r/Sales_Professionals

I started learning sales theory and practicing it with Chatgpt and Gemini. I'm not immediately asking for money right now, but I feel I need to get real-world experience

what would you recommend?

We’ve noticed one of the biggest bottlenecks for agencies is clients opening proposals and then disappearing completely. i feel most business owners come for price shopping and ghost away.

Hey everyone, I’m posting here because I could really use a win or at least some words of encouragement from people who get it.

I’ve been in sales for almost 2 years now. I’ve attended all the trainings, done the modules, and put in the work, but I haven’t closed a single sale since I started. It’s incredibly frustrating, and it’s completely tanking my confidence.

To make it worse, my boss only has negative things to say, and the constant criticism is exhausting. I’m here because I just need to hear from people who don’t know me. Has anyone else gone through a dry spell this long and turned it around? What kept you motivated? Am I missing something, or do I just need to shift my perspective?

Any advice, kind words, or tough love would be greatly appreciated.

So I've been dealing with this for weeks. Tried the obvious stuff like searching LinkedIn and Google but it's just spray and pray without any real targeting.

Started with RocketReach since a friend recommended it, but honestly the data felt pretty outdated. Kept getting bounced emails and contacts for people who left companies months ago. Plus they want you to upgrade pretty quickly just to export a decent number of contacts, which feels steep when half the data is wrong.

ZoomInfo is accurate but they wanted me to do a full demo just to get pricing. When they finally told me it was like 15k/year minimum I almost laughed. Maybe works for bigger companies but not for a solo founder trying to find companies to sell to.

Right now testing Seamless.AI which is better on accuracy but still pricey at over a hundred a month. Also been looking at Prospeo since they let you search by things like which companies are hiring or using certain software. Could be useful for lead generation when you're trying to find companies that actually have budget.

What are you all using to build your company list? Especially if you're bootstrapped and can't drop thousands on a b2b data provider.

I'm pretty new to sales and was wondering if anyone here might have some advices, especially for selling individual software solutions? Feel free to share your tipps and best practices! 😄

I know $100k sounds crazy but I’m in California and I need it. I’m at the end of my rope. I have a degree but got stuck in procurement and can’t get a job anywhere. I tried recruiting but the company I was with was really shady so I learned it and tried to go off on my own but I haven’t had much luck.

I’m literally panicking and don’t know what to do. I even looked at construction jobs and it’d take me weeks to even start earning money, and then even after that, I’d be stuck at $22/hour for a while. I don’t have a girlfriend or anything to help me out and I’m so desperate and hungry to succeed…I’m not sure what to do.

It seems like sales might be my only saving grace. Are there any sales industries that take people with crappy resumes, hire quick, but have potential to earn $100k in the first year? I’m thinking about applying for car dealerships but I wasn’t sure if insurance, etc. is good too.

Please help.

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

I am in B2B business. Targeting e-commerce brands. Mine product is softwarel.

Current I am offering a 100% free service.

For brand going to Amazon and other marketplace searching product then going to there sites or social media. Collecting contact information like email (mainly doing through email)

I am doing a cold email to them. Category fashion, apperal, beauty.

Does anyone here has advice experience saleing to e-commerce brands. Any advice to get results quickly.

I am completely new to sales

Every time I consult with founders/entrepreneurs before shipping or product launch, I spend more time on the messaging than every other part of sales.

Why?

Because in sales, messaging has only one goal - to push the prospect to take action - in this case, make a purchase.

One of the first questions I ask before anything is this - is the message framed the exact way the prospect ask talks about the impact online?

The mistake many founders make is thinking that messaging should speak to pain points. That is true though, but only if your goal is visibility or awareness.

If your goal is conversion, your messaging should speak to impact the problem has on the business or outcome of solving the problem as soon as possible. It shouldn't just speak to the impact or outcome, but should speak to it the exact way the prospect talks about it.

Here is an example:

Customer problem:

I am tired of my finance team wasting 15 hours every week manually fixing invoice errors.

Message 1:

We help finance teams automate invoice processing.

Message 2:

We help finance teams process invoices faster and reduce manual errors.

Two different messages speaking to the same problem. However, only one can trigger action and it's definitely not message 1.

Another example.

Customer problem:

I want to stop straining my voice during high notes and sing confidently during solos.

Message 1:

I offer classical voice training for choristers.

Message 2:

I teach choristers how to sing high notes without straining their voice.

To a customer who has the above problem, which message will trigger action?

Same offer. Different messaging.

These are the things that shape sales before outreach even begins.

And no!

They are not new knowledge, they are just not applied.

If I clearly understand what a problem is costing me, I will act faster. If I can vividly see the outcome of solving the problem, objections reduce naturally.

As a matter of fact, the right messaging handles 50% of the sales objection.

Hi, I'm working in wholesale sales of 18k gold. I got the Job without past experience. I've been working here for the past 1 year. Can anyone help me with Ideas and ways to bring more sales? And how can we understand the trend and compete with our competitors?

