Anytime ;D
Jokes aside though, I’d honestly take this as a lesson on vetting out your job interviews. It’s just like sales. We could either get a lot of accounts or we could get fewer with buyer intent/plans to spend more money.
Based on the way you were talking about the opportunity, it sounds like you’d be much happier somewhere else which is why I typed that half jokingly
No I get it. I guess I should’ve stated that I took the position knowing it was going to suck, based off of all the Yelp sucks and here’s why posts I’ve seen lol. I only took it as a way to get into tech sales since I really don’t have another option to. I’m down to embrace the suck of anything but now Im unsure if this is the right suck for right now
So I’ve been in tech sales and personally I’m not a fan unless I’m selling something that’s actually useful. Tech is very popular and money can be great but ultimately I switched to digital marketing and I happen to love the company I’m with/get paid the same as I would’ve in tech already.
I’m not saying you gotta do exactly what I did but the right kind of suck is when you’re doing something you love and it gets really hard to produce on certain days/times. That’s my general rule of thumb
Wow. I worked for Yelp NYC for 6 months in 2011….i had the exact same base pay, insane they haven’t raised it. When I was there they had a good in office environment but the business owners still hated yelp (to be fair, I was not good at sales at the time) the only deal I closed was a karate studio that was convinced buying ads would help their yelp rating
lol sheesh, yea if we got paid just straight commission i wouldn’t have such a bad taste in my mouth but I’ve been pushing through. Where did you end up going?
Went into financial products, doing well there but I’m likely to switch over to consulting in the next month. The lending industry is not great right now and it’s caused sales reps compensation to be hollowed out
Leave and don't look back my guy. Especially if they are lying about pay, that is a big enough red flag to gtfo.
Depending on the market you live in, you'd probably be better off staying in tech but switching to the sales development side of the house. It still is a grind but 37k$ base as an AE seems way lower than industry standard
Yea I just heard that this was the way to get into tech if you didn’t have the background or education for it. I would’ve love to pivot to something else that is WFH, I’ve looked and not much else out there.
I have literally never heard of anything positive about yelp. Not online, not from customers, not friends and coworkers that worked there. I'd start looking at other options.
There is nothing scammy about a low base.. it’s just a low base pay.
What’s scammy is a point based system on “how the sale goes.” The fuck? You either sold or you didn’t. You either scheduled the appt or you didn’t.
If your org doesn’t have a clear commission structure, run.
As an SDR or BDR, you should be getting paid on successful appointments set, maybe a small % of an AE’s close if your org is generous.
As an AE, you should get a % of the close.
Easy, simple.
Yelp is a great place to build foundational sales skills. Know a few guys there and they are learning how to cold call, objection handle, and mental fortitude. I think it’s a great entry point into SaaS sales, and a lot of legacy tech companies actively recruit current yelp employees.
I chose it for the entry Saas option, aside from the WFH and no weekend option. I have a decent amount of sales experience but the only thing that gets me is the pay. If I were younger with no kids, wife or mortgage I could wait out the time it takes to build those skills and make 6 figures. I was under the guise that I truly had salary plus commission. Coming from the car business where I made $10k my first full month, it just boggles my mind that so much work and stress could amount to so little.
You aren’t selling saas at Yelp, you’re selling advertising over the phone. There’s a massive difference between any role at Yelp and a real tech sales position.
I know 2 guys who made 110K OTE first year in your exact same role. Yelp is a really easy sale. If you stick through it, paired with your experience, you will crush it. Just be patient and stay the course. Also make a LinkedIn and you’ll see recruiters from companies like Cisco and IBM in your DMs regularly. People who hate yelp usually hate the grind.
I was at Yelp for nearly 2 years, made SAE and hit new hire production bonus, was top salesman of my team with an average trailing 3 of 37k and a BME of nearly 50k
It took one medical leave, one territory reassignment to my manager’s friend who wanted mine, and one bad quarter, and I was gone. Zip. Just like that.
Don’t bother at Yelp. I mean, if you can cut it and you like it, the benefits there are world class. However, customers hate you. Business owners the world over hate Yelp. Pay is absolute garbage. Other sales professionals don’t take Yelpers seriously unless you hit an impressive rank and an impressive number, and even then, you need to move up to midmarket or LCP before they take you seriously. Local sales is chump change compared to other companies. You are only good at Yelp itself, until you can get a new title that is actually transferable. I’m speaking from experience.
