2 Months Into Outside Sales, Advice Appreciated
Hey All,
I’m almost 2 months into a cold outbound sales position at a startup SAAS company. This is my first sales role after almost a decade in operations management. I made the switch mainly just due to the lower ceiling of operations. I had 6 promotions within 8 years at 2 different companies and still wasn’t satisfied as it felt like hard work didn’t always guarantee and translate to more money and success. So I took a sales job for an SAAS product that was adjacent to my operations experience. While I am overall happy with my decision, there’s been some aspects of sales I wasn’t prepare for. Given this is a start up environment, I don’t have the luxury of a long training program and support. I am figuring this all out on the fly with pretty much no coaching. I’m also working remotely so I am not around my team.
My first few weeks I was dialing with ignorance and I sounded awful but just kept going.
However about a month in, my confidence and hesitancy came in full blast and now I just feel stupid and am fully self aware of how much I suck. I feel like my attitude and feelings of discouragement are so loud and I feel defeated before every call I make. I’m not sure if this is common but it’s really slowing me down and I’m worried if my tone is coming across negative on the phone. This is really hindering my success and has resulted in low outbound activity the past few weeks.
Because of my success in my previous career and having much more control over my operations , being in sales right now and not having the same control of outcomes has been hitting me hard.
So overall here’s where I could benefit hearing from others who have been in this game awhile:
\- how do you manage confidence and staying resilient when being rejected all day and for weeks?
\- is it normal to feel like a complete dumbass when calling? How do you effectively prospect without being overly salesy on phone? Do I just need more time and practice?
\- what’s an actual realistic time line and path to becoming a legit closer? I feel like I am trying to rush this process but the above issues are blocking me from getting to where I need to be.
I am concerned too that my script and approach even when in good mood may not be ideal so I’m open to advice on that as well, I don’t really have a solid working script I just adjust based off the type of prospect I am calling. I’ve also found when I prospect heavy and find employee names I can call better, but that eats up way too much time.
Also just some results, I have booked 7 demos, 3 completed and 4 scheduled. so I know I have potential but I won’t be successful unless I can overcome the mental hurdles and prospect without feeling like a complete dumbass.
Anyways, any advice on the above or something you think I am missing would be highly appreciated.
Thanks all