DPRM

Ms Sales :)

Valued Contributor

Advice please

Hello, today is a bad day

Today in my company they informed me that the company wants to make a readjustment of itself (yes, in all readjustments people are fired) so when they asked me to indicate two people from the team of 16 salespeople who were not "essential" I understood what exactly are they referring to... now, this is the problem.

1.- I am a very emotional woman. So the idea of having to remove two people from the team I've worked with for 8 years is eating me up.

2.- By achievements, every one of the team reached their compliance goals. (The system does not let you know by how much they exceed it, it only indicates that they reached it)

3.- Most of the team are expecting children or have complex personal situations, I also think that's why they work hard every day.

4.- On average, they all handle the same number of clients and produce the same amount of money, except for 2 that far exceed it. But I cannot use this as an indicator, because they handle the3 biggest clients.

5.- My boss is a .....!! It is not an option to ask him for help.

I don't know what to do, I don't know if I just fight and say that they are all good, running the risk that someone outside the area will choose two without caring about any factor or if I share this information with the team running the risk that many of them decide to leave out or believing that the company is in a bad situation.

Have any of you gone through something similar? I accept advice

🙏 Mental Wellness

😤 Conflict Resolution

18

55 comments

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butwhy

Politicker

18

Solutions Engineer

This insanely sucks - no question about that; but in my opinion, this is the kind of thing you sign up for when you decide to become a manager. It's a large reason I never did.

So take some deep breaths, and try to find an internal place where you can handle this. It will not help the two you put on this list if you are overly emotional and dramatic about the situation and you cannot put this on your leader who is out. You need to be high-level, and have mental space to support them as they exit if that's what happens and the mental space to support the rest of the team who are going to be dismayed about the changes as well.

Go back through the metrics, find objective reasons for these two that you have to give for the reorg. This cannot be about personal life, this has to be about the company tasking you to do this and the performance numbers and impact of each person.

Something my past manager just did though when he was asked to do the same, was he went through the data of the team and pushed back on the number of people he had to RIF and actually reduced it from three to one. So if you have clout and ability to do that, you can consider your options.

Good luck, I know this has to really, really fucking suck; especially before the holidays.

SaaSam

Politicker

8

Account Executive

Couldn't have said it better myself.

If you think you've got the pull and the data backs you up to readdress the issue with the head shed and show them definitively that either it would hurt more than help to let anyone go or at least get it down to one, I would take that approach first.

If that doesn't work. It sucks but you'll have to pour yourself over the numbers and try to remove any emotion from your decision. That doesn't mean you should remove empathy from your delivery. There's not great way to deliver this message but there are definitely some shitty ways.

Sorry you have to make this call, and so close to the holidays. Much like @butwhythis is 99% of my reason for not taking leadership positions when offered.

DPRM

Politicker

2

Ms Sales :)

If I'm seriously thinking about fighting for my team and risking having the decision delegated to someone else, a part of me feels like it's the right thing to do.

Sunbunny31

Politicker

7

Sr Sales Executive 🐰

This is the best advice. Sorry, DPRM. This is going to be hard.

DPRM

Politicker

1

Ms Sales :)

Yes, is hard ... very hardand today at the end of the afternoon I must answer

Mobi85

Politicker

4

Regional Sales Manager

This advice right here is pretty spot on. Take the emotion out of it and just look at hard facts. It is a shitty position to be put in but sadly that is part of role with the manager hat on.

DPRM

Politicker

1

Ms Sales :)

I know, but I'm very sensitive, it's 8 years!

Kosta_Konfucius

Politicker

4

Sales Rep

Really tough situation but you need to do something similar to this

DPRM

Politicker

1

Ms Sales :)

I know... I will try, today is the last day for 2 people I guess

jefe

Arsonist

3

🍁

REAL shit situation, but you won't do any better than following what @butwhysaid.

DPRM

Politicker

1

Ms Sales :)

Yes, a very shit situation indeed

UserNotFound

Politicker

2

Account Executive

Love what @butwhy & @SaaSam are putting down here. Would add take into consideration territory performance. If you’re eliminating someone what happens to their territory/vertical? If it gets absorbed by remaining reps, it might be easier to make this decision based on the territory metrics than the human in the territory. Growth potential, market saturation, etc.

Good luck. I don’t envy you!

DPRM

Politicker

1

Ms Sales :)

Yes, it will have to be absorbed by the others, the "good" thing is that there will supposedly be an increase in the base and those new clients commission in the same way, so it is more money for everyone in general

DPRM

Politicker

2

Ms Sales :)

Thank you very much for your words and advice, it is more difficult than I expected, but I am already seeing what to do.

