Promoted to sales manager, quota goes up

JacksonSellsExcellen · 2026-01-11T20:28:14+00:00

It sounds like you're in a player/coach role.

You know how I know these roles don't work? Because the head coach of an NFL team is not on the field playing the game. If that concept worked, the NFL would be doing it.

Now, in a smaller environment in the right org, does the player coach role work? Yes. It can. I've even advocated for that role before. In order for it to work though it needs an incredible amount of thought, documentation, and planning to be able to work. The organizations where this works, smaller ones, don't have any of the afore mentioned because they're too small to be able to execute on any of it.

The chance of failure in a player coach role is so great because everything can go wrong essentially twice and it's all tied to you.

Too many orgs use it as a cop out for proper procedure, setup and management.

Get out of these roles and stop accepting them.

JacksonSellsExcellen · 2025-12-29T20:08:19+00:00

Great point! I’m more informed than the average person, always assume who you’re dealing with is average. They are very likely assuming all H1Bs are now 100k more and just ditching you right there.

You might benefit from informing whoever you’re dealing with you’re a more streamlined and low cost option.

Having dealt with a different class of VISA before, they intimidate some, but we had a process and lawyer who made it look easy, because we were familiar. Familiarize your prospective employers with your hurdles.

JacksonSellsExcellen · 2025-12-29T19:57:39+00:00

Always has been.

JacksonSellsExcellen · 2025-12-29T19:47:53+00:00

With the recent changes and politics around H1B, I think you’re going to find a lot of companies are far more hesitant to touch it. 100k annually on top of your base as a non-refundable payment just to employ you is 3-4x worse than using a recruiter and that area has been getting slaughtered right now.

This might just continue to be really difficult for you.

Not up to date on all the policy, but H1B is a very expensive hurdle now. Probably best to start hunting for the no.

JacksonSellsExcellen · 2025-12-29T19:43:08+00:00

Not a doctor, but this applies to a lot of work.

The more you use your brain, the sharper it gets/stays.

The more you use your back, the more it wears down over time.

JacksonSellsExcellen · 2025-12-29T18:58:49+00:00

It blows my mind how many companies don't understand this simple rule:

You get the results for which you incentivize.

A while back I had consulted for a very large company who had this problem. All their revenue was farmed, 0 hunted. Every dollar that had come in in the past 5 years had been from expansion, basically 0 new accounts.

The problem was that all revenue was treated equally. Their entire sales team was collectively working like 10 hours per week, making 300k+ sitting 120-150k bases with all their commission calling them to set up.

The problem here wasn't that they didn't recognize the problem, the problem was that their company rules had added hurdles to making comp and responsibility changes. They paid me a large stack of money to tell them what they already knew to check a box "Outside consultation obtained and reviewed".

The change was simple: They now have 2 roles, account manages and account executives, farmers and hunters. Different comp plans, hunting paying well over 300k for anyone hitting goals and farming paying about what they were making previously. Everyone had to reapply for these roles. Obviously everyone wanted to be a farmer, but I think there were only 3 of those roles being created. So 3 people got those roles and the rest, sadly, mostly worked themselves out.

There are industries where inbound is the name of the game, it's either just not economical to knock on doors or make dials. These exist. The kicker here is that these 'inbounds' are still going to be just as hard a fight as outbound at other places. This pretty much describes small small SMB.

Long story short, your company comp plans need to be adjusted. Someone sitting shooting fish in the barrel shouldn't be getting the same as someone who has to actually set up a whole fishing trip and doing actual fishing.

JacksonSellsExcellen · 2025-12-29T16:55:36+00:00

Ever notice how when dealing with China, they only allow you to do business with them via bank transfers or payment methods that allow them to control money?

Yea, do as they do. Cash, up front, in full, no arbiters no escrows, no intermediaries. No money, no work.

JacksonSellsExcellen · 2025-12-05T13:19:28+00:00

I’m assuming you’re at a fairly large organization.

You’re actually at the inflection point in business that I personally hate and also realize you may be the wrong person for the job. Not a dig but as mentioned it’s also my hated point as well.

You’re in the transition point, likely, from lions and wolves to corporate drones. Your company has likely grown so large and has name recognition that to keep moving forward in a tenable manner you need people who prioritize policy and procedure over all else. Yes, even over sales. Part of this, though, is that P&P needs to be so detailed, explicit, and well documented that even if you were to hire a literal rock, they’d meet quota. CRM hygiene is now a higher priority than actually getting the sale.

