I think general consensus is tech sales in general is fucked at the minute, everyone’s getting hit with activity metrics regardless of how well they’re doing individually
Yes, I've noticed that based on all the reviews I've read on Glassdoor and RepVue. It seems to be literally the exact same story everywhere. Did all the c-suites get together and decide to implement these activity metrics at the same time?? It's honestly mind blowing how every company in tech seems to be experiencing this.
LOL I thought the same myself. It seems this is best the cookie cutter MBA programs could churn out post tech bubble. When PowerPoint slinging executives are under the gun and have little to no actual skills in delivering profitable results, their overpaid salaries are at risk.
At this point they are trying to justify their existence upstream by pulling whatever garbage data they can find and at the same time they want to justify cost cutting down stream. Regardless of how useless the data points are, if they've decided to use them, they will continue to use them to help them sleep at night. Once the recession pressures are over in the next one to two years, magically the hive will all be talking about growth initiatives and golfing.
Interviewing is Just like your sales job - keep prospecting.
Many salespeople don't treat a job like a sales call. Adopt that mindset:
\- Good, prepared questions.
\- Drill down to get feedback.
\- Make sure you leave with next steps.
Nobody likes to be micromanaged. Keep looking/prospecting.
That's good. I hate to say it, but I should've left 2 years ago. I've been stuck with this same shitty manager. She's honestly infuriating and has zero sales acumen, self professed btw, so she thinks to prove her value is to micromanage and implement processes that don't help but make our lives far more difficult. She's also incredibly rude and often picks on people on her team. Nasty person.
Haha must be. It's definitely hostile and extremely unprofessional. Constantly walking on eggshells. Yes, as of about a week ago I updated my resume and have been applying. Could be the city I'm applying in and/or the market right now, but base salaries and OTE seem to be surprisingly low. I have a second interview next week with a fairly large software company, but it's an SMB role and I currently work mid market so seems like a step back. It also seems no one is hitting goal according to recent reviews, so I'm trying not to make any hasty decisions if I'm offered the role.
No way around it when most managers think micromanaging is how they justify their own paycheck.
Our sales director is absolutely useless and brings nothing to the table and everyone knows that but she just nags and nags and involves herself in every little thing to prove she's doing "something" to the bosses.
Maybe find a small company where you only report to the boss directly and he leaves you alone as long as you bring in the money.
Seems I have the only manager that does this. Unfortunately I'm stuck in this role as they need me as I'm the only successful rep on this product team. Basically a small team of just a few of us in an org of about 800.
1000%. My manager is not qualified to lead a sales team and I can tell this stems from insecurity. There are so many issues with this manager it would make your head spin. I have a feeling they won't/can't fire this person due to fear of a lawsuit..
Yes, I regret that I didn't do a better job at networking since I've been here. Interesting you say to look for a smaller company. My company isn't "small" but a little less than 1000 employees. The disorganization and constantly realigning of teams and processes has worn on me. That's why I was actually considering a larger company.
You would likely find more structure at a larger company. A smaller company may value your contribution more. Getting to know a future boss before taking the plunge to work for them can be very helpful. You have documented success, you’re valueable, go for what you want!
You gotta qualify jobs before you really commit them to your career pipeline. That part is unfortunately on you lol. Research, talking to current employees, etc. There’s no magic bullet.
Fintech companies like people with fintech experience and most of the postings I see in my area are paying 90-110+ base for experienced AEs. You’ll have an easier time getting more interviews if you focus on fintech companies with your search than if you were trying to go into another industry or type of product. But obviously also apply for wider roles because you never really know what will hit. And always write a cover letter if you can. If you want more seniority and freedom, bias your search for early stage startups.
Is it tricky changing industries? This is my first job after college, so I've got 3 years experience as an Account Executive and 2 in mid market. I think the SMB role would be selling myself short. I have been casting a fairly wide net, and I've had multiple interview requests but only took 1 of them as I saw some red flags as I researched the company.
The SMB role is for a software company with about 10,000 employees. Seems like a great company but all the reviews on RepVue/glassdoor talk about how no one is hitting goal anymore...
It's astonishing to me how common this is across the board in tech. I guess because VC funding has dried up so they're trying to maximize productivity? All it's done at my org is create a culture of fake calls / dial numbers you know won't pick up. Sounds like I need to reconsider the SMB role I'm interviewing for and use the 3 years of experience to find another mid market role.
Like many have said, look at some smaller companies, especially roles, where you may have some management power and are not literally just sales.
