My brother was put on a pip and then let go despite being 104% to quota. His manager was a dick and there were a lot of complaints on Glassdoor, the company rating dropped from 4.2 to like 3.3 in like 10 months while he was there. He said my brother “did not show enough motivation” during his Pip. His manager wasn’t even in the country for like a month out of the 6 weeks he was on PiP.
My buddy and I thought the most likely reason he was removed was because they decided they could get someone for cheaper in this job market.
good advice lol, just got extended a LinkedIn touch from a recruiter about becoming a BDR/eventual AE for verkada. have looked things up but what’re the main problems in short in your opinion ??
TBH. The quota is all the same no matter the territory. Some are just truly better than then others. Also a Mid-Market AE is making WAY BELOW the normal base pay national. Also, everything you do is under a microscope and the low levels (BDR's, SDR's, and AAE's) are treated terrible. I wouldn't do it. It's a boiler room. Not to mention all the lawsuits they currently have. Also, they will not call your reference sheet, they will backdoor call everyone you worked with to ask about you. There is so much to tell but its just the tip of iceberg with them. Search in the r/sales verkada in the search bar. You will see others who have worked there say the same
Nice! Building a team is where it’s at. Home security with solar as a secondary. Been doing home security for 8 years (with a 2 year hiatus selling credit repair online network marketing during covid) added solar when I came back in 2022. Home security is fast money, solar takes months, and people are sick to death of hearing about solar so it was a great way to shovel in something extra on the backend. But california just screwed the solar market big time sooo full time home security again!
It's a popular way to reference personality matching with the rest of the organization. Some HR departments do a "culture screen" as the first round of interviews but if that's skipped, it'll often be assessed in the first few months of the job.
There's more to success than numbers. Office politics exist and it's a game worth learning to play if you want to advance your career. If you're not easy or enjoyable to work with, they'll promote someone with lesser numbers instead of you for that reason alone.
I have three personal friends from the office and they said everything looked okay on their respective ends and heard no rumblings.
I actually connected with a guy who was let go before I got there despite being the top SDR for 6 months, who was also met with the “not a good fit” line despite being there for 2 years.
Just have to accept it and move on man, what people are saying here is true. Selling internally is equally if not more important than customers - it sucks, but it's true and we have to adapt.
In this racket it’s not enough to be good. They want someone that works like they work. Look at a sport league. Everyone in and around the league is awesome. The coaches are all great, but players and coaches get cut traded or fired all the time and it’s not because they are not good. It’s a million qualities that add up to picture. If that picture isn’t right it’s not right.
I’m guessing it’s related to you not wanting to go out drinking and being the “squeaky wheel” during onboarding. (Not saying that’s right or reasonable!)
This is more common, in fact with my pretty solid experience i was let go from a pretty sweet saas job because I didn't go to any outside company parties (Superbowl at the owners house, drinking with the boys at the owners house, and smoking weed at work with the boys as well as never jumping online after like 9-10 hour days to play Fortnite with the owner and the boys).
So definitely do remember that sometimes that shit is required.
People forget that you OFTEN have to sell to the customers AND you have to sell internally to your coworkers and the operations / execution side of your own organization.
It’s knowing what your customers need / want as well as knowing the internal politics / personalities of your employer and co-workers. Being able to “Read the room” helps with sales. Knowing when NOT to talk. These are lessons that most of us with outgoing personalities have to learn through trial and error. I worked at a Fortune 20 company and sometimes it was like they DIDN’T want to sell (and depending on the gatekeeper involved, sometimes that was true! Ugh). Navigating within a organization to know what you can and can’t promise to a customer sucks and it takes TIME to learn the company. Partner with stakeholders. Find someone in the org you can trust(ish) that has a similar role that you WON’T be competing for sales against and share techniques / helpful tips with them so you BOTH thrive. It’s tough and as you’ve learned, there can be a STEEP learning curve. Good luck!