Spent almost 7–8 months chasing a deal and I genuinely want opinions from people in sales/procurement/corporate roles.

We were working with two departments of a company. Multiple discussions, countless follow-ups, stakeholder meetings, site visits — the works.
One person from the client side worked very closely with us for almost 6 months. We practically built the project with him. Helped shape the scope of work, identified ground-level issues, visited locations, and even suggested improvements that made the entire project stronger.

His favorite line was: “Let’s close this this week.”

Need scope? Urgent.
Need quotation? Urgent.
Need senior management alignment? Urgent.
Need meetings with multiple stakeholders? Urgent.

We moved mountains because everything looked like a done deal.

Then came senior leadership discussions. CEOs involved. CFO meetings happened. During one meeting, the CFO literally said something along the lines of: “Let’s get this started.”

At this point, everyone internally thought this was as good as closed.

Then the same client contact started reducing scope, delaying commercial closure, pushing rate discussions from “today” to “tomorrow”… and tomorrow somehow became next week.
This went on for over a month.

Then one day he called.
I thought: finally, agreement signing.
Instead he says:
“Sorry. This project isn’t budgeted. Can’t move ahead.”

After 7–8 months.
My question: if there was no budget, why involve leadership? Why involve the CFO? Why ask us to build scope, improve the project and invest months of effort?

Was this a genuine project that died internally?
Or did we unknowingly end up becoming unpaid consultants helping someone prepare an internal execution plan?

And here’s the bigger question: when professionals waste months of external teams’ time like this, should there be accountability? Should this ever be escalated to senior management?

Curious how many people in sales have faced something similar.

Mid 20s M, I was in client service (think Expert Networks) for roughly 2 years, heavy prospecting & cold calling but not traditional sales, then a true enterprise SDR for ~1 year. That SDR gig was very easy, inbound-dependent plus lists that marketing came up with — I did prospecting from scratch a few times but that wasn’t as much of a priority, we were more there to qualify leads & pass them along to AEs if they were good.

I got hired as a BDM for a smaller company, selling to law firms/ corporate legal teams. Not huge deals (anywhere from $3k-$70k depending on company size), but it is definitely better pay & also my first crack at a full-cycle role with closing & real commissions. It’s more of an information/ media company so not software. Pumped about “moving up” in my career though as I figured this would be a good stepping stone at the very least.

Ive had weekly calls with our CRO, who’s my boss’s boss. I’m a little under 2 months in, completely new sector for me & as mentioned, first closing role, so they started me off with a smaller project, prospecting to “easy wins.” I did pretty well with that, have had a few on trials/ demos, & have been trying to learn as much as possible, as quickly as possible.

This week, my CRO mentioned my pipeline doesn’t have evidence of new business that I’ve sourced, really just cherry-picking off past colleagues prior opportunities without meaningful conversations generated on my own book. This kind of floored me as I’m only 2 months in, still learning a lot, etc.. made me very nervous that “oh shit, I’m falling behind.” I understand that he’s correct & don’t want to make excuses for myself, I just did not expect that.

My direct boss has been very supportive, helpful, etc., telling me I’m doing a good job, there’s a learning curve, all of that. I’m just now freaking out in my own head.

Long-winded way of asking, does anyone have tips to a newcomer on how to build, nurture pipeline? Have you ever experienced anything like this? I didn’t know anything about this space prior, so I’m still learning every single day. Any help is appreciated & apologies if this is the wrong forum for my rant.

Upfront: I’m paying for it with the GI Bill/military tuition assistance, so everything would be free.

The degree I’m ultimately working on is a bachelor’s in computer information systems, but there are a couple liberal arts degrees at my school that barely have any core requirements, so due to all the transfer credits I already have I could finish them within a couple semesters—before I even get out of the military. I’m thinking about doing that so I have one less hurdle when trying to find my first sales job.

Is it still true though that a lot of entry level jobs that require bachelors degrees don’t care what that degree is in? Even though it’s free, it’s still increasing my workload quite a bit because I’d be taking my CIS major classes alongside it. And the degree isn’t going to give me any sort of specialized technical knowledge or hard skills; it’ll at best add one or two interesting talking points to my resume that make me stand out as unique (but are still ultimately irrelevant to a sales job lol)

You have followed the rules of reaching out to your client.

You made the conversation about them.

You listened 80% of the time.

The client told you their problem and what it is costing them.

You established that they have a problem your product solves.

You even sent the brief.

Then suddenly, the client stops talking.

They have ghosted you.

When it happened the first time, you convinced yourself that you may not have handled the sales conversation well enough.

Then it happens again. And again.

Now you are doubting your ability to sell.

It is not you. IT IS THE CLIENT.

Let me tell you something about sales that most people learn the hard way.

Every successful salesperson knows about a particular type of client who will ghost you even when they have the exact problem your product solves. I call them "window shoppers." These people are aware of the problem, curious about the solution, but not yet in a position to actually buy.

Having the problem is one factor.

But

Do they have the money to buy?

Are they willing to buy right now?

