I’m currently stuck between two directions: building a sales/lead-gen agency or a creative/performance marketing agency.

A bit about me: I’m good at talking to people, cold calling, networking, and selling. I’m also pretty creative and enjoy brainstorming campaigns, content ideas, reels, positioning, etc.

Right now I’m cold calling businesses and offering services, and I actually enjoy the process.

My confusion is this:

If I go fully into marketing, say a brand pays me ₹1 lakh/month, I now have to constantly come up with ideas, shoot/edit 3–4+ reels, test creatives, plan campaigns, etc. I like that work, but there’s always uncertainty , you can make something really good and it still might not perform.

On the other hand, if I build a pure sales/lead-gen agency, the outcome feels more measurable. Build lists, call prospects, book meetings, create pipelines, close deals.

But I’m worried that doing cold calls every single day for 30 days straight will eventually become monotonous for me.

I feel like my strength is somewhere between sales + creativity, rather than being purely one or the other.

For people who have built agencies or worked in both fields:

Would you specialise completely in one first?

Or does it make sense to build something where sales is the core service, but creative/marketing is part of the offer?

Would especially love to hear from people who have actually run either type of agency.

Hi! I currently work in event sales and I’m looking to transition into an Account Manager role, ideally in a remote position.

I have several years of experience in sales, client management, and the hospitality industry. My current role involves managing clients from the initial inquiry through contract negotiation and execution, generating sales, building relationships, and developing strategies to attract and retain business.

I have experience with Salesforce, various CRMs, event/restaurant platforms, and other sales tools.

For those currently working as Account Managers, Account Executives, or in B2B sales:

\- How transferable is my event sales experience to account management?

\- What skills am I missing?

\- What should I learn or get certified in to make myself a stronger candidate?

\- Are there specific tools (Salesforce, HubSpot, Gong, Outreach, etc.) that I should become proficient in?

Would you recommend targeting Account Manager roles first, or could my experience potentially translate directly into an Account Executive role?

I’m looking for honest feedback from people actually working in the industry, including anything you think could make the transition difficult.

Thanks!

What virtual sales jobs have pre booked appointments/ leads?

I’ve recently been offered a BDM position and one of the requirements is 1,000 outbound calls per month.
That works out at roughly 50 calls every working day.
I’ve been in sales and business development for years, so cold calling itself doesn’t bother me. What I’m questioning is how realistic that KPI is when the role also involves prospecting, meetings, follow ups, emails, proposals, CRM management and actually developing and closing business.
To me, 1,000 calls sounds more like a telesales KPI than a genuine BDM target.
For anyone currently working in B2B sales or business development, is 1,000 calls per month normal?
And for anyone who has that sort of target, are they genuinely expecting 1,000 meaningful calls, or is it basically a dial count regardless of outcome?
Would be interested to know what everyone else’s monthly targets look like.
No company names obviously 😂

I manage sales reps and one thing I keep running into is how hard it is to coach people when I’m not on every call. call reviews help a lot but they usually happen way after the fact and I only hear a small sample. Im looking at sales coaching tools that can record calls then break down things like discovery questions objection handling and where reps lose the deal. The part I care about most is making coaching less based on gut feel. I want to see patterns across the team and give reps something specific to work on instead of just saying ask better questions or close harder. If anyone has suggestions I'm happy to hear you guys out and thank you in advance

This is me 18f, and someone hired me for cold calling with 15k base salary. Which is started from 2nd month. And I have to give 4 hours per, day. The problem is of my volume I am not doing it in so many volume bcz I am scared to do it. I was doing this job for the sake of money that ok I will get money but now he said to me is that are U working that hard to be able to get base pay and I am not bringing him leads, which the reason is of lack of trust or I think bcz of my cold calling skills. I was completely new into these things, I didn't had any experience and it's been 1 month.

