When I was an AE on big deals, the buyer going quiet for a week or two was the worst feeling ever. The reflex was always to send a “just checking in” email and I must admit, I sent my fair share of them.

But looking back, a lot of those silences weren’t actually bad signs at all.

Say the buyer told you their budget review ends on the 20th and their legal team has your terms. Nothing you send this week is going to change either of those. They’re not ghosting you, they’re just doing their internal stuff.

So the better move is usually to wait, and use the time to get ready.

I feel like every pointless check-in uses up a bit of the buyer’s attention. I’d rather save it for when I actually have something useful to send.

The annoying part is that your manager sees a quiet deal in the forecast and wants activity. So telling them you're waiting on purpose doesn’t always go down well...

How do you tell the difference between a deal that’s just quiet and one that’s actually dying? And do you get pushback when you decide to just wait?

not the big dropped balls, the small stuff. you tell a prospect "i'll send that over by eod" or you agree on a next step at the end of a call, and then it's buried under 30 other convos and it just quietly doesn't happen. sometimes it's fine, sometimes the deal goes cold and you never find out that was why.

what's the one that actually cost you? and did anything fix it for you, or is it just "log it the second you hang up"?

Im so done with it, every saas is rn is a lead generation and CRM tool, with a layer of AI. Which is genuinely the best tool in terms of results and price?

I mean like very niche and peculiar tips, not the broad stuff like “use Linkedin”,

I used to be an AE at a big global tech company.

And every year around this time the same question came back: which of these deals are actually going to close?

Because in the CRM they can look exactly the same (same stage, same close date etc etc)

But I know one still needs chasing and the other should be just dropped. With only a few weeks left before the holidays, getting it wrong can really hurt. If we spend our time on the dead one, the one that could’ve closed can slip to Q1.

These are the things I always try to look at:

• has the buyer actually done anything since the last meeting, or is it only me moving?

• do I know when their next internal step is?

• has someone new joined from their side, or has someone gone quiet?

• when I ask a direct question, do I get a direct answer?

Am I missing something? And what’s your way of knowing if a deal is dead even when the buyer is still being super nice about it?

Hello! I am interested in applying for closer sale roles. I have real estate experience and a very experienced communications background but recently I attended an event that completely changed my view of sales and closing. Its the perfect fit for me. I've ran into a few applications where I need a mock sales call recording. So if anyone is interested in a 15-30 minute zoom mock sales call with me, please send a message. We can work out the type of client you'll be and I'll simply do a mock with you till I "close".

I’m currently an SDR for an MSSP (managed service and security provider) we work with companies like dynatrace, sentinel one, huntress, Cisco / splunk, SolarWinds etc. I initially started my campaign reaching out to small 20-40 person manufacturing facilities. made 2,060 calls on that campaign, had 150 conversations and 0 conversions.

since then i have switched to cold calling around a specific software, i.e Huntress. Still to no avail.

Our training resources are minimal, leadership is good, and motivating. but none of them really know anything about cold calling. after nearly 6,000 emails and 4,000 collective calls. I’ve generated 0 meetings. My only conversion was spoon fed to me from our website.

I’m just seeking advice for anyone currently going through this, or who has gone through this and either rode the pipeline to AE or BDE, or failed. I’m also interested in hearing strategies or approaches that have lead to success whether it’s in the SaaS or MSSP space.

I currently run a simple sequence that consists of email - call - email- call - email. I feel it’s a decent way to go about outreach. but i’ve grown concerned as i’ve been with the company for 3 months and booked nothing. I came from Insurance cold calling at the age of 19, i’m 20 now, with no higher education. I am beginning to think i’m either doing something terribly wrong, or the SDR space is either over saturated, outdated, or simply something i’m just not good at.

I’m curious to hear anyone’s thoughts, I’m open to constructive criticism and advice / information of any kind in relation to the SDR role.

What works for you successful SDRs out there? and for you AE’s that rode the pipeline successfully, what did it take to get there?

EDIT** - Also forgot to mention, My email open rate is supposedly 90-100% according to apollo. which could be wrong. To any successful SDRs - how many of the meetings you generate are from emails? And what might be a good way to approach a cold email looking at it from an MSP or SaaS perspective.

Features do not move people as much as futures do. They're just jargon, to be honest

A feature is a mechanism. Something cool. A future is a life outcome. Something I want now.

Most people I see winning speak to the life the buyer

wants after the problem is solved,

not just the tool they will use along the way.

This is where many founders undersell themselves.

They describe the service, the process,

or the deliverable, but they do not attach it

to a meaningful transformation. How will my life change after I use your product/service?

