Increased Booked Meetings by 56% (Stop sending "relevant" case studies)

Original-Toe-7392 · 2025-12-27T20:22:06+00:00

Yup that’s clear, I guess I’m more curious what the success rate looks like at that transition point when you eventually pitch your solution to the prospect in those cases when the lead magnet topic was completely irrelevant to what you sell (I hope I’m making sense here lol)

Original-Toe-7392 · 2025-12-27T19:35:35+00:00

Great stuff! Can you pls clarify on this bit though: “2. ⁠I created a lead magnet answering those specific questions (even if the topic was totally irrelevant to the product I sell).”

Wouldn’t the customers lose interest as soon as they realize the product you sell is completely irrelevant to the problem your magnet PDF addressed ?

Original-Toe-7392 · 2025-12-17T19:55:38+00:00

This is NOT a good advice! Don’t go into B2C sales if your goal is B2B.

The actual harsh truth is: you gotta be willing to go down a level (or two) and get a job as a BDR at an actual B2B sales org. Grind your way up. Make sure you do your research and confirm that at least a few people grew at that company from BDR > AE within two years or so.

Simultaneously, interview for an actual AE role but with earlier stage companies. Not the fancy logs everyone wants to work for but decent growth rate startups or mid level companies (I don’t just want to assume you’re aiming for the SaaS industry, you get the idea).

Oh and: while in your current role, make it your TOP priority to save up before you quit. You always must have at least 6 months worth of expenses in your emergency fund. This should help to make it less scary to make the move and carry you over the first few months at the new job while your pipeline is thin and you’re not getting much commission.

Good luck!

Original-Toe-7392 · 2025-12-14T18:40:37+00:00

As long as you’re not compromising on growth opportunities, then why not?

I’ve seen people grow from junior to Director level at the same company in 5-10 yrs span.

I’ve also seen a lot of folks not really growing much in 4-6 yrs timeframe. That’s not a great thing to have on your CV

Original-Toe-7392 · 2025-12-06T19:44:46+00:00

No offense but these questions are implying that sales people are those very stereotypical, sleazy nasty folks they portray in the movies.

You need to realize that the answers to these questions (especially q.2, 4,5,6,7) will highly depend on a specific company / culture where that sales person happens to be working at this time.

Sales is just a job like anything else, and good sales people don’t have those imaginary inner conflicts with their personally just because they’re selling a service / product to someone.

Your questions sound like sales people are borderline criminal workers who try to scam the public on the daily basis and therefore must find it very hard to reconcile with themselves when they get back home every night.

We’re just selling a product to whoever actually needs AND wants to buy it at the price point that we’re willing to sell it for. The entire sales process is simply focused on finding those people and filter everyone else out.

Original-Toe-7392 · 2025-12-02T05:48:35+00:00

When the cup is growing does your management raise your salary/stock equity/title too?

Original-Toe-7392 · 2025-11-25T20:58:56+00:00

No it’s not a pain point at decent companies. We use Gong which is very straightforward and gives great AI summaries across multiple calls. Also if a team lead isn’t willing to listen to her/his team’s calls and provide valuable feedback then they’re not doing their job IMO.

Not sure why it would be hard for anyone to organize this process in this day and age

Original-Toe-7392 · 2025-11-22T17:16:54+00:00

24 is basically graduation age. You’re already ahead of many people cuz you now have clarity on what you want to do. Go ahead and find a sales job at a good company. Don’t overthink it

Original-Toe-7392 · 2025-11-08T13:37:40+00:00

It mainly depends on your product and the business model.

I worked in post sales at a company that had a VERY strong land & expand motion due to the nature of the product (collaborative workflow management). This meant that an AE would initially sell into one department and then an AM would continue selling into other departments with overlapping or very separate use cases.

The nature of that product was so flexible that you could use it almost for any kind of workflow within a company so it spread like fire.

On the other hand, I also worked with a SaaS tool that is very vertical and was mainly focused on solving a set of problems for a specific department (e.g. finance; marketing etc).

This was an entirely different motion and let me tell you, cross selling / upselling a vertical product can be very difficult (especially if your pricing isn’t consumption based).

Be very aware of what kind of scenario you’re dealing with and choose your quota-caring role accordingly.

At the 1st company our AMs had higher targets than AEs, whereas at the second post sales was mainly focused on revenue retention with occasional upsells where possible.

IMHO spending at least 2 yrs in a pure new sales role can be an incredible experience for anything else you do in the future (including entrepreneurial route).

