[old glory]

How credible are these OTEs? I find the idea of second year £80,000 OTE ridiculous, but are they?

[ScottishChris]

WOW that require lots of hard word!

[old glory]

Aha a person in sales! When a sales position says something like "£22,000 salary, £40,000 OTE" what does that mean in practice? How many hours a week do you have to work to hit that OTE? How possible is it even to have enough work to hit that target?

I see this a lot, and I have to wonder.

Thanks

[ScottishChris]

okay I start by saying what OTE means.

OTE means Over Target Earnings - If you sell just the alloted items say 20 pens a month then you get the normal rate. However if you sell 35 pens in a month then your earnings go up.

It take a while to get to your 40k but it just them selling job to you.

But if you put your heart and sole into then I can image you be able to reach the higher end.

[old glory]

Thanks! I was under the impression that OTE meant ON Target Earnings.

So, how would you parse a job that says "compensation: salary of £22,000; OTE of £40,000"?. I assume that means the £22,000 is definite, and that the 'average'/'typical' (however THAT is calculated) gets £40,000.

Bear in mind this isn't door to door or w/e, it's selling brands to retail businesses, so fairly high salaries/earnings are believable.

[TSR King]

I also have a similar question.

I have applied for a reputable computer company, as a Sales Consultant, and the base salary is £25,000 and OTE £32,000 - £35,000. They said its ON target earnings, not OVER target earnings. I was wondering if any one knows if your likely to make the £32,000+ in a role like this. Where you will be selling computers/related items to schools/colleges/universities/local authorities.

[EGjeff]

It's impossible to say as we don't you know as a person. Some people can do it, some people can't. Are you thick skinned, can you take being rejected and shunned on a day to day basis?

[Bear_Grylls]

Im in one, 28K OTE and im hitting that.. its possible

[ScottishChris]

I know from experience as part my company sells Computer and Consumerables to Goverment and Business and they guys on average make about 33k a year.

It does depend on how the leads come in. We are lucky enough we have enough 'New Businesses' wanting to buy from us which basically makes account managers job easy

[KentaKobashi]

Very ridiculous. They pay you the minimum wage and it is up to you make up the rest through sales. You are a glorified door to door salesman. You will never make £20,000 let alone £80,000. You will be out or making calls between 9 am to 9 pm and probably only sell 1 thing.

[EGjeff]

(Original post by KentaKobashi)
Very ridiculous. They pay you the minimum wage and it is up to you make up the rest through sales. You are a glorified door to door salesman. You will never make £20,000 let alone £80,000. You will be out or making calls between 9 am to 9 pm and probably only sell 1 thing.

Those type of sales jobs do exist and there's plenty of threads on here about them - pyramid scheme type companies, cobra etc, however genuine sales jobs also exist, yes the base salary isn't great but hell that's the point of sales - you get paid in relation to how good of a job you're doing.

[KentaKobashi]

(Original post by EGjeff)
Those type of sales jobs do exist and there's plenty of threads on here about them - pyramid scheme type companies, cobra etc, however genuine sales jobs also exist, yes the base salary isn't great but hell that's the point of sales - you get paid in relation to how good of a job you're doing.

Oh yeah I don't doubt that. I just don't like the idea of pushing people to buy stuff. By all means, advertise it so it's in the public domain, but when the companies go to the public (rather than the other way around), I wonder if it is the public's interest that they have at the top of their mind.

[old glory]

So, let's say something like Foreign Exchange Sales, i.e. finding businesses that might need foreign currency and pestering them to buy it, with £22k basic and £40k first year OTE. How many first years will make £40k? Half? The absolute top performer? What about looking forward?

What about oil & gas brokering? Generic stock brokering? Media sales (as pestering companies to advertise in w/e magazine)?

Dare I say that the difference between door-to-door sales and FO investment banking can look slightly small sometimes?

Oh and I do have a thick skin and am pretty used to being told to go away. If the worst I can expect is 12 hours/day of having to constantly cold-call companies and pester them, and get £40k/year if I do it persuasively, I'm fine with that.

(Edit: keep on forgetting there's filters here)

[old glory]

(Original post by KentaKobashi)
Oh yeah I don't doubt that. I just don't like the idea of pushing people to buy stuff. By all means, advertise it so it's in the public domain, but when the companies go to the public (rather than the other way around), I wonder if it is the public's interest that they have at the top of their mind.

Lulz, nice backtrack.

Anyway, course companies go to the public. It's called Say's Law, supply creates its own demand

[socialnoob]

(Original post by KentaKobashi)
Very ridiculous. They pay you the minimum wage and it is up to you make up the rest through sales. You are a glorified door to door salesman. You will never make £20,000 let alone £80,000. You will be out or making calls between 9 am to 9 pm and probably only sell 1 thing.

