Breaking into Sales and Clearing $100,000 US Token

Level 1 - NGMI

Welcome Avatar! One of the goals of the free substack section is to get you from NGMI territory to “have a chance” at making it to DeGen Island. Once you’re able to land a career on Wall Street, Technology or Sales, you can then upgrade to the paid version where wealth acceleration is the goal. That said, the below was put together by various sales professionals. Everything you need in here will help you get your foot in the door and if you eventually land an interview with pressing questions you can reach out to them for more.

---

Sales is the most important life skill you will ever learn. This is your chance at gaining an edge and getting ahead in life. Why?

Because sales is a *metaskill* that will improve *every* aspect of your life like: 1) making more money; 2) building deeper relationships; 3) making lasting professional connections and 4) being more *efficient*. And. That’s just scratching the surface. Sales will PAY you for the rest of your life. This step by step has *everything* degens in early/mid twenties need to get started and land their first 6-figure sales job.

Our ticket to Degen Island is printed in gold. Welcome to the journey.

BowTiedCocoon

                                          

Special Thank You

Before we begin, I’d like to send out a special thank you to all of the commenters, particularly @BowtiedSalesGuy (LINK). While my mission stops at helping you land a 100k sales position, SalesGuy will provide you with everything else you need to break into top 10% sales rep* in your org - make sure to give him a follow.

Introduction

$100,000 US Token sales jobs is the endgame for some. It’s not. Remember, you're an Anon on your way to DeGen Island. This is just Step 0 to fuel your *secondary* income and luckily, it is the easiest stair to climb.

Bad news? Time is not on your side.

Recruitment is a *sale*. Your CV/Cover letter is your ad. Leads are high growth organizations and established players. Human Resources screening your CV is a gatekeeper. Hiring manager is the decision maker. The interview is the pitch and *YOU* are the product. Connecting dots? Good.

Step 1: Build the Most Qualified Lead List

Time is not on our side, so let’s start with *the secret* to get a $100k sales job in your early twenties: FOLLOW THE MONEY. If there is anything you should keep from this read, that is it. Instead of applying to every sales position that might take you, ensure you’re building your career in a booming industry or hyper growth org: 1) It will propel your sales career more than any other single variable (more career opportunities down the road); 2) High demand for your product/service will significantly increase your chances to crush your compensation plan; 3) You will build confidence in your selling skills faster; and 4) you will be happier overall.                        

Method to FOLLOW THE MONEY has been described in BowtiedBull’s old e-book *Efficiency* and is the same for everyone. 1) Pick fast growing industries; 2) Identify they’re top players (bold the ones that offer SaaS products) 3) check 10-K filing and divide profits by # employees. You will make more at organizations that have higher ratios (higher profits/employee). Add tech giants in the mix if there are any in your area (open LinkedIn jobs and write account executive or SDR, you’ll often see their ads in first few pages). *As a rule of thumb, forget startups if they haven’t made mainstream media. Easier to start in established firm then jump to startup later than other way around.

Profile #1 New Grads 

Option 1 (preferable): DON’T GO STRAIGHT INTO SALES POST UNI if you have the grades. Instead, go for BS high status jobs first (Management consulting if possible in IT...) stay for 8-16 months then jump straight to an Account Executive position in SaaS (again forget startups that are not funded at the beginning of your career). That’s how I did it.

You end up competing w/ individuals that have only sales background and because your skills are highly transferable and you’re good at interviews (only way to get those high status jobs), they will often offer you higher salary because of background.

Option 2: Go straight for an SDR position. Fast growing TECH only. You might get stuck there for two years before moving into an AE position. On the Brightside you’ll get to learn the ropes. *Tip: If you find yourself in SDR hell and a promotion hanging in limbo, #1 get close to your manager/director #2 negotiate a “Senior BDR position” within the context of training and providing more value to the team

Option 3 (risk takers): Several will get an SDR position at a Startup post-uni. A startup that eventually succeeds is a launchpad for a career (not to mention equity options), however from a *probability* standpoint this is not the best decision. Since some will go down this road no matter what, here is a tip. If the company does not see a major progression within 6-12 months, leave the boat. Fall back on option 1 or 2 (evergreen).