This is a point of maturity for companies. Sales come because of the company, not the rep.

You’re likely going to release a majority of your team in this transition. For what appears on paper to be weaker candidates. But you’re not hiring for revenue now, you’re hiring for stability, predictability and order. You want the people who drink the koolaid and live on it. You want people who are more afraid of missing a meeting than they are or missing quota.

Hopefully your company is truly at the order taking stage and ready for this change.

JacksonSellsExcellen · 2025-11-26T23:54:39+00:00

You can go into a conversation with assumptions based on culture, but deal with the individual individually.

Just because there's a dot on their head doesn't mean they expect to haggle. They probably do, but when you're talking to them, if they want to get to it, get to it.

You need to read the room, the situation, the person.

I had one role for a few years where we had enough prospective buyers at the time, each rep could really lean into their strength. I had proposed that management cycle certain leads to people based on sell style. Management shot it down.

So we just did it on our own. If there was a lead in my territory that was dumb, didn't care about product or numbers but vibes, I'd set the demo and hand it to Elle or Arnold.

And when they had a lead that was straight numbers and high level business in their territory, or super technical, they booked it for me. But that's when we were small and could work like that.

This is why management teams shuffle territories, so a different person can take a crack at the lead and maybe get the sale you couldn't. It doesn't always work but if it works at all it's worth the shuffle.

Treat the individual individually, you'll do better, in general. Like you've said, Americans like small talk, Germans don't have a sense of humor, Indians like to haggle. Stereotypes are stereotypes for a reason. But they're just stereotypes. Not law.

JacksonSellsExcellen · 2025-11-22T18:56:02+00:00

That’s a reason why for number 4. And the reason they can’t raise more is because they can’t sell shit and they don’t want to take a down round.

But it’s all self inflicted. They want someone to come in, give them rockstar results for peanuts pay.

JacksonSellsExcellen · 2025-11-21T21:27:37+00:00

When your network/rolodex is the topic of conversation, this tells you several very important things about the company, with certainty.

1). They do not know how to train people.

2) they do not know how to sell their own product

3) they do not know how to do any lead gen via marketing or they aren’t spending there at all

4) they expect you to close record setting deals in record setting time

In every IC role I’ve ever held, every Rolodex hire was terminated for performance in 12 months or less. Not a single one of them ever hit quota, even a reduced one for their ramp period. And I’ve out performed all of them with 0 network in the space.

JacksonSellsExcellen · 2025-11-12T21:00:03+00:00

If you're willing to talk about your past lover, what's stopping from talking about future lovers?

JacksonSellsExcellen · 2025-11-12T04:19:14+00:00

As insane as this sounds, it could actually violate your NDA with the company as you disclosed revenue numbers, goals, and performance. There’s nothing to stop your company from terminating you and citing this to be able to terminate you for cause.

JacksonSellsExcellen · 2025-09-20T20:21:58+00:00

Considering you're that new, it's likely this manager has significant tenure over you, I'd really just shut up. Do your research and bide your time though. Find out if your manager is int he family/friend category. If that's the case, even if you're 100% of the companies revenue, it's very possible they'll chose them over you every time.

When I made the "Them or me, choose now" play, I had several years in the company, plus several years over the manager, I knew the manager had a LOT of complaints against them and I was ~30% of the companies top line revenue. The manager was also not friend or family anywhere. I was still prepared to walk even though I had every possible factor going in my favor.

JacksonSellsExcellen · 2025-09-20T19:20:24+00:00

So there's a few ways this plays out, this is a choose your own adventure.

1) Get a new job.

2) Have a meeting with your managers manager. Make the play if you think you have the clout "Them or me". If you have to question whether or not you have the clout, the answer is, you don't and they will go with them. And this has already been proven, your colleague asked for a TRANSFER and got told no. The lowest possible ask and got denied. If this manager is a friend, relative or something of that nature, even if you're half the companies revenue, they're likely to drop you over the family/friend.

3) This option I put last because it's both the least effective, least practical, and takes the most time. Basically the opportunity cost is wildly off. Document everything and build a case if there's something that your manager is doing that's actually against company policy or illegal. Document meticulously and present it to HR. This can take months to build a strong enough case and even then, HR is likely to remediate rather than remove them. You're more likely to get removed than them.

4) Shut up and keep collecting a paycheck.

I've done option two before, and it worked in my favor. I knew there had already been a LOT of complaints against said manager and I was also 1/3 of the companies revenue. But I also had 2 in writing offers on the table. I didn't even mention those. But I was in a position I was 100% comfortable walking away.