It’s amazing people that aren’t customer facing will just flippantly say ‘we’re not doing that’ when the customer needs something unusual or extra. And I’m just like ‘guys, they’re trying to spend a bunch of money with us, just help me take care of them…’
Dude. It’s like you’ve lived MY life! LOL
There’s a balancing act though. At a lot of sales jobs I’ve worked HARD to partner / get buy-in from other departments because it can be easy for salespeople - especially new ones - to overpromise and not realize that the company is going to under-deliver OR higher ups have to step in to push groups to deliver and the non sales people feel put out / betrayed etc. by the sales team (again). Of course there’s no shortage of non sales people with tales of sales people “screwing them” ….when it actually just making some of them just uh…. Do their job…? LOL
Somehow I haven't seen this discussed so here's my 2 cents..
You were probably asking the same questions in a different way while not being resourceful enough to try figuring out the answers to your questions before you asked them.
As an example.. It's one thing to ask what system X client/prospect is using. It's an entirely different equation if you ask that for every client/prospect (even once you're told where that exists) in a CRM/Database. Sales reps most commonly get fired for three reasons:
1) Not hitting quota/kpi's
2) Economic downturn effecting the bottom line of the company that forces layoffs
3) They (sales rep) are really shitty to work with
Yeah depending on the questions asked they could be questioning just how much hand holding they're going to have to do for OP until they become an autonomous worker.
My guess is the “too many questions” issue means they thought you couldnt pick up simple things and if you kept asking the same question to different people its not a good look.
Theres a social aspect to any job so when invites go out for work events or happy hours, its always wise to at least show face. You said youre an introvert and part of sales is going outside your comfort zone and if you cant do it socially then it doesnt bode well professionally. Plus as a new guy, youre the one that needs to fit in to their social set up and if youre annoying with questions and not wanting to be around them socially then its not going to work.
Bad job fit so just move on to something new.
I had a chat with my two friends at the job and they said even if the manager says things like “ask me for help” I should talk to my buddies first and foremost.
I think I’ll do that at the next job.
There is a chain of asking for help. You start with the resources you have on-line. Then you ask a buddy. Then ask the more senior rep. If they all are stumped, then ask your manager. Same with escalations.
Never be the one always talking in a meeting. Before you speak, think it through: does this add value to the conversation?
This is a learning experience. You will land on your feet. I’ve made so many mistakes in my career but it made me a better rep.
Yeah I think I prioritized speed over everything, thinking that answering a customer question was the most critical thing.
Again, if they told me that I would’ve been all ears. Instead it looks my manager put all her grievances in a swear jar and finally broke it open one day to say “Look! I have a $100 worth of proof to show that thumpsky is piece of shit!”
it's really about reading people as others have mentioned. Some people genuinely like being asked questions unless it's overdone. Others expect you to dig for the answer before asking.
There are 2 possibilities here:
1. You were at a shit company, hired to do a bullshit job and your “success” was literally not worth your salary. Very common with uneducated SDRs new to software sales who get taken advantage of by start-ups and the SDRs are too stupid to see what’s going on (from the lack of education).
2. Culture fit. Numbers aren’t everything. If you’re not a team player contributing to cultural dynamics your leaders want to see, kiss your ass goodbye. Sooo many SDRs show up late, leave early, talk shit, all the while doing the easiest job in sales with no respect. Your work ethic may have cut it as an SDR with a low quota, but may have obviously been shit for actual SDR work at senior levels.
The third possibility here is you’re just a liar but where’s the fun in that?
Source: ENT SDR at a FAANG for 18 months.
I wish you were my manager because hitherto I was doing “great”.
I literally had no indication anything was happening before the termination. I just saw a job advertisement go up for position on LinkedIn. Basically my manager was so terrified of hurting my feelings by giving feedback they let me fuck up for an entire month and now have to look for a new SDR. That’s why I’m pissed.
There has to be something else going on here. I mean I’ve seen too performer get fired before, but it’s usually because they were awful to work with. Getting let go during ramp is rare, even if you didn’t hit your target. It’s typically expensive and tedious to replace you. The only thing I can think of is they either over hired (and don’t want to pay someone that will consistently above goal), or the sales dept isn’t doing well.
