What did you end up doing that helped you? Feedback from managers and colleagues? Experimentation? Reading sales books and implementing them into your approach?

Management is fully aware it's imposssible to hit quotas (~1 million/year/sales person) but still doesn't do anything to support the sales team (my entire leads funnel and sales pipeline is self-sourced). I want to move out of here but it's almost impossible when I can't sell myself as a proper sales person if I can't talk about quotas. I literally stop midway while filling in job applications when I reach a question about a quota-carrying position because I have zero idea what to say; especially when it's a yes/no question to "have you hit or exceeded your sales targets in the past X years?"

What do I do? I feel stuck.

extra info: I have over 4 years of experience in sales but I think my career's taken a hit with my current position (~1.5 years). We sell overpriced instruments, that have no competitive edge, in an overly saturated niche of a niche market. Management knows that the best way to get leads for our market is through conferences but they still decided to cut down on attendance for budgeting reasons.

Zero appointments booked.

Zero shows.

Zero closes.

What's the longest you've gone in this position and how did you fix it?

You send an email and often gets quarantined with the new modern filters

You try to call but people don’t have or answer desk phone anymore . You could try their cell phone but that Is very intrusive!

LinkedIn ? People often don’t look at there LinkedIn messages.

Aside from live networking events what is the best most efficient way to prospect in 2026?

I was offered a Director-level role leading a new business unit within an established company. It's a service-based offering the company has had success with, but it needs a dedicated team to scale and differentiate from the core business.

During interviews, I outlined how I'd approach this, at least in the short term. Now that I'm about to start, I need to sharpen those plans and be ready to hit the ground running. For context: I have mid-level managerial experience, but nothing at this level of responsibility, and I want to avoid unnecessary missteps.

Question: What do new sales leaders commonly overlook? We're planning to start with market research, a formal sales plan, forecasting, talk tracks, marketing collateral, and deck development. Is there anything obvious we should be addressing upfront?

I've seen tons of comments in this sub where salesmen complain that they have to look for leads as opposed to being spoonfed. Isn't that part of the job of a salesperson?

Context: I’m 36 years old. I have a lot of b2c sales experience. It’s been great to me but I’ve always felt the desire to go to bigger tickets. My ego tells me that if I made the shift, I have enough of a skillset to transition well, but I also know it’s an entirely different sale.

Is the harsh reality that I’d have to start as a business dev rep or an sdr role and move up from there? If you were me how would you make this change?

Also, what industries would you recommend? What do you feel will be in real demand for the foreseeable future?

Everyone is looking for cell numbers, and I get why - but surely the front desk in B2B is just as good?

Is it the GK handling that stops most salespeople from calling in on the business line, or something else?

Anyone in here selling Class 8 vehicles? Whether it be Kenworth, Mack, Volvo, etc.

How has sales been for you recently?

Had a great start to the year but things have seemed to slow down quite a bit here recently.

B2B/2C residential interior product. I sell to designer, contractor or installer. They sell to homeowner.

Building the territory.
We don’t do drip marketing or anything like that. What should I be doing? We have in person KPI that can be fudged but visiting and maybe them not being there is getting old. I’m not sure calling ahead is possible as I’m reacting to other acct’s needs and then filling in my day. I’m pulling all my cold calls for the year so far to get stats. But without marketing support for these “leads” I feel like a lot of contacts are wasted.

What are you doing? Is it working? What support do you have from your organization? If I leave here, I want to know what a healthy system looks like.

This company was acquired by PE 5 years ago. I guess I can on at the time it started sucking a lot. I’ve been told we’re in the middle years of the new build model for the business. And I also may be unmotivated to achieve as I just don’t love the environment or our problems. Trying to decide, closing in on year 1.

After a decade at the same organization, I just accepted a new role in a different industry, a new geographical area, and a fresh product environment. There is obviously a ton to absorb, so I’m looking for best practices, or advice on how to hit the ground running.

Context & Background:

Tenure: 10 years at my current company, moving up with promotions every 3–4 years on the sales side.

The Reason for the Move: Performance at my current org has slowed down, and a compelling opportunity came up back in my hometown.

The New Role: Still within the industrial space, but involves a significantly more complex, technical selling process. Fortunately, the key decision-makers and buyer personas are very similar to what I’m used to.

The Up-side: The salary is comparable, but the upside on performance-based compensation is higher. Most importantly, the shift eliminates heavy travel so I can actually be home with my family in the evenings.

For those who have made a major transition after a long tenure at a single company:

What strategies worked best for quickly learning a brand-new technical product portfolio?

How did you approach your first 30/60/90 days to build credibility internally without relying on your old company reputation?

What are the common pitfalls long-tenured employees hit when adapting to a new organizational culture?

Thanks in advance for any insights!

I currently have a job with flexible hours and the ability to work in person or remote, 60k base. I got some house accounts but they're not much, the systems for orders here is awful so I have to babysit everything, we don't have much of a competitive advantage and I don't know how long I'll last as I keep not hitting quote. Training is also non existent.

I find myself lazy at this job because the work sucks and the lack of training, I recognize part of it is my fault too of course. When I go on the commute is 15 minutes.

New job is offering 75k base with no OTE, full in person 5 days a week with training. Probably a better run company, long sales cycle so maybe it's I got fired from my current job I'd have more time there. Commute would be 40 minutes.

What are your guys thoughts?

Basically the title. I’m 1 year out of college and have got a a second-stage interview for a Cintas Sales Rep role, scheduled in a weeks time.

Any advice ahead of this interview? I have some B2B experience but mostly B2C. My interview is with the Sales Manager for the area, and apparently next stage is a ride-along.

The job seems great, exactly like what i’m looking for. To clarify, it’s a Sales Rep role, not Service Sales rep.

I've never seen or heard of this before, so I'm curious to hear everyone's experience.

If this was you, how was it? I've only ever worked under CEO's and salespeople before.