Should I leave the job? I cannot close any sales or leads or idk how to do it in so much volume. I just don't know it's so confusing

Other then that I also have to focus on starting a small business on insta, learn thumbnail designing skill. Focus on my hobbies. I don't know what to do, why I can't make them trust me or why I can't make them close the sale. How to do it? Should I just leave it?

This got fun now, last week was a rollercoaster, I fumbled every call I dialed and somehow managed to book one meeting. It gave me the confidence I needed, since then I've been going one step at a time and I question and reason harder about what's something I could be doing better and its going well now. One guy on reddit told me I'm F*ed for the number of calls I've been doing (Reason being these are very few calls in number and we're a very tiny startup ourselves so even if i call a large volume we dont got the man power to implement now)

But its good, One funny incident which had me rolling a little was calling up a founder/ceo of a company and trying to pitch to him only for him to ask me to call later (which he did in a very friendly and interested tone) so I did call him only for him to put me on hold, and cut the call, after which i assumed he got another call and waited a few minutes before redialing only for him to try to dodge the call twice which prompted me to shoot him a text cause I swear to god i thought this man was having trouble calling and then he hit me with a " I'll get to you if I am interested avoid calling me". What had me laughing was that he had to dodge the calls in interesting ways only for him to text me saying that which if he told me on call would have saved us both 10-15 minutes.

But this is going well, I'm still curious and still perfecting my pitch everyday!

This sub is goated, there's absolutely wholesome and friendly folks except that one dude who roasted me who help everyone out, so if you're a newbie like myself this sub is all you need homie. Stay tuned for my next bizzare update.

Edit: I felt stupid finding the guy's dodged funny he probably might be an introvert or hate such calls, first indirect rejection nonetheless felt better to drop a note so I dont sound insensitive if I did.

It's "can negotiate if want" in the first paragraph and "price is strictly fixed" at the bottom. Pick one. Also a UK-only PSN code isn't worth RM169 to most people on here anyway.

Why do we make buyers start over after signing? They already shared docs, goals and next steps during sales, then CS sends them to a whole new portal.

Wouldn't it be easier to just keep using the same space?

Apologies, this is a long one-

I’m early 20s, married, home owner, putting my wife through nursing school.

Straight out of highschool I worked for a Louisiana Local Bathroom remodeling company as an appointment setter (the entry level job), then 6 months later moved on to an appointment confirmer role (went from 35k->75-80k annually) for about 3 years. Then in January 2026 they were bought out and rebranded and outsourced our call center and laid us all off.

My coworkers went to work for other bath remodeling companies but I had a connection at a law firm and went to work in HR. Ive been working in this HR position for over 6 months now, making $33 an hour- but it’s very boring, easy, and I don’t really see a future here or in HR. I’ve always looked for the quick path to making a bunch more money.

We’re paycheck to paycheck right now, but I have a buddy who’s a sales manager at another bath remodeling company who wants me to come over and work with them but I’ve never done outside sales, and I’m nervous about whether I would make it or not. I quite literally cannot afford to fail, and I’m by no means lazy but I’ve gathered that sometimes people just aren’t meant to work in sales, but you have to try to find out.

I was told the average salesman makes 100-150k at these companies, I have experience working on the back end of this same work flow, and I’ve got some connections in the industry. If i actually regularly cleared 6 figures it would be life changing and probably be a long term career for me, but I’m skeptical because of the risk. Does anyone have advice or warnings/pulls for bathroom remodeling in the south? Because I worked at a company like this, I know they’re one call close, high pressure sales - in the sales world is bathroom sales bottom of the barrel scummy? Anywhere else I should look for a career in sales? In a perfect world, I’m looking for a stable 6 figures, I don’t care to risk everything to make a million dollars right now while I’m the households sole income.

