fdgdrghth

SAE (Senior Account Executive)

Asking for % to quota in an interview is stupid. Prove me wrong.

As I look at job posts every job says they require top billers that exceed quota.

They even ask you in interviews to lay out your % to quota per month.

However, we all know that less than 40% of reps hit their quota. Maybe less in SaaS with how bad things are RN.

I work for a 'top 10%' company on RepVue, publicly traded SaaS bla bla. And only 10% of our reps hit quota. 60% are on PIPs or have been fired.

Don't recruiters and hiring managers realise sales reps are perfectly capable of lying (or 'bending the truth') in an interview about their % to quota? Sales reps lie for a living.

The alternative is a discussion about how you are indeed a 'top' rep but nobody makes quota as they're a social construct made up by leadership.

Nobody seems to want to have that conversation though...

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CadenceCombat

Tycoon

Account Executive

I completely agree.

The question is also flawed because it presupposes that the majority of companies set realistic and achievable targets which has not been my experience but i’ve always performed well in comparison to the rest of the team.

Unfortunately, most employers don’t want to hear about the nuances of succeeding relative to the hand you’re dealt. They want to hear that you’ve consistently hit quota and what set you apart.

CuriousFox

WR Officer

🦊

So ya give em what they wanna hear. Endless game.

jefe

Arsonist

🍁

A tale as old as time

CPTAmerica

Opinionated

President/CRO

Quotas are pointless.

Kosta_Konfucius

Politicker

Sales Rep

Interviewers have asked me for proof of success, with a screen showing rank/quota attainment.

If a company is paying premium for top talent, how else do you gauge potential skill or success in the role?

If they ask candidates to do a huge presentation or a homework assignment, people will say that's overkill

fdgdrghth

Contributor

SAE (Senior Account Executive)

Easy to refuse due to not sharing sensitive company info. Anyway my point is everyone says they want 'top talent'. I'm not talking about Enterprise sales rep jobs at Salesforce earning 300K-1mm+. I'm talking about 200 person companies that have existed for 5 years paying $80k base. Everyone wants 'top performers' but the reality is there are very few and they certainly aren't taking jobs at your unproven startup.

no rep that is hitting quota leaves their job unless you offer a huge pay raise. fact.

Kosta_Konfucius

Politicker

Sales Rep

Have to disagree, I feel like if I was a hiring manager and you said there is nothing you can show to support the claim you are a badass rep without sharing sensitive info, I will assume you are lying.

Also, I see lots of reps over a 100% quota leave. Could be they raised quota, split your territory in half, forced you to go in the office and you want to be remote, or got a new boss you don’t like.

And yeah the 80k/160 OTE roles shouldn’t be expecting their candidates to be top 1% and going to presidents club every year, but is it safe to assume they want someone who has done well it the past?

If you were a manager, what would you change to gauge if they will do well?

fidelcashflow

Catalyst

Account Executive

First of all, no one asks for actual proof. So if you do that, you are a clown. I've had hundreds of interviews in my career and not a single interviewer has asked for proof. The "proof" is in the interview. If I say I'm 200% every year, that means I'm going to KILL the interview. And have a great answer for every question and a great explanation of all my processes. That's how they judge if you're BSing. Plus the mock as well. Top reps will mock with ease.

Kosta_Konfucius

Politicker

Sales Rep

I have been asked twice, small sample size though, could be a weird thing just those two do

And I have never interviewed a 200% a year person, but I have interviewed people who are terrible at the job but interview better than most people I know

oldcloser

Arsonist

💀

Once you've spent some time in management you're actually out of this damn trap.

I took an early stage FinTech from 0 to $6M is hard to verify. Nobody has ever asked for supporting evidence on a claim like this.

Space_Ghost20

Valued Contributor

Account Executive

The only time I was ever asked about proof of quota attainment was by a recruiter. No hiring manager has ever asked me.

Link

Executive

Regional Sales Rep

We lie in our resumes just like they lie on their job postings lol

But not me, i’ve always been 200% of quota in every role i’ve ever had 👀

HVACexpert

Politicker

sales engineer

That’s it?

oldcloser

Arsonist

💀

I don't consider it lying. It's more.. rounding.

antiASKHOLE

Tycoon

Bravado's Resident Asshole

0 is round, so by adding a 0 or two is still rounding.

e.g.) 20% and rounding looks like 200%

HVACexpert

Politicker

sales engineer

HVACexpert

Politicker

sales engineer

On one side to ask for back up or prod of your performance is a bit of a reach, but showing your sales performance versus quota is the only way to compare quantitatