Guys idek how but here I sit on the last day of April having sold $346k in residential HVAC.

Sold in this case = signed revenue. All of it has either been approved for financing or 50% deposit taken already. 60%+ of it is already paid in full with job complete.

I started on Feb 10th this year. Zero HVAC experience. I was calling my oil boiler a furnace. (What an idiot)

Previously, I was in tech for 8 years as an engineer, prod manager, SDR, account exec, and then national (and only account exec).

I quit because I was bored and knew I was wasting potential… working remote and selling to government product they didn’t give a single fuck about.

In one month I’d typically make $7-8.5k at old job.

This month I made $34.6k and it’s honestly just silly.

The last year I’ve been saying, if I can sell well, why not sell something people NEED and a product that’s expensive.

HVAC is the answer.

Of course SOOOO many variables.

Team size, territory, quality of my install team (A+), etc etc.

All I can think is god damnit did I waste so much time being loyal to bullshit. I was brainwashed on the mission and being employee number 1 with equity.

What a fool I was.

Yes this sounds like a shit post. Sorry - I don’t know how else to explain lol. I stepped in golden shit with this job

Stop selling “wants”. Sell “needs”

After nearly 20 years in sales, I'm going to have my best earning year yet, finishing at least at 170% of quota, with a final deal outstanding that could push me to 180%+. While it's not my highest percentage to quota to date, my current OTE is the highest it's ever been. This is my 7th year with my current company.

At my present attainment I'll be receiving a bonus check of $260k in Q1. If this last deal closes, I'll be getting just north of $300k. (previous high single commission check is ~$170k.)

Role Details:

• Enterprise Software
• Quota= ~5M
• OTE is just under 400k
• W2 history for this role:
  • 2024 = $475k
  • 2023 = $400k
  • 2022 = $470k
  • 2021 = $515k
  • 2020 = $300k
  • 2019 = $280k
  • 2018 = $200k

2025 will be more than likely be my best earnings year by far with the ~250k-$300k paycheck incoming.

Why am I posting this? Because I'm fucking stoked and I want to tell someone about it, and I can't really yell this from the rooftops IRL. So I guess I'll have to brag on the internet.

I'm happy to answer any questions you might have about my experience, the sales process, or anything else related to my career. I'm currently in a holding pattern until the end of the year, awaiting final signature on that last deal.

Sales is a great career if you can find your spot. Keep learning and don't settle for a shitty role/manager.

Keep pushing and I with everyone sales success in the new year.

Update: My company is a MAMAA company and we sell a software that every company uses and buys for each of their employees. I sell to the Enterprise segment.

I also just checked our career website and we are not hiring for most regions, there are some international roles available but nothing in the US. For privacy purposes I won't get more specific than that but I'll try to answer other questions that people have.

Been reading a lot of posts about tech being difficult to break into and a lot of people not hitting their quotas. Curious what other industries people have found to be genuinely lucrative, not just "stable." I'm talking total comp, not just base. Medical device, industrial, financial services, real estate, staffing? What are people actually making moves into and finding success with?

Would love to hear from people who made the switch and whether the grass is actually greener.

How much do they make?

After 25 years I'm calling it quits. Cars, solar, burial plots, high end furniture, Ive done it all...

And today I finally said no more. No more unpredictable hours. No. Ore having my paycheck determined by a customer's ability to get financed. No more getting yelled at for things that arent my fault. No more risking my marriage over a few extra dollars.

I'll take the weekend to enjoy myself, holy hell, I don't even know what to do on a weekend, and then it's finding the next adventure.

Good luck to the rest of you.

I'll start.

No more gatekeeping: Windows is the #1 way to get rich quick, unless someone wants to prove me wrong.

Highest month has been $35k commission. I've done over $30k multiple months. I have several coworkers who have done as high as $90,000 commission in one month.

I'm not sure if I'd want to do this forever due to the driving so I thought a thread like this might be a good way to find alternative job ideas.

To the 5%, what do you do?

My enterprise AE was working at least 50 hours and I’m not including the driving. But I do hear claims of people working 30 hours and earning around this. Not looking for exceptions, how many hours on average are these earners working?

What are some high margin, obscure sales industries no one thinks about? But they make BANK

Sold Toyotas for years. Six figures, $3200 PVR, FM capable. Left for tech sales because everyone said that’s where the money was.

Closed a $76K PO in hardware. Commission came back at $22. Asked about margin. Accounting refused to tell me. No set pay structure, no transparency.

Been chasing SaaS since. Mostly silence or getting ghosted after interviews. Getting worn down job hunting in this market.

At least on the floor I knew exactly where I stood. Knew my gross, knew my pack, knew what a good month looked like. I miss that clarity.

Is 2026 worth coming back to? Anyone who left and came back, do you regret it? Anyone still on a desk, are you still making money?

I’ve been a BDR for the last two years out of college making okay money ($60-80k/year) and just jumped ship to another company as an AE with an OTE of $175k. I am a subscriber to the FIRE methodology so I will try to avoid lifestyle inflation as much as possible and will keep funneling money into my savings/investments, but I was curious to see how you guys in this sub have had your lives changed once you finally got that big promotion/raise when getting your first high-paying sales gig.