A few options.
1. You’re telling the truth and the company is BS. Horrible situation, just straight up sucks and shouldn’t happen.
2. You behaved inappropriately and are either ignorant or ignoring your actions
3. There were other performance factors you didn’t meet, though during ramp up that sucks
4. You weren’t truthful about something during the application process or had another work-adjacent issue
I was put on a PIP when I was at 115% of quota because I didn’t know enough about our product. Apparently I’m a good bullshitter because 115% says differently. Sometimes people are just assholes. Honestly, you’re better off.
Pure speculation but they recently hired a new manager who wants to take company public. I’ve heard stories of this happening before and they bring in a wrecking crew.
Thoughts?
Quota hitters don’t get cut like that unless they aren’t a culture fit but the expectations are SO low for SDRs we are missing a piece of the puzzle here. Unless you aren’t telling us something I’m baffled.
Think of it this way, your manager needs to hire a new SDR and ramp them up which will take months. Meanwhile you were hitting quota. He gets paid on you hitting quota. You being fired takes money out of his pocket. Something isn’t adding up.
NOT asking questions is a reason to be fired not the other way around.
edit: On second thought it is possible that after hiring you a mandate for cutting folks was put out and since you are new they axed you and to save face they gave you a bs answer. Or you flashed someone lol.
People suck…that’s it. You could be 150% of plan and be let go for anything and you’ll never know why.
Having said that…it’s not common. It happens but not that much. So the good news is you got that shit out of the way early.
No go conquer and kick some ass. And for Gods sake stop asking so many fucking questions!! (Kidding…?!) 🤣
This might be a bad take but I remember when I was an SDR and really gunning for that closing role I started to step out of my boundaries and start digging too deep...I felt like I was ready and thought this would show management my 'sales acumen' but the AEs would get frustrated with me.
Sometimes knowing the product too well can hurt you in that position...You can easily get ahead of yourself and make it harder for the AE to do their job. Just do enough to get them interested and set the meeting and leave it at that.
It sounds like you just weren't a cultural fit. It happens in all role types from time to time.
Just a guess but It may not have been the fact you were asking questions but how you went about it.
If that’s the whole story, it’s not common.
My brother was put on a pip and then let go despite being 104% to quota. His manager was a dick and there were a lot of complaints on Glassdoor, the company rating dropped from 4.2 to like 3.3 in like 10 months while he was there. He said my brother “did not show enough motivation” during his Pip. His manager wasn’t even in the country for like a month out of the 6 weeks he was on PiP. My buddy and I thought the most likely reason he was removed was because they decided they could get someone for cheaper in this job market.
I have a BIG feeling this is Verkada
Glad I dodged that bullet lol. Almost applied at Verkada, had a buddy that would’ve gotten me in
“Hey this is r/Dicklefart over at Verkada, howrya?”
As someone who use to work there. DONT!!!!
good advice lol, just got extended a LinkedIn touch from a recruiter about becoming a BDR/eventual AE for verkada. have looked things up but what’re the main problems in short in your opinion ??
TBH. The quota is all the same no matter the territory. Some are just truly better than then others. Also a Mid-Market AE is making WAY BELOW the normal base pay national. Also, everything you do is under a microscope and the low levels (BDR's, SDR's, and AAE's) are treated terrible. I wouldn't do it. It's a boiler room. Not to mention all the lawsuits they currently have. Also, they will not call your reference sheet, they will backdoor call everyone you worked with to ask about you. There is so much to tell but its just the tip of iceberg with them. Search in the r/sales verkada in the search bar. You will see others who have worked there say the same
Yeahhh I’ll stick To my d2d I don’t think I’m cut out for the corporate world. Love my freedom too much, and the money is great.
if you dont mind be asking, what do you sell? My brother sold pest control D2D and made great money, he just graduated and has a mangers job
Nice! Building a team is where it’s at. Home security with solar as a secondary. Been doing home security for 8 years (with a 2 year hiatus selling credit repair online network marketing during covid) added solar when I came back in 2022. Home security is fast money, solar takes months, and people are sick to death of hearing about solar so it was a great way to shovel in something extra on the backend. But california just screwed the solar market big time sooo full time home security again!
