ventox35

Sales Leader

Are execs just...stupid?

2022 was a bad year. We severely underperformed. Had to adjust down quota 3 times.

So what do we about it? Not innovate the product, adjust the strategy, hire better people..no no no. WE RAISED QUOTA 4X FOR 2023!!!!! the sales team is ready to quit before the new year even starts..

Had a town hall, the team backed the execs in a corner asking great questions. to which they had no clear answers. We are just repackaging the same crappy product.

(for all the "you need to get out of there" comments that will be coming, save it. I know. i'm the smart one. remember, the execs are stupid)

Are executives just dumb, or egos too big, or are they really worth their price?

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55 comments

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coletrain

Politicker

Account Executive

My guess? Your company is dependent on funding and made promises they couldn't keep.

That's why quota went up more than anything else. $/HC promises instead of scalable and effective processes.

CadenceCombat

Tycoon

Account Executive

Give @coletraina cookie. He nailed it.

coletrain

Politicker

Account Executive

Chocolate chip please and thank you

ventox35

Politicker

Sales Leader

bingo.

the board is antsy to see a return. execs can't face the reality of the hole they've dug themselves and the rest of us into

goose

Politicker

Sales Executive

This goes for most funded companies.

Sunbunny31

Politicker

Sr Sales Executive 🐰

Because raising quota immediately after a bad year always fixes everything.

sleepingjaguar

Opinionated

CSM, Emerging Markets

Totes

Nairobi

Politicker

Working for dumbasses made me realize that I should start my own company at some point and shouldn't have an issue since these dumbasses are doing it lol

ventox35

Politicker

Sales Leader

i felt this

creativewineshipper

Senior Sales Executive

I’m thinking the same thing

Lyceum

Big Shot

Strategic Account Executive

More people need to realize this!

antiASKHOLE

Tycoon

Bravado's Resident Asshole

Sounds like a new adventure is in your future

Mobi85

Politicker

Regional Sales Manager

surprised they just didn't hire 10x the amount of sales reps and expect that would fix a bad 2022 also.

SaaSsy

Politicker

You too, eh? I will never understand why they think this works. Now here we are 6 months later and everyone is scratching their head wondering where the $$ is...

ventox35

Politicker

Sales Leader

question was asked: "are there plans to hire more people to support these goals?"

answer: "no"

Kosta_Konfucius

Politicker

Sales Rep

What did they say in the townhall to back up raising quota? Curious if they actually made any sense

ventox35

Politicker

Sales Leader

great question!!!!!!! they gave a non answer answer. definitely instilled confidence!!!!!

Kosta_Konfucius

Politicker

Sales Rep

Reminds me of an old boss I had. Would want to raise my goal 4x over quota, and would say "wouldn't it be nice to make more money. " or "have you tried cold calling on Saturday"

Very different situation, but I started floating my resume over to new companies whenever a goal is increased dramatically and only get told "you got it"

CuriousFox

WR Officer

🦊

Wankers

Diablo

Politicker

Sr. AE

If there is no justification or explanation then it’s just dumb and non sustainable.

ventox35

Politicker

Sales Leader

Ay, there's the rub

SaaSsy

Politicker

Ugh, I'm sorry, I feel this SO hard. Took my team a year to drill this message into our execs so positive change is hopefully a comin'. Do your execs listen to anyone else in the company that can get some version of that message through? Do you have enough power to manage the sales team in the direction they need to go? Good luck either way

ventox35

Politicker

Sales Leader

i have basically no power, despite the fact i am a manager.

they do ask for feedback. then they take that feedback, and proceed to pile it up and drive it to a landfill for permanent disposal.

SaaSsy

Politicker

Hot take - “you need to get out of there” 😬

braintank

Politicker

Enterprise Account Executive

Yours sound dumb. Mine are amazing ;)

ventox35

Politicker

Sales Leader

you hiring? lol

Fenderbaum

Politicker

Retired Choirboy🪕

You can't polish a turd.

ventox35

Politicker

Sales Leader

Sage wisdom.

Fenderbaum

Politicker

Retired Choirboy🪕

butwhy

Politicker

Solutions Engineer

Ah - tell me you work at a unicorn startup without telling me you work at a unicorn startup.

Private re-valuation is going to happen next year with a big ol freaking stick, and anyone trying to get another round is scrambling. Seriously, it's about to get ugly - sorry about your quota.

Pachacuti

Politicker

They call me Daddy, Sales Daddy

I voted smart cause somehow they sold themselves for a fat paycheck.

GingerBarbarian

Opinionated

Lead Sales

I find that there is a game of telephone that takes place between customer-facing sales roles and the C-Suite. Nothing gets passed up the chain because no one wants to be seen as "negative", but then they all want to point fingers when the numbers get missed.

The C-Suite thinks they know everything, and they are in a position where growing an ego is difficult to avoid. Add to the the ignorance of what customers are actually saying and you get a lethal combination.