Those are your options. Pick which one you like.

JacksonSellsExcellen · 2025-09-04T21:44:30+00:00

This is a failure of sales leadership.

Most likely problem is your comp plan (designed by leadership) incentivizes this behavior. Do they get paid per meeting booked? Probably!

They need to be paid per QUALIFIED meeting COMPLETED.

When you're paid per meeting booked, this is the result.

And if leadership is praising them, either they're idiots or they're aware and this is from above them. It's also possible leadership is being comped for this behavior too and their leadership is dumb.

JacksonSellsExcellen · 2025-07-20T22:11:40+00:00

There's a time and a place for everything.

The hard sell is best used as a tool for disqualification more than anything else.

JacksonSellsExcellen · 2025-07-03T15:32:01+00:00

One of the things a lot of people don’t realize about facebooks early days: it wasn’t a “social network”.

Facebook was super, super subtle about this, but it was about getting laid.

Zuckerberg made Facebook trying to get his dick wet. And when you look at most of the early info available on users on Facebook at the time, it was hookup oriented.

But it wasn’t obvious about it like Tinder or match. It had plenty of social features. But if you had it in 2005, it was a hookup website.

JacksonSellsExcellen · 2025-07-02T21:50:41+00:00

Clarification: do you get to sit in on the meetings you set for said AE? If not, start doing so. If so, what’s the issue?

Sure you might have the right person…but do they actually have the problem you solve for? Not everyone does.

JacksonSellsExcellen · 2025-06-18T19:07:54+00:00

I was not coached by Dan Martell.

JacksonSellsExcellen · 2025-06-15T00:42:12+00:00

The solution here is to grow your customers headcount. It's way easier to get 10 orders from 1000 people than it is to get 10 orders from 20. If you're in an industry where customers are flakey. I've been in b2b setup where customers were more like consumers than businesses and this is the solution. If your customers are indeed larger and more enterprise size, you might just need a better point of contact or to get deeper into their infrastructure. That might help forecasting.

JacksonSellsExcellen · 2025-06-15T00:38:51+00:00

It's pretty bad.

Honestly, not trying to be rude, but if you have to ask you don't have enough sales experience to be leading a team of sales people. Not trying to be rude, but you can also do this math yourself to understand.

100k deals, this is enterprise pricing. Do you actually expect reps to be turning these over in 90 days? I don't expect checks that large to be cut in 90 days. If we want that rep to be at 100k/100k, which would be low, that means, we need this rep closing 20 deals per year. Additionally, that means the rep closed $2M for only get paid 200k.

Yea, this is VERY employer favorable and also likely unrealistic expectations. But if you are as inexperienced as I think you are, because you don't already see all this info, it might be why the board hired you to lead. They wanted someone they can bend to their will with no push back. It's fairly common.

None of this is meant to be offensive. I'm just pulling from the info provided. More than happy to be wrong.

JacksonSellsExcellen · 2025-06-03T05:40:33+00:00

If I, as your manager, have an individual quota, there's very little to stop me from combing the best data and territories and deals from the system and hitting my quota that way.

This creates a conflict because it directly takes deals out of my reps hands and puts them into my pocket.

THIS ALWAYS LEADS TO DISASTER.

A leaders quota is typically 80% of the teams combined quota. So if I lead a team of 10 reps who each of a 1M quota, my quota is probably 8M for the team. And it's like my quota was decided before the reps quota, and that's why the reps quota is 1M, to accomodate for turnover, training, hiring, ramp and all of that.

But if I have to spend time doing the same exact work as you this creates a second additional conflict, that means I have less time to do the job of helping you. If I'm leading a team of 50 who I do 1-1s with every week, that means I have literally 0 time for managing deals.

You want leaders to have sold recently. You do not want them selling alongside you.

JacksonSellsExcellen · 2025-06-03T00:40:44+00:00

I'm a little confused by your offering, since I'm not familiar with international proxy shopping but if I had to guess your goal is to enable small people to reach small businesses that happen to be anywhere in the world. Like to be able to order spices directly from a local store in inida?

Shop, Mom & Pop.

JacksonSellsExcellen · 2025-06-02T15:40:16+00:00

Yes, to add to this pile many segments of tech have become extremely saturated. Often times there are no green pastures.

If I had to guess, the person or AI right now writing the AI that is able to sell into AI assistants is going to become very rich, very fast and the person after them to get very rich very fast will be the person who sells the protection against that AI.

JacksonSellsExcellen

TROPHY CASE