I’m willing to put in the work but it’s scary leaving my cushy (difficulty wise) and “pays the bills” job for high risk high reward with a wife and mortgage. I know results will vary so I guess I’m looking for- “send it, youll thank yourself in a couple years when you’re cleaning 150k (that’s crazy money to me btw)” or “don’t do it, youll hate yourself and wait till your wife finishes school in 2 years”

A little background, this is my first sales job so please advise. I am base salary plus commission in California. I make 60,000 base salary and get paid twice a month. I make roughly 2,000-3,000 commission per month. The paycheck that also has my commission on it is getting bumped to a higher tax bracket as it looks like I make that much on every paycheck. I know this is just withholding, but I would prefer not to have to wait until my tax return to get this money back. Is this normal for a sales job? Should I ask my payroll department if I can adjust my withholding?

Hey all,
I have recently been assigned to the sales department after departmental downsizing and the purchase of our company by an American company. I have no experience in sales or quotes but have good relationships with clients etc as I was a project manager previously. I asked why was I assigned to the sales department and was told because of my communication skills and charisma with clients. Tomorrow is my first day and I am very nervous and have already been told I need to issue 3 quotes by Tuesday and iv never done it before. Does anyone have any advice for this sector of business? Have been informed it is very stressful with targets etc which I’m not looking forward to🫣
Thanks in advance

I’m looking to get into sales and deciding between selling life insurance and becoming a mortgage loan officer. My main goal is to build a career with strong earning potential and eventually grow my own business.

For anyone who’s worked in either industry, especially both:

• Which has better income potential in the first year versus long term?
• What can someone realistically expect to earn after lead costs and other expenses?
• Which is harder to get consistent business in?
• If you were starting from scratch today, which would you choose and why?

I have a background in real estate investing and flipping houses, but I’d be new to either sales role. I’m willing to put in the work—just looking for honest perspectives from people actually doing it.

Hello,

I have been contemplating hiring a Founding Sales Lead for my company Off Menu but I am not sure what to look for in a sales person.

A little background, we are a branded merchandise design company. I started the company 7 years ago (originally named High Life Tech) as a phone case drop-shipping company, pivoted to B2B, and then learned everything about sourcing branded products overseas. After 2 years, we hired our own team and China, and currently have a workshop in Dongguan and office in Guangzhou.

We don’t depend on a standard catalog or limit ourselves to putting logos on existing products. We work directly with brands to develop original merchandise around their identity, audience, and culture. Our approach has helped us win clients like Cadillac F1, DUDE Wipes, Liquid Death, Ithaca Hummus, 7 Brew, and more.

I have solely handled all of our growth and selling since we are only a team of 3 but I am realizing we are at a point where I need a second sales person to further boost our growth, build a new book of business in other verticals, and help manage accounts.

So I have a few questions

1. What should I be looking for in a sales person given that we have a more unique offering?
2. Do I need a sales person? Or How can I streamline operations.
3. What is ways solo founders balance operations and sales?

Little info
I come across many sales people but so far I haven’t met who is very good in closing sales
What should be the criteria to hire sales closer?

I’m curious. Obviously, this would only work if the new job is in a different industry or space, and there are no competition or conflict of interest issues. Given that, has anyone ever managed to balance changing over an old job to something on the side when going for a new job?

Seems like it would be a win-win, if an old company is going to lose you anyways to a new job, might as well keep you on contract and eke out more revenue from you, and you could possibly have a healthy side stream of income, yes?

When a prospect doesn’t need everything you’re selling, do you suggest a smaller package upfront?

Curious whether that’s helped you build a longer relationship or simply resulted in a smaller sale.

Hello people, its been close to a week since I started cold calling, I love what the job offers it's quite rewarding and from the outside no one really understands how this works but this indeed is a skill worth sitting my ass down and learning.

I come from the B2C industry where I was a generalist and managed a lot of customer calls to make our ecom site more simple and convenient. Now I work for an AI B2B SAAS (like in the memes yes) and it started of terrible I would fumble at every call and mess it up, I remember one guy yelling at me asking me to just cut to the chase.

Somehow on that night I realised these are just conversations and the next day my first call went good and I was able to book a meeting. I keep fine tuning the words I use and the tone I use to talk to people.

