Jacky

Account Executive

Advice on resume/interviewing for AE roles with a history of poor quota attainment, plz help!

At my current company (startup), zero reps hit their quota in 2022. Some even had 0% attainment believe it or not.

I was promoted from SDR to AE at the start of FY2022, and now closing in on 2.5 years of experience.

Over the course of 2022 I was struggling.... we all were. New product in the US, but successful in the European market.

In 2022 I managed to close $50k ARR out of a 250k goal and was given a nonrecoverable draw to make up for the loss in attainment (more so to stay with the company). Reps with 0% attainment came from big names companies and they got frustrated and left.

Being that the job market is extremely tough right now, I am seeking advice on how to position my story within a resume to land an interview. And also understand how to position this situation within interviews to land another AE role.

Any help would be greatly appreciated! At this point, I have considered joining an established brand as a Senior/Enterprise SDR and working my way up again.

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13 comments

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Kosta_Konfucius

Politicker

12

Sales Rep

Where do you fall in rank? If everyone was bad it shows you are a top performer

CRAG112

Valued Contributor

5

Account Executive

That is dead accurate.

CRAG112

Valued Contributor

8

Account Executive

Focus your resume on highlights, don’t get caught up in outcomes from the get go. 1 yard at a time wins the game.

average deal size 50k with a 250k goal.

led prospects through a multi threaded buying journey, building champions amongst businesses and pushing against procurement with exec buy in.

Average calls per day 120
average relevant emails per day. 20-35 (the phone is the way)
average conversations per day_____

full cycle sales management. Demos. Outbound. Negotiation. Close.

Sunbunny31

Politicker

2

Sr Sales Executive 🐰

This is spot on and perfect.

CRAG112

Valued Contributor

2

Account Executive

And now I need to change my resume completely. LOL!

Sunbunny31

Politicker

2

Sr Sales Executive 🐰

Don’t we all! I learn something great just about every day.

Sunbunny31

Politicker

4

Sr Sales Executive 🐰

It sounds like you have already decided to move on from this company - or have there been layoffs that affected you?

If you’re in the position to remain employed while on your job hunt, I’d recommend that. It will provide some cushion while you look for the next thing.

Diablo has a good point - it’s not you, it was the whole company. Some experienced reps had 0% attainment. The fact that you were on the board under those conditions speaks to your persistence and resiliency. Try not to take a step back. While you only have 1.5 years in a closing role, look for AE roles. I agree with Diablo again (and your comment) that SMB roles will be the best fit - your target was low, and you are a new rep. For comparison, EAEs at my company have a 1.25 m target in ARR, which you’ll have to work up to.

If you’d like to remove info that would identify you or your company, you can post your resume for input and advice from the group to help position you.

Diablo

Politicker

3

Sr. AE

Do what’s best for you. If I were you, I wouldn’t step back as an SDR. There was no action plan by the company for so many quarters?

I would rather target an SMB AE role where I can still close the deals. Looks like there is/was no market fit and I would talk about the different strategies the company initiated for these many quarters the things haven’t improved overall. It’s the entire company not just you.

CuriousFox

WR Officer

4

🦊

Never go back dude. 💯

CPTAmerica

Opinionated

1

President/CRO

Don’t go backwards. Tell the truth in your interviews but don’t go on and on about it. Focus on the fact that you were a top performer and how excited you are to sell something with a better product market fit. Ask them questions about their sales process, training, leadership, turnover.

SoccerandSales

Big Shot

1

Account Executive

How does that rank to everyone else, easiest would be ranked x out of x reps if that is a favorable number

Maximas

Tycoon

0

Senior Sales Executive

Best of luck with your search.
Recommend you to just refer to the attainments you made -like closing that 50k- and the tasks you managed to fulfill, without a need to refer to the quota itself as a target unless being asked, and in that case just talk averages like I managed to hit an average 80 to 90% of my annual targets.
And if you still feel stuck just say my quota was very flexible the thing made it changing regularly almost on a monthly basis that got my numbers harder to track!

0

Strategic Partnership Manager

Inwould focus on my highlights of what you did do well for the start up company. Also do you have any previous experience?

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