Profile #2 Few Years of Professional Experience Wanting to Transition to Sales

Good news for you, competition to get to $100,000 US Token sales jobs is ZERO. In your case, it’s all about packaging. Your success will depend on one thing only. Your ability to story-tell how your previous profession will set you up for success in sales.

If the industry you are working in is growing fast, great news. Transition to sales will be easier as you will have a competitive advantage over other candidates. Otherwise, stick with the “FOLLOW THE MONEY” method to identify your leads.

Go for an Inside Sales position as Account Executive. These positions are usually for low tickets ($1k-$15k) and don’t require extensive experience. Background in industry is definitely an asset you should leverage (example: accountant should try to sell SaaS accounting software for SMBs).

Profile #3 Young Tech Interested In Switch

“I am going into senior year of CS and want to get into something production based and see sales as way to do it…”

DON’T. The only value here is to share a roadmap to land $100,000 US Token position. Better off starting as a developer within big or fast growing tech (should break $100k quickly).

From there, if sales bone is still itching move into *technical sales*. Technical sales (Cisco, VMware etc) = million(s) dollar deals. Forget $10k tickets, you’ll be playing another ball game a few get because it requires tons of work/knowledge upfront. Remember… learning to build is infinitely more difficult than selling, selling is easier to pick later.

*For those thinking sales roles will help them with fundraising the day they will launch a venture, answer is the same. DON’T. If worried about raising capital, no sales job will train you for that. You’ll figure it out on the spot.

Step 2: Prepare your sales stack (CV + Cover Letter)

At this point, you should have a clear idea where to apply - that's your *lead list*. Let’s move on to your CV and Cover letter.

Curriculum Vitae:

If you’re getting tons of sales interviews already, disregard this step and move on to the interview prep.

Highly specific to every individual, so elaborating here is poor use of time. Here is the CV that was used to land my first 100k job at 23yo [Link is here]. Is it the best?

Certainly not. Will it do the job? Yes.

Use the template and orient your previous professional experience in terms of sales. In other words, identify the skills developed in your current position that are highly transferable to sales. If you can quantify them, even better. Example: A nurse that want to go into sales should frame CV in terms of sales (customer facing role, active listening, patience, managing competing priorities, high level of accountability, fast paced environment… you get the idea).

Tip: Use LinkedIn to spy on people that got the part or work similar position you’re applying for. If no sales background, look for someone that has successfully made the career transition. There is always a Chad with a slick LinkedIn. Reach out and get them to help you identify arguments they used to convince recruiters your background is an asset for the position. They’ll recognize themselves in you and will often help.

Cover Letter:

Same as CV, highly specific to individual so elaborating here is another poor use of time. Here is the cover letter that was used to land my first 100k job at 23yo [Link is here]

Tip: cover letter is to help recruiter (baby clown) and/or hiring manager (master clown) to know if you’re enough of a fit to justify a call. Make this decision *easy* for them by answering two questions from get go: #1 Why you want join *this particular org* for this particular position #2 Why you are *the right candidate* to hire.

As a rule of thumb, if you apply to 20 sales positions and get 0 call back your CV/Cover Letter is the problem. Keep iterating until you see results.

Step 3: Interview Prep

Interview process:

Depending on the role & organization, process is different but usually goes along those lines. #1 HR calls you for a 15-20mn interview to check credentials and ensure you’re not completely insane. Then hiring manager will set a 30min call. Then you have a final round with Senior Manager / Director.

Game

What’s at stake? Ego. The HR manager will be interested to make sure he does not look like a fool by pushing you to his master, and same for him with his superior.

The good news? The questions are always the same. Lift is in tweaking them a bit to yourself and the organization you’re applying for. Here is the interview prep that I used to land my first 100k job at 23yo [Link is here]

Remember, the person in front of you is taking notes during interviews. These are arguments they will use to justify moving you to the next step. MAKE THEIR JOB EASY and articulate your answers in 2-4 bullet points every time and don’t hesitate to summarize them at the end.

If you make it to the final rounds, prepare a small script in advance as you will most probably pitch the product/service. Just focus on raising the right questions, the rest does not matter much. One piece of advice. Over Prepare.

BowTied note*: In theory job interviews are done for the sake of finding the most competent candidate and hiring them. In reality job interviews don’t select candidates who are competent; they select candidates who are likeable. Since you’re autistic, *you’ll do both*.

