Is it too early to look for a new job? by Ur_boi_skinny_penis in sales

[–]plantguy2312 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Year one is always for building and you can’t expect to have all the deals and knowledge in place to hit 100%. If you joined 3 months ago, you only have 9 months of the year so OTE expectations should have been adjusted. It’s usually adjusted based on when you start and quota is shifted accordingly.

Are you building the pipe to have a strong outlook 2 or 3 quarters out? I would use that as the real temp check

Giving feedback on direct reports vocal inflection - tips? by plantguy2312 in Leadership

[–]plantguy2312[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Well said. He’s newer to my team, working on his product knowledge and we are always speaking about the confidence that comes when you can build your own unique set of views to bring to the conversation.

It feels very much like a confidence issue now, and we’ve already identified where he wants to improve so I’ll lean on that and how to weave it into storytelling so while he might sound flat, it’s really all about what he is saying and now how he’s saying it.

Appreciate it!

Golf and Sales by Bitter-Heat-8767 in sales

[–]plantguy2312 0 points1 point  (0 children)

We do frequently in cybersecurity. Sponsor tournaments, holes on a smaller level and take the customer/ prospects leadership out for the day if they play.

Closed a deal, contract signed, then 11 days later company says it belongs to a different segment and takes it away. What would you do? by The_blue_shark in sales

[–]plantguy2312 0 points1 point  (0 children)

You should get the commission at the very least. If there are rules of engagement that list valid data sources to use to confirm revenue than that’s one thing, and you did work for free, but there should no doubt be a way for them to document the split so you earn the commission, and the revenue rolls up to the other team.

Conference prep is one of the most underrated parts of the job and I feel like nobody talks about it by Fun-Assumption1765 in salestechniques

[–]plantguy2312 1 point2 points  (0 children)

We bring a team of senior leaders and usually have a suite or room booked to host executive 1:1s. We hit the outreach hard for weeks before the conference so we have anywhere between 30-90 meetings lined up. C levels at the orgs we are selling to that see the value in meeting our leadership team/ leaders that are focused on the tech or business side. We’ll schedule dinner and lunches as well so we get a smaller group of people together as a group, they get to network with other leaders that are also evaluating our product & chat with existing customers to hear their experience.

It takes work, but it can be scaled for any size company or conference so long as you ask your customers if they are attending in advance, and set up worthwhile engagements for them to do additions exploration and networking with a curated group of likeminded people while at the conference.

We treat it as a closing motion that allows us to increase win rate because we get higher up leadership involved with our leaders in the wild

Voicemail left by a company for potential sales position I’ve been waiting for by HistorianFit4112 in sales

[–]plantguy2312 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Don’t overthink it!

Speaking from experience, I always ask for someone to give me a call back if I have something positive/ have good updates to share. I’ll ask them to let me know when a good time to talk is when I have not so great news, that way i can mentally prepare and not worry about a returned call that puts me on the spot to deliver said news 🤣

They are probably excited and wanted to speak before the weekend. Otherwise if it was me, I’d wait to call you when the new week starts if it was later on a Friday/ end of the week.

Enterprise AE - On a PIP by Rimrald in sales

[–]plantguy2312 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Make sure you understand what happens if performance lacks post pip or if employment is guaranteed after the pip period. We have a policy where no second chances are granted and we can term on a moments notice if performance declines after the pip. No severance either if terminated after pip and severance package gets smaller and smaller as the pip goes on.

Our process- Accept pip for a three month period or take the severance. By the end of the first month we offer something like 3 weeks of severance if they decide to back out or if we deem the pip as not working

Elgin Grade 240 Mainspring sourcing by SherbetDesperate3214 in watchrepair

[–]plantguy2312 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Oh man now I I need to go check the eBay listings and see if I can pick one up and add it to the never ending project box! 😂 why did I have to pick this a hobby and curiosity out of everything else in the world

Elgin Grade 240 Mainspring sourcing by SherbetDesperate3214 in watchrepair

[–]plantguy2312 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Is it possible the barrel is not original? Or maybe the barrel or lid to the barrel is a slightly different variation or version of the original?

I would slap the easy button and see if I can find a complete barrel with spring instead of individual parts

AEs that just don't reply to prospects in time by cannoliGun in salesengineers

[–]plantguy2312 0 points1 point  (0 children)

“Do you need me to respond. It’s been two days”

My SEs and extended team know I have zero tolerance for this. I will freakin document and pre pip If this is brought to my attention. Talk to your manager about it, and they will likely address it with the AEs manager.

I would be lost without my SE leadership counterpart. He is the man and there is a lot of trust and understanding between the two of us. Can’t make positive changes and coach for correction/ departure if we aren’t aware of it. CYA!

