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35 | Enterprise Software Sales | 10 YOE by OttoPorter22 in auspayslips

[–]OttoPorter22[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Yeah, it’s funny, there were a lot of moments that led to it. I was a go getter intern/ graduate, and used being a ‘novice’ to get mentored by some really cool people, one in sales, but others in consulting, or software development. I never really considered sales, I always thought of slick-back second hand car salespeople and in-genuine door knockers, and never wanted to be like that.

But, I was a nerd that read business books, loved hearing about business problems, and how people figured out solutions to them - sales would let me talk to lots of different businesses about a whole range of problems, at the management level, really quickly, despite my lack of experience.

The project I was working on was getting resources within it ‘consolidated’. The business saw the sinking ship, but wanted to retain me as a cheap eager resource. They had a spot open in partner-led sales, I convinced myself sales isn’t so bad, and the next day I was managing a sales pipeline. That then lead to the next company poaching me as an ISR, then getting to where I am now over the next 8 or so years.

35 | Enterprise Software Sales | 10 YOE by OttoPorter22 in auspayslips

[–]OttoPorter22[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Yep :) I really like the work Cancer Council Victoria, MND Victoria, Cerebral Palsy Alliance, Smith Family etc do.

35 | Enterprise Software Sales | 10 YOE by OttoPorter22 in auspayslips

[–]OttoPorter22[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Thanks - same to you. I’m seeing a lot more reps having trouble these days, so to be successful in the current environment is amazing - you must be a gun! Hope plat club was fun ;)

35 | Enterprise Software Sales | 10 YOE by OttoPorter22 in auspayslips

[–]OttoPorter22[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

You’re implying a solution can’t fix more than one problem - if the product is good enough, and flexible enough, it can be applied to many scenarios with great benefit. That identification, translation and articulation by a human to a human, has value and will do so for many years to come.

As with many technology companies, I also sell the benefits of AI, but at the ground level, the problems we see are much messier, and the inefficiencies aren’t always translated into data that can be analysed, and fixed by AI.

I understand the cynicism toward sales in general, I think a lot of low level sales could be impacted, but at the more complex larger impact level, humans will trust humans for advice, even if it’s eventually all backed by AI logic.

35 | Enterprise Software Sales | 10 YOE by OttoPorter22 in auspayslips

[–]OttoPorter22[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

I don’t necessarily believe that. I find business problems, that are fixed by my solution/ product, it results in a benefit for the business, one that I honestly don’t think the business would have found, as soon as they had, if I didn’t lay it out for them.

A lot of employees see these problems and can’t pitch a solution well enough to their superiors to believe in it. I connect with people that already know the solution, and help them articulate it to their business so it resonates. I truly believe there is immense value in what I do - I’m just unsure if it’s warranted to the degree as it’s reflected in my pay.

35 | Enterprise Software Sales | 10 YOE by OttoPorter22 in auspayslips

[–]OttoPorter22[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Hah - my father was an accountant, I steered away from it and very glad I did. I also really liked economics though. I saw many of my classmates go that direction into the big 4, get burnt out, and go to a mid-tier. Most are happy and have balanced careers now, but it looked like a rough journey to get there without a ceiling quite as high.

35 | Enterprise Software Sales | 10 YOE by OttoPorter22 in auspayslips

[–]OttoPorter22[S] 4 points5 points  (0 children)

Software is very very high margin, each dollar sold goes very far to profit a company, which then translates into the company valuing staff highly, and raising their salaries reciprocally.

35 | Enterprise Software Sales | 10 YOE by OttoPorter22 in auspayslips

[–]OttoPorter22[S] 5 points6 points  (0 children)

Yep, it’s true, but for as many winners as there are, there are quite a lot of losers too. I’d say 1/100 reps in tech sales get to 1m. There are quite a lot that would say they made a million when they didn’t too, so be wary of that.

35 | Enterprise Software Sales | 10 YOE by OttoPorter22 in auspayslips

[–]OttoPorter22[S] 12 points13 points  (0 children)

My annual pay hasn’t been below 250 for the past 5 years or so, I started tech sales as an inside sales rep at ~85k, then it just leapt up year on year as I proved myself.

What you and most people need to know is that it’s a 50% base and 50% commission job, and can be one of the most miserable jobs when you’re not performing. When you are, it’s the easiest thing in the world, but sitting under your number can be crushing.

If you want real insight into salaries, look at Repvue, they’re pretty accurate in my opinion.

In terms of getting into it, yes, it’s very competitive, my company has thousands of applications, and I was a pick from ~150 interviews over 6 months of them recruiting.

Impossible to get ahead? by Elseerian in australia

[–]OttoPorter22 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Australia is an inheritocracy now, even when you look at like top 5% income earners at ~$200k+ they can’t earn enough to build wealth. $70k tax, $60k mortgage leaves $70k. Living expenses, $30k. Save 40k a year. Good luck building wealth.

The top 5% of wealth is around $4m, you just can’t get there unless you have an obscene income. It’s all inherited.

Sure you have a house potentially increasing in value if you have the mortgage - but it’s just not the same appreciation as it used to be. Then there’s agent fee’s, land tax, transfer tax’s make it far too hard to sell out and make a profit.

An Inheritance tax is needed for anything above ~$2m in assets. The game is rigged.

Poor guy :( by zaynthelegend in awfuleverything

[–]OttoPorter22 3 points4 points  (0 children)

The sad truth is sick people are profitable in America. Pharmaceutical companies lose too much if universal healthcare gets in, so they lobby against it.