Pachacuti

Politicker

14

They call me Daddy, Sales Daddy

The problem is you’re in too deep with their personal lives and your emotions are clouding your opinions.

One thing to consider is looking for lateral moves within the company. In a large company there are always open spots somewhere. Maybe you can find one for your people?

CuriousFox

WR Officer

9

🦊

I like this. Trying to solve a problem while helping to the best of your ability.

butwhy

Politicker

5

Solutions Engineer

Fantastic suggestion.

Sunbunny31

Politicker

5

Sr Sales Executive 🐰

Great suggestion. Glad you brought it up.

Diablo

Politicker

4

Sr. AE

Great suggestion. This is what I would have suggested along with connecting them to someone in the network who are hiring.

DPRM

Politicker

1

Ms Sales :)

This has a trap, if I did that and the fortune that a Headhunter calls one of the members happened, how do I justify it? I could start a bomb on the team and make everyone think the ship is sinking...making everyone leave, or perhaps the best ones... the result would no longer be controlled

Fenderbaum

Politicker

4

Retired Choirboy🪕

I agree. You are emotionally involved in their personal lives and it's clouding your judgment. I really like the idea of some type of lateral move within the company. Give it a shot.

DPRM

Politicker

2

Ms Sales :)

Impossible to do...unfortunately

DPRM

Politicker

1

Ms Sales :)

It's not an option, I thought about it, but as soon as I hinted at it, it was a giant NO.

activity

Politicker

4

VP, Business Development

I would go back to management and make a case for your team if they are all truly performing. Sometimes tough decisions need to be made though and if there are two reps out of 16 on your team (generally there are) that haven't been making the grade, it is what it is. You can offer to write a recommendation or write a LinkedIn post if for these individuals if you feel moved to do so.

DPRM

Politicker

1

Ms Sales :)

In this case, I know that some will say no, but the entire team is fantastic, punctual, hardworking, they meet the metrics, they treat the customer well. The last complaint from a client was 5 years ago and it was because the representative went with a dirty shirt (he had a small son and taking him to school the child dirty it) it is really difficult

Arz

Politicker

3

Business Administration

It seems that they put you in a bad place, but if they put you that task, it is surely because you have the skills to achieve it.

Emotions are always present, but as the WR teammates say, try to put them aside and focus on numbers and performance and remember, it's not something you're doing for fun, it's your job, don't take it personally. IT'S NOT YOUR FAULT!

I'm very sorry about this, but not every day will be good. Good luck

DPRM

Politicker

1

Ms Sales :)

Thank u!Whatever I do, I feel like it's my fault and that the team is counting on me.

WhoDey

Opinionated

3

VP of Sales

If you don't make the decision, someone else will...and as much as you may not like having to make the decision, it's better that you do it than someone else. It's your team and it's your responsibility.

Do NOT take into account personal situations when making your decision (families, debts, etc.). That is a sure-fire recipe for disaster (and potential legal action). Come up with quantifiable metrics and stack rank your folks in a completely objective way. The key is being able to defend your decision down the road. Literally imagine yourself having to explain your methodology to a judge or jury.

Good luck. I mean it. I know this sucks...I've had to do it several times in my career. Leadership is hard.

DPRM

Politicker

2

Ms Sales :)

Yes, especially when you've been working with your team for so long, some friends told me, fire the younger ones, it's easier for them to get a job, but it doesn't seem fair to me either... although I don't know anymore, it's really not as if any option would look "fair"

WhoDey

Opinionated

3

VP of Sales

Do NOT use age a determining factor…that’s illegal. Stack rank your people 1-16 in different areas then sum up their scores in all the areas to create a composite stack ranking and identify the bottom 2.

Examples of areas in which to stack rank your team (some objective, some subjective…but ultimately the entire process is objective):
- win rate
- average deal size
- % quota
- consistency in achieving quota
- coachability
- attitude
- teamwork

DPRM

Politicker

1

Ms Sales :)

If I do that, everything would be super close, maybe the decision was already made and no, it wasn't because of age, that was only advice from a friend

Mendizo

Opinionated

3

Sr. Director

Hey, sorry to hear that you are being asked this, but thank you for your empathy and care for the team!

