Ok, European here who moved to the US about 10 years ago. I can talk to great lengths about this topic, and have a lot more information that I care to type into the discussion here.

However, I will say right off the bat... Americans are crazy, sorry guys but its a fact, at least to a European. Don't get me wrong 99% of Americans are very nice, the culture is just a lot different especially in business.

I think that one of the main problems for Europeans is that we come to the US for vacation and other travel and on the surface everything looks a lot similar, but to be politically incorrect, just because the people look a lot like you here that doesn't mean that the culture is the same. In fact, the culture is A LOT different, and it will be a big culture shock for the vast majority of Europeans who move the US. Many many things are just done a lot differently, and it is really not something you will understand before you come here and work on a more permanent basis.

In addition, I would also say that doing sales in the US is a lot harder in the US than it is in Europe - especially in enterprise sales. Organizations are a lot bigger and a lot more complex and they don't really make decision based on common sense as a European would understand it. Generally speaking it is a lot more political in most larger organizations, and many times decisions are made based on those politics as appose to what might be in the overall best interest of the business.

Furthermore, Americans are generally speaking brought up from a very young age to be super competitive, so everybody really wants to be viewed as the "hero" or in other words wants to make headway in their career by being associated with success, which doesn't necessarily aligned with best interest of the rest of the organization. That can lead to some very confusing decisions and situations for most Europeans. It also leads to a lot of changes in what projects gets prioritized and a lot of stop and go in terms of projects.

My experience in Europe is that, as a general rule, when your customer tells you something in terms of the validity of a opportunity you can generally count on them telling you the truth. Not so in the US, so you might be working on an opportunity for a long time and all indications is that it will more forward, but then from one day to the next everything changes and your prospect will just ghost you completely and you'll have no idea why.

Also, Americans are really good at selling and have perfected the art of marketing which means that everybody is just completely drowning in marketing. That means that your prospect simply cannot rely on the typical channels for getting valid information when they are trying to solve a business problem because there is simply just too much noice. That leads to them having to rely much more on utilizing their existing network to find solutions to their problems, which means if you don't have a network you will find it very difficult to drum up business.

In my experience, in Europe you can still organize events and webinars and those type of things and you will get relevant interested prospects that you can develop into an opportunity and then work through your process and close. While this is still possible here in the US, it is a lot harder. I could go on for a long time, but the bottom line is, its a lot harder to sell here.

There are of course many benefits as well, as others have pointed out the pay in most cases is a lot higher than in Europe both base and comp - at least if you work in enterprise sales in a decent size company. The taxes are also a lot lower, although of course healthcare is not free, but if you work for a big company you would usually get that covered through work at minimal out of pocket expense (if you have family, you need to check if they can get coverage through your job). If you have kids, then of course keep in mind that college is not cheap.

So, should you move? I would say it depends. If you are late in your sales career in Europe and you have a decent position and have a lot of customer you have already sold to, and you have an established base and family, I would not recommend it. Stay where you are and keep building your career. If you want to go to the US for business, I would say focus on building your career in a direction that would allow you to come here on occasion or regularly but still work out of Europe.

If you have some experience but are still early in your career and you are adventurous, and are willing to take on the battle (and believe me, it will be a battle) then yeah go for it. But again be prepared to start over and relearn everything - it will take you 5-10 years to truly be comfortable over here IMHO.

Finally, also keep in mind, it is not easy to actually get the necessary work permit/visa to even be allowed to come over - especially for a sales role. The visa application process is long and very complicated and requires professional help - it is not something you can really do on your own. You need your company to do for you and sponsor you for, and they have to justify that they need you over here and can't find a local resource that can do what you can do, which is not easy for a sales job.

Anyway, sorry for the novel but there is a lot to unpack here. If any of my European brothers and sisters wants to learn more, I'm happy to share more but it would probably have to be over zoom or something since I'm already pretty tired of typing here ;-)

Good luck!

nomdeguerre

Executive

Account executive

I forgot to mention, if you do move over here, in my opinion it is very important to be with a well known and reputable company. Additionally, your location is very important - especially in enterprise sales.

The reason being that although there are a lot of big cities in the US and many wonderful place to live, what you will learn is as an AE you will get assigned a territory and you can only sell to companies that are HQ'ed in your territory (unless you sell to a vertical nationally).

The thing is that the vast majority of big enterprises have their HQ in a limited number of very big cities, and you want to make sure you are in a territory that have at least one of those be metropolitan areas.

The biggest one of those metros are (Americans correct me if I'm wrong): Los Angles, San Francisco, New York, Chicago, Dallas-Fort Worth and/or Houston, Boston/New England, Washington (only for government and NGO), Seattle, Philadelphia, Atlanta, Miami/Tampa/Orlando (for some industries).