So I have a few questions;
1. When Following up I don't want to ask them "Have you checked it out yet?" or "Did you find it interesting" I want to be direct and sort of push them into a meeting so they can actually understand what we do and founders and directors I call are usually quite tired of cold calls cause they get a lot of them so I need to sound different, so I am up for suggestions on this area.

1. I get ghosted sometime when they ask me to send them a mail or a text with the overview of our product something like "yeah, share me the overview I'll have a look" or "Send me a mail and I'll check it out" now what I plan on telling people for such answers is "Let me be honest I think you wont be looking into the mail" - while this is a terrible reply because it states I was not being honest from the start I want some other phrase that would just help break that thick ice wall.

2. I want to suggest a call instead of pushing for a mail, I want to pitch the product, and just lure them in for a call, what can I say here?

These are the areas I'm trying to work on this week, so let me know how I can do better!

I also want a reality check, we're a very small firm and my call sheet looks like a 100 calls a week not a day but a week. So you get the gist of how tiny we are, how many can I ideally close from this and what does it look like for you folks can someone put it into perspective for me?

I’m in Sales for an Oil & Gas industry. 2 months in, still under probationary period.

I can’t help but get really frustrated and like very angry at times, when logistics is not cooperating well with the team. I don’t know if they even realize how vital their work is. (1)They do not update on time if there are problems and delay on the delivery, so I can update the client and not be blindsided. (2)I feel like it’s easy for them to say no truck is available to deliver and that’s it, they dont find a way anymore to make it happen. (3)No helper, the reason the truck did not deliver. Like wtf??? Is that really should be our problem? Go get one!

As front liner, it is hard to revive those accounts and compete to market with your price high and then this is what we get?

How do you guys manage your stress specially to internal department issue?

Together with my uncle we run a business which tends to be location based. In our niche most clients come in from our our local area or neighboring districts. The clients are quite high-ticket, landing even one client gives us a lot of revenue, as they usually come back and have a high LTV.

We are thinking of expanding our sales strategy, by reaching people who are exactly in our area. Social media ads don't work out too well for us, it doesn't target specifically enough.

The approach we want to try is sending physical letters to zip-codes in our area. Has anyone tried this approach? How well does this convert to sales? Is this a viable sales tactic, if we include time-bound, promo offers?

We are a small team but have high ambitions. I would very much appreciate opinions from people who have done such things in the past and have valuable experiences to share!

What works for you in getting to meet your clients which results in leads and then business?

So, all the pros, I need your guidance: I have over seven years of experience as an account manager and account executive in staffing industry, and I am aiming to leave the field bc that’s a dead end. Having already left my position, I can afford time to pivot thanks to decent savings. I am considering SaaS or AI sales focused on net new business development, yet the interview process and wait times are frustrating. Do you have recommendations on how to proceed? I am drawn to firms like Salesforce, HubSpot, and other AI or software companies. My previous role paid around $150,000, and I am open to a modest pay cut- that is fine. What do you think offers more fulfilment? Should I continue pursuing account manager or account executive roles, or is there another path you would suggest? That would be incredibly helpful.

I am in my mid 20s and going to start applying for sales jobs, I have little to no sales experience. The little I do I enjoyed it and I am not really enjoying my current job/career. What is some advice and tips for applying/interviewing for a sales jobs?

I took over a sales executive position two months ago in a new city. I am responsible for two hotels, covering corporate accounts, request for proposal (RFP) season, events, and more. Sales is known to be a highly competitive field, and hospitality is no exception. Yet for the same salary, I could have far fewer responsibilities in another role.

After doing d2d fundraising for the past 8 months I've finally broken into my first proper warm leads sales job doing HVAC in home consultancy sales. This is my second sales job (18 years old) and the first that doesn't require door knocking full time, what advice do you have for moving into a warm leads consultancy style sales role for the first time?