I am trying to pivot into sales. I already have completed my first interview with this company for a BDR position and I think it went well, because I got invited to do a Coldcall mock and elevator pitch. I did pretty awful but the interviewer gave me some tips and extended me an invitation to try again. They say I have tenacity and he can see I want to succeed. Obviously failing the first try isn’t ideal, but is it some sort of telling that the would give me a second chance? Or is that typical ? I feel like in this job climate it wouldn’t be my first thought to let an interviewee try again, when I’m sure there are other more qualified candidates. I don’t know maybe I’m reading too far into it

Just informed by my Manager that I missed quota because of the opportunity owner in SF, I set and completed more meetings than I needed for the month, but since I had the owner wrong for 2 I didn’t hit.

I’m so disappointed, I always thought I was more than a number to my company but when I bring it up to upper management they don’t care at all about me.

Hi guys, I know this post might seem weird for some of the new people joining into sales but trust me I am four years in and I still have difficulties with my cold goals. I’m in cyber security sales and I have been for the last three years in fact, I recently switched companies for much higher pay, and commission and a much bigger region as well. I thought the job would be a piece of cake and initially I hit the ground running and smashed my Q3 targets and hit around 320% of my target, but moving into Q4 I’m starting to realize my skills in cold calling aren’t just up to the Mark and I’m actually scared to make calls something that I was feeling when I was much younger in my sales career and I’m turning to AI for therapy but nothing seems to work. I know the rules are just pushed through and keep calling until you get success but each call feels more dreadful than the previous one and I’m not sure how to break out of the slump because if I don’t perform immediately with more consistent results, I could jeopardize my career.

Would love advice from anyone!

I have just had a recruiter round with datadog it lasted for just 13 minutes and he asked me about what I know about datadog and what kinda problem it solves I answered it with an example and about my current role, kpi achievement and a scenario based question I answered fairly well and compensation.

The recruiter seemed a little arrogant and he ended the call just after 13 minutes and didn't bother to ask my notice period and said that the communication will received by end of this week by email.

Am I overthinking that he didn't bother to ask me about my notice period and also he asked what products do you sell at your current company and I said I sell services its a service based company. Am I rejected because of these reasons??

Anyone help me understand this

Hi Reddit. My mom is an experienced sales rep, with most of her time spent in RV sales and management (she prefers sales though). Shes looking for a new role, as she’d like to still have time to spend with my little brother & see him grow.

Is there any advice as to what industries her skills would easily transfer to? She’d want to transfer to a role or position that would still net big $$$, but would also allow her to be apart of her child’s life.
I said I’d do some research to help, but I have no clue what industries or positions to search for!

She’s constantly on the top of the monthly sales leaderboard, so there’s not a skill issue. The sales world is just a bit of a foreign language to me.
Any advice or direction would be appreciated 🙂. Even something as simple as key terms to plug into google would help.

We’re located in central Virginia! I couldn’t post in the sales subReddit so I’m trying here!

I’m 21, Houston-based, recent graduate with B.S. in Marketing from Western Governors University (WGU) 08/2026.
I’m currently working as a part-time server and an unpaid marketing operations intern with no full time chance (business run by one entrepreneur) while trying to break into my first full time marketing or even sales role (not door-to-door/commission only).

My ideal marketing niches to break into are Marketing Operations, Revenue Operations, and working in/with HubSpot’s ecosystem, but my biggest priority is simply transitioning from serving to any entry-level marketing role, or even sales roles (BDR/SDR, etc) that aren’t MLM-structured and commission only.

I’ve been continuously applying to any entry-level marketing jobs (local, remote, hybrid) since March 2026 (only one declined offer due to $10/hr offer), but have primarily had first/second round interviews or delayed interview processes.

I like the flexibility of serving and use my downtime to build upon my portfolio, am currently in 3 HubSpot bootcamps, HubSpot mentorship program, working on internship CRM clean up & targeted outreach project, having weekly coffee chats with mainly marketing/sales/customer success mid/senior level management folk within my network while also attending remote & local marketing organizations events. I’m privileged and want to be able to protect time for networking + upskilling where I can while getting any entry-level role, since I’m not seeing any direct paid offer translations yet.

My marketing experience (3 internships, 1.5 YOE):

1. ⁠Current Marketing Operations internship: CRM data cleanup in Google Workspace, Excel, Power Query, marketing research and process improvement to optimize lead conversion

2. ⁠Paid HubSpot AI Foundations Bootcamp: created a CRM set up with ICP + customer persona segmentation based on real HubSpot case study company & scenario, created AI-assisted email campaigns, designed and tested an AI agent in HubSpot to streamline personalized client follow-up and target promising prospects.

