GlenRoss

Account Executive

Hot take: SaaS sales is the gold rush and there’s too many miners

been thinking about this lately. Everyone blaming companies for overhiring and quotas to high etc. which is all true and these execs are idiots when it comes to sales and people.

BUT. I also think there was a rush into this profession similar to the gold rush and there’s a lot of people in it because they heard you can make a lot of money and don’t need a ton of education etc. problem is: there are a lot of really shitty salespeople.

Prediction that as time goes on more and more people will move out and find a more fit profession because yes the targets are set too high but some of these people in sales would never hit them anyway. So the people selling the shovels (training, tools, etc) are making out like bandits but there’s gonna be a lot of miners left with next to nothing.

Thoughts?

🐱 Off-Topic

31 comment

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saaskicker

Celebrated Contributor

Enterprise AE

Have seen a trend on the echo chamber of LinkedIn VP of Sales that they now prefer to have fewer reps with packed calendars vs. hiring 50 people to achieve $50M in ARR. I'm all for it.

CuriousFox

WR Officer

🦊

Double edged sword here friend. Packed calendars normally means they want to pay 1 person to do the job of 5 with the salary of 1. Gotta be careful.

SaaSguy

Tycoon

Account Executive

I mean i wouldnt mind working 5x the amount of opps, im stressed out regardless at least this way im generating a ton of commissions.

GDO

Politicker

BDM

hey as long as they pay for 5. OE is not needed then :D

saaskicker

Celebrated Contributor

Enterprise AE

Paying 1 AE $500k vs paying 5 $100k, if I'm the $500k rep I'm all for it. Happy to wield all the edges of that sword. I do see how that could cause some issues with time management or burn out, BUT personally if I'd rather be burnt out and rich than burnt out and not rich @CuriousFox

CuriousFox

WR Officer

🦊

Right, but I was talking about underpaying and overworking the 1 rep. That's my cautionary tale.

CuriousFox

WR Officer

🦊

In a perfect world you would be recognized, compensated well, and not taken advantage of.

I was talking about the companies that underpay and overwork. Big logos are guilty of this nonsense too.

Sunbunny31

Politicker

Sr Sales Executive 🐰

They have to strike that balance. Either extreme is painful when you're the rep.

CuriousFox

WR Officer

🦊

EXACTLY. Ugh my head hurts 😆

saaskicker

Celebrated Contributor

Enterprise AE

let's just go back to talking about swords

Kosta_Konfucius

Politicker

Sales Rep

I think AI can allow companies to limit the workforce for sure

Avon

Politicker

Senior Account Executive

I agree, but its usually more like pay one AE 250k instead of 5 reps 120k each

saaskicker

Celebrated Contributor

Enterprise AE

$250k is competitive, the $500k i mentioned was assumption of blowing the quota out of the water.

ilovemondays

Executive

Senior Account Executive

LOL

antiASKHOLE

Tycoon

Bravado's Resident Asshole

I am in agreement with you on this, but this is also going to lead to burnout, like @CuriousFox alluded.

CuriousFox

WR Officer

🦊

See, you picked up what I was putting down. 🚿

antiASKHOLE

Tycoon

Bravado's Resident Asshole

I’d like to think we are on the same wavelength the majority of the time.

SaaSguy

Tycoon

Account Executive

Some miners (sellers) are in better mines than others. Sure some mines (verticals) are all mined up, but AI and cyber are still booming.

braintank

Politicker

Enterprise Account Executive

Also too many mines

jefe

Arsonist

🍁

Very true as well

Sunbunny31

Politicker

Sr Sales Executive 🐰

I've read far too many posts asking how to make the most amount of money in the quickest amount of time to think you're wrong.

Space_Ghost20

Valued Contributor

Account Executive

AE and AM are not entry level roles. Anyone working these roles has had to show some degree of aptitude in sales or else they wouldn't have gotten those jobs. The people who flocked to SDR jobs from their positions in retail, or hospitality, or nursing or whatever, I'm willing to bet a number of them aren't cut out for sales, but that's also true for the 22 year olds who jumped into an SDR job right out of college.

Also, this isn't specific to sales. The tech industry in general has had a huge shake up over the past year or so and it's exposed how unsustainable a lot of the business practices are. Especially in the startup world. Sure, a lot of sales teams were impacted by layoffs, but so were all the other teams in these companies. I haven't seen anyone saying there are too many sys admins, or too many cybersecurity folks running around. Sales is no different.

DataCorrupter

Politicker

Account Executive

Both agree with OP’s points and your’s as well. Think both things can be true.

Gasty

Notable Contributor

War Room Community Manager

I agree with everything apart from the prediction part. Sure, companies are being more vigilant atm. But that’s only because of the uncertainty of the current market. Once some sort of stability / predictability / optimism is back, “hyper-growth” would again kick-in.

Maybe what we witnessed in SaaS was the first of the many sinusoidal cycles to come. Just like the economy and the stock market (and many other industries), SaaS would also bow down to the cyclical nature of how the world works.

oldcloser

Arsonist

💀

I agree. Natural order. Food chain. Cream rises. Salespeople eating their young. All of those. It’ll balance out at some point.

poweredbycaffeine

WR Lieutenant

☕️

This take is hilarious when you are about to spend $5-10k with a shovel salesman.

Justatitle

Big Shot

Account Executive

It's going to start moving to AI

AchillesOfAdTech

Valued Contributor

Account Director

It could be. But SAAS is not a new phenomenon. Oracle was founded in 1977. SAP: 1972. That was over half a century ago. There are highs & lows. But assuming that the economy continues to grow overall, and AI doesn't take all the jobs, I think sales people will generally be able to improvise, adapt, and overcome.

LambyCorn

Arsonist

A mfkn E

I agree. Also, I have seen a whole bunch of the new SaaS/Tech SDR's leave the industry after realizing its not a super easy high paying gig

Global Account Manager

Glen-Ross that's pretty judgemental if you ask me. Maybe you have seen a small handful of people looking like they don't know how to sell, but they got hired somehow, didn't they? Give them some grace as I am sure you started somewhere and someone gave you grace...

ilovemondays

Executive

Senior Account Executive

There's lots of bad salespeople here but the salaries keep getting inflated.

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GlenRoss

Hot take: SaaS sales is the gold rush and there’s too many miners

31 comment

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