SerialBiller

Account Executive

Desperate to go B2B from B2C …. UK based, please help!

hey fellow sales pros, I have 15 years of salesmanship, I have a year of B2B too; and I am trying to land an AE role..... I have applied to maybe 50+ applications and so far had one interview! it's seeming to be impossible .... any ideas would be appreciated TIA

has anyone else made a transition from B2C to B2B????????

🧠 Advice

🗣 Interviewing

🤝 Networking

49 comments

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CuriousFox

WR Officer

🦊

Take the fluff out of your resume. Use numbers and stats. Show value.

braintank

Politicker

Enterprise Account Executive

I suspect the resume is the issue here.

DungeonsNDemos

Big Shot

Rolling 20's all day

This is the way

TreTime

Catalyst

Account Executive

SDR may be worth a look as well. You can typically transfer from SDR to AE in 1-2 years on strong performance

SerialBiller

Executive

Account Executive

Thanks TreTime, I was considering this…. Not sure if the income would be enough though here in the UK..

braintank

Politicker

Enterprise Account Executive

Based on what you said in another comment an SDR role should be higher earnings.

E_Money

Big Shot

💰

You should deconstruct the process a bit here. If you aren't even landing the interviews after that many applications maybe you should think about giving your resume/cover letter a little love. There are tons of places online that can help with that too.

SerialBiller

Executive

Account Executive

Good point, I’ve posted mine there see what you think and thank you 😊

SerialBiller

Executive

Account Executive

Bloody hell, this is the most helpful discussion I have had to date…. Unbelievable thank you all 🤝😁

Notmyrealname

Politicker

I did. But I did it as soon as I could in my early 20s. Not sure if my advice to look at SDR roles instead of AE is applicable given the difference in salaries but would be much easier to land.

SerialBiller

Executive

Account Executive

Thank you, yeah that’s the thing, not sure how much of a salary sacrifice I would make… tbh tho, I am on a very low salary now of £26k and I’m considered high salary for my role 🤢

Notmyrealname

Politicker

SDR role should be higher than that. Definitely look into it.

braintank

Politicker

Enterprise Account Executive

How many pages is your resume?

SerialBiller

Executive

Account Executive

Hi braintank! It’s 2 pages long… full of sales roles

braintank

Politicker

Enterprise Account Executive

If you're not getting through to application phase than resume might be the issue. Is there a way you can upload for review without compromising your identity??

SerialBiller

Executive

Account Executive

I could send it to you privately if possible? I am brand new on here will have a look to see if possible

braintank

Politicker

Enterprise Account Executive

Unfortunately no DMs here. See if you can scrub or black out your personal info and company names then upload as PDF or image.

@BravadoMod feature request for some kind of resume review function?

E_Money

Big Shot

💰

2 pages is too long.

SerialBiller

Executive

Account Executive

SerialBiller

Executive

Account Executive

braintank

Politicker

Enterprise Account Executive

Agreed. And trying to jam every job in there isn't as important as stats and building a narrative of accomplishment and achievement.

braintank

Politicker

Enterprise Account Executive

@serialbiller appreciate you doing this!

First blush is you can consolidate into 1 page by changing formatting, spacing, etc.

Remove: "Areas of Expertise", awards (unless relevant to new position), and consolidate education into 1 line. Having high school on your resume is a no-no in the US.

Modify body: Use bullet points and focus on results vs description of what you did.

Here's my resume for comparison.

SerialBiller

Executive

Account Executive

That’s awesome thank you! I’ll have a good read through and shape up mine 🤝 can’t thank you enough!

SerialBiller

Executive

Account Executive

@braintank hey 👋🏼- I can certainly tailor my CV to look more like this in perhaps a few hours, my main concern/thought process during interview/probation period would be ‘will they request these stats and facts I wrote on my CV?’ Because there’s no way to get this in my industry … so many job ads I see requirements for ‘proof’ of business etc 😟

braintank

Politicker

Enterprise Account Executive

I've never had anyone question my numbers or ask for proof.

bandabanda

Tycoon

Senior AE Mid Market

Transferable skills are definitely there, you just need to show them (show achievements vs. tasks you did if you’re not already doing this).

Also, I hope you’re not praying and spraying with the resumes - target specific companies, cater your resume to THAT ROLE (yes it’s time consuming and it sucks), and then send videos/messages to the leaders who seem like they have influence in the hiring decision OR can connect you to the people that do - LinkedIn is your friend here.

There’s lots of great posts about how people did this, check out the search bar.

bandabanda

Tycoon

Senior AE Mid Market

@Mickjames just had a good post about doing this

SerialBiller

Executive

Account Executive

Thank you!! Massive vote of confidence haha 😆 appreciate you

Mickjames

Member

Enterprise Account Executive

If you really want to get noticed, you've got to go after that role like you would go after a deal.

1. Pick the company you really want
2. Fire off your resume with a compelling cover letter on why you're a good bet to go from B2C to B2B.
3. Cold prospect someone in that org who you can pitch yourself to and get your foot in the door.

Because frankly what you did is much less impactful than what you WILL do in this future. Prove you're ready in real time.

Otherwise they're gonna say "ah this guy/gal is B2C. We ain't looking for that"

Mickjames

Member

Enterprise Account Executive

@serialbiller this.