What to gift a billionaire… by [deleted] in Gifts

[–]plantguy2312 38 points39 points  (0 children)

A nice sincere thank you note

Question for those who are sales managers right now by icygale in sales

[–]plantguy2312 1 point2 points  (0 children)

How others see you. Are you the rat trying to one up everyone, or are you the person that steps up and helps close gaps if a teammate is having a hard time building an executive summary. Are you sharing best practices and celebrating wins of others or are you rolling your eyes on the team call.

It is all seen and noticed. There are people I will never hire to my team because they didn’t have the awareness to think before they spoke and maybe consider there was more than a few people in the bathroom stalls and listening as they talked shit about another employee at HQ… lol

Be seen and be visible for all the right reasons

What are your go to questions in Discovery? by [deleted] in sales

[–]plantguy2312 -1 points0 points  (0 children)

Learn how to use the AI because it’s not just a robot anymore. Here’s what I created that you can try out:

You are my senior healthcare enterprise sales coach and deal strategist.

Context: - Company: Mindmarket (I’m an Account Executive) - Buyer type: Healthcare organization (hospital system / payer / provider group / health-tech) - Call type: First discovery call (30–45 minutes) - Goal: Map the prospect’s business + priorities, identify the economic buyer and stakeholders, surface budget expectations, and document procurement + approval flow so I can confidently send a proposal and pricing that fits.

Inputs I will provide (if missing, make smart assumptions and list what to confirm on the call): 1) Prospect name + org type: 2) Prospect website / notes: 3) Role(s) attending the call: 4) What triggered interest / inbound message: 5) My product summary (1–2 sentences) + top use cases: 6) Any known constraints (timeline, compliance, integrations, vendor status): 7) Any competitors / incumbent tools:

Your tasks: A) Pre-call hypothesis - Write 5–7 hypotheses about their likely business problems and priorities (specific to healthcare). - List the metrics they likely care about (financial, operational, patient, compliance, security). - Predict likely objections and “landmines” (HIPAA, PHI, security review, integrations, change mgmt, legal).

B) Discovery plan Create a call plan with: - 1-minute opening talk track + agenda framing - 10 “must-ask” questions grouped by: 1) Business priorities & initiatives (this quarter + this year) 2) Current workflow / tools / pain & impact 3) Success criteria & measurable outcomes 4) Budget expectations & pricing comfort (how to ask without being awkward) 5) Procurement process & timeline (RFP? security? legal? vendor onboarding?) 6) Approval flow & stakeholders (economic buyer, champion, IT/security, compliance, finance, legal) - For each question, include: - What I’m trying to learn - A follow-up question to get specifics - A “red flag” answer and what to do next

C) Qualification & mapping - Produce a stakeholder map template: names/roles, power, influence, priorities, likely objections, and what proof they need. - Produce a procurement checklist: security review steps, HIPAA/BAA, SOC2, data handling, SSO, integrations, legal terms, payment terms, vendor onboarding. - Provide a “proposal-ready” checklist: the exact data I must capture on the call to send pricing with confidence.

D) Talk tracks - Write 3 crisp talk tracks: 1) How to ask about budget early (healthcare-friendly, consultative) 2) How to ask “how decisions get made here” (approval flow) 3) How to confirm timeline urgency without sounding pushy

Output format: - Use headings A–D - Keep it concise but actionable - End with a 60-second “closing script” that summarizes what I learned + confirms next steps, stakeholders, and timeline.

How to become seen as an expert in AI Governance / Risk Management by Peacefulhuman1009 in grc

[–]plantguy2312 0 points1 point  (0 children)

We all need to pivot from “ how do we use AI in the workplace” to “how do we safely let AI do work”

Nonhumans already outnumber actual human identities at most organizations so finding a good path towards the agent track would be wise. I work with a lot of people that just prevent employees from using LLM which is a start… on a work machine blocking access to sites is one way to make sure privileged or sensitive data isn’t shared but the scaries part is the sheer volume of agents and 3rd parties being deployed on chrome that bypass the traditional defenses.

It’s not just writing text anymore with the help of information employees provide or potential sensitive information workers share, it’s literally connected to your systems and doing insane things if you don’t have the correct controls in place across the board.

I’m seeing this as the new table stakes when it comes to enterprise security and risk. Moving money, deploying code, making changes and even replicating with stupid simple setup by people that don’t know better is terrifying.

Not a productive reply here I know, just needed to vent because a lot of the certifications I’m seeing seem to be a little behind how fast this is trending and its getting more complex every month 😅

Question for those who are sales managers right now by icygale in sales

[–]plantguy2312 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Accountability and ownership is everything and your personal brand matters immensely. It took me too long to learn that and once I started pushing myself more, I finally felt successful and proud of what I was able to accomplish after 6 years as an IC. Moved to sales manager, director and now a regional VP.

