Been doing this for 6 years now. Made 1.38Cr last year (60L fixed + 78L commission). No fancy IIT/IIM tag, no connections, nothing. Just figured shit out along the way.
Looking back, it's crazy how this wasn't even on my radar in college. Everyone was going nuts over consulting, banking, or startups. Meanwhile, tech sales wasn't even in the conversation. Makes no sense when you look at the money and growth.
Started at the bottom - cold calling, getting hung up on, sending emails that no one read. Messed up so many times I lost count. But here's what's cool - every screwup actually taught me something. Unlike most jobs where you're just waiting for that yearly appraisal.
Not gonna lie, the start is rough. You'll be bad at it. I was terrible. But stick around, learn from the rejections, and things start clicking. These days I'm closing deals that would've given me anxiety attacks two years ago.
Everyone thinks sales is about smooth talking or being pushy. Lol no. It's about understanding why companies are bleeding money and showing them how to fix it. Most of my job is just asking the right questions and connecting the dots.
This isn't some "get rich quick" bs. Some weeks are absolute trash. Deals die at the last minute. But landing a deal you've chased for months? That feeling is something else.
Every company is basically becoming a tech company now. More products, more problems to solve, more money on the table.
If you're fresh out of college or stuck in a boring job - check this out. Start as an SDR, learn the basics, move up to closing. Simple as that.
Don't need to be special. Just need to be cool with hearing "no" a lot and hungry to learn. Rest sorts itself out.
Feel free to DM if I can help in any way. No gyaan, just practical stuff I wish someone told me earlier.
Highest paid folks in my org aren’t from strategy, product management, or even software engineering. Instead its the Client account leads (Sales and relationships)
While their role may not always get as much limelight as tech or strategy, it’s an incredibly challenging yet equally rewarding career path.
A strong reminder that in the end, revenue generation and client retention drive business success, and those who are good at it are very well-compensated.
True man, lots of what we hear with employment is the upside being limited
Any incentive linked roles have as much upside as what you create, it's unfortunate not enough people are motivated to do it.
Damn, DMs are flooded - not what I expected 😅
Sharing basics here since everyone's asking similar stuff:
Remember, everyone sucks at first (I for sure did) - just push through that phase :)
Any other questions pls drop them here since DMs seems to have some bugs - will try and answer as many as possible but this should help most of you get started 🤝🏽
Sales can be very rewarding but honestly? I don't see myself using my brain enough. Money is for sure there, but there's too much pressure to hit quota and un-transferable learning
IMO the pressure to hit quota actually forces you to get creative and think deeply - understanding complex org structures, mapping multiple stakeholders, figuring out actual business impact vs just features, and navigating enterprise politics.
These are high-level business skills that transfer really well into product, strategy, or even starting up. Most of my best deals came from thinking differently about the customer's problem, not from following a standard playbook.
@DarlingBloom55 crazy man! what company do you work for?
Do cloud sales for a US SaaS startup - the good part is commissions are also in USD
Sales primarily in our country is looked down as a low cadre job. Nobody respects a salesperson however if we look closely everyone is selling and all the IT folks are creating as sales ppl are selling else they won't be able to create.
HR is selling the company to a prospective employee.
CA, Dentist, Lawyers etc are selling their services.
Employee is selling their skill and time.
Marketers are selling the brand, product etc.
Exactly. Most of India's consumer growth is due to sales. Something that we boast about in our drawing rooms but don't give the due credit.
Damn son. Yes B2B sales makes so much money but very few talk about it.
Exactly zero people in my college wanted to do this. And the few who took this path easily make 10-12 lacs a year at junior level. And 60-70 at mid level
Thank you for this post. Not gonna lie, the notification i got, i felt, its just another person saying how they made money. But, your post was refreshing change of pace and it did break the misconceptions i had about sales.
I do have few questions -
Thanks man! Let me break this down:
I was a college dropout working dead end jobs until tech sales. At first, i had no idea what i was doing, but i learned fast. Asking questions, building trust, and grinding harder than ever. in just a few years, i went from living payche...
This is without a doubt a very lucrative career, possibly even a little underrated with new workforce, provided you're able to meet quotas and are good at it.
3 things I've learnt so far are:
Holy shit I just met someone who’s in sales at a B2B SaaS startup in Bangalore and wow this guy makes 45LPA at a minimum and gets BIG payouts every time he closes an enterprise customer! Like 1-2L. Didn’t know sales people can earn more ...
Sales is the most rewarding career IMO. In no other job do you get paid proportionately for the results you bring.
Yeah it’s quite common nowadays but they also have so much pressure and quota and all that jazz
Hey grapevine folks,
I am working in founder's office (growth and strategy) role at an early startup which involves B2B Sales.
I am asked to do cold calls to startup founders and leadership.
I sometimes find it like I am a salesman o...
