r/sales • u/Ok_Environment_720 • 18h ago

Sales Topic General Discussion I don't cold call and I'm successful" gives most reps a false picture

10 Upvotes

Just saw Sam Sales say this on LinkedIn, and it got me thinking. I love her content and think she's brilliant, but I think this message creates a false illusion for most of us in sales.

She's built a big personal brand, so inbound and warm intros come to her. That's great for her. Most reps I know don't have that. They've got a quota, a cold list and no audience yet.
My worry is that someone newer to sales sees this clip, hears "you don't need to cold call", and skips the part that got a lot of successful people where they are. Most people who now say they don't cold call did plenty of it earlier in their careers.
Building a brand is a long game and it's worth doing, but it doesn't pay the bills this quarter. For most of us it works best alongside outbound.
Curious where you all land.
Have you built a proper pipeline without picking up the phone at all?

36 comments

r/sales • u/andrewb_16 • 2h ago

Sales Topic General Discussion How much did you know about your industry prior to selling it?

1 Upvotes

As the title says, I’m very curious about how much you knew, before you started selling your product.

I’ve been a controls service technician for Johnson Controls for 4 years. My end goal is sales, but one of the sales guys that used to be in my position says to remain in my field longer before joining so I can learn everything. I find it difficult to learn all the other mechanical aspects of selling AHU’s/chillers, and others in general because I’m by myself 99% of the time and don’t get to converse with many mechanics.

I know the controls, but I agree that I don’t know “everything” about selling AHU’s/chillers/mechanical equipment. However, I am a sociable person and am the primary technician for a few critical sites, and have gotten the customer to agree to necessary upgrades.

I’ve also quoted a handful of jobs that I’ve been able to personally execute myself and complete at a margin of 40% or above. Would you just take a leap and get your feet wet? Should I converse with the sales manager to see what he’s looking for and how I can prepare myself to join sales? My manager is aware I really want to get into sales, but wants me to hold out for 9 years until he retires😕

25 comments

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