WWYD - Sales Related Job Offer

[WorkQuandry123]

Will try to keep this brief but I fear it won't be.

I work in sales. Currently a business development manager on a 3 year contract which comes to an end in August. There is the possibility to be offered a permanent contract and my CEO has said I will know about this end of June latest.

I've performed well in this role, but not always hit the incredibly high targets, have increased the revenue stream I am responsible for by 160% 2022 vs 2024 so I believe I could be offered a permanent role, unless they feel like going in a new direction.

I enjoy the job, I work with lovely people, the team are lovely and it's local to home. It's flexible in that I manage my own hours, can WFH. It's not without its pressures though and I can get stressed. It's a B2B role and primarily relationship based sales with some travel.

I earn about £57k a year with bonus.

I've started looking for new roles as contract coming to an end and have gone through the (very lengthy) interview process for a fully remote sales role with a well known global FinTech company. I've now been offered the role.

The new job would be fully remote, high volume sales with very ambitious targets. Lots of cold outreach but also responsible for the full sales cycle from prospecting to onboarding and account management. This would be a new type of sales for me.

The new role is £45k but commission could net another £6k - £10k per quarter if I'm hitting and exceeding target.

General is holidays same as my current role. New role offers medical and dental cover for me and my DC which current role doesn't offer. New role is 3% pension vs 5% where I am.

I'm struggling to know what to do. Do I take the risk and go for the new role in the hope my skills transfer, I knock it out of the park and it's financially much more lucrative then my current. Or do I stay where I am in the role that is comfortable but possibly not as challenging or financially rewarding?

Do I approach my current CEO now and tell him I've had an offer and see if he might speed up the permanent contract process and make a counter offer?

I'm honestly struggling to know what to do.

Bumping and hoping for some advice x

Guessing no one is interested in or works in sales them! 🙈😅

https://www.charityjob.co.uk/jobs?keywords=Development+Management

Have a look for similar roles but in the charity sector which allows for more flexibility.

Can you not negotiate a higher base salary for the new role?

I'm really wouldn't think so but I could try, a base similar to what I have now might help it not feel like such a risk.

Oh gosh, I feel for you.

Tbh, I think it's a bit unfair of your current company to not confirm your position until the end of June. That gives you very little time to find a new role (should you need to) and not lose out financially.

I would let your current company know about your offer in the hope this spurs them on.

Good luck x

Thanks for these, will take a look. A quick glance would indicate salary level would not be as high as what I currently am on or could potentially make in the new role. My current role is incredibly flexible but maybe not as challenging. The new role offers more scope for progression, a new type of sales and potentially much more money... if I excel at it.

It is tight, it would really only leave me with 2 months to find a new role, and means I would be job hunting over the school holidays which is not ideal, I'd prefer to spend that time with DC.

I suppose I'll have to try and put pressure on with this offer. We report to a board so I'm not sure if we can speed up the permanent contract process, but it's worth a try.

Do you have DC or lots of fixed outgoings that can't be reduced if you don't hit targets straight away?

I'd probably start of by asking your current company to clarify your position sooner since you have a job offer. It's rare for a company to turn down a good sales person.

Most sales roles expect you to negotiate the base! Worth a try. Even an extra 5k would really help in your case.

I do have DC and lots of fixed outgoings so the drop in base is a little worrying. I'm also a single parent so no other income to fall back in while I find my feet in the new role.

What's more worrying is that I may not actually be good at this type of sales, it's new territory for me. Don't get me wrong, I do think I'm an excellent sales person and have a sales degree and lots of experience and training, but one of my biggest skills are in building relationships and that's a little tougher in high volume, fully remote positions.

But, if I am very good at this new role then the difference could be ~£30k a year.

You're right, I should at least have the conversation. The worst they can say is no. They're a large global company so I'm not sure how much scope they have to negotiate pay scales, but I need to have the conversation.