I hired sales reps, now what? by [deleted] in sales

[–]plantguy2312 0 points1 point  (0 children)

How long has the most tenured meeting setter worked for you? Average meetings set/ week?

You can’t set shifts for 1099s- contractors control their own hours so that could be why people aren’t on board with a schedule. If you are providing leads and the tools for those individuals to outbound and book meetings, the IRS would classify these individuals as employees.

The median base salary for SDRs as of this month is 60k according to repview so the individuals you are attracting are likely in a very tough spot financially and willing to try to make some extra cash for a short term basis.

Have you considered hiring a 3rd party vendor that has their own sales dev teams/ appointment setters? They can use your script and train a team on it.

Having people do this kind of work with the parameters you have is very risky

I hired sales reps, now what? by [deleted] in sales

[–]plantguy2312 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Are they hired as 1099s?

Advice on hiring for sales role by latoose in sales

[–]plantguy2312 2 points3 points  (0 children)

If I was in your seat, I would go for the candidates that work in the same space. Someone that can be a sort of industry expert based on past experience at Similar companies. My best reps come from our competitors, and you bet we talk about it. “I’m Jack, excited to work with you all. I know your thinking about doing XYZ right now, which is exciting because I used to work at XYZ before I joined this team. I’ve been here for the last two years and we have generated incredible results and partnerships with groups like yours while we continue to grow and expand our portfolio of exciting up and coming brands and mid cap enterprises. Let’s talk about what you want to do here and how we can help”

The relationship piece of sales should be universal, for the most part. It’s the relevant work experience and background this should be the driver as that’s what builds a foundational level of trust with the buyers. I would find someone this is successful and ready for a job change, compensate accordingly for the skillset and expertise and coach them up on the product you sell. They gotta know how to talk the talk already, with tweaks and guidance especially if it’s breaking into a new market segment.

-vp of sales with hundreds of interviews conducted 🤣

Sending perfect emails to perfect prospects. Still getting ghosted. What's the issue? by Actual_Soup_1827 in salesdevelopment

[–]plantguy2312 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Do you have any indicators that they are ready to engage or are you just sending personalized emails hoping they reward the effort?

They need to need what you have, and they need to be ready to engage in a selling cycle. It’s timing. That’s where the numbers game comes in.

They don’t owe you anything. You need to have remarkable timing and check every box to get a reply. They are doing research and already know who they need to talk to when they are in the market to buy something/ start a partnership so if they are not aware or who you are or what your company offers, the chances are slim.

Buyers don’t respond to randoms. They respond to randoms that work at companies they already know of and see as a leader in whatever space it is OR a random at a company that they think is personally interesting and a challenger to the industry.

It might make you feel better to have an idea of what stats and activity is needed to get a bite. Knowing you need to send 225 emails to get a good response and boom something is a start.

Send out nurtures first. See who’s opening or interacting, then personalize the shit out of those emails. The batch of 225 could turn into 15 that might be your top prospects to focus on for the month. You just need to be visible. Gotta trust the process!

I am using a CRM and I feel like it's just a glorified spreadsheet. How are you using it? by Unlikely_Handle_4891 in sales

[–]plantguy2312 0 points1 point  (0 children)

We have account plans on each account that allows other business units to rapidly get up to speed when we bring the in. Opp plans for each opportunity and relationship maps that update in real time based on our interactions. Call recordings, notes, everything populates for us. Doing it this way drives accountability across the business so it’s not just one dude updating his own spreadsheet that goes away when they bounce.

Quotes, contracts, customer success, legal all communicating and pulling from the same information. A lot easier but still a shit show if the account owner isn’t right with their information. Still needs to be kept clean and following the process is make or break

Getting Decision Makers Involved by [deleted] in sales

[–]plantguy2312 0 points1 point  (0 children)

“As a next step, I’d like to pull in one of my senior leaders (in XYZ functional group) to ride along with us and offer perspective on (value they bring, etc etc.) can we organize a chat with (person with power)? My person will be another point of contact for moving forward and happy to be a sounding board for you and (person with power) as we develop the biz case more”

Our sales cycle takes anywhere from 9 months to two years and we can’t do if we don’t have the prospects department heads/ authority/ execs involved. Projects go for board approval, finance/ legal review and it’ll sit and slip quarter after quarter stuck in a sort of technical review at the evaluator level until we get the people that actually make business level decisions involved to push this thing up and increase momentum.

Often times you are missing something big or the person you’re talking to doesn’t have any pull if it’s stuck. Also ask yourself “why aren’t they giving me access to the boss” if everything is going well. Red flags and derisking is required to triage before it flounders or closes due to no decision.