Concluding Remarks

We’ve reached the end of the post. It truly is possible for anyone to land a $100,000 US Token sales job in their early twenties. Maybe I have too much faith in the jungle but who knows. Below are the bullets: 1) Recruitment is a sale and should be treated as such 2) If you recently graduated and have a strong GPA, do not go straight into sales 2) Targeting the right market is the single most important variable when starting your sales career. Build your lead list by *following the money*. 3) If a five year old can’t tell if you’re a fit when reading job descriptions against your CV/CL, you’re probably not. Align wording and keep iterating until you get more interviews. 4) Questions are the same, so no excuses to not over prepare.

​​What is Next? Congrats, you made *step 0* - Actually you’re not even there yet, you just get to play the game now. *Step 1*? Time to break into the top 10% sales rep. Put the pedals down from day one because #1 You have a ramping quota and it will never be easier to CRUSH your compensation plan #2 This will leave a long lasting impression on your superior who will trust you to repeat this performance (hint hint time to start *step 2*, starting online biz and joining the BTB community).

Yours truly

- BowTiedCocoon

Appendix

Contact

For questions find me on Twitter at @BowtiedCocoon (LINK) or email at bowtiedcocoon (at) gmail (dot) com

Cheat Sheets | $100K Sales Job

CV Template [Link here]

Cover Letter Template [Link here]

Interview Prep [Link here]

Additional Resources

Efficiency by BowTiedBull

@BowTiedSalesGuy for breaking into top 10% SDR | AE [Link here]

Breaking Into SaaS Sales With No Experience | Dominating SaaS Sales #1 by BowTiedDingo [Link here]

Acronyms Etc.

SDR: Sales Development Representatives are usually the entry point in a sales career. Your role consists of identifying & qualifying leads. You get paid by booking meeting with him and AE

Account Executive: AE (account executive), he’s the closer. Gets paid on closing deals. From there you can go into sales management/leadership or stay an IC (individual contributor aka closer) facilitating bigger and bigger deals.

Inside sales: You’re provided a list of “warm” leads and you’ll be closing them through the phone.

Outside Sales: You go in the field and don’t always have lead list. If you do it’s often cold. Unless it’s an SDR, you will usually get pay more than inside sales.  

Comp plan: Compensation plan. It’s the mix of Base Salary vs Commission. As a rule of thumb you want to get at minimum 35% commission on your total salary.

Sales cycle: The process from identifying a lead to closing it. It can be either short (lesser earning potential) or long (enterprise deals) because complexity of the sale (usually more budget so more stakeholders involved). Long sales cycles are usually where you want to be heading as they require more xp.

OTE: On Target Earning is the annual salary that you will make just by hitting your target (100%) without over performing. Corresponds to gross salary on your contract. In general *everyone* hits 100-120% on the sales floor.

Request to reader

Whether coming from university or different background and successfully jumped into sales, please share your CV, Cover Letter and/or Interview Prep by email to bowtiedcocoon@gmail.com.

Let’s build a *FREE* Library to facilitate transition for everyone in the jungle that’s on the same path.

Grow the community and make the world a better place (for people who care to succeed) - Win and help win.

---

BowTiedBull Note: We’ll be giving out free content similar to this related to other industries in the future. The goal is to help you get your first high paying career for free (not everyone will succeed). After that they at least have a chance to join the future (DeGen Island 2035). We can’t save everyone but we can try to help those that have the skills.

---

*Bonus* The Quick and Dirty Maths of a $100,000 US Token Sales Job

I’ve gotten a few DMs in Twitter asking how much one should be asking in terms of salary, the mix of variable vs fixed etc. Thought I’d answer it once and for all.

Assumptions (extremely conservative)

1)    Since you lack experience, the first assumption is that you will make $75K OTE out of the gate. Again, this is extremely conservative and is absolutely attainable if you ensured to *FOLLOW THE MONEY* strategy discussed earlier. 

2)    Compensation plan is 65% base and 35% commission (strict minimum variable you should accept).

3)    Since you’re on hourly rate, you will be working *officially* 10hrs overtime per week and will be paid 1.5x your regular rate.

4)    You will be averaging 150% attainment on your yearly quota