So in my experience the best territories are: North East (NY or New England), Central (if Chicago is included), TOLA (really just Texas), Northern California (if you get San Fransisco), Southern California (if you get LA), and South East (if you get both Atlanta and Florida).

Mjollnir

Politicker

Account Executive

Wow dude!
I can't express how much I appreciate your response, this is critical information and I'm happy I got to hear it from an experienced person!

THANK YOU SO MUCH!

nomdeguerre

Executive

Account executive

No problem my dude :-)

Btw... looking at your screen name are you Danish by chance?

Anyway, if you have any other questions just let me know.

Mjollnir

Politicker

Account Executive

Just a fan of the Norse mythology ;)
and thanks man!

InQ5WeTrust

Arsonist

No marketing, mayo isn't an MQL

And this is why I can't hit quote @WCK

It's one I've toyed with; my family is originally from the States, but I've been over here for an aggeeee.

I'd consider moving over for a few years for a better role/dinero, but I couldn't see myself settling down there long-term.

Americans be cray yo, and that's coming from someone with the passport.

The main one I'd point out is just culture shock, if you're not in a major coastal city or somewhere cosmopolitan like Denver, then it's a huge change. A lot different going on holiday there versus living there.

The Mexican food is bomb, though, so that's a plus.

CaneWolf

Politicker

Call me what you want, just sign the damn contract

Ex-Denver resident who loves that Denver is now "cosmopolitan." It's not wrong but it is funny.

Jerry_the_cheese

Valued Contributor

Sales Manager - Pharma

Howdy,

I am in the UK, the company I work for has recently been bought by a big American company, there are opportunities I know to move to the USA. I can't say I'm tempted at all, mainly because all my friends and family are here, I value staying near to them, easily over any financial incentive they would likely offer.

I guess it would be super specific person to person

Mjollnir

Politicker

Account Executive

mm yeah I see your point.
but I mean, would you go only even for a short time period? or maybe not for the purposes of staying there forever?

Jerry_the_cheese

Valued Contributor

Sales Manager - Pharma

Personally, my sales job involves a lot of overseas travel so if there was a good reason to spend a month or so sure, but actually re-locating I'd struggle to see a good reason.

Is it something you are considering?

Mjollnir

Politicker

Account Executive

yes, I am trying to figure out if this is a smart move. outweighing all the advantages and disadvantages.

I feel like this could be a nice adventure. having a new environment, new people, new experiences..
I will always have my home and my family to go to if anything goes to shit. but what is life if you don't get out of your comfort zone once in a while? ;)

MinisterOfChaos

Politicker

Commercial Account Executive

Negotiate that the move would be temporary. Not short-term like a few months, but nothing longer than a year.

If you like it over here, negotiate to stay. If you don't, go back home.

If nothing else it gets your name on the radar (and not for a negative reason).

Only issue I see with this is visa status and potentially hating the job 6 months in. Many, if not most companies, in the US don't necessarily bend over backwards when it comes to visa sponsorship unless the candidate is an HVT.

Closeitalready

Valued Contributor

Head of Sales

Hey, I‘m in Europe as well. I would not move to the US and I don’t see the benefits of US to be honest. I don‘t know where you are but I cannot imagine not having healthcare and everything paid for when I see a doc. That would be the biggest thing for me, but also culture and social standards. Yes I know US has great marketing and think mostly they are the best country but not in my opinion.

Mjollnir

Politicker

Account Executive

I agree, US isn't my favourite either in that aspect.
I guess I was tempted by looking only on the taxes and better weather aspects haha

GDO

Politicker

BDM

I though about it. I’m just so used to having my whole family around me.

I worked in London for a bit and it wasn’t really my thing.

Blackwargreymon

Politicker

MDR

Now this is my plan but I know my company is going not sinking, just changing drastically. If so, many people are leaving, ask then why, the why makes all the difference, but you have to act fast if the boat is indeed sinking.

Clashingsoulsspell

Politicker

ISR

The biggest one of those metros are (Americans correct me if I'm wrong): Los Angles, San Francisco, New York, Chicago, Dallas-Fort Worth and/or Houston, Boston/New England, Washington (only for government and NGO), Seattle, Philadelphia, Atlanta, Miami/Tampa/Orlando (for some industries).

cw95

Politicker

Sales Development Lead

I want to given what the commission is that I see I here…but the job security is always favourable, I think?

sellingsellssold

Politicker

SDR

Look to get married is the best advice I can offer to those that are not yet citizens!

Mjollnir

Politicker

Account Executive

haha I yeah I can imagine how tough it is going to get a visa or a green card

MR.StretchISR

Politicker

ISR

Mr.Floaty

Politicker

BDR

I’d go as high in the chain of command as possible and ask clearly why those people left. Let them know it concerns you and why.

Cyberjarre

Politicker

BDR

I’d go as high in the chain of command as possible and ask clearly why those people left. Let them know it concerns you and why.

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