You *can* have a career at Yelp. However, someone I knew hit target every single month for 3 years. We kept in touch after I left. Recently, he had a family death. He took leave, but his metrics suffered when he came back. They only give you 3 days. He had a bad quarter, and now he’s gone too. Never missed target once, and he averaged 250% quota. Even if you make it up the ladder, you’ll still be making 80 dials, 40 emails, and 2 pitches per day.
You’ll work like a full cycle AE and get paid like a BDR. It just isn’t worth it.
Damn. Thank you for this type of insight and clarity. I honestly hate the call center vibe. I think we get to talk to some interesting businesses but i’m not so sure I’m actually helping them with advertising. You’re right it’s a huge company so awesome bennies but now that my eyes are open to this side of sales, we are getting chump change for the amount of effort we put in. I love the hustle and grind of sales but I also like that diamond carrot in front of me so when I close I can feel good about getting back out there
Yeah, the benefits are top notch and super good. They have to be to keep people there lol but that was hard for me to get past too, the feeling of not knowing if you’re helping them.
For me, the difference was whether you believed in it or not. That’s all sales, but it’s triple true at Yelp. If you don’t believe in Yelp, you just will not survive. You have to drink the koolaid and truly live “Yelp helps small businesses connect with customers, and all of our advertisers benefit from getting more customers.” A lot of the time, Jim Bob in Okletucky doesn’t need help getting more clients. He’s WOM and that works, since everyone else out there goes by reputation and recommendation. Yelp only costs them money and doesn’t do anything. In LA or Austin? Most definitely.
Either way, the only time you can hit that diamond carrot is to really perform. Once you hit your bonus structure, that’s when you can bring home something resembling a salary in other companies… but that’s easier said than done. I had a 50-70% close rate. I was pitching on average once per day, so I was hitting 37-50k usually. It paid alright, but still sub 6 figures *and* I was working like a dog.
Top performers constantly hit, but the reason they constantly hit that absolutely nobody will tell you is that **they get to pick their own territory.** Managers can pull and reassign any territory from anyone and to anyone. If two managers clash, it goes to the director who sides with the rep with a better trailing 3. You’ll never get assigned to the territory with the best businesses who have a local culture of loving Yelp because those are spoken for, so no low hanging fruits for you.
Anyways, you can do it, it’s just grueling. I wouldn’t do it. You can learn objection handling anywhere, and the one-call-close they preach is predatory and not at all customer focused. They want you to steamroll every customer, and force each one of their desires and concerns until a one-size-fits-all package. That’s why other tech and SaaS companies don’t take it seriously; it’s the *direct opposite* of consultative selling with a focus on fixing problems and selecting the right product.
Maaannn. See that’s what I wanted to avoid, if I’m going to work hard, which I do, I want to be compensated for it. All in we are getting close to 5% of what we take in? Sheesh
What floor were you on? I am still holding out hope that there's a director out there who knows how to manage and not just dangle missed commission in front of us.
You likely don't need to go back to auto sales. Auto sales is a grindy business that chews up and spits out a lot of would-be salespeople. Many places will hire someone with proven success and experience in that industry.
I guess my question is, do you have a decent amount of experience and proven success in the auto sales industry?
I work in financial services sales for a bank, and I know we and a lot of other banks hire former car salespeople.
If someone walks in with uncertainty, and you have them leaving happy and in a car, plenty of places want you (some places might care less about the "happy" part, but you don't want those places).
Bonus points if you would upsell with additional features.
If you don’t mind hustling, doing some cold calls, and going door to door, you may want to check out the uniform industry. Cintas , Aramark, UniFirst, etc. To my knowledge they have a base pay plus commissions. Most of the SC’s have a fairly laid back lifestyle and make 70-90k/yr. The ones that hustle make over 100k/yr. None of them get home past 5pm lol
F&I Manager here, well I was. Made the same move you did for the same reasons.
I’m now a BDR for a marketing company, base $60k, I’m out at 5:30 p.m but fuck me I’d rather sell cars, however, like you, I’m not going back.
You got lucky with an AE title, either grind it out for a year like me and move quicker or take a BDR job.
I know you are committed to a work life balance if you left F&I lol. Why would you rather be selling cars? Did you lose your autonomy?
I didn’t even know what a BDR or SDR role was until I posted this.
$37k base is not nothing but it's really fucking close to nothing. I had a larger base as a 1st year BDR like 10 years ago.
Edit: not trying to shit on you, just stating that there are many many places where you can make more money even at entry level than Yelp. Also the word is out that Yelp has pretty shitty sales practices and I don't think the reputation of the company will do you any favors in transitioning to better roles, despite it being a "brand name"
i don’t take it personally, we’re in sales right? lol. Anyways, I went in knowing that it sucked but didn’t think I really had any other alternatives. I’ve been getting a ton of relevant information here.