Justatitle

Big Shot

Account Executive

Execs, they’re just like us + a few sexual harassment lawsuits…

Buckeye40

Fire Starter

Account Executive

😂😂

HappyGilmore

Politicker

Account Executive

Raising quota by 4x?! That sounds not just dumb but utterly insane.

TennisandSales

Politicker

Head Of Sales

ughhh! im willing to bet this is a VC backed company that struggled to raise their last round and know they need MASSIVE numbers to keep raising money.

this blows!

ventox35

Politicker

Sales Leader

The well is certainly drying up.

ASP23

Good Citizen

Founder

Execs are just like any normal person that was at the right place right time but had good connections and was just good enough to get to where they are.

CadenceCombat

Tycoon

Account Executive

Stupid and selfish

JustGonnaSendIt

Politicker

Burn Towns, Get Money

I used to get frustrated with execs and their decision making.

But then I realized that often, they are being pressured just as much as you, if not more, and they are forced to make decisions based on incomplete or inaccurate information.

It's likely there is massive pressure to improve performance, but they don't have the right information to say exactly how to do it. So the response is to pass the pressure down to sales teams. Because that's their job: to set, communicate, and enforce expectations.

ventox35

Politicker

Sales Leader

no doubt there's board/investor pressure. i can't imagine the pressure coming from top down. but also, they are trying to impress the board/investors with aggressive plans.

i see it going one of two ways:
-the sales team will quit because it's impossible
-they will fire most of the sales team because no one will hit the numbers

SaasSlingin

Politicker

Sr AE

Always to see shit like this happen. Never experienced it first hand but is it more likely at a series a-c ? Is your place a small one?

ventox35

Politicker

Sales Leader

yes small. series A

ChumpChange

Politicker

Channel Manager

Dumpster fire alert. 4X output with no meaningful improvements to either the product or marketing strategy. A 4X increase screams that the boat is sinking. Get the bug-out bag ready.

This happened to one of my ex-colleagues when he took another job. His response to that was... "Are we being paid 4X more?"

crystalbepis

Fire Starter

MM SDR Team Lead

I felt this post. I've been asking myself this question for the last six months.

I've become really proficient at generating data in Salesforce to back up my claims, screaming that there's broken shit from the rooftops, and trying my best to provide solutions (as a fucking team lead mind you, I have no power here,) to help leadership realize their plan is broken af.

But none of it matters. We just doubled SDR quotas (inbound,) in the last sixty days while marketing reduces spend across most channels.

Smoking that HOPIUM over here. /rant

notdavemoss

Valued Contributor

CCBW

My .02? Your execs are tapped out. I have yet to meet a C-level that talks like this that isn't in hock up to their assholes. We all remember the BoilerRoom quote about the sales guy with a million dollar house and no furniture, right? These execs are making 500-1M a year but live like they make double or triple that. I would bet your company is for SALE and the exec team is trying to exit buy cashing out.

ventox35

Politicker

Sales Leader

I wish that were the case..they're trying to fundraise actually. we have to hit a certain number by end of january, or the well will be dried up.

then what???

GrinchGotAPoint

Good Citizen

Service and Sales Associate

I don't know if I think they are stupid, necessarily, although they might be if they are surrounding themselves with people who are telling them every idea they have is a good one. Desperate might be more accurate, if what they are doing isn't working and their instinct is to ramp it up and do even more of it. You might need to find a way to try to give them honest feedback about what's not working and why. Absent that, the sales team might have the right idea: could be time to find executives less desperate, dumb, or unresponsive. Hope that helps! :)

GingerBarbarian

Opinionated

Lead Sales

I just read a really interesting book called "The Motive" by Patrick Lencioni. Since then, I have been wondering what a CEO's role actually is. When I see most CEOs, they are often more like redundant CFOs, CROs or CFOs. The way they lead is often by micromanaging one silo of the business based on their expertise. Many of the CEOs I see are little more than political positions.

Any thoughts on this?

ventox35

Politicker

Sales Leader

100%. spot on.

BlueJays2591

Politicker

Federal Business Dev Director

Find somewhere else to sell

nemix

Politicker

SDR

It make ever made sense for me, personally in my business endeavors I hate using other peoples money and over leveraging myself because I never want anybody but my own hands on my shit. Life is about longevity what I build I never want to sell

Lambda

Tycoon

Sales Consultant

Seems like the company doesnt have a clear outline for the future

htxjoe

Good Citizen

Sales consultant

Execs aren’t stupid, they’re brilliant, I read my employer, or former employer’s rather, financial statements and executive pay went up by over 20 percent as sales dropped by over 37% and the company lost well over 7 million in operating cash and another $140 million in equity through falling share prices - they did what any smart captain of the ship would do - grab as much treasure as legally possible then jump from the burning ship before it sinks. Literally every major company did the same thing - lose a shitload of money, lay-off from 10-50% of the workforce, take three weeks off for Christmas and start fiscal year fresh with no skin in the game.

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