SerialBiller

Executive

Account Executive

It’s epic and eye opening… I did do this with a few, but clearly, my CV/LI was not up to scratch …. I’m stopping applications completely now until I have finished my CV and have a clear sight on what companies to target, then like you said, I’ll treat them like a customer and go to town haha

TennisandSales

Politicker

Head Of Sales

yeah this is hard. I did this as well but I was in my early twenties and took the hit as an SDR.

I would REALLY focus on your resume and make sure you show that you can qualify and close deals and hit quota.

try to focus on annual deals

In my B2C experience we only talked about the monthly premium but B2B is all about deal size and that is from the Annual perspective.

I would also focus on less companies.

spraying and praying wont help really.

find a few companies you like, know WHY you like them, connect with a few ppl on Linked In see if you can get to know them, and then see if they can help chat with the right people.

Also are there technologies that you use or your company uses that you could look to join?

Experience as a user of a product is always helpful.

SerialBiller

Executive

Account Executive

Awesome 😎

SerialBiller

Executive

Account Executive

The thing about my role is that I write lots of deals each month, premiums range per month between 600-1200£ over around 15 clients … very transactional … do you suggests that I consolidate the annual premiums payed by the clients?

TennisandSales

Politicker

Head Of Sales

yes so instead of saying " my average deal size is 600 to 1200 per month"

In Saas you would say:

My average ARR (annual Reoccurring Revenue) is 7,200 - 14,400.
My average deal cycle is: how ever long it takes you form initial meeting to contract signed.

these are metics that recruiters are going to look for.

SerialBiller

Executive

Account Executive

Perfect thank you that’s super helpful

SerialBiller

Executive

Account Executive

TennisandSales

Politicker

Head Of Sales

just a few tips here:
- Change you title from Sale Executive to "Account Executive" in the title.
- in the description I would change it to " sales professional with 15 years of full cycle sales experience. Excels in selling complex products and managing a team."

-for your current role id label it as "sales Manager" leave out insurance, it wont help you. then bullet like this:

- Soley responsible for growing our team from 0 - 4 sales executives
- Also hit 200% of quota while growing the team
- Personally handled full sales cycle from lead gen to signed contract
- consistently finished in the top 3 for sales managers in the company
- Average deal size: 240,000 ARR (if this is true haha)

i cant go through each other one for you but some general tips
- dont use "around" just state the percentage
- for each role focus on what you did and what the results were + anything unique you accomplished or had to handle

SerialBiller

Executive

Account Executive

Done and done thank you 🙏🏼

ColdCall

Valued Contributor

Account Executive

Let a recruiter get the interviews for you! I have not applied for a job in 10+ years. Are you active on LinkedIn? There are always recruiters looking for Sales folk.

I find job applications depressing you're constantly ignored and given no feedback. Recruiters can take the hard work out of that 1st stage of job hunting!

I would also update the resume to reflect what you're applying for. If you can include targets and what you hit at recent role that goes down well.

SerialBiller

Executive

Account Executive

Thank you!!

braintank

Politicker

Enterprise Account Executive

I think recruiters can help, but I wouldn't rely on 3rd party recruiters alone, just part of the funnel.

DungeonsNDemos

Big Shot

Rolling 20's all day

Can you reach out to reps at companies who do what you want to do?

SerialBiller

Executive

Account Executive

Well that’s a good question, because I am actually n out exactly sure what I want to sell … seems stupid but I have been doing insurance in the hope that it will help someone when they really need it… other than that, I am always trying to search for the apparently endless sectors of SaaS sales industries, often to find useless web pages with little helpful insights and ideas

JustGonnaSendIt

Politicker

Burn Towns, Get Money

Network is important. It will help you identify better opportunities faster, and will carry some trust with a referral.

The major difference between B2B and B2C in my experience of doing both... is that B2B is very value-focused. In a detailed 'what does this mean to how you run your business' kind of way.

With B2C emotional appeals and short-term savings drive the deal. In B2B, it's the opposite - Data and long-term ROI drive the deal.

Generally speaking, B2B also has a lower transactional volume, longer sales cycles, and more nuanced product education requirements.

You should look at the positions you're applying for and consider, thru the lens of that role: 1) how does my experience generate value for my employer; and 2) how does my experience generate value for my customers.

Then build your resume for each unique application based on the answers you come up with for 1 &2. Same with interview prep when you get to that stage.

SerialBiller

Executive

Account Executive

Another big hitter coming out to help a total stranger haha love it thank you 🤛🏼🤝

SerialBiller

Executive

Account Executive

Thanks to you folks, I finished my CV today…. Please feel free to take a look, drastically changed from two pages down to one ☝🏼 …. Can’t thank you all enough, honestly blown away

braintank

Politicker

Enterprise Account Executive

@serialbiller nice work! A few odds and ends:
• Remove "around" from your quota achievement. Just say the actual number. Meaning -- if you did 199% say that vs "around 200%".
• There seems to be a few minor formatting issues (words mashed together, uneven spacing). Perhaps it's just the image quality but worth looking at one more time. When you do send this out make sure it goes out as PDF vs word doc so nothing get's fucked.

SerialBiller

Executive

Account Executive

Thank you sir 🤞🏼🤞🏼 just very deflating not hearing back so far, new push now, out with the old in with the new

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SerialBiller

Desperate to go B2B from B2C …. UK based, please help!

49 comments

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