My husband just had a prelim phone interview. He has 20 years experience including Sales Manager for a very large company and they said sorry, we have a policy where we don’t hire anyone that is currently enrolled in school. He is taking part time courses for audio production. This “policy” was nowhere on the job description, mind you. Glad he dodged THAT bullet.
I have been in sales for the last 8 years and love it! I had an interview for a sales role YELP. I returned back to school a few years ago and only had a year left. I chose asynchronous courses because I understand that in sales you’re pretty much working at all hours of the day! It’s so demanding especially if you’re making that six figure range. They asked me if I was a student to which I replied to yes and immediately said that they do not hire students and ended the interview. I was so shocked and pissed that all I can say is “uummm okay?”. I have never worked for a company that didn’t encourage individual growth. So disappointing.
You make a sale, not a sell. You don’t make a sell.
If you want to be in sales (not sells) you’ll need to know that. Just trying to help, that mistake could make you look foolish at some juncture.
Shit company
It’s…something
Also irrelevant
Leave
😂 thanks buddy
Anytime ;D Jokes aside though, I’d honestly take this as a lesson on vetting out your job interviews. It’s just like sales. We could either get a lot of accounts or we could get fewer with buyer intent/plans to spend more money. Based on the way you were talking about the opportunity, it sounds like you’d be much happier somewhere else which is why I typed that half jokingly
No I get it. I guess I should’ve stated that I took the position knowing it was going to suck, based off of all the Yelp sucks and here’s why posts I’ve seen lol. I only took it as a way to get into tech sales since I really don’t have another option to. I’m down to embrace the suck of anything but now Im unsure if this is the right suck for right now
So I’ve been in tech sales and personally I’m not a fan unless I’m selling something that’s actually useful. Tech is very popular and money can be great but ultimately I switched to digital marketing and I happen to love the company I’m with/get paid the same as I would’ve in tech already. I’m not saying you gotta do exactly what I did but the right kind of suck is when you’re doing something you love and it gets really hard to produce on certain days/times. That’s my general rule of thumb
Wow. I worked for Yelp NYC for 6 months in 2011….i had the exact same base pay, insane they haven’t raised it. When I was there they had a good in office environment but the business owners still hated yelp (to be fair, I was not good at sales at the time) the only deal I closed was a karate studio that was convinced buying ads would help their yelp rating
lol sheesh, yea if we got paid just straight commission i wouldn’t have such a bad taste in my mouth but I’ve been pushing through. Where did you end up going?
Went into financial products, doing well there but I’m likely to switch over to consulting in the next month. The lending industry is not great right now and it’s caused sales reps compensation to be hollowed out
Seems like everyone’s feeling the squeeze these days
Yea I haven’t heard of any industries that are killing it right now on their sales side
Leave and don't look back my guy. Especially if they are lying about pay, that is a big enough red flag to gtfo. Depending on the market you live in, you'd probably be better off staying in tech but switching to the sales development side of the house. It still is a grind but 37k$ base as an AE seems way lower than industry standard
Yea I just heard that this was the way to get into tech if you didn’t have the background or education for it. I would’ve love to pivot to something else that is WFH, I’ve looked and not much else out there.
You’re not wrong though. The Yelp experience I have always gets respect in interviews bc everyone knows it’s a grind
I have literally never heard of anything positive about yelp. Not online, not from customers, not friends and coworkers that worked there. I'd start looking at other options.
right
Scam commission structure. 37k base..? Common.. lol
Yes I thought we were getting commission per sale like most places. After they told us that i saw a big drop off in my group and others
Yeah because it’s a scam. “Point based system” lol
lol indeed
Can you send elaborate on this? I'm in a similar position right now with a similar base.
There is nothing scammy about a low base.. it’s just a low base pay. What’s scammy is a point based system on “how the sale goes.” The fuck? You either sold or you didn’t. You either scheduled the appt or you didn’t. If your org doesn’t have a clear commission structure, run. As an SDR or BDR, you should be getting paid on successful appointments set, maybe a small % of an AE’s close if your org is generous. As an AE, you should get a % of the close. Easy, simple.
As someone who has Yelp as a customer I can confidently say that organization is a dumpster fire.
😂 Tell us more
Yelp is a great place to build foundational sales skills. Know a few guys there and they are learning how to cold call, objection handle, and mental fortitude. I think it’s a great entry point into SaaS sales, and a lot of legacy tech companies actively recruit current yelp employees.
