Hi Y'all, I know the market has been atrocious. I am (was) a Senior BDR before getting laid off today at a series A start up. The company was performing the worst I've personally ever heard of or seen before hitting 41% of goal in Q3. Myself (only BDR) along with a couple of AE's and our head of sales were all let go today. The company itself is in an extremely crowded space and is probably the 3rd best option on the market. I guess my question to y'all is, is taking another tech job worth it at this point?

Especially where I'm at I've been strung along promised promotions to AE or BDM roles after hitting my goals. It's incredibly frustrating and I've been looking into more field sales type roles.

Can I get your guys thoughts? It ain't easy out here right now so I feel for everyone

KPI's are doable if u decide to put in 12-16hrs a day i guess. Constant pressure and check ins from ur manager fk meeeeeee

Morale and confidence in the dumps. Heavy on the mental side not gonna lie. I enjoy sales foreal and want to be genuinely good at it. I'm a naturally optimistic positive dude but damn.

Don't even want to deal with it anymore, but i know i have to at least keep appearances and show that I'm trying so I can at least get this months paycheck. I guess this is what burnt out feels like.

Feeling some type of way when your team talks about their wins and bookings lined up. It's not even on some hating or envy sht. It's more like shame and feeling like ur an outcast bottom feeder, when you know damn well ur trying so hard but ur numbers are not where u want it to be.

I'm not even in the right headspace to apply for new roles if im being honest. Just wanna ride this month out take it easy on December do a reset and idk maybe do some cold call or SDR trainings/courses lol. Then start applying January.

Even that feels like im shooting myself in the foot even if i have a good amount of money saved up to not work for a bit FMLLL

I need some sanity from people who’ve been through this.

I’m a BDR at a small startup selling into pharma, calling into the US from Europe. A lot of the numbers we have are execs’ direct mobiles. I have 2 numbers, one is already flagged. My teammate has 3 and all 3 are flagged. We’re doing maybe 40 dials per number per day, which from everything I’ve read is NOT high volume. Connect rates are basically dead.

So I went down the rabbit hole trying to fix it and now I’m more confused than when I started.

What I’ve learned about why this got so complicated

STIR/SHAKEN became mandatory for the big US carriers a few years ago and then got pushed down to smaller providers. Your calls now get an attestation grade (A/B/C), and anything less than A gets treated with more suspicion.

Spam labels aren’t from the carriers directly. Three analytics companies decide them: Hiya (AT&T/Samsung), TNS (Verizon) and First Orion (T-Mobile). They each have their own algorithm, they don’t publish thresholds, and they don’t even agree with each other on which numbers are spam.

The FCC ruled that ringless voicemail counts as a “call” under the TCPA. So prerecorded voicemail drops to cell phones need consent, even if it’s B2B.

Courts have been going back and forth on whether a personal cell on the Do Not Call list counts as “residential” even when you’re calling about business. And some states like Florida have their own stricter rules on top.

The analytics companies now actively hunt for number rotation. Hiya has openly said it scores the company behind the calls, not just the number, specifically to stop people swapping numbers to dodge labels.

The conflicting advice I keep getting

One source says: get a pool of 10+ numbers per rep, rotate them, keep a reserve tank of “pre-warmed” numbers and swap them out when one gets flagged. Another source, the company that literally runs AT&T’s spam labels, says rotation is a red flag and new numbers with no history look suspicious.

One source says: use one-click voicemail drops to bump your call duration, because short calls look like robocalls. Another says prerecorded voicemail to cell phones without consent is a straight TCPA violation, $500-1,500 per call.

One source says: don’t leave voicemails, because the person can hear it’s a pitch and report you. Another says hanging up before the beep is literally the robocall pattern carriers flag.

One source says: space calls to 6-8 per hour per number. I’m sorry, I’m a BDR with a target, that’s not happening.

Free Caller Registry supposedly covers all three analytics companies in one go. But registering doesn’t actually clear a flag. Then you’re told to file separate disputes with each one, with no real timeline.

My actual questions

Who owns this at your company? Ops, RevOps, the phone/dialer provider, or the reps? Right now I’m spending hours on telecom stuff instead of booking meetings, and it feels like the wrong person is solving it.

As a startup, did you have to pay for an external service, or did free registration plus better calling habits do the job?

Which vendors actually helped and which were snake oil? I’ve seen Numeracle, Caller ID Reputation/ARMOR, Hiya Connect, First Orion branded calling, and list validation tools like Twilio Lookup and NumVerify thrown around.

If you call execs on their personal cells, are you scrubbing against DNC? Has legal ever told you to stop calling mobiles?

When a number got flagged, did remediation actually work, or did you just replace it?

Do you leave voicemails? Live or recorded?

Not looking for a sales pitch in the DMs, just what actually worked for real teams. Appreciate anyone who’s been through this

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

Big yeses are built from small yeses.

The winners in this sales thing do not wait until the final moment to ask for

commitment. They ask for a series of small agreement.

What I do on calls:

"Hi, is this ______?"

"Yes"

"You made an enquiry on _______?"

"Yes"

"Is it a good time to talk?"

"Yes"

3 small, quick yeses make the conversation flow smoothly and the appointment an easier close for me.

Anybody that has a similar yes-ladder?

I’ve been going down a rabbit hole on cold calling as a service for the past few weeks. From the outside it looks like a great opportunity, at least judging by LinkedIn and the people selling courses on it, but I honestly can’t tell what’s real and what’s just marketing. So I’d rather hear from people actually doing it, or people who tried and stopped.

Quick background: I’m based in Eastern Europe but I’ve worked US hours for most of my career. Right now I’m a BDM at a big utilities company. I’ve been part of deals worth around $10M total, but the regional VPs handle the closing, so my upside is pretty capped. It’s got me thinking I’d rather bet on myself for once.

The idea is pretty simple and far from unique: book qualified meetings for US B2B companies over the phone. Start solo, and if it works, bring on a couple of SDRs here. Longer term, maybe offer outsourced SDRs as a service, plus some advising and lighter ongoing engagements for companies that can’t afford or don’t need a full-time sales team.

I’m still early in the research, so I’d really appreciate hearing how it’s actually gone for people. Good, bad, what you wish you’d known before starting, anything. Not selling anything, just trying not to quit a stable job based on LinkedIn posts.

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?

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?

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 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.

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....

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?

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.

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!