SmilingNotDialing

Account Executive

Commercial Sales vs. Public Sector Sales

can someone who has sold to both commercial and public sector (SLED and/or Fed) speak to the pros and cons of each and which they think is a better career path?

Which is the better career path?

Attached poll

selling to corporations selling to the public sector

*Voting in this poll no longer yields commission.

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11 comments

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funcoupons

WR Officer

👑

I would never want to sell to the public sector...sounds like the most massive pain in the ass ever.

AssistantToTheRegional

Politicker

Enterprise Account Executive

The DOG SLED Is tough. You can make a killing doing it but you need a MUCH longer leash (dog joke).

If you stay 2-4 years you'll be gold because it's slow.

Leadership needs to know quarterly is not a metric public sector cares about and they buy 2x a year usually. Summer for uni's for example.

Great people though from a buyer perspective.

Beans

Big Shot

Enterprise Account Executive

Why anyone would want to deal with the bureaucracy of government sales is beyond me.

braintank

Politicker

Enterprise Account Executive

Commercial all the way. I've done both and pub sec is miserable. Slow moving and cheap. Would you rather spend the day at the DMV or a Tesla dealership?

HeStoleMyTwix

Valued Contributor

A lot of misconceptions around B2G. Sure, if you're selling permitting or procurement software then yes, you're going to be dealing with Sally the admin assistant on an 18 month deal.

We sell directly to City Managers and Sheriffs. Ave sales cycle this year has been 34 days @ 37k ACV. I love it, and once you build a professional network, you'll never be out of a job.

TheNegotiator

Arsonist

VP of Sales

Idk man, it seems like you get to sell to the govt. unicorns. Dealing with sally the admin. is the biggest pain in the ass in the world. And the unicorns you deal with are the exceptions, not the rule.

HeStoleMyTwix

Valued Contributor

What do you mean the govt unicorns?

It comes down to product. If you're selling rip and replace / existing solutions (ERP, procurement, permitting, events management etc) then you're going to be locked into pre defined budget cycles and areas of responsibility.

If you're selling innovative tech that is solving problems at the top of the hierarchy, then you get permission to have conversations with power which will both increase your ACV and reduce sales cycle

Fenderbaum

Politicker

Retired Choirboy🪕

Commercial. Stay with it.

Broncosfan

Politicker

Account Manager

If my company ever tried to get me to sell to public, I’m quitting on the spot.

Allisce

Tycoon

Account Executive

I sometimes have to sell to government entities and I HATE IT, legal nightmares every damn time

TheNegotiator

Arsonist

VP of Sales

Public sector is a miserable hell. There can potentially be enormous money in it, obviously. But idc how you slice it. It sucks. And the govt. employees who make the decisions seem to embody and enjoy every piece of the bureaucracy that’s part of their jobs. Seriously, I KNOW that it IS their actual job, but they seem to actually take some perverse pleasure in drawing out and making the process as painful as possible. Honestly it’s a little weird to me. I’ve done both. I’d take corporate sled every day.

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SmilingNotDialing

Commercial Sales vs. Public Sector Sales

Which is the better career path?

11 comments

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