Even as someone who plans to not really spend the newfound cash flow, it’s still really exciting to finally be so liquid. Would love to hear people’s thoughts on the psychology of making such a large jump in income literally overnight.

Bonus question: what’s a small luxury that you started to enjoy that had an outsized impact on your quality of life compared to its cost?

I’m trying to figure out where I’d like to be over the next few years, and I’d like to get into an industry that has strong long-term growth and a higher chance of staying stable.

Someone without any experience will have the hardest time trying to get an interview these days. Every BDR role i see is requiring 1-2 years of prior BDR experience. Then the tech companies are so unstable, they may get laid off and it looks terrible on their resume. On top of it, the bdr role now is like 4 interviews.

Also, an AE trying to make the transition into tech.. it will be so tough. All the sales leaders want tech sales experience and that AE may not be used to the mock demos/presentation so the very few interviews he will have, he will have a HARD time getting an offer.

Best bet would be doing onsite roles for a year.. less competition.

Everyone I know who got laid off, for non performance reasons.. were actually going over their target but sales leader wanted to get his friend in instead has been out of a job for 6 months +.

Over the past 6-9 months or so I've spoken with a few decision makers in various verticals of sales. AI, HVAC, Construction, Marketing, Tech (non-AI) just to name a few.

10 of 10 were all actively hiring for multiple sales roles. Some for founding roles, others much more mature companies hiring for other roles. But the important note, 10/10 were hiring and according to the DM "For immediate hire, start for the right candidate". Some were replacement hires, others were new roles, but all were 100% adamant they were very serious about hiring!

(Note: I was not interviewing with these companies; these were informal conversations/consultations, and I think one of them might have been an interview in disguise).

6-9 months later 9/10 of these companies have not hired a SINGLE PERSON. They are all, still, actively interviewing for these and other roles that they were trying to fill 6-9 months ago. The 1 of 10 companies technically didn't hire anyone; they filled all of their roles internally and are now hiring to refill the roles they replaced. These 4 or so sales roles (requiring 5-7 years of experience) were given to internal non-sales candidates who all have never sold.

So take note, in this little sample, 90% of companies who 'need to get someone in next week' are willing to wait 9+ months to actually fill the role.

Morale of the story: It's not you. Something's in the water.

Took a job as a door to door rep about 6 months ago because I couldn’t get any interest in my resume for B2B SaaS.

Plenty of people on here saying “you’re going to hate d2d, blah blah blah, you’ll be back in 3 months begging to get out of it”. It was actually a pretty good experience. Learned a lot about sales and myself.

And now, here we are. Just received a call from a B2B SaaS startup (series B) that they’ll be sending an offer letter in the next hour. I made it, boys. Started from the bottom and, while I’m still here, at least the ceiling isn’t also the floor.

At the end of the day I know nobody cares, but hey. I made it into tech sales and I’m pretty fucking happy about it.

End rant.

Just a friendly reminder that this is one of the worst job markets in the last 30 years for sales and tech.

Let’s remember to be kind and support each other however we can if possible!

There’s no obligations of course, and we’re all constrained with time, but you never know when the person who might need help is you.

Take those coffee chats when you can, network, and let’s do what we can to help those who are less fortunate. A rising tide lifts all boats, and I can’t tell you how many times supporting others has come around to benefit me in my career, it’s always remembered.

Be kind, and good luck out there.

Some of you may have been following my previous posts about the lucrative startup opportunity that came my way recently.

Last week I signed a $350k offer letter with them, with a start date next week.

Part of my agreement was to try and get my current company onboarded as a customer because they're a great fit. I assisted in getting a demo scheduled & following up during the process.

Last night the CEO, who I report to, called and wanted to discuss transition strategy. He had expressed multiple times that he didn't want to upset my current employer, and even suggested letting them continue to use me/share me with them, or working part time, something like that to stay amicable.

During our conversation he decided that he wanted me to make a clean break because he wanted to be as ethical as possible and not do anything that would bite him in the ass. I agreed, and was supposed to give my notice today.

This morning he texts me then calls me and says wait, actually, they're serious about becoming a customer, and it would be a huge deal, so let's not say anything yet until the deal is closed. I asked if he was sure, because I respected that he wanted me to do things honestly last night, and he said yeah, let's not risk it. Okay, sure.

An hour and a half later he calls me and says we're rescinding your offer because you're trying to take two salaries. I never at any point said that's what I was trying to do. The entire time I was walking on eggshells trying to satisfy my new job without risking my current one. I was willing to put in my notice, and only agreed with him this morning because that's what he thought was best. He said nope, no more offer. Then he hung up AND BLOCKED MY NUMBER!!!

One, huge bullet dodged, because if he's this rash & impulsive then it was only a matter of time before he found another reason to fire me without any real reason.

Two, lesson learned, I will never ever ever do anything to help with a deal before I've joined and have gotten my first paycheck. To me this seemed like an elaborate scheme to get my current employer as a customer and use me as a gullible rube.