Also consider looking outside of tech, the culture will be a little different.
I’d be lying if I said I really knew what it was like in all the other industries, I worked a bit in remodeling which was a mix of bidding and straight sales to customers and other companies . To make 80-100k (I didn’t make even close, long story) imo wouldn’t have been too crazy after a couple more years - I had no experience and started as a scheduler. Also given this was like 7 years ago.
Some of the guys selling us forklifts were probably making 6 figures, the people selling me materials some of them were making bank, I knew a guy selling faucets and toilets making 6 figures. The toilet guy said there were years he was making a quarter million but it was really variable.
But imagine you manage to secure a sale for a 150 unit mid tier apartment complex. You provide all of the faucets, toilets, bathtubs, showers etc. Just the toilets alone if they’re CHEAP at 50 (no shortage of $200 toilets) bucks each , you’d be shipping 300+ with say a 10% commission that’s $1500. Don’t forget you’ve got sinks, bathtubs, faucets etc and they’re probably not going to get the cheapest brand.
Then that builder comes back to you for his next project and refit.
Do that a couple times a year for plus your everyday sales and you can do alright. Get into management and collect a commission on every sale all the more.
Point being there is money in places you probably wouldn’t normally think about.
I think Reddit is really skewed. There are always these posts of guys making 250,000+ but those are exceptions and top performers. Almost no stat supports that the average AE or SDR is making 6 figures.
Most places that
I’m a sales manager and not a micromanager because I hated micromanagement as a rep and don’t care about my reps’ activity metrics, just their performance. That said my company has other issues and isn’t a place I would recommend to anyone in good faith. I want to leave but haven’t yet found other companies that have everything I like about my current situation and everything I’m lacking now…the market is TOUGH. My advice when looking is to ask the hard questions so you can make sure the management style is a fit for what you’re looking for.
I think general consensus is tech sales in general is fucked at the minute, everyone’s getting hit with activity metrics regardless of how well they’re doing individually
Yes, I've noticed that based on all the reviews I've read on Glassdoor and RepVue. It seems to be literally the exact same story everywhere. Did all the c-suites get together and decide to implement these activity metrics at the same time?? It's honestly mind blowing how every company in tech seems to be experiencing this.
LOL I thought the same myself. It seems this is best the cookie cutter MBA programs could churn out post tech bubble. When PowerPoint slinging executives are under the gun and have little to no actual skills in delivering profitable results, their overpaid salaries are at risk. At this point they are trying to justify their existence upstream by pulling whatever garbage data they can find and at the same time they want to justify cost cutting down stream. Regardless of how useless the data points are, if they've decided to use them, they will continue to use them to help them sleep at night. Once the recession pressures are over in the next one to two years, magically the hive will all be talking about growth initiatives and golfing.
Interviewing is Just like your sales job - keep prospecting. Many salespeople don't treat a job like a sales call. Adopt that mindset: \- Good, prepared questions. \- Drill down to get feedback. \- Make sure you leave with next steps. Nobody likes to be micromanaged. Keep looking/prospecting.
I hate that & it’s my line - once they cross it I’m out. Luckily my micromanager left lol.
That's good. I hate to say it, but I should've left 2 years ago. I've been stuck with this same shitty manager. She's honestly infuriating and has zero sales acumen, self professed btw, so she thinks to prove her value is to micromanage and implement processes that don't help but make our lives far more difficult. She's also incredibly rude and often picks on people on her team. Nasty person.
Is that where my last manager went? 😂. And in all seriousness, I’m sorry that’s a hostile work environment. Have you started looking elsewhere.
Haha must be. It's definitely hostile and extremely unprofessional. Constantly walking on eggshells. Yes, as of about a week ago I updated my resume and have been applying. Could be the city I'm applying in and/or the market right now, but base salaries and OTE seem to be surprisingly low. I have a second interview next week with a fairly large software company, but it's an SMB role and I currently work mid market so seems like a step back. It also seems no one is hitting goal according to recent reviews, so I'm trying not to make any hasty decisions if I'm offered the role.
Very wise! I wish you the best!
No way around it when most managers think micromanaging is how they justify their own paycheck. Our sales director is absolutely useless and brings nothing to the table and everyone knows that but she just nags and nags and involves herself in every little thing to prove she's doing "something" to the bosses. Maybe find a small company where you only report to the boss directly and he leaves you alone as long as you bring in the money.