That is why qualifying your leads can never be overemphasised. In qualifying your leads, you are looking for people with the problem, the budget, and the urgency to act.

All three factors must be present in a prospect before you push the sales conversation further. Otherwise, focus on nurturing them.

Here are the buying signals I look out for before pushing the conversation forward, particularly for high-ticket or subscription-based offers:

For B2B:

1. Are they hiring? - If they are hiring, the budget exists.

2. Did they recently expand? - If yes, they are in growth mode and so are actively making investment decisions.

3. Are they running ads? - If they are spending money on paid advertising, they are building.

4. Did they attend or host industry events? - If yes, they are investing in visibility.

5. Are they raising capital or did they recently close a funding round? - If yes, they are also in growth mode and actively making investment decisions.

For B2C:

1. Did they recently experience a lifestyle change? - Lifestyle changes (new job, promotion, relocation, new business) usually create buying windows.

2. Are they publicly talking about the problem you solve? - If yes, there is a 70% possibility that they are actively looking for relief.

3. Do they follow or engage with accounts in your category? - Attention tells you intent.

4. Are they asking questions? - If they are asking questions in communities, forums, or groups related to your offer, they are actively seeking the answer.

A prospect with the problem but no budget belongs on the waiting list.

A prospect with the problem, the budget, and the urgency just needs a little push to accelerate buying decision.

Know whom to spend minimal or maximal time with.

Worked closely with agencies and small businesses (restaurants, e-com, HVAC) for the last 6 months. Quick pattern observation.

Most agency owners are seeing the same thing right now: client list strong, MRR flat or declining. Retainers compressed, project scope shrinking, AI tools eating the margin on traditional work.

Meanwhile their clients have expensive operational problems the agency doesn't touch:

- Restaurants miss 30%+ of inbound calls during service. Thousands lost per location per month.
- HVAC contractors lose 50-60% of after-hours leads. First responder wins the job 80% of the time, price barely matters.
- E-com stores run 8-11 hour median response on overnight inquiries. Cart abandonment 2-4x daytime rate.

The agencies winning have made one shift: stopped selling "we'll build you X" and started selling "we'll fix this number." Not "we add AI to your support." Instead: "we'll capture the after-hours inquiries you're losing today." Same work, different conversion rate, different price ceiling.

What I see failing:
- Building tech in-house. Math doesn't work below 50+ users. Three agencies I know killed internal projects after 6-12 months.
- Reselling generic AI tools at thin margin. Clients see through it.
- Selling automation as a one-time project. The point is recurring.
- Pricing it as an add-on. The right framing is "replaces a part-time host / SDR / support rep."

What works: pick one vertical, go deep. Sell outcomes, not tech. Build it as a managed service, not a tool the client maintains themselves.

Agency model isn't dying. The "deliver one thing in 90 days" version is.

Anyone else seeing this shift? Especially curious about failure cases.

I'm a 3rd-year college student from India, and I want to enter the high-ticket sales industry. Looking for someone who is already in the industry to guide me as a mentor. Ready to work under you.

Already have experience in handling local clients (as a shop in a family shop in my hometown).

DM me if you're willing to take fresher under you.

We've been paying for Zoom͏Info for 2 years now and I'm starting to question is zoom͏info worth it. Just ran an audit on our last 1,000 contacts and found roughly 35% of emails bouncing or people no longer at the company. For what we're paying ($30k/year for 5 seats), that zoominfo accuracy rate feels pretty rough.

The mobile numbers are even worse. Maybe 1 in 10 actually connects to the right person. Half the time it's a main office line or just rings forever.

Starting to evaluate other options for our data enrichment needs. We looked at Cog͏nism briefly but the pricing was similarly steep and we're mostly US-focused so the EU angle doesn't help us much. Also been reading about Pro͏speo since a few people in my network have mentioned them. And I've seen Apo͏llo come up a lot but zoominfo data quality complaints seem to follow them too from what I've read.

Anyone else dealing with contact data decay issues? What accuracy rates are you seeing with your b2b data provider? We send about 5,000 emails per month so even 10% bad data adds up fast.

Currently a BDR at Salesforce, been here for 1 year and up for internal promo potentially in August but could get pushed back to as far as February depending on my teams headcount as well as other BDRs who are ahead of me in promotion line. There’s no internal promotions that happen in Q4 so if I don’t get the opportunity to interview in October then I’d be pushed back to February. Most BDRs never interview on time and typically get pushed back a couple of months. SMB AE comp would be 70k base and 110 OTE.

Have an offer from Google for Account Strategist role in ad sales. 110k base, 146 OTE, RSUs, and 10k relocation fee.

Do I take the offer from Google or suck it up and hope to be promoted to SMB AE this year? Long term goal is to stay in tech sales so this move feels like a step backwards.

Hi everyone, I’m an entrepreneur with years of experience in e-commerce and client acquisition, but I’ve never worked in formal sales. I’m really eager to transition into a sales career, but I’m not sure where to start. What advice do you have for breaking into sales especially remote or B2B sales without prior formal experience? Any tips or resources would be really appreciated!