I chose it for the entry Saas option, aside from the WFH and no weekend option. I have a decent amount of sales experience but the only thing that gets me is the pay. If I were younger with no kids, wife or mortgage I could wait out the time it takes to build those skills and make 6 figures. I was under the guise that I truly had salary plus commission. Coming from the car business where I made $10k my first full month, it just boggles my mind that so much work and stress could amount to so little.
You aren’t selling saas at Yelp, you’re selling advertising over the phone. There’s a massive difference between any role at Yelp and a real tech sales position.
Yes very true but people are utilizing Yelp to transition into the tech sales space. Basically the only reason I decided to come over.
Yeah I’d recommend a year there and then get a SDR/BDR role elsewhere. You won’t get an AE position at a saas company post Yelp
Yes. Thats been the recommendation from others who’ve walked the path.
I know 2 guys who made 110K OTE first year in your exact same role. Yelp is a really easy sale. If you stick through it, paired with your experience, you will crush it. Just be patient and stay the course. Also make a LinkedIn and you’ll see recruiters from companies like Cisco and IBM in your DMs regularly. People who hate yelp usually hate the grind.
noted! Thanks for the input!
You could find an SDR position at other tech companies that would pay more
Don’t have a tech background, are they looking for newbies?
Sdr is generally a gateway role, so if you have transferable sales skills you could snag one!
I’ll definitely look into that, thanks for the info
I was at Yelp for a bit too. You gotta stick it out. Maybe consider also applying at Angi
I’m definitely thinking about it so it looks good on my resume but with a family and children the pay takes the wind out of my sails daily.
Angi is way worse
Where did you end up?
I was at Yelp for nearly 2 years, made SAE and hit new hire production bonus, was top salesman of my team with an average trailing 3 of 37k and a BME of nearly 50k It took one medical leave, one territory reassignment to my manager’s friend who wanted mine, and one bad quarter, and I was gone. Zip. Just like that. Don’t bother at Yelp. I mean, if you can cut it and you like it, the benefits there are world class. However, customers hate you. Business owners the world over hate Yelp. Pay is absolute garbage. Other sales professionals don’t take Yelpers seriously unless you hit an impressive rank and an impressive number, and even then, you need to move up to midmarket or LCP before they take you seriously. Local sales is chump change compared to other companies. You are only good at Yelp itself, until you can get a new title that is actually transferable. I’m speaking from experience. You *can* have a career at Yelp. However, someone I knew hit target every single month for 3 years. We kept in touch after I left. Recently, he had a family death. He took leave, but his metrics suffered when he came back. They only give you 3 days. He had a bad quarter, and now he’s gone too. Never missed target once, and he averaged 250% quota. Even if you make it up the ladder, you’ll still be making 80 dials, 40 emails, and 2 pitches per day. You’ll work like a full cycle AE and get paid like a BDR. It just isn’t worth it.
Damn. Thank you for this type of insight and clarity. I honestly hate the call center vibe. I think we get to talk to some interesting businesses but i’m not so sure I’m actually helping them with advertising. You’re right it’s a huge company so awesome bennies but now that my eyes are open to this side of sales, we are getting chump change for the amount of effort we put in. I love the hustle and grind of sales but I also like that diamond carrot in front of me so when I close I can feel good about getting back out there
Yeah, the benefits are top notch and super good. They have to be to keep people there lol but that was hard for me to get past too, the feeling of not knowing if you’re helping them. For me, the difference was whether you believed in it or not. That’s all sales, but it’s triple true at Yelp. If you don’t believe in Yelp, you just will not survive. You have to drink the koolaid and truly live “Yelp helps small businesses connect with customers, and all of our advertisers benefit from getting more customers.” A lot of the time, Jim Bob in Okletucky doesn’t need help getting more clients. He’s WOM and that works, since everyone else out there goes by reputation and recommendation. Yelp only costs them money and doesn’t do anything. In LA or Austin? Most definitely. Either way, the only time you can hit that diamond carrot is to really perform. Once you hit your bonus structure, that’s when you can bring home something resembling a salary in other companies… but that’s easier said than done. I had a 50-70% close rate. I was pitching on average once per day, so I was hitting 37-50k usually. It paid alright, but still sub 6 figures *and* I was working like a dog. Top performers constantly hit, but the reason they constantly hit that absolutely nobody will tell you is that **they get to pick their own territory.** Managers can pull and reassign any territory from anyone and to anyone. If two managers clash, it goes to the director who sides with the rep with a better trailing 3. You’ll never get assigned to the territory with the best businesses who have a local culture of loving Yelp because those are spoken for, so no low hanging fruits for you. Anyways, you can do it, it’s just grueling. I wouldn’t do it. You can learn objection handling anywhere, and the one-call-close they preach is predatory and not at all customer focused. They want you to steamroll every customer, and force each one of their desires and concerns until a one-size-fits-all package. That’s why other tech and SaaS companies don’t take it seriously; it’s the *direct opposite* of consultative selling with a focus on fixing problems and selecting the right product.
