Ex-Software AE on Multi Five-Figure Commission Months Through Remote Closing

Alrighty guys, community member interview. This time we are here with Apostolos, uh, who's from Greece, but where are you at currently?

I am in Spain.

Spain, beautiful place. What— which part of Spain?

I'm right next to the coast in Valencia. I've been here for a few months.

Yeah, not a bad spot. So Apostolos, you've been in the community for somewhere around 6 months, right?

Yeah, 6, 7 months now. Yeah.

Okay, cool. And the reason you're here, for those that clicked on this video, is because Apostolos just came off a killer month. I'm not sure what the title or whatever is yet, but you're here because you saw that and you're like, I should learn from this guy. So thank you for clicking on this. Um, Apostolos, you, before you got into like the remote high-ticket sales space, what were you doing?

Yeah. So I was in SaaS sales, right? In Europe. You know, like most people, I stumbled upon sales. This wasn't something I set out to do. I just, you know, got a random recruiter texting me one day, you wanna do this? Sure, let's do it. And it went great. It went amazing. This is something, you know, I realized I'm good at.

Yeah.

It went great for 3, 4 years. But then, you know, in sales, Or, you know, in general, you know, anything you're doing specifically for sales, you always want to be growing, right? Especially if you, you know, have high standards about yourself. There I reached a point where I felt I couldn't really grow anymore. So yeah, I was looking for, you know, other ways, other industries to continue this growth. I came upon Dylan on Twitter.

Yeah.

Why?

We've worked with a lot of people that come from SaaS and most of them are in the US, some of them coming out of Europe. But like, what was it about what I was talking about that led you to believe that that was like the next opportunity for more growth? Because some people would argue, oh, you know, SaaS sales, once you get 5 years in, you're really in a good spot. Like, What was it for you that led you in this direction?

Well, I mean, perhaps that's the case regarding SaaS after some time, right? But I just felt that I was at a certain level. I was the top performer, right, for a very long time in both SaaS offers I worked at, but I was still not satisfied, right? I felt there's more growth to be made and I realized that I already have this This is something I really enjoy, talking to people, essentially solving problems. And then I came across your profile. I realized, okay, we have people with a similar background as mine and they are actually achieving this growth, their potential that they want to achieve. So it just made it natural for me to, you know, reach out to you and, you know.

Sure. Yeah. So you, we were talking about this a little bit before the call, but I, when I record these, I like to walk through the journey, the before, the early stages, And show like the realistic, like to set realistic expectations for people who might wanna start. 'Cause some people they get it really fast, some people it takes a little longer. For you, we were talking about this before, it wasn't like month 1, $10K a month and forever you were making that, right? So like there was a little bit of a grind for you. What was— In hindsight, What were some things that you know now that if you knew then you could have cut down this time to success in like half?

Yeah, that's a great question, right? So, well, I think you always want to be working with serious people, with morals, with ethics, right? And you should always have standards as to what you sell, which company you work with, et cetera. So this takes time, right? It takes time to filter through to find something that matches what you're looking for. So, but to decrease the amount of time, well, to be fair, you do have a very clear map what you should do as a, you know, a new person entering this space to speed up your process, right? So even though it was completely clear from your side, I was sort of, let's say, in a rush. So I didn't follow the process as, you know, you explained it. So looking back, if I had done exactly what you explained, filter, you know, who I reach out to and also to understand what is it you would like to do, like what sector you would like to be, then this would've cut down on the process, right? So yeah, I think that's it pretty much.

Yeah. Follow instructions.

That's it. Yeah.

For sure. You were, you were one of the few guys that came to our Austin meetup in September. All the way from the other side of the ocean. What did you gain from doing that? Like by meeting the people, potentially learning stuff, like what was that experience like for you?

I mean, first of all, it was a great experience, right? It was my first time in Texas. It was great meeting all you guys, seeing you in person. I think, you know, in our space, Connections and your network is very important. So by actually physically meeting people, you strengthen this connection that you may already have online. Plus, I got to know a lot of other people and we're in touch pretty much on a weekly basis right now. We needed, you know, for example, in my offer, a specific, let's say, some help with something or get the connection with the right person. Within an hour, this connection was made. just because I visited Texas, right? Without getting into the specifics. So yeah, I think as we invest in our education and in our skills, investing in your network by meeting people is also something people should do and is also fun, right?

Yeah. And that's, dude, I talk about that all the time and, you know, the information's out there, it's on YouTube. You just gotta know where to find it, who to listen to, all that stuff. But the network, like, if you, if you look at all these community interviews over the last 2 years, the one-on-one, like, there's probably not one that is recorded where we don't talk about the network. And I always, I always say this, like, from the outside, that sounds crazy and it sounds like bullshit because it's like, oh, the network, sure. Like, it sounds like some culty, like, pyramid scheme, but like, it's just the way that it is. It's not a culty pyramid scheme, but, um, Like, it's just, you have to be somewhat competent. And then once you can prove that you are someone worth being connected to, it's like, there's gonna be no shortage of opportunity. So right now you're coming off our best month yet, which is awesome. I think you said $270,000 in revenue closed, which is insane. Like, that's, that's top tier for like a remote closer. Like, all of you guys watching this, this, you want to be doing what Apostolos is doing. But that being said, like, if you woke up tomorrow and that opportunity, they said, hey guys, we're closing the doors, we're, we're done. I feel like at this point in time now, between what you've done and who you know, it wouldn't even be a week before you have something where you can go and, and recreate, uh, at least a 5-figure per month income. Do you, I mean, do you feel the same? Have you had opportunity kind of Come— I know you haven't been there all that long, but like, have you had opportunity come up? But like, now that you're seeing success, like, how, how is it, how's it different for you in like the opportunities?

