bendandsnack

Account Exec

Advice on navigating the political nonsense at a big company

Hello, this year I switched from a small 400 person consulting company to a large 200,000 person Cloud provider. The weirdest thing about the switch - the amount of rah rah rah bullshit and internal noise we have to deal with:

Observations so far:

People overpromote when they do basic things like meeting customers in person and prospecting. AKA doing their job
There's a lot of noise directed at sales reps to help with box-checking items that benefit other peoples' KPIs. For ex. meeting with partners, planning events for clients, driving attendance to internal events, nominating clients for marquee company events to make our territory/VP look good
Every man for himself - my boss tells us to be aspirational on our forecast to make him look good(his ass is on the line this year), then asks us why the deals don't come in

Our segment isn't going to hit our numbers. So in 2 weeks, we each have a QBR presentation for my boss's boss's boss on how we're managing our territory. I've been told by other reps this is likely him trying to snuff out who should get fired.

My question - is it more valuable to spend time on political optical nonsense that makes you look good(ex. planning customer events, raising your hand to help with team stuff that doesn't get you paid) or just spend time stuff that helps with your quota? This year I feel like I've over indexed on optics and could've put more time towards my quota, newbie mistake, but I do think it might save my ass in this QBR

👑 Sales Strategy

☁️ Software Tech

✌️ Growing Pains

10

17 comments

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sellingsellssold

Politicker

6

SDR

That sounds like the big company I worked for before - they don’t truly care about staff and just treat you as a number. I would say do what you think the high up bosses want to hear. If you do this you should be safe. Sorry you are dealing with this!

Sunbunny31

Arsonist

3

Sr Sales Executive 🐰

Pretty much it. It’s one of the cons of working at a large company. You literally are just a number. Tick all the boxes, do what’s expected, and you’ll very well outlast the manager. Honestly, it’s a con that can be considered a pro once you figure out the rules. The trick will be to move up under a manager who also gets it and will bring your whole team along. Otherwise you end up in a division or sector that just doesn’t hit.

jefe

Arsonist

2

🍁

Absolutely. It's all a game, but if you can figure out how to play it you can win.

Gasty

Notable Contributor

4

War Room Community Manager

Even though it feels like shit, to me it's like you're talking about almost every other company. As mentioned, bigger the company, more bullshit like this you need to deal with.

To be honest, my advice would be to create a balance, you can focus on getting numbers all you want but there will be times when those numbers may not be achieved, that's when you'd realise the need to play the political game. And if you keep playing the political game, there will be a time when your numbers won't match your "political credibility".

Find the perfect spot.

And definitely, do overpromote, that's the only way to go about, in life I'd say. Even if you're picking up a pencil, show it like you're moving mountains, these things work when the teams are big. You need to stand out, it's not always about numbers.

Best of luck, and congratulations on the new gig :)

noname123

Politicker

3

noname

Companies like that suck. Yes nepotism and ass kissing are name of the game. Go out w management and do some blow, get blacked out drunk, to some stupid shit and get some dirt on executives and become friends. That’s how you get far fast unfortunately gotta get your nose dark brown with shit.

BitcoinAddict

Executive

1

AE

I have also worked in a similar place but this is not how it works. Get dirt of execs? Get fired.

CuriousFox

WR Officer

1

🦊

Your answer made me LOL

Sunbunny31

Arsonist

0

Sr Sales Executive 🐰

This doesn’t happen at credible large companies. There’s too much at risk. You’ll just find yourself exited.

MRK47

Tycoon

2

VP of International Sales

It sucks but you have to play the game. One constant no matter the company, is people unjustifiably being in the wrong (too senior) seat (starting with your boss) and focusing more on optics rather than activities that truly move the needle.
There is no proven strategy but for me, if I’m the higher up attending the QBR, I’m looking for evidence that you’ve identified a gap in likely quota attainment and have put in place a strategy in an attempt to course correct. Highlight the wins over past few months (whether tangible or intangible), show any sign of a positive reaction to your revised strategy (no matter how small) and forecast the improving impact this will have during next quota period. Most leadership look for predictability (and respond poorly to surprises)…showing that you own the problem, have taken proactive steps to address and have a plan mapped out moving forward; will hopefully be viewed positively…..and understand that your boss is likely in the cross hairs and he sounds like one who will look to deflect blame…remove the reasons for him to point a finger at you.

Sunbunny31

Arsonist

1

Sr Sales Executive 🐰

This is really solid advice.

QWhiz

Tycoon

1

Founding AE / ex-SDR

Oracle?

Gasty

Notable Contributor

0

War Room Community Manager

haha!

bendandsnack

Politicker

0

Account Exec

lol we have a fluffier reputation than Oracle, next guess

QWhiz

Tycoon

1

Founding AE / ex-SDR

The bigger the company, the messier it is. However - the opposite isn't true. I am only sorry for your situation. I agree with @SalesBeast - find some dirt on the higher ups and then concentrate on your pipeline.

SaaSguy

Tycoon

0

Account Executive

Similar story here, happens at most mature startups or big companies eventually, especially when people aren't hitting their numbers.
I personally understand the importance of "personal brand building" but do not really play the game. I keep my head down and try to perform and at the end of the day thats what has helped me succesful.
Its annoying to see people get promoted who are frankly incompetent but are good at "playing the game" and brown nosing, but its just not who I am.

Kosta_Konfucius

Politicker

0

ERP Sales

Both are important if you want to climb the latter, but I think its important to "play the game" to get their support when needing discounting/exec alignment. They are going to be bought in everything if you "play the game". Yes it politics, but its also sales.

BillyHoyle

Tycoon

0

Senior Account Executive

Show up to the office. Go to office events. Ask thoughtful questions when your AVP schedules a meeting with your local office. Identify problems, and don't bring them up until you have recommended solutions. Don't gossip.

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