Robot

AE (Account Executive)

No commission sales position.

Ok, I searched the great abyss that is the search bar feature for the war room. There isn't much discussion about no commission sales positions but let's gauge this. My job has no bonuses/commission, but also lacks no sales goals. I have had previous sales jobs that were regular base + commish, but this one is new for me. It has been 8+ months working as a RSM in the software market and I don't have burn out but I do have lack of conviction.

The net of this is that I want to see what you (the war peeps) think about my current job.

No commish

Base pay (not bad but definitely not enough to drive me)

No KPI's or goals

Little to no inbound leads

Closed over 500k in the 8+ months I have worked in this position

🎈 Mentorship

☁️ Software Tech

🏡 WFH

61 comment

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SaaSam

Politicker

Account Executive

I would be blasting out resumes like crazy man. 45k Base, no commission, no benefits. Yeah there's probably a bit of comfortability that comes with no KPI's or goals but there's not going to be any growth either. As a salesman how do you really expect to grow your skillset if you're not incentivized to push yourself professionally.

Plus your boss probably makes 6 figures because the company saves so much by paying ya'll so little and not forking over commish.

Run dude

Robot

Politicker

AE (Account Executive)

Damn, you are right.

Maximas

Tycoon

Senior Sales Executive

That's right.

youKNOW

Politicker

Sales Manager

Without anything inbound, no KPI's and no Commish...I guess my question would be, how much do they f*ck with you? If they let you operate almost autonomously and you're able to keep them happy...I suppose it isn't terrible.

Robot

Politicker

AE (Account Executive)

The only thing that gets me is my boss. She has no sales experience but makes about 6 figures...

youKNOW

Politicker

Sales Manager

Dude...for that money you say you're making above and NO benefits. I would leave.
Notwithstanding whatever your boss makes, it doesn't sound like your company wants to incentivize ANYTHING...no commission, no bene's,

Robot

Politicker

AE (Account Executive)

Sometimes the truth hurts haha. I have dabbled in looking for other jobs and even had interviews but it's a saturated market for sales candidates right now so it's been defeating, to say the least. But shit, sometimes I just have to take the leap.

poweredbycaffeine

WR Lieutenant

☕️

-Is your base higher than your last OTE?
-If you have no KPIs, how are you ever at risk of being fired? Can you be for performance?
-Are you happy?

Robot

Politicker

AE (Account Executive)

Thank you for the honest questions. I make a 45k base. I only saw one bonus over this past Christmas for the same amount as my normal paycheck. We also have no benefits as well. My manager has no sales experience but is my boss and makes 6 figures...
I am constantly at wit's end with myself on if I am going to get fired or not.
Happy, yes in regards to my work-life balance allows me a lot more time with my kids and wife. Career-wise, no, I want to make 6 figures.

poweredbycaffeine

WR Lieutenant

☕️

I'd encourage you to get back out there and get a true OTE role. There's no reason that you should be stuck in this role if you want to earn!

closingANDposing

Opinionated

Account Executive

With reading some more comments under, I'd start looking for something better. There's a lot of opportunities there where you'll get properly compensated and real targets and KPIs to keep you hungry.

FlintIronstag

Notorious Answer

Chief Marketing Officer

I guess it depends on what your base is.

Robot

Politicker

AE (Account Executive)

45k annual, no benefits...

Do.it.for.the.checks

Politicker

Account Executive

https://blog.bridgegroupinc.com/saas-inside-sales-metrics

Worth downloading if you think 45k, no benefits, no commission is worthwhile is Saas

FlintIronstag

Notorious Answer

Chief Marketing Officer

Ok that’s a terrible base. find something new.

Robot

Politicker

AE (Account Executive)

Downloaded, Thank you!

MajorB

WR Lieutenant

time to find a new jorb.

looper1010

Celebrated Contributor

Solutions Specialist

Dude...please keep looking for another job. This is way too low

Mr.Pickles

Arsonist

Sr. Customer Success Manager

Pack your things. When there're unclear goals and this "one size fits all" way of thinking - that leads to underpaid employees and shady internal policies that will come and bite you in the long term.

Robot

Politicker

AE (Account Executive)

Everyone who is commenting is saying the same. Sounds like the time has come to throw my name back in the hat haha.

TheRealPezDog

Notable Contributor

Sr. Business Development Manager

What does RSM stand for? Regional Sales Manager? Anyway, IMHO there's nothing more motivating than uncapped commish. My base salary is a joke but my company has decent benefits and I personally know several people in my position making 250k+/year... I am on track this year to break 100k and I know that every year with this company I will make more, that's pretty nice/comforting to know... I would/could only work a "no-commission" sales job for a salary of 120k or more (obviously relative to where you're living)

Rupert_Pupkin

Contributor

Account Executive

Yeah the no commission thing is interesting, but with no goals/no bonus, etc... I'd be looking for purely inbound. No more outbound, territory planning, cold messaging bullshit. Give me people that are ready to buy a solution and I'll do a solid job making sure it's ours.