Yeah, I mean, I, I have had people reach out to me from our community, right, that maybe saw a story from you and ask me, okay, what happened, you know, how did this happen, or like some tips, right? Uh, yeah, I guess I had some other people reach out, like random people for coaching or this kind of stuff. But the thing is this, I'm obviously not looking for something else. I really love the offer and the people I work with. But if you build a track record and you can share it with the people perhaps in your next offer, this is very important, right? Because they don't know you before this, right? But if you have a track record, for sure they're gonna evaluate, you know, who this person is.

Mm-hmm.

So yeah, maybe in the beginning, like everything you do in life is a little bit difficult to get into the right space. But once you get in the right space and you have the right opportunity and you put in the work, then you will build the track record and then this just makes it easier as you progress in the future. So yeah, 100% track record is very important and it makes it easier for people to transition, for example, from one offer to the next one.

Sure. How, uh, I know a lot of people have this question, man, but like you being in Europe, um, you have your, your accent is, it's like there's some accents that are very difficult for Americans to like understand. Yours isn't that, but you being, you know, having an accent and then being in a different time zone, how, like on a scale from 1 to 10, how much more difficult do you think that actually made it for you to get where you are?

Well, I do think that perhaps some offer owners would be hesitant to hire people from Europe to speak, you know, if they're targeting the US. I don't think this makes too much sense, to be honest with you, because, you know, pretty much every person I speak to, I explain where I'm from, where I'm currently living, they're very excited. They've either visited one place or the other, or they plan to visit. So it's not like you're from Mars, you know? So yeah, yeah. So I don't see this as an issue at all. Of course, being eloquent, being able to speak clearly, being an expert in your particular subject matter, being a good communicator, all these things matter. Now, if you have a slight accent, I tested this, nothing changes.

Yeah.

So I don't want people that perhaps feel feel hesitant to enter this space or enter this market, to have this, let's say, limiting belief, because it is a limiting belief. No, go for it, right? At the end of the day, you don't really have anything to lose, right?

Yeah, dude, that's the thing. Do you know Philip?

Yeah, of course.

From Serbia. Obviously he's in Serbia, got a little bit of an accent, nothing too crazy, but he's another guy where it's like, You know, he's gonna, he's gonna take the shot either way, whether they're looking for US or not. And he's gonna get more opportunity because of that. Because when he gets on the interview, when he talks to these people, they realize like, oh, I mean, despite where this guy is based, like he's a guy that could do the job. And there's, there's a lot of people in your position that, that do set that limiting belief and it becomes their reality. They, they do not land jobs because they don't apply to them because they think, Oh, I'm in, uh, I'm in Ireland. Like, they're not going to want to hire me, right? Um, so it is like exactly what you— whatever you think it's going to be, that's what it's going to be.

Yeah, I agree 100%. Yeah.

And I will say too, like, the, the more foreign your accent is— because like, dude, in, in the US, um, there's a ton of people with accents that live in the US, like all different accents. So like It's not that Americans aren't used to accents. Honestly, at that point, if you genuinely believe that that's the bottleneck for you, it's like you just got to believe in yourself a little bit more. Yeah, I completely agree.

Right. And the thing is, people want to hire competent people. If you can prove to someone you're competent, nobody really cares where you're from or if you have a slight accent, as long as you can speak Exactly. And you're an expert, or at least you can become an expert, you're not gonna have any issues finding the right offer. Either way, if you don't take the shot, you will never know and you have nothing to lose.

Sure. Yeah. What is, I know that by you doing the revenue that you're closing, you're working a good amount, I'd assume. And you're grinding. Like it's not a walk in the park. I wouldn't, I wouldn't expect it to be, but like, what is your lifestyle like now? Like, what do you enjoy about this process and your day-to-day and, you know, maybe versus what you were experiencing before in software?

Yeah, that's a great question, right? So I think, you know, to be good at something, you should try at least to do something you enjoy in terms of, you know, like a business or like for your profession. For me, it is talking to people, right? So I can do this all day. I pretty much do it all day either way. So what I really enjoy right now is that we're helping a lot of people and I can, you know, practice what I like. I have a conversation, help people solve their problems, et cetera. So for me, it doesn't really matter how many hours I work because I can do this all day. So I would say it is all the best things, all the nice things I had while working in SaaS with none of the negatives. For example, a negative could be having to source your own leads from cold outreach, right? But if you know how to properly run ads and you have the budget for it, then you don't really need to do cold outbound because every single person that sits across the computer from you is at least to some degree interested in solving this issue. with you, with your help, right? So I would say this is a major qualitative change or difference. Perhaps people working in SaaS, even in Europe, will be hard for them to understand this. But yeah, there's a whole different world and it doesn't really need to be as hard as you think it is, right? Your reality doesn't need to be exactly how it is right now. Yeah.

