Navigating a Commission-Only Sales Role: Seeking Your Advice
Hey yall! Looking for some advice on a sticky job situation. Lmk what you think of the below story: For the past 12 weeks, I’ve been working a commission-only sales role at a young but promising full-service demand gen agency. The offer is genuinely interesting — they use ads, AI, and automation to guarantee qualified meetings for their clients. All leads are inbound. No prospecting required. I get 10–15 marketing-qualified meetings booked on my calendar every week. Commission starts at $1,500 per deal and goes up from there. But after ~120 hours of calls, prep, follow-ups, and training, I’ve only closed two deals — earning around $3K in total commission. A little over half the leads I meet with turn out not to be sales qualified. And of the ones who are, my close rate hasn’t been where I want it — for a mix of reasons. The company is open to evolving, but the founder is a marketer by trade, not a salesperson. That means he sees every MQL as an SQL (because he's a marketer), and expects every SQL to close (because he's a founder). I’m hitting a ceiling that feels systemic. I’m sharing this because I’d love to hear from anyone who's walked this path: How do you know when it’s time to double down, pivot, or walk away? Any advice or perspective is appreciated.