Robot

Politicker

AE (Account Executive)

That is basically what I do and have closed 500k so far.

Rupert_Pupkin

Contributor

Account Executive

I love it. Certainly not suggesting it can't be done with all outbound, I just wouldn't want to do it hahaha. I hate the pipe-gen aspect of it, it's brutal.

Robot

Politicker

AE (Account Executive)

True, I worked another sales job that was pure cold call for hourly rate and that was brutal once we dried up our prospecting lists.

Cornholio

Opinionated

Account Executive

GTFO

Robot

Politicker

AE (Account Executive)

out of the war room?... or what?

Cornholio

Opinionated

Account Executive

No the non-commissioned job!

Robot

Politicker

AE (Account Executive)

Ha, trust me, I have put my resume out there. I spiced the shit out of my resume and no bites.

Cornholio

Opinionated

Account Executive

You’ll get something good!

MajorB

WR Lieutenant

Sounds like you must be selling a new product / into a new space? I wonder if they'll start to add more structure once you create the baseline?

The Wall Street Journal ran a story on how no one wants to work in sales because they think it's too risky, and/or people perceive the job as slimy. I imagine we'll start to see more commission-less sales jobs out there in order to attract more talent from the incoming workforce.

(here's the article: https://www.wsj.com/articles/the-pay-is-high-and-jobs-are-plentiful-but-few-want-to-go-into-sales-11626255001)

Personally, I like having some numbers to track myself against -- and calculating my bonus on a tough deal is great motivation when the going gets tough -- so I imagine it is pretty challenging to stay driven when there is no carrot.

If it were me, I'd start to create some personal KPIs to track myself against to ensure I'm staying consistent.

I'd also consider proposing a bonus structure now that you have a baseline established.

What was your motivation for joining the company even though they didn't have any commission structure? What was their reasoning for structuring compensation that way?

Robot

Politicker

AE (Account Executive)

You have the best comment so far. I have brought up commission/bonuses before but the virtual fair software industry is like the gamestop stock. It was hot (covid driven reason for growth) and then it has stalled and now it might pick back up b/c of the delta.

I started as a project manager and then promoted to Regional Sales Manager after my paternity leave.

MajorB

WR Lieutenant

Sounds like a great trigger to sell some form of commission based sales. 😉

If you have Salesforce data to help back your prediction on increased sales due to delta (mega womp for the world, but congrats on all those deal you're gonna close), then you might be able to work something out -- even if it's a spiff.

In fact, that could be a happy medium proposal. No one has quota or commission in the traditional sense, but there could be quarterly spiffs that get doled out if the team hits its pre-determined stretch goal.

Salesforce suggests that quotas as we know it will disappear, and instead be replaced by outcome or adoption-based incentive models. (Here's the article: https://www.salesforce.com/blog/end-of-sales-quotas/) I think there's an opportunity to explore a similar commission structure that would align to the company's values, and drive better behaviors from you (and your team).

Different note:

I've heard that some form of virtual conferences / fair / whatever you want to call it will exist for the rest of time, but I imagine if we ever get out of this covid thing, there will be a dip in revenue. (Virtual conferences drive me crazy.) I'd keep my eye on how quickly the company is scaling and ask myself "is this long term sustainable?" and "do I trust these people to keep me employed even if sales take a dip post covid?"

Robot

Politicker

AE (Account Executive)

Once again you are very insightful. I appreciate your feedback on this. Yes, this is a niche market and is likely to see a dip. It seems like our other sales folks are doing well in other countries but USA virtual events interest has paused.

We use HubSpot but I am sure there is data I can pull from our stats. Quota is one this but commission is another. Totally agree with that article and could see it benefiting a large array of industries.

NorthernSalesGuru

Politicker

Manager, Outbound Sales

Lmfao what the fuck?! The base better be mint…

alecabral

Arsonist

Director - Digital Sales Transformation

Are you at least having a good time? if you are, then you can put it a balance and try and figure out if this is worth not getting commissions. I think there's always a good market for a solid salesperson, so don't be afraid to find something else. I'm sure you will if that's what you want

cw95

Politicker

Head of SDR

Similar to yourself, I get a small amount of commission but after the mean ol' tax man comes along it pretty much may be nothing.