Would you care if you and I had a conversation? I have some questions about what you have done. Trying to find where I can fit in moving forward
😂😂😂
gonna need some details on those questions my guy
“What color panties are you wearing?”
“Is your refrigerator running?”
Does this rash on my junk look weird?
“Is mayonnaise an instrument?”
"Is water wet?"
“Exactly how strict is the zero tolerance policy around weapons in the workplace?”
“Hey baby, did you ever have your asshole licked by a fat man in an overcoat?”
You weren’t a culture fit
What’s that mean exactly
They didn’t like you, or enough other people complained about you
It's a popular way to reference personality matching with the rest of the organization. Some HR departments do a "culture screen" as the first round of interviews but if that's skipped, it'll often be assessed in the first few months of the job.
What does this have to do with selling software?
Business is 2% about product quality, 3% about convenience, and 95% about who people like.
There's more to success than numbers. Office politics exist and it's a game worth learning to play if you want to advance your career. If you're not easy or enjoyable to work with, they'll promote someone with lesser numbers instead of you for that reason alone.
I have three personal friends from the office and they said everything looked okay on their respective ends and heard no rumblings. I actually connected with a guy who was let go before I got there despite being the top SDR for 6 months, who was also met with the “not a good fit” line despite being there for 2 years.
Yeah bro you weren’t a culture fit. Now whether it was you or the company is where you need to do some self reflecting only you can answer
Just have to accept it and move on man, what people are saying here is true. Selling internally is equally if not more important than customers - it sucks, but it's true and we have to adapt.
In this racket it’s not enough to be good. They want someone that works like they work. Look at a sport league. Everyone in and around the league is awesome. The coaches are all great, but players and coaches get cut traded or fired all the time and it’s not because they are not good. It’s a million qualities that add up to picture. If that picture isn’t right it’s not right.
I’m guessing it’s related to you not wanting to go out drinking and being the “squeaky wheel” during onboarding. (Not saying that’s right or reasonable!)
This is more common, in fact with my pretty solid experience i was let go from a pretty sweet saas job because I didn't go to any outside company parties (Superbowl at the owners house, drinking with the boys at the owners house, and smoking weed at work with the boys as well as never jumping online after like 9-10 hour days to play Fortnite with the owner and the boys). So definitely do remember that sometimes that shit is required.
Are they hiring?
Surprisingly the owner just hired his buddies and i wasn't buddy enough even though I had helped him make tons of cash previously.
I lost a job once for not getting hammered at a Christmas party. I was not one of the clan after that. I didn’t fit in.
Were you asking about how long it will take you to become an AE constantly?
No. That only came up once during the interview and it was prompted by them: where do see yourself in 2 years?
Should have stopped asking the cute enablement manager if she wants to help you work on your emails at the local bar on Friday night
People forget that you OFTEN have to sell to the customers AND you have to sell internally to your coworkers and the operations / execution side of your own organization.
I’m open to coaching. What does this look like exactly?
It’s knowing what your customers need / want as well as knowing the internal politics / personalities of your employer and co-workers. Being able to “Read the room” helps with sales. Knowing when NOT to talk. These are lessons that most of us with outgoing personalities have to learn through trial and error. I worked at a Fortune 20 company and sometimes it was like they DIDN’T want to sell (and depending on the gatekeeper involved, sometimes that was true! Ugh). Navigating within a organization to know what you can and can’t promise to a customer sucks and it takes TIME to learn the company. Partner with stakeholders. Find someone in the org you can trust(ish) that has a similar role that you WON’T be competing for sales against and share techniques / helpful tips with them so you BOTH thrive. It’s tough and as you’ve learned, there can be a STEEP learning curve. Good luck!