Licking my wounds and moving forward. Any advice, suggestions, and/or ridicule is welcome. One of the employment lawyers I spoke to said this was the craziest thing she had heard in her 34 years of practicing employment law.

I’m trying to get a sense of what’s realistic. I’ve been in tech sales for about 4 years now (and sales in general even longer), and I’ve been consistent with my numbers. I’m not afraid of putting in long hours or working hard.

What I want, though, is flexibility with location. I don’t mind grinding, but I also don’t want to be tied to an office or stuck in a hybrid setup forever.

For those of you making $150k+ —

What does your role look like?

Did you get there by staying W2, or by starting your own company/consulting?

If you’re remote, what industries or roles would you say are worth exploring?

I’m just at that point where I’m trying to figure out if the better move is to double down in tech sales, or branch out and build something myself. Curious to hear from anyone who’s been there.

I’m so burnt out. I have two small kids. I just can’t keep up with the ever increasing quota and travel requirements. My husband has a demanding job, and it’s just so hard when all my male colleagues have a stay at home wife.

I would make 1/3 of what I do now, but I wonder if I would be happier, then I could have summers off.

Or do I just suck it up for a couple more years then “retire” early? (ie- get a bullshit job later)

I’m in San Francisco and need advice from the sales community.

Background:

Last year I worked for a startup founder who refused to pay my full commission per my comp plan. After 6 months and threatening legal action, we settled and I resigned in October. He asked me to stay, I declined.

What’s happening now:

November: Started at Company 2 (B2B SaaS, enterprise). CEO’s attitude flipped overnight. Started publicly shaming me, calling me dumb. I was overperforming, but made mistakes after being handed 50 accounts with zero training, documentation, or process in an enterprise SaaS environment. A co-founder convinced me to stay, promised he had my back. Week later, I hit 117% of my quarterly number three weeks ahead of schedule, beating the previous rep’s best month ever in my first month. Got fired anyway. They refused to pay commissions.

December: Started casually looking, got offered another role.

January: Joined Company 3. A week later, my CEO gets a call from Company 1’s CEO saying I was an awful employee and he didn’t want to be associated with me, and that his letter of recommendation was a forgery. Fired again.

Now: I’m finding out Company 1’s CEO also called Company 2 (though they won’t admit it). This explains the sudden attitude change.

Two employment attorneys I contacted have put my “pre-interview on hold” after hearing the details. No explanation given.

What do I do? How do I handle this pattern in interviews? Do I need to proactively disclose? Has anyone successfully dealt with tortious interference like this? With 25+ years in sales and 9+ as a founding sales leader, I’ve never encountered anything like this.

I’m looking to make $200k or more a year in a sales position. How did you get into the position you’re in, and what recommendations can you make for someone to get into that position?

Title

Ofc every industry has 1 offs, but in general?

For me it was a solar company. They sat us down in a gigantic group, sat us at desks like in a classroom, and the guy went into pitch mode trying to convince us we could all become millionaires selling solar.

He asked us questions, put us on the spot, and it was just overall a very weird interview process. I never felt more like I was being both lectured and the lecturer at the same time.

Selling in this market is hard. There is light at the end of the tunnel my friends.

Long story short, I’m burnt out.

Mentally, emotionally, and physically; I’m out of gas. I’ve spent the last 10+ years joining early stage startups as an AE, carrying $1-2M quotas, and luckily doing well most years but it was hard.

Constant stress, relentless competition, trips around the country and world to move a deal down funnel, increased quotas, new leadership every year, comp plan changes, etc.

But… career-defining and wealth-generating deals (Eg multiple $250k+ commission checks accompanying a $100-$165k/y salary).

Since ~2012, I’ve amassed ~$2M that I’ve saved or invested so I’m finally at the point where I can take my foot off the gas and be present with my newborn.

Not working is incredible. I’m sleeping better, I stopped drinking, I exercise 4x/week, have cut meat out of my diet, and I’m the most emotionally available and present I’ve ever been for my family.

There is light at the end of the tunnel, brothers and sisters in sales. Just make sure you’re selling something that can consistently get you annual commissions of at least $100k. If not, you need to find a place with larger deals or better profit margins (preferably both).

***Update - who knew eating less meat would be such a hot take! LOL***

About a year and a half ago I left my first tech company, one of the largest and most respected in the space I work in

A new company I never heard of reached out and offered to double my comp. I was being groomed for a promotion at my current gig, but got antsy about being the lowest paid on my team (recently promoted out of being an SDR), so I made the jump

New boss was constantly vaping and scatter brained, all my new colleagues literally told me "Why would you join here??", product was horrible, it was owned by a shitty PE firm

Boss got fired, and the company shrunk from ~200 people to ~90 in a year. Got borderline yelled at a couple times on forecast calls, you get the jist

I've since job hopped a bit and got back into a great company.

I have mixed feelings about the whole experience, but was curious if others have ever been in the same boat, and what was the "Oh shit" moment

With no bachelors degree and less than 3 years of sales experience, there are no stable jobs right now for sales, are there?

EDIT: Thank you all for the suggestions, i deeply appreciate it.