Are you selling primarily to Americans?

Yeah.

Yeah, they buy stuff a lot easier. We were talking about that too before. People in Europe are, you know, when it comes to like online education and investing in themselves, they're a little bit more hesitant. And I don't know, it's always good when you can find like working in like outside of the US, but being able to sell to US people is like a cheat code.

Well, I think it is different markets, right? But in my experience so far, I think Americans are very open. They're going to have an open conversation about you even though they just met you. I'm also a very open guy, very honest. So that makes it work for both of us. In Europe, I would say it's a little bit different. I would say people are a little bit more hesitant to speak openly to people that they've just met. It's just cultural differences. But also, yeah, I do agree in Europe, is not so prevalent, let's say, to buy coaching or let's say being part of education communities is not so prevalent yet, at least yet.

Yeah. Yeah. Well, I guess for someone who's watching this, man, like someone who might be in software sales, you were an account executive. Yeah. Yeah. Well, account executive, been at it for 2, 3, 4 years that they've realized like, all right, I've, you know, I've kind of done what I needed to do. I'm, I'm comfortable. Like, that's probably where you were when you left. You were comfortable. Um, what's like your best advice to that person if they want to get into this?

My best advice would be to reach out to you via a link that's probably gonna be in this, uh, video. Uh, but I would say, look, people that want to go to the next level, you know, perhaps it's not for everyone, right? Some people are happy where they are, but for the people that are not happy with where they are, they should explore different options. Going through Cereal Sales and getting some help from people that have helped many, many other people do this is worth, is worth at least giving it a look. Booking a call doesn't cost anything to book a call, right? Yeah.

So cool, cool. But yeah, man, let's see. Um, I want to make sure— we, we had to reschedule this like 3 times because I wanted to make sure we could get on and chat, especially coming off your, your big month. So it's December 4th, we're 4 days into the month, you've already closed $60,000. We're not going to talk any specific numbers, but like, in your old software sales job, Like, have you already surpassed what you would have made in a month potentially? 4 days in?

Look, to be fair, I was, well, I mean, I did have great performance, right? And in my sales role, but to be clear, perhaps to the people watching this as well, yeah, entering the right offer in the right space also at the right time, I think is a day and night difference, especially if you're really good, because if you're really good doing this in software, And you, you know, find a different offer and you remain equally good or perhaps evolve even better, even more. Yeah, you can make way more.

Definitely. Yeah.

Yeah.

What, what is the, some of the biggest differences in actually selling? So the way you sell software B2B is a lot different than how you sell inbound B2C. Yeah. I take it you're probably selling to like a, Somewhat sophisticated B2C buyer. What's the differences there? Like how long did it take you to actually catch on to that process?

Yeah, that's a great question. So first month was, I mean, according to my standards today was not so okay. I still did more, more or less, you know, same amount as I've done since Sunday or Monday actually. It did take some getting used to. Thankfully, we have an amazing team, amazing management, amazing coaching, and people should always try to go for an offer that offers coaching, right? That's the key to improve your performance because I may not— like, you as a closer, as an account executive, may not see everything that you're doing right or wrong. Some things are instinctive, so that's why you need to— Second pair of eyes to help you out. So always go with offers that offer good coaching. I just got more used to this. I spoke to enough people to understand exactly what they need in terms of help, and then I just improved my presentation skills, communication skills. I mean, this was it. I just got you know needed some experience, and then we had this good month in November.

Sweet, man. Well, I know I, I've got a call to jump into. I wouldn't be surprised if you have one as well. Um, if anyone wants to reach out to you, I can ask you after and I'll link the best place to reach you. You can always reach him in the community, but if Apostolos wants to be so kind to share, uh, another form of contact, it'll be down below. And, um, definitely. Yeah. We can, we can wrap it up here, man. What are you, uh, like getting into 2025? Like, what are you most excited about?

Well, first of all, I'm very happy, you know, um, to be working with the people I'm working and helping the people that we, that, you know, that we speak to. So I'm very grateful about this because it was a journey to get here. You know, it took some time, effort, you know, money as well. Which money is the cheapest thing actually you can invest into your success is mainly time and effort. No, I mean, I'm very excited to continue doing what I'm doing, helping even more people. I do see 10 different avenues where I can grow even more. So yeah.

Cool.

Very, very excited going into 2025. Yeah.

Sweet. All right, man. Well, I appreciate you coming on. Hopefully we keep crushing it. Man, if we just project out, like, if you can do what you're doing right now for all of 2025, it's like you're, you're looking at a completely different, different life, which is so— it's super exciting. So, yeah, um, yeah, man, appreciate you coming on. If any of you guys want to connect with Apostolos, do it through the link below or in the community, and we'll catch you guys on the next one.

Yeah, shout out to Jake as well before we go.

Shout out to Jake too. Thank you, Jake.

Thank you, Jake.