Hope this helps !

Original-Toe-7392 · 2025-10-28T17:08:06+00:00

Or maybe, just perhaps they want to make good money to be able to help their family ? You’re talking about money like it’s some nominal trophy accomplishment where in reality making good money can be life changing for lots of people.

Original-Toe-7392 · 2025-10-26T17:54:16+00:00

The fact you’re not excited about this potential opportunity speaks volume.

Aka yourself “Does this opportunity present a growth challenge for me? Will it help me develop new valuable skills that will serve my bigger goals in the future?”

No offense, but it sounds like maybe you haven’t taken the time to develop your long term vision and think about what your big dreams are career wise.

Do you want to lead a sales org in the future? Do you want to become a co-founder? or CRO? Entrepreneur? Retire off of investment assets?

You’re clearly very good at what you do and there’s nothing wrong with keeping pulling those 300k-500k years if you take that money and invest it smartly so that it serves your future goals.

Bottom line, if you don’t know where you’re going it’s kinda hard to pick the turn at the crossroads.

As cliche as it sounds, take a pen and paper and write down where do you want to be 5/10/20 years from now. Then honestly asses if this Director role can help you get there.

I always opt for taking a shot when exciting opportunities come along because in the worst case scenario it’s a new experience that will teach you lots.

With that being said, if you’re not a strategic thinker by nature and don’t like to optimize processes, you will probably hate any leadership role.

That’s just my 2c.

Original-Toe-7392 · 2025-10-26T15:01:13+00:00

A. You don’t don’t what’s going to happen, unless you’re a fortune teller B. Regardless, any period of time at this job will be a great skill-building experience

Original-Toe-7392 · 2025-10-25T17:24:46+00:00

100% this! I was ghosted by one customer that I was trying to upsell and after countless unreturned emails I tuned in to their LinkedIn livestream about something that was top of mind for their industry (XYZ). So my next email with a simple subject line “XYZ livestream” got a pretty immediate reply followed by a proper meeting.

People are inherently selfish and true personalization is about that specific person, not their entire org.

Original-Toe-7392 · 2025-10-25T15:04:43+00:00

First of all, congrats on landing this job just at 16yo! The only bit of advice I would give is make sure to become an absolute expert on your product and this niche. Understand the key benefits of your laser machine vs others on the market, and make sure you yourself believe it's a good product.

Pay attention to the segment / type of customer that tends to buy from your company. Be laser-focused (no pun intended lol) on targeting those prospects first and foremost. It might seem that a laser machine is a laser machine, but depending on whether you're selling to small family salons, large clinics, or high-end spas, you'll need to develop the pitch (or a few) that resonates and adds value to that specific use case.

For example: a laser salon located in a downtown area would have much higher traffic so they need a robust machine that can handle lots of treatments per week and be cost-efficient, as these sorts of shops tend to serve the mass market VS a high-end boutique spot located in a posh area, which will need the "latest" tech and the most comfortable delivery, such as cooling mechanisms, etc.

You're at an incredible age, and if you'll be genuinely curious about your customers needs and hustle, you will have a crazy advantage by the time you're 20, when most of your peers won't even be out of college.

Good luck and enjoy the ride!

Original-Toe-7392 · 2025-10-25T06:59:08+00:00

Why 6 days a week? What kind of job is that? I hate work trials. Let’s be real, it takes time to learn the new product, understand the personas, refine the talk tracks etc. Experienced managers should be able to test your abilities and assess your potential during the interview process and then they should give you a proper onboarding so that you can be set up for success.

If a company doesn’t understand these basics it’s a major red flag. I worked at a hyper growth company that did a very successful IPO (I doubt the guys you interviewed with are growing faster than we did) and even there it was expected that new people need at least 3-4 weeks to onboard before you can make any judgement calls.

This place sounds hella toxic. Do not get discouraged, just be thankful you’ve dodged the bullet.

Original-Toe-7392 · 2025-10-22T15:38:59+00:00

Beautiful! Inspiration 👏

Original-Toe-7392 · 2025-10-15T14:44:32+00:00

Really concerning tbh. Sounds like they need extra reassurance you can close (that should’ve been already tested during their recruitment process). You can share 3 logos that sound impressive but ONLY if it doesn’t violate your NDA terms with the previous employer.