I bet you've never had a "proper" sales job in your life. At my company the OTE (on target earnings NOT over target earnings) is 30k. Most of us there are making in excess of 30k.

I know plenty of advertising sales executives who are making more than a 100k a year. I also know a few guys who are selling home phone and broadband packages on the phone who are making near 3k a month after tax.






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[socialnoob]

(Original post by old glory)
So, let's say something like Foreign Exchange Sales, i.e. finding businesses that might need foreign currency and pestering them to buy it, with £22k basic and £40k first year OTE. How many first years will make £40k? Half? The absolute top performer? What about looking forward?

What about oil & gas brokering? Generic stock brokering? Media sales (as pestering companies to advertise in w/e magazine)?

Dare I say that the difference between door-to-door sales and FO investment banking can look slightly small sometimes?

Oh and I do have a thick skin and am pretty used to being told to go away. If the worst I can expect is 12 hours/day of having to constantly cold-call companies and pester them, and get £40k/year if I do it persuasively, I'm fine with that.

(Edit: keep on forgetting there's filters here)

I know you can earn big bucks in advertising and recruitment. I know plenty of people in advertising who haven't got a GCSE to their name and who are making more than the prime minister!




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[silverbolt]

(Original post by old glory)
Aha a person in sales! When a sales position says something like "£22,000 salary, £40,000 OTE" what does that mean in practice? How many hours a week do you have to work to hit that OTE? How possible is it even to have enough work to hit that target?

I see this a lot, and I have to wonder.

Thanks

it is possible - but you have to hit very very very specific targets to reach it. Also the ad is ambiguous - is it £40k over all salary so OTE is is actually £17k or is it 40k on top so £62k salary? - and OTE should be on top earnings not over the top earnings. You need to specify

(Original post by old glory)

Oh and I do have a thick skin and am pretty used to being told to go away. If the worst I can expect is 12 hours/day of having to constantly cold-call companies and pester them, and get £40k/year if I do it persuasively, I'm fine with that.

(Edit: keep on forgetting there's filters here)

and what if you do these 60 hours a week and dont reach your 40k?

Sales is easy to get into but hard to stay in, its soul destroying, grating, wears you down. Lots of people do it but few stay in it. I did it for six years f2f b2b cold calling, d2d, warm calling, lead generation and its sucks the life out of you. And now i wouldnt touch a sales job if i was starving.

Also 80% of these adverts are bull, they use the high OTE to lure you in and are then notorious for being bad companies, treating staff and customers like garbage. Especially ones who dont offer a basic wage.

[socialnoob]

(Original post by silverbolt)
it is possible - but you have to hit very very very specific targets to reach it. Also the ad is ambiguous - is it £40k over all salary so OTE is is actually £17k or is it 40k on top so £62k salary? - and OTE should be on top earnings not over the top earnings. You need to specify




and what if you do these 60 hours a week and dont reach your 40k?

Sales is easy to get into but hard to stay in, its soul destroying, grating, wears you down. Lots of people do it but few stay in it. I did it for six years f2f b2b cold calling, d2d, warm calling, lead generation and its sucks the life out of you. And now i wouldnt touch a sales job if i was starving.

Also 80% of these adverts are bull, they use the high OTE to lure you in and are then notorious for being bad companies, treating staff and customers like garbage. Especially ones who dont offer a basic wage.

I don't mean to be rude mate but it seems you've only worked in "entry level" sales jobs. Have you ever sold to CEO's, managing directors, financial directors? I do that on a daily basis. I agree with you that yes their are some jobs out there like you describe but in proper sales jobs ones with a 15k plus basic you can earn a heck of a lot, especially in the fields of advertising and recruitment.


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[silverbolt]

(Original post by socialnoob)
I don't mean to be rude mate but it seems you've only worked in "entry level" sales jobs. Have you ever sold to CEO's, managing directors, financial directors? I do that on a daily basis. I agree with you that yes their are some jobs out there like you describe but in proper sales jobs ones with a 15k plus basic you can earn a heck of a lot, especially in the fields of advertising and recruitment.


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yes but only within the SME market so not big corporations and by then i was a manager and trainer anyway so didnt spend a lot of time on the phones.

Granted there is bIg money in sales in some areas - but it doesnt take away from my other points that i made

[socialnoob]

(Original post by silverbolt)
yes but only within the SME market so not big corporations and by then i was a manager and trainer anyway so didnt spend a lot of time on the phones.

Granted there is bIg money in sales in some areas - but it doesnt take away from my other points that i made

When you were on the phones just as a rep what was the most you ever made if you don't mind me asking. The most I've made in a year is 37k.

I agree with the points you made that there are some really ****ty commission only types of jobs out there.

Would you recommend a B2B sales career within the SME market if I came upto you as a newbie and said I wanted to get into sales and have just had this job offer with a company who does outbound b2b calls and I get 12k a year with commission on top OTE is 25k.


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