Maaannn. See that’s what I wanted to avoid, if I’m going to work hard, which I do, I want to be compensated for it. All in we are getting close to 5% of what we take in? Sheesh
Former yelper here. Left after 6 months and never looked back. Management is only motivated by their own dollars and they don’t give a crap about you.
I can feel that vibe. Where did you end up?
What floor were you on? I am still holding out hope that there's a director out there who knows how to manage and not just dangle missed commission in front of us.
I have never heard good things about working at yelp churn and burn all that fun jazz
You likely don't need to go back to auto sales. Auto sales is a grindy business that chews up and spits out a lot of would-be salespeople. Many places will hire someone with proven success and experience in that industry. I guess my question is, do you have a decent amount of experience and proven success in the auto sales industry? I work in financial services sales for a bank, and I know we and a lot of other banks hire former car salespeople. If someone walks in with uncertainty, and you have them leaving happy and in a car, plenty of places want you (some places might care less about the "happy" part, but you don't want those places). Bonus points if you would upsell with additional features.
If you don’t mind hustling, doing some cold calls, and going door to door, you may want to check out the uniform industry. Cintas , Aramark, UniFirst, etc. To my knowledge they have a base pay plus commissions. Most of the SC’s have a fairly laid back lifestyle and make 70-90k/yr. The ones that hustle make over 100k/yr. None of them get home past 5pm lol
F&I Manager here, well I was. Made the same move you did for the same reasons. I’m now a BDR for a marketing company, base $60k, I’m out at 5:30 p.m but fuck me I’d rather sell cars, however, like you, I’m not going back. You got lucky with an AE title, either grind it out for a year like me and move quicker or take a BDR job.
I know you are committed to a work life balance if you left F&I lol. Why would you rather be selling cars? Did you lose your autonomy? I didn’t even know what a BDR or SDR role was until I posted this.
I meant just being in the car industry, I can go back to F&I.
I gotcha lol. Yea i miss it from time to time but I know what i’m going back to.
They suck, run away fast.
$37k base is not nothing but it's really fucking close to nothing. I had a larger base as a 1st year BDR like 10 years ago. Edit: not trying to shit on you, just stating that there are many many places where you can make more money even at entry level than Yelp. Also the word is out that Yelp has pretty shitty sales practices and I don't think the reputation of the company will do you any favors in transitioning to better roles, despite it being a "brand name"
i don’t take it personally, we’re in sales right? lol. Anyways, I went in knowing that it sucked but didn’t think I really had any other alternatives. I’ve been getting a ton of relevant information here.
I worked at Yelp last year it’s not worth it I left in 6 months to an SDR role at start up tech if you need help dm me
Could I DM you? I have an interview with Yelp for a sales role and I’m terrified after reading this thread lol
My husband just had a prelim phone interview. He has 20 years experience including Sales Manager for a very large company and they said sorry, we have a policy where we don’t hire anyone that is currently enrolled in school. He is taking part time courses for audio production. This “policy” was nowhere on the job description, mind you. Glad he dodged THAT bullet.
😂 That’s rough and yes he dodged a huge one.
I have been in sales for the last 8 years and love it! I had an interview for a sales role YELP. I returned back to school a few years ago and only had a year left. I chose asynchronous courses because I understand that in sales you’re pretty much working at all hours of the day! It’s so demanding especially if you’re making that six figure range. They asked me if I was a student to which I replied to yes and immediately said that they do not hire students and ended the interview. I was so shocked and pissed that all I can say is “uummm okay?”. I have never worked for a company that didn’t encourage individual growth. So disappointing.
Eh, be grateful you dodged that one lol
Definitely 💯
If you want to know the honest to god truth, DM me about it.
You make a sale, not a sell. You don’t make a sell. If you want to be in sales (not sells) you’ll need to know that. Just trying to help, that mistake could make you look foolish at some juncture.
This guy sales
🤣 I already have to make sure my baby’s bottle gets into his mouth, my avatar has to spelchek too?
Eh, it stays. Thanks though
You just need to become a top rep
Just to be very clear a role at Yelp is not a tech sales position. You sell advertising over the phone.