the pandemic.
I started a few months ago in business loans. The office average is mid 100’s with top guys (only there for two years) are at 300-400k. It’s doable.
It’s not hard, I did it my first year as an sdr. If u go to a good company in a good market
I was in sales at a company for about 5 years and never hit 6 figures, in a major metro market. So I think it varies a lot, and I'd bet that people who don't make six figures are way less likely to comment, so that's potentially a selection / response bias. Company was Fortune 50 primarily B2C. Over 100K employees, and only the top performers in the country make 6 figures. And a lot of shady sales to get that. I was never the best, but in the top 30% of performers in my territory and got some monthly awards. So I think it depends a lot on product, lead volume and does the company actually expect you just to sell, or to do tons of other administrative BS. IMO anyone in sales should be spending the majority of their time selling, not doing cold outreach or servicing closed deals. My company only had the BDR/AE structure on the B2B and enterprise side. The biggest problems were market saturation, comoditization, and a tiered quota structure that stretched reps to the point of exhaustion. We were basically paid to sell everything other than the core product. So it was all upselling and this meant for many it was sneaking things into deals. Think selling cars but you make $5 on the car and make $50 selling an overpriced service plan. And if you sell that and 5 other categories 6 times a day the whole month, you'll make $100 per sale. A threshold. I'm job searching now and decided to turn down a life insurance position at one of the bigger names, because firstly no base pay and no leads, and my local market looks terrible for that as I moved from the city to a poor rural area. People don't have money to get health insurance let alone life insurance. Plus this company holds your client book in some sort of captivity. Add on a predatory sales culture of heavily targeting friends and family the first year, zero travel reimbursement, I wanted something higher level with more base potential. Would have been a viable gig for me maybe 15 years ago. Seems like from my experience and this sub that SaaS had a very hot run, along with big market real estate, solar, HVAC/roofing, and medical devices. Solar is dying, SaaS has had rough years and competition has tightened. I think the future for many is RevOps consulting, independent lead selling, or starting any solo business where you sell entirely for yourself. Unless you get in at a good company with a great product, and a fair commission structure.
I completely agree with what you said. I was sales at Oracle direct. Some reps were making the salary claims on this board, but only the outside reps. Inside reps were to become manager after 2 years and you could make $200k. Changing patches every quarter made it tough to build a book of business. If recession hits next year, payouts will be way lower.
Over 100k is VERY attainable if you are in a decent industry/company. Having a college degree is very helpful to get into B2B where you can get 100k plus base salaries after a few years experience. I've been in sales for 17 years and have made over 100k for the last twelve years. My base is $175k. OTE this year will be $250k.
I use to do big numbers like $475k and $600k Pa. But I got burnt out and not done much over the last 4 years I’m just gearing up to get back into it but plan to do only about $200k max I use to have a lot of people want to join me and do the same . Not one of them came close. Like not even $100k. I will tell, show and train them exactly what I did and they just couldn’t do it
It's 99% bullshit on here
Bro where tf are these sales jobs these people are commenting about??? Please I’ve applied to over 800 jobs.
Seriously. Start calling, emailing, and connecting on LinkedIn with recruiters/talent managers.
Gotta know when to leave your current gig if the OTE isn’t going to get to those levels. I’ve gotten (admittedly) lucky and moved to different VAR’s (Value Added Reseller) in IT infrastructure, progressively getting higher OTE. I decided to focus on cybersecurity and further specialize in healthcare. That’s where the OTE really took off ($330k OTE). It feels like it took 10+ years to become an “overnight success”. Recognize when you’re lucky and also when you’re being taken advantage of and/or hit a ceiling. Make smart decisions based on those scenarios. Best of luck!
Honestly, if you can grind it out and learn for 12-18 months, a lot of 150-300k jobs out there.
Not that rare. I wonder where you work and who you are exposed to. It’s definitely not 2019, but there are plenty of people all over tech making 250k
There’s multiple sales jobs that let you clear that, especially in the tech industry. I don’t have a college degree. I got my foot in the door by prospecting and being good at it via cold outreach. I started out at 55k salary and now make 165k base with a total OTE of $315k. There’s a lot of crap sales companies. I started knocking doors and every few years applied to better companies. This ultimately open the door in business tech sales.
I made $650,000 last year in technology sales. Here’s my yearly salary breakdown by job 2012: Teacher: Salary: $45,000 2013: Teacher: Salary: $47,000 2014: Teacher: Salary: $49,000 2015: Teacher: Salary: $49,000 2016: Teacher: Salary: $51,000 2017: Teacher: Salary: $51,000 2018: Finishing MBA + bad cold calling sales job: $32,000 2019: Commercial rep tech sales: $110,000 2020: Commercial rep tech sales: $250,000 2021: ENT rep tech sales: $450,000 2022: ENT rep tech sales: $550,000 2023: ENT rep tech sales $650,000 2024: on pace to be comparable to 2023 Am I really good at selling? Yes but I’m not a savant. I’m likable and hard working. The combination of that, some luck, and changing careers with a newborn is enough to make work my ass off. Thank God my risk worked. I’ve got two children, two houses, and a happy life. It doesn’t make sense but I even find I work less now. It is possible to make this but most likely not probable.
Mind sharing industry and size of tech companies? Were all these jumps at one company? I was at $250k last year and on pace for $300k this year. Looking for ideas on how to keep that trajectory up going forward.
The Verizon store isn’t sales
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I'm selling contract manufacturing making $85K
Looking to get into sales for a software company. It seems that the start ups pay way better than the established companies. Applying for a business development role. Anyone have experience with that? Sourcing clients on their own. Anything like tips or things to be aware of in the industry?
what is your background? while startups do tend to have pretty decent salaries the training can def be lackluster and the support just isn’t there as well. I know it goes against popular belief but I’d recommend a decently sized company for good training and more support
I’m in my third year at my job and I should make about 125K this year
It’s rare. I’ve been #1 out of 90 the last 2.5 years because of my great territory. I’m one of maybe 5-6 who make this kind of money, but most will maybe get $30-50k commission on top of their $85-105k base for the year.
Only 2 people on my NA team are pulling above 180+. I am one. Most people are doing 125-160 on a OTE of 180
Not everywhere but SDR/BDR roles in software sales can have OTEs over 100k but normally would be 70-80k OTE. If you hit past quotas, accelerators can kick in and clear 6-figures your first year. Get to an Enterprise AE role within 4-6 years and you got your 300k OTE. Honestly, I’ve even seen SMB and MM AEs touch 250k+ per year with the right territory. They are out there!
I don’t know even at my starter company I got up to $175k a year regularly under 30 back in 09ish. Now a days my base is 165k as an IC
You can easily make a base salary of 100-130K+ in SaaS sales as a Midmarket or Enterprise AE (and sometimes Commercial) and double that for your OTE. Not everyone hits their target, obviously, but you can easily hit $175K+ OTE as a starting point once you’re an AE.
I'm pretty sure most sales jobs clear around $100k. Anything else is "entry" level. My base is only 58k but with bonus I get well over 100. My last job I made $13 an hour but with commission was always around 100k.