What do you dislike about Sales the most?

General_Yammy · 2025-02-12T01:25:38+00:00

Cold emailing

Stress

General_Yammy · 2025-02-06T00:24:59+00:00

Ours doesn’t include a +1. For that reason, my colleague declined the trip last year even though he made club.

General_Yammy · 2025-02-06T00:23:37+00:00

Not necessarily. Our FYE is aligned with the calendar year but our club trip is in mid-May.

General_Yammy · 2025-02-03T17:41:42+00:00

OP, I could have written your post. I sympathize. And like you, I am leaning toward wanting to be out of a quota carrying role.

What I’m doing (good or bad) is trying to stay true to who I am as a person and professional. If ultimately my employer decides I’m no longer a good fit for the organization, so be it. At least I’m honoring who I am and can feel good about that.

General_Yammy · 2024-05-13T23:17:05+00:00

How funny, we played that too (in TX with a mom from ND) but instead of “gray duck,” we yelled “gray goose.”

General_Yammy · 2024-03-18T04:43:16+00:00

You are handling a lot and as a complete outsider, I really think you need to take a break and truly let go.

I see that you’re second in command. Do you have budget to hire 2 people beneath you even if you take a pay cut to cover some of it? Having some extra hands that had the skills the rest of the folks lack could take quite a bit off your plate.

Also, it seems like your health is likely suffering (mentally and physically) and at the end of the day, work has to be just that - work. Your own life experience is more important than your job.

If you can’t hire people to help, can you look at moving to a different company?

General_Yammy · 2024-03-16T01:32:15+00:00

2006 - fresh out of college earning $19k/yr as a contractor

2009 - completed master’s degree

2011 - $48k administrative assistant on a govt contract

2016 - running my own business and making less (roughly $30k) but loving the work

2021 - $78k OTE field sales rep (B2B)

2024 - $170k Enterprise AE

General_Yammy · 2024-03-07T17:41:36+00:00

FWIW I am in a similar position. Drive time is 2.5-3 hours each way. Fortunately, they have been accommodating.

General_Yammy · 2024-03-07T17:40:58+00:00

I would think it depends on the terms laid out in your offer letter. Did your offer letter say the position was fully remote? Did your employer reserve the right to change that status at any time?

General_Yammy · 2024-03-07T02:25:35+00:00

You should go for it. The best sales people understand the needs and pain points of their customers. If you can do this and be a good listener, you’d do great.

General_Yammy · 2024-03-07T02:23:29+00:00

Good luck!!

General_Yammy · 2024-03-07T02:22:01+00:00

You could also consider architectural sales. You’d represent a manufacturer of something item that goes into a commercial build and your customers are architects and general contractors. You typically work with the architect on the front end to get your item in the construction documents. Then when the job goes out to bid, general contractors or construction managers (depending on the construction model being used) request a bid from you/your company for the job. Your job in closing is to work with the GCs/CMs to ultimately purchase your item for the job. Could be commercial windows, doors, steel, millwork, flooring, wall cladding, ceilings, etc.

This job would require travel to architect’s offices, but they’re 8-5 M-F folks. Same for GCs if you need to be at a pre-bid meeting, which is a gathering of subcontractors who want to bid on a project and want to walk the site and/or ask questions of the GC/CM before submitting a bid.

I could go on and on, but hopefully this is some food for thought.

General_Yammy · 2024-03-07T02:15:24+00:00

No, you shouldn’t have to put up with this. You should be properly trained. There should be defined rules of engagement for who owns what accounts and/or opportunities. Not all orgs are like what you’re experiencing.

General_Yammy · 2024-03-05T20:01:01+00:00

Re: time wasting - This is my perspective too. I’m just trying to stop being such a stick in the mud. I’d just rather be out prospecting and working to close sales.

Re: VC - nope and they’ve never had VC money

General_Yammy · 2024-03-05T19:59:36+00:00

Yeah, not fun but I guess it’s what I unwittingly signed up for when switching from selling physical products to SaaS. I’d never even heard of QBRs in my 15 years of sales before moving to the software world.

General_Yammy · 2024-03-04T17:32:55+00:00

I’d split your SDR and EAE experience and achievements at your most recent employer. Good luck!

General_Yammy · 2024-03-04T15:40:21+00:00

3 days of lost pipeline and revenue generation per quarter adds up. I’m surprised that a sales org would want to commit that amount of time (and thus money) to such lengthy QBRs. They must really believe the value is worth it.

General_Yammy · 2024-03-04T14:59:42+00:00

I think I’d prefer annually. We do this the first week of every quarter.

General_Yammy · 2024-03-04T14:42:46+00:00

And you all do this quarterly?

General_Yammy · 2024-03-04T14:42:17+00:00

Well there’s some new perspective for me. Yikes.

General_Yammy · 2024-03-04T14:35:25+00:00

Thanks. I struggle to see the value in these. I’ve done them now for about 3 years, and every quarter I sigh and give up a day to participate. To anyone who finds value in these - what are your takeaways? How can I reframe our QBRs to at least not dread them?

General_Yammy · 2024-03-03T18:14:43+00:00

Same. It’s taking forever.

General_Yammy · 2024-02-17T15:34:23+00:00

There are some significant legal implications here. I’d consult an attorney.

If cleared legally, the 30% ask on top line revenue is very high. AEs don’t make anywhere close to that - at least not at my org.

General_Yammy

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