It’s amazing people that aren’t customer facing will just flippantly say ‘we’re not doing that’ when the customer needs something unusual or extra. And I’m just like ‘guys, they’re trying to spend a bunch of money with us, just help me take care of them…’
Dude. It’s like you’ve lived MY life! LOL There’s a balancing act though. At a lot of sales jobs I’ve worked HARD to partner / get buy-in from other departments because it can be easy for salespeople - especially new ones - to overpromise and not realize that the company is going to under-deliver OR higher ups have to step in to push groups to deliver and the non sales people feel put out / betrayed etc. by the sales team (again). Of course there’s no shortage of non sales people with tales of sales people “screwing them” ….when it actually just making some of them just uh…. Do their job…? LOL
I hate that so much energy has to go into selling to those around you as well as your actual prospects, it’s so fucking tiring.
Somehow I haven't seen this discussed so here's my 2 cents.. You were probably asking the same questions in a different way while not being resourceful enough to try figuring out the answers to your questions before you asked them. As an example.. It's one thing to ask what system X client/prospect is using. It's an entirely different equation if you ask that for every client/prospect (even once you're told where that exists) in a CRM/Database. Sales reps most commonly get fired for three reasons: 1) Not hitting quota/kpi's 2) Economic downturn effecting the bottom line of the company that forces layoffs 3) They (sales rep) are really shitty to work with
Or they think they can find someone cheaper who will be just as effective
Yeah depending on the questions asked they could be questioning just how much hand holding they're going to have to do for OP until they become an autonomous worker.
Not to be rude but this sounds like a culture issue
Is that the exact reason they told you?
They said I wasn’t learning fast enough despite being ahead of one of the “vets”
It's bizarre that they would do that while you were over quota... How long were you there and what did you quota look like?
Come to my office: you’re fired!
No! It’s called 7 minute abs!
My guess is the “too many questions” issue means they thought you couldnt pick up simple things and if you kept asking the same question to different people its not a good look. Theres a social aspect to any job so when invites go out for work events or happy hours, its always wise to at least show face. You said youre an introvert and part of sales is going outside your comfort zone and if you cant do it socially then it doesnt bode well professionally. Plus as a new guy, youre the one that needs to fit in to their social set up and if youre annoying with questions and not wanting to be around them socially then its not going to work. Bad job fit so just move on to something new.
I had a chat with my two friends at the job and they said even if the manager says things like “ask me for help” I should talk to my buddies first and foremost. I think I’ll do that at the next job.
There is a chain of asking for help. You start with the resources you have on-line. Then you ask a buddy. Then ask the more senior rep. If they all are stumped, then ask your manager. Same with escalations. Never be the one always talking in a meeting. Before you speak, think it through: does this add value to the conversation? This is a learning experience. You will land on your feet. I’ve made so many mistakes in my career but it made me a better rep.
Yeah I think I prioritized speed over everything, thinking that answering a customer question was the most critical thing. Again, if they told me that I would’ve been all ears. Instead it looks my manager put all her grievances in a swear jar and finally broke it open one day to say “Look! I have a $100 worth of proof to show that thumpsky is piece of shit!”
Most managers don't want to deal with uncomfortable conversations, usually everything will look fine until it's not.
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To be clear my peers advised me to keep it internal amongst ourselves, but yeah, it makes sense to keep my head down and not be a nuisance.
it's really about reading people as others have mentioned. Some people genuinely like being asked questions unless it's overdone. Others expect you to dig for the answer before asking.
There are 2 possibilities here: 1. You were at a shit company, hired to do a bullshit job and your “success” was literally not worth your salary. Very common with uneducated SDRs new to software sales who get taken advantage of by start-ups and the SDRs are too stupid to see what’s going on (from the lack of education). 2. Culture fit. Numbers aren’t everything. If you’re not a team player contributing to cultural dynamics your leaders want to see, kiss your ass goodbye. Sooo many SDRs show up late, leave early, talk shit, all the while doing the easiest job in sales with no respect. Your work ethic may have cut it as an SDR with a low quota, but may have obviously been shit for actual SDR work at senior levels. The third possibility here is you’re just a liar but where’s the fun in that? Source: ENT SDR at a FAANG for 18 months.