Many great responses here already, especially around making a case to reduce the numbers RIF'd; I'll just add that the one objective metric I really focused on in a decision like this is pipeline. Objectively speaking, past performance is not an indicator of future success (so whatever an AE sold in the past is great, that doesn't mean it's the same in the future), and what they have in pipeline is most easily 'defensible'. AE's with the lowest numbers in their pipeline are in that position for a reason. Now, of course, there could be many good reasons for that, but again you can't start making excuses for them, but think about the macro "how do we ensure that this team is setup for the most success moving forward, which will also help us not have to RIF in another 2 quarters?" type mentality. Those who have pipelines in place have the best chance to succeed, which helps themselves but also the team.

Whatever you decide to do, thank you for the compassion you have for your team, and we are with you!

DPRM

Politicker

1

Ms Sales :)

Thank you very much for your words and yes, it is complex especially because really everyone is practically the same the difference between the last 8 is not more than $500 per month, that makes it much more difficult for me, none of the team has been the last 2 times in a row

Diablo

Politicker

2

Sr. AE

It sucks but it is what it is. Try to help them as much as you can and stop feeling bad because you got no choice. Try to be as fair as possible.

DPRM

Politicker

1

Ms Sales :)

Yes, I´m trying

ThatNewAE

Big Shot

2

Account Executive - Mid enterprise

Oh this is so so bad! I am so sorry.
I know it's tough, but easy to say "Take it as a transaction, a part of your job and let it go". The more you think about their personal lives, the implications and what they would be going through - you're essentially just complicating things for yourself.

It's about the survival of the company. That's a transaction you have to make, as you're in the higher up position. The more you create scenarios of your teams' personal lives, the more of a cobweb you create.

Who knows? They might as well end up in a better position.

DPRM

Politicker

1

Ms Sales :)

Yes, what remains for me is to see it as positive, but I still see them as a family, we always help each other, and I know their children, wives, girlfriends, their birthdays... I want a miracle to happen and they tell me to do it. forget... or something like "happy April fool's day"

TheManWhoSoldTheUniverse

Opinionated

1

GoD of Sales

That will not do you good, wishing for that is a way to evade, I know it is difficult, but it is better to focus and solve the problem, the faster you do it, the faster the whole team will heal.

DPRM

Politicker

1

Ms Sales :)

true

SADNESSLieutenant

Politicker

2

Officer of ♥️

damn.

DPRM

Politicker

2

Ms Sales :)

Well, it's not advice but I think it's a good summary of the situation

SADNESSLieutenant

Politicker

1

Officer of ♥️

So many managers probably going through this. Really sucks.

DPRM

Politicker

1

Ms Sales :)

indeed!

AnchorPoint

Politicker

2

Business Coach

Why would a company reduce revenue producing assets? Huge red flag.

bandabanda

Tycoon

2

Senior AE Mid Market

^ my thoughts too. If all the team members are hitting metrics/quota, and there’s not much different between performers (I read $500 in an above response), then why fire any of them? Sounds like your team is keeping the lights on.

DPRM

Politicker

2

Ms Sales :)

Optimization, why have 2 good employees if you can have 1 good one to do that job, that's the basic idea... I know it doesn't always apply, but in this particular case it is like that.

AnchorPoint

Politicker

1

Business Coach

Two are better (MUCH BETTER) because GOOD employees are hard to find... especially revenue generating employees. Does not make sense for any growth minded organization. NONE.

DPRM

Politicker

1

Ms Sales :)

I agree, but I'm not the boss...

DPRM

Politicker

1

Ms Sales :)

I know it sounds like a red flag, but it's not (I have friends in the accounting area hehe) it's that they realized the huge consumption of payroll and that's why they want to cut back

AnchorPoint

Politicker

1

Business Coach

Accountants?? Accountants and Attorneys tell you what not to do... how to stay out of trouble... NOT HOW TO GROW A BUSINESS. Removing good revenue generating people - who by definition are NOT COSTING THE ORGANIZTION ANYTHING, is foolish. Huge red flag. HUGE. Company is probably up for sale.

DPRM

Politicker

1

Ms Sales :)

good point!

Redrover

Good Citizen

2

Exiting a start up

Sounds like your boss isn’t a leader. Which brings into question other decisions or stresses that he “handled.”

Go above him. Risk vs reward.

DPRM

Politicker

2

Ms Sales :)

he is not a leader at all

SticksAreUnbelievable

Valued Contributor

2

ADR (Account Development Rep) Sales Representative

Take your amazing team of 16 and start a new company! 🎉

In all seriousness, this sucks and if everyone is performing, there has to be a solid decision making process for downsizing.

Going to bat for your team is great but be prepared for pushback.

DPRM

Politicker

1

Ms Sales :)

Well is not a bad idea, NEW COMPANY!!! haha

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