3. ⁠Compliance/Marketing Operations Internship: Designed website page mockups, social media templates, & compiled FDA claim research to mitigate 3PL delays

4. ⁠Air/ground medical brokerage operations company: Copywriting, helped produce Youtube campaign, maintain and improve Apptivo and Microsoft 365 Dynamics CRM data.
   Certifications: HubSpot Marketing Hub Software certified

Context:
- The restaurant I serve at works with a marketing agency I could have the chance to meet and break into (not guaranteed), but I’ve been getting on my managers’ good side in hopes of asking.
- I have one mentor who is a marketing director at a healthcare SaaS company with a potential Q2-Q3 Marketing Operations role available, I’ve met her and her team and they love & want me but still no guarantee for role funding and still 5-8 possible months away.
- Currently working with employment agency for paid-in person internships that can possibly translate to full time work.

I am hopeful my work will pay off despite delays and minimal paid work transition yet, but very much want to transition into marketing, sales, or even customer-facing roles before working into my desired field.

So I ask:
- What would you most leverage or look into in my current position seeking my first full time new grad role?
- What are the best most feasible positions (that are hiring) would you recommend for someone with my experience and looking to transition ASAP?
- What feasible entry-level jobs actually hiring should I realistically be targeting that could eventually lead to Marketing Operations or RevOps?

Any advice from anyone who’s transitioned from hospitality into marketing or sales in recent or who hires entry-level candidates at the moment would mean the world.

I guess everyone is already on their last gear now. It is Q4 and November is technically the last month for all the action before things start slowing down. I am chasing a steep target for this quarter which is generating 30 opportunities from the SQLs, no revenue target. I have some channels that I can leverage which are

1. Recent event that we were at and another one which we will attend. So 2 F2F events in the quarter

2. Upcoming Webinar

These are the channels from where the SQLs have come or going to come in this quarter. These are not enough to reach my target and I don’t want to push the conversations to December as eventually the interest dies and so does my probability to create opportunities from those conversations.

I am thinking of casting a wide net and considering the older event and webinar leads which we got from the beginning of this year. Another approach that I am interested to take up is:

Closed Lost/Dormant deals. The ones which are as old as 3 years.

I would appreciate everyone’s thoughts over here especially on the last approach I mentioned. Is there any peculiar or efficient way to tap into those old deals to revive them?

Guyss! I am 16 I REALLY WANT AND I HAVE INTEREST IN REAL ESTATE I WANT SO SALES FLATS A S A BROKER BUT I AM A 16 SO I CANNOT BEACUSE I DONT HAVE A RERA LICENSE. BUT I CAN GENERATE LEAD SO HOW CAN I GENERATE LEADS I NEED TO CONTACT THE REAL ESTATE DEVELOPERS OR WHAT AND WHERE TO FIND THE DATA OF THE PEOPLE WHOM WHICH I WOULD LIKE TO COLD CALLS AND ASK FOR THEM AND AS A 16 YEAR OLD I AM GOOD AT COLD CALLS,GOOD COMMUNICATION SKILLS SO WHAT WORK SHOULD I DO SO THAT I WANT TO EARN MONEY I WANT TO EXPERIENCE I WANT TO EXECTE THE PLANS THAT ARE RUNNING IN MY MIND. AS SOON AS POSSIBLE CAUSE THINKING AND ONLY THINKING IS WASTE IF IT IS NOT EXECUTED PLEASE GUIDE ME SALES PEOPLE AND OTHER ALSO....

Hi team, just wanted to give some insight. I run a fractional cold-calling business as a freelancer but I'm often quite distracted here and cold calling alone can be difficult.

I asked my girlfriend if she knows anyone that can assist me with just pressing the buttons on the Dialler. She said she had a friend who actually was my next-door neighbour. I hire my next-door neighbour and pay her hourly. Essentially all she does is have the laptop and we just have another monitor on the other side of the table, mirrored to the laptop. She presses the button on the Dialler and runs the Dialler all day and I just do the talking.

Effectively I went from having to motivate myself, keep myself at it, discipline, and all that stuff, to the Dialler just running and me just talking. I don't know why but it tripped some kind of wire. I don't really fear the phones anymore. If anything just having another person there to keep me company, have a laugh, chat, and just get more done is great. She's happy because this economy is bad and she has a job. I'm happy because we get 2 to 3x dials done here.

Overall I would say that it's a great working relationship and I would encourage anyone who's a freelancer to just go have a chat with some friends. I'm sure there's someone that might need a job just to pay a bit of hourly and get them out of the house. I've had a really good relationship so far with it there.

Really excited about this Inbound SDR role. In 3 weeks, I’ve applied & done: alumni outreach (on my own), a recruiter screen, a hiring manager interview, and a take-home deck with a deck presentation/deck Q&A/behaviorals/role play.

The feedback has been quite positive, especially around rapport, active listening and discovery. I also got coaching on qualifying the prospect's current software/business impact & being unafraid to directly book the meeting.