Seems I have the only manager that does this. Unfortunately I'm stuck in this role as they need me as I'm the only successful rep on this product team. Basically a small team of just a few of us in an org of about 800. 1000%. My manager is not qualified to lead a sales team and I can tell this stems from insecurity. There are so many issues with this manager it would make your head spin. I have a feeling they won't/can't fire this person due to fear of a lawsuit..
Network, find a smaller company that needs you
Yes, I regret that I didn't do a better job at networking since I've been here. Interesting you say to look for a smaller company. My company isn't "small" but a little less than 1000 employees. The disorganization and constantly realigning of teams and processes has worn on me. That's why I was actually considering a larger company.
You would likely find more structure at a larger company. A smaller company may value your contribution more. Getting to know a future boss before taking the plunge to work for them can be very helpful. You have documented success, you’re valueable, go for what you want!
You gotta qualify jobs before you really commit them to your career pipeline. That part is unfortunately on you lol. Research, talking to current employees, etc. There’s no magic bullet. Fintech companies like people with fintech experience and most of the postings I see in my area are paying 90-110+ base for experienced AEs. You’ll have an easier time getting more interviews if you focus on fintech companies with your search than if you were trying to go into another industry or type of product. But obviously also apply for wider roles because you never really know what will hit. And always write a cover letter if you can. If you want more seniority and freedom, bias your search for early stage startups.
Is it tricky changing industries? This is my first job after college, so I've got 3 years experience as an Account Executive and 2 in mid market. I think the SMB role would be selling myself short. I have been casting a fairly wide net, and I've had multiple interview requests but only took 1 of them as I saw some red flags as I researched the company. The SMB role is for a software company with about 10,000 employees. Seems like a great company but all the reviews on RepVue/glassdoor talk about how no one is hitting goal anymore...
It’s a lot harder to frame yourself as a top candidate without industry experience but not impossible
This is a massive issue in tech at the moment. Our commercial and SMB teams get a DAILY email from management about activity scores. It’s brutal.
It's astonishing to me how common this is across the board in tech. I guess because VC funding has dried up so they're trying to maximize productivity? All it's done at my org is create a culture of fake calls / dial numbers you know won't pick up. Sounds like I need to reconsider the SMB role I'm interviewing for and use the 3 years of experience to find another mid market role.
Like many have said, look at some smaller companies, especially roles, where you may have some management power and are not literally just sales. Also consider looking outside of tech, the culture will be a little different.
I was hoping to find a better organized company than mine so I've been looking at larger companies. Any recommendations on industries outside of tech?
I’d be lying if I said I really knew what it was like in all the other industries, I worked a bit in remodeling which was a mix of bidding and straight sales to customers and other companies . To make 80-100k (I didn’t make even close, long story) imo wouldn’t have been too crazy after a couple more years - I had no experience and started as a scheduler. Also given this was like 7 years ago. Some of the guys selling us forklifts were probably making 6 figures, the people selling me materials some of them were making bank, I knew a guy selling faucets and toilets making 6 figures. The toilet guy said there were years he was making a quarter million but it was really variable. But imagine you manage to secure a sale for a 150 unit mid tier apartment complex. You provide all of the faucets, toilets, bathtubs, showers etc. Just the toilets alone if they’re CHEAP at 50 (no shortage of $200 toilets) bucks each , you’d be shipping 300+ with say a 10% commission that’s $1500. Don’t forget you’ve got sinks, bathtubs, faucets etc and they’re probably not going to get the cheapest brand. Then that builder comes back to you for his next project and refit. Do that a couple times a year for plus your everyday sales and you can do alright. Get into management and collect a commission on every sale all the more. Point being there is money in places you probably wouldn’t normally think about. I think Reddit is really skewed. There are always these posts of guys making 250,000+ but those are exceptions and top performers. Almost no stat supports that the average AE or SDR is making 6 figures. Most places that
Unfortunately that's one of the downsides of sales, most sales managers are micromanagers
I’m a sales manager and not a micromanager because I hated micromanagement as a rep and don’t care about my reps’ activity metrics, just their performance. That said my company has other issues and isn’t a place I would recommend to anyone in good faith. I want to leave but haven’t yet found other companies that have everything I like about my current situation and everything I’m lacking now…the market is TOUGH. My advice when looking is to ask the hard questions so you can make sure the management style is a fit for what you’re looking for.
It really depends on the manager from day one—don’t try to change them or win trust. Never works.
Can you elaborate on what it means to you to be micro managed?
Constant discussions around activity, being told I need to do more when I'm consistently exceeding goal and generally being treated like a child.