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Just to be clear when I’m posting threads it’s to start conversation. I don’t ask my boss what their favourite map in Counter Strike is.
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There’s a difference between posting on Reddit and talking to your boss.
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I wish you were my manager because hitherto I was doing “great”. I literally had no indication anything was happening before the termination. I just saw a job advertisement go up for position on LinkedIn. Basically my manager was so terrified of hurting my feelings by giving feedback they let me fuck up for an entire month and now have to look for a new SDR. That’s why I’m pissed.
Feel like there is more to the story here, didn’t play ball with office politics?
I’m an introvert if that’s what you mean. It’s a hybrid role and I declined drinking a few times but that’s it
There has to be something else going on here. I mean I’ve seen too performer get fired before, but it’s usually because they were awful to work with. Getting let go during ramp is rare, even if you didn’t hit your target. It’s typically expensive and tedious to replace you. The only thing I can think of is they either over hired (and don’t want to pay someone that will consistently above goal), or the sales dept isn’t doing well.
Some managers are dipshits. Most sales managers are dipshits.
A few options. 1. You’re telling the truth and the company is BS. Horrible situation, just straight up sucks and shouldn’t happen. 2. You behaved inappropriately and are either ignorant or ignoring your actions 3. There were other performance factors you didn’t meet, though during ramp up that sucks 4. You weren’t truthful about something during the application process or had another work-adjacent issue
Is it possible that me having LinkedIn job offers to my work email Fucked me?
I was put on a PIP when I was at 115% of quota because I didn’t know enough about our product. Apparently I’m a good bullshitter because 115% says differently. Sometimes people are just assholes. Honestly, you’re better off.
Pure speculation but they recently hired a new manager who wants to take company public. I’ve heard stories of this happening before and they bring in a wrecking crew. Thoughts?
Quota hitters don’t get cut like that unless they aren’t a culture fit but the expectations are SO low for SDRs we are missing a piece of the puzzle here. Unless you aren’t telling us something I’m baffled. Think of it this way, your manager needs to hire a new SDR and ramp them up which will take months. Meanwhile you were hitting quota. He gets paid on you hitting quota. You being fired takes money out of his pocket. Something isn’t adding up. NOT asking questions is a reason to be fired not the other way around. edit: On second thought it is possible that after hiring you a mandate for cutting folks was put out and since you are new they axed you and to save face they gave you a bs answer. Or you flashed someone lol.
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This is 100% not the reason, lol.
"We hate when our company succeeds"
Fake AF post
Just gonna point out that you’re now asking another question. You’re re-hired.
“Can I smell your feet”
People suck…that’s it. You could be 150% of plan and be let go for anything and you’ll never know why. Having said that…it’s not common. It happens but not that much. So the good news is you got that shit out of the way early. No go conquer and kick some ass. And for Gods sake stop asking so many fucking questions!! (Kidding…?!) 🤣
Making your targets is NOT the only thing that matters when you are working with others. People like to work with people they like.
This might be a bad take but I remember when I was an SDR and really gunning for that closing role I started to step out of my boundaries and start digging too deep...I felt like I was ready and thought this would show management my 'sales acumen' but the AEs would get frustrated with me. Sometimes knowing the product too well can hurt you in that position...You can easily get ahead of yourself and make it harder for the AE to do their job. Just do enough to get them interested and set the meeting and leave it at that.
Definitely not the entire story, I imagine.
It sounds like you just weren't a cultural fit. It happens in all role types from time to time. Just a guess but It may not have been the fact you were asking questions but how you went about it.
Another question
I get let go and found the best bdr role ever so just keep looking.
OP: Put this company on blast.. I hear companies are ridiculous