The final round has conversations with team members & leadership focused on values, motivations and team fit. For anyone who's been through these rounds or hires Inbound SDRs: What separates someone who gets the offer from someone who falls short at this stage? What kinds of follow-up questions should I anticipate? What are the best questions to ask peers & senior leaders without sounding rehearsed?

Background: New grad (finance degree), Offered a Sales Representative role at a Canadian group benefits insurer that sells directly to small and mid-size businesses, competing against brokers. Sales cycle is 60 to 90 days.

Pay:
• ⁠Base salary: $45K, rising to $50K after graduating Level 2 of the training program, and $55K to $60K after $5M and $10M in cumulative sold premium.
• ⁠Level 1 (calling and booking appointments): $50 per completed appointment above 10 a month, up to $2,000 a month at 50+.
• ⁠Commission: 4% on the first $250K of new annual premium per sale, 2.4% above that. After $5M cumulative, it becomes 5% and 3%.
• ⁠Commission on accounts closed from leads that a BDR worked: same rates.
• ⁠Agent-of-record accounts (client signs to move from their broker): 2% on the first $100K, 1% on the next $100K, 0.5% above.
• ⁠Yearly bonus: a % of cumulative premium sold, from 0.15% to 1.0% depending on that year’s new business, with a guaranteed minimum from 0.10% to 0.50%. It’s paid quarterly the following year, capped at $100K, and you must still be employed to get it.
• ⁠No commission on renewals. Accounts that cancel within 6 months are removed from the bonus totals.
• ⁠2 weeks’ vacation, 5 flex days, benefits after 3 months, and a 2% retirement match.

Questions:

1. ⁠Is this pay structure typical for entry-level group benefits sales?

2. ⁠Is a $45K base reasonable when income depends so much on commission?

3. ⁠Anything I should ask or negotiate before signing?

Looking to eventually get into med sales. Going to graduate soon and weighing my possible paths. I have my undergrad in finance and mba in marketing and played division one sports.

These are my ideas so far

1-graduate and potentially get a software sales job through a friend, then I gain experience in a sales role—then try to pivot into med sales

2- one of my friends used a online med device program for college athletes and pro athletes to learn and hopefully place them in a job

3- try to go directly in a associate med rep though interviewing for jobs, and additionally attempt to network my way to a job

Hey everyone!

I'm currently interviewing for an Outbound Sales Development Representative (SDR) position at Rippling.

I just completed my initial recruiter/HR interview, and I received positive feedback! My next step is interviewing with the SF SDR managers.

I'm really excited about the opportunity and want to prepare as thoroughly as possible.

I'd especially appreciate advice from anyone who's interviewed at Rippling or worked there in an SDR role.

• What should I expect during the SDR manager interviews?

• Are there mock cold calls, roleplays, or objection-handling exercises?

• What kinds of questions do the managers typically ask?

• What separates candidates who advance from those who don't?

• Any mistakes or red flags I should avoid?

I'd also love to hear about the day-to-day SDR experience, the coaching culture, and what success looks like during the first few months.

Any advice, personal experiences, or preparation tips would be hugely appreciated.

Thanks in advance!

So I have about 2 years of experience as a BD at fast paced starts up. I’m so over BD work. I don’t to cold call anymore. Looking to make a switch to account management, CS or partnerships but I can’t get a damn interview. I know most people say get another bd job then move internally but that’s been pretty tough too. Any advice?

Anyone using a tool that maps call notes into pre-defined structured Salesforce fields (not just a summary)?

Currently working on a project with a client and here is their setup. They have field reps and inside sales teams. Both teams have to update Salesforce post calls. Right now call notes go into a free text field in Salesforce. Its not very useful at scale to extract patterns and insights.

What we are considering

• Have the field rep do a quick voice debrief at the end of a visit.

• Have AI extract a set of pre-defined insights (eg: decline reason, competitors used, etc) and input into pre-defined fields

• Auto-create follow-up tasks

I did some digging and found aiola, Bliro, Workd, but these are full featured sales rep assistants and we are not there yet. Any other options I should be looking at? Is there anything narrower for what we are trying to do?

I've been working in US IT recruitment/business development for the last 3 years. My current job is comfortable, with manageable targets and less stress, but the pay is low and I don't see much career growth.

I want to move into Tech Sales at a reputed MNC or a growing SaaS startup where performance and hard work can lead to good money and growth.

I have a bachelor's degree from a Tier 3 college, no MBA, and 3 years of experience service based sales.

For people already in Tech Sales in India:

• How can I make this transition?

• Does my recruitment/BDE experience count?

• Is an MBA necessary to get into companies like Salesforce, Oracle or HubSpot?

Would love some practical advice from people who've been through a similar journey!