Luckily, I'm trusted to do my own work and get on with it. However, I did recently ask and now going through the process of a higher base that would equal the average monthly commission I used to get. Guess it wouldn't be harmful to negotiate your issue? Don't ask don't know!

Calico

Celebrated Contributor

Corporate Trainer

From what I gather...fucking run.

I'd look for jobs that use your skillset. Companies have no shortage of sales jobs right now. They always need to sell. Unfortunately, it's a needle in a haystack type of situation where you need to hop from company to company until you find something that fits your needs. Don't settle for a shit job like this.

Out of curiosity, are there others in your position that have quit? How many people are in your area, and how long have they been there? Is the company kind of new?

smileanddial95

Good Citizen

Account Executive

Sorry to hear that. Must be tough to not have that commission to motivate you. That base from the comments seems pretty low for a RSM position.

Hoopnip

Politicker

Commercial AE

Not sure how motivated you are to be an entrepreneur but you said you have plenty of time to do projects around the house why don’t you figure out what your true passion is and start a side hustle with the goal of doing it full time. I guarantee you will make more $$ than you are now at some point. If you’re not a hustler and prefer the less risky life…keep interviewing as there’s plenty of sales gigs out there

Robot

Politicker

AE (Account Executive)

I am drawing up business plans as we speak. Might as well use the time wisely and get my own thing going.

YoursTruly

Politicker

Account Executive (SaaS)

You’re making less than most receptionists in Seattle. run away as fast as you can.

Wanna.Be.Rick.Spielman

Valued Contributor

Account Executive

I would get out of there. There is no point in subjecting yourself to the sales life if you are not given commission for the hard work.

LordOfWar

Tycoon

Blow it up

As others have said, RUN.

No sales goal sounds nice in theory, but if you don't actually close anything they will replace you.

Robot

Politicker

AE (Account Executive)

Right, and we do not have an outbound system in place so I have been relying on Google AdWords and inbound leads through website inquiries. The sad part is the management takes most of the leads and gives crumbs to me.

Robot

Politicker

AE (Account Executive)

@LordOfWar - how does one get into military equipment sales?

LordOfWar

Tycoon

Blow it up

Usually you have to be prior military or have some similar industry experience. Attending defence-focused trade shows might help you network, but even those are hard to get into now.

RealPatrickBateman

Politicker

🔪Amateur Butcher🔪

RUN FORREST RUNNNNNNN!!!! Sales without commission is NOT sales, its Order-taking. You are a cashier in a suit... #Respectfully

Robot

Politicker

AE (Account Executive)

Damn you cut straight to the bone.

RealPatrickBateman

Politicker

🔪Amateur Butcher🔪

I said "Respectfully"!! 🤷🏻‍♂️

MadMax33

Good Citizen

Mid Market Account Executive

Unless your base is over 100k I would bolt. Granted the outside freedom is great, but why work for a place that your heart is not in when the money isn't where you want it to be?

Good news, at least from what I've seen, everyone is hiring in sales right now.

Beans

Big Shot

Enterprise Account Executive

Nightmare scenario.

What's the product space, without giving away too much of course.

once

Fire Starter

Sales Executive

Ruuuuuun!, I recently end a 4-year toxic relationship with this company, and I don't know why I was there, without commission. That job is stable but doesn't let you to grow...trust me.

SaaSyBee

Politicker

Founder

I don't understand. Sounds like they're taking you for a ride. I'd recommend finding something else

dwightyouignorantsale

Politicker

Account Executive

What is the point of even selling with no commission? For the benefit of company? Hellll no. RUN my dude.

Robot

Politicker

AE (Account Executive)

Ok, so what is everyone's normal contract amount, and what is your ACV annual quota?

Hoopnip

Politicker

Commercial AE

What state do you work out of?

Robot

Politicker

AE (Account Executive)

Missouri/Texas

CRAG112

Valued Contributor

Account Executive

Why don't you ask for a specific raise of xxxx, whatever that might be.

Point out the lack of sales processes, goals, KPI's, and etc. Ask them why these things are not in place and who is supposed to take ownership of these things.

You could run a discovery meeting off of this and be the salesperson with solutions.

Sounds like a potential opportunity to move up if you want it, or at least be a valuable person at the company.

The whole not stressed out and feeling good things.... you got it better than the majority. Can't say the grass is as green as you might be thinking it is elsewhere or doing something else. Then again, if the 45K base I see people mentioning is accurate....that's just terrible. Especially with no commissions.

CRAG112

Valued Contributor

Account Executive

45K base you are getting treated as a commodity. Like the type people might buy at Christmas or a sick relative... if ever.

Unfortunately, that pay sucks. Start looking for new roles and use your current job to leverage that for something greater. 65k - 90k should be a more than realistic target in terms of base salary.