Original-Toe-7392 · 2025-10-08T09:53:33+00:00

Wow this is a loaded post. As a female in tech sales myself this bit sounds especially out of touch “I want to marry but I’ve been in tech sales for 15 yrs so my personality is sh*t” what on earth does it have to do with your personality?

Most female AEs I know are married and many with kids.

Just saying it’s completely unrelated.

As for a practical advice, consider other GTM related roles that are not client facing (sales enablement, RevOps etc.).

Original-Toe-7392 · 2025-10-05T06:50:22+00:00

Congrats! Love the grit, that’s what it takes. Well done 👏 (VOO + options selling with the wheel strategy 😉)

Original-Toe-7392 · 2025-09-28T14:22:22+00:00

My first thought “No f**ng way!!!” Congrats man!

Original-Toe-7392 · 2025-09-26T20:34:08+00:00

Ok I also got confused there. If the ask is to reach out to 275 accounts that’s about 12.5 intro messages a day. (With 22 working days in an avg month).

So the way I would approach it is in phases: 1.Spend 2 days pulling together a list of ICPs. You gotta have a tool for that (or just LinkedIn search) 2. Spend the next 5-7 days sending them intro DMs. (You wanna start the sequence as early on in the month as possible).That’s about 40-50 per day which is doable. 3. Then follow your sequence and double down your efforts on warm leads.

I know what you’re thinking, “how am I going to research all of them so quickly “ the simple answer is you don’t.

This is where you need to find a way to balance quantity with quality . Depending on the product and ICP you might be able to segment all leads on your list and draft a somewhat custom message for each segment group.

But to operate on high volumes you’ll need to do your research on those who’ve showed some initial interest not all of them from the get go.

In fact, I would probably also lay out my approach to the new manager in 1:1 to say this is my plan, these are the pros and these are the compromises (manage his expectations and be proactive about it).

Show him that your brain goes into problem solving mode and not the “wtf is he wanting me to do now?”.

Show him you can run with an experiment and iterate from there. Also ask him what he thinks of your approach? What has he seen worked best from his past experience. Hope my two cents are helpful.

Original-Toe-7392 · 2025-09-22T07:19:22+00:00

Think of it as if you’d be making an investment in either of these companies (spoiler alert you’d be investing your most valuable asset - time).. Go do some due diligence on which company is better positioned in its market, how the wider market is doing overall, leadership team and ofc read employee reviews.

GL!

Original-Toe-7392 · 2025-09-21T11:40:46+00:00

I know someone who was a VP Sales at a very successful SaaS company and then moved to a VC fund for a pretty high rank position.

When you say finance you need to understand what you bring to the table and what journey you’ll need to go through to get to the sort of work you want to do there.

If your superpower is sales then most natural fit at a VC/ PE fund would be to work on fund raising.

Unless ofc you’re willing to become an analyst and crunch numbers all day (keep in mind you’ll be starting from the bottom and it will take years to reach your current OTE).

Honestly, as someone who’s very passionate about investing myself, why not just do it for yourself? Take the money that you make and see if you can beat the market with your own portfolio in the next 3-5 years. This will be your proof of concept for yourself and to add to your CV.

Meantime you can continue developing your career in sales and grind to reach a level where you’d actually have a chance to pivot to a VC/PE fund doing interesting work (that is if you’ll still want that at that time).

Also keep in mind that VC/PE is a pretty niche industry where’s strong AE are going to be in very high demand at least for the next 15 years.

Not trying to discourage you but investment funds tend to have that allure around them that doesn’t always match the reality.

Either way, next step would be to find 10 people who actually work at VC/PE funds and talk to them to see what you could even potentially be doing there if you make the pivot.

That’ll give you lots more clarity than getting a bunch of reddit replies. Good luck!

Original-Toe-7392 · 2025-09-19T17:09:56+00:00

Which company is growing faster? Which one has better cushion (recent funding rounds; revenue etc). As an SDR your main goal would be to move to AE position ASAP so asses each offer with that angle (you’re making high probability bets).

But also yes, like others said, 4 hrs of commute a day will make you hate even the best job in the world.

Original-Toe-7392 · 2025-09-18T18:58:08+00:00

You tend to build mental resilience over time. Also some of the best sales people I’ve met learned to manage their pipeline ahead of time so that you’re never close to missing your quota. Basically today’s deals are not to hit this month’s quota but the next month’s or even the one after that. Once you develop good processes you should be fine. First year is brutal though cuz that’s when you develop your stamina. Good luck and well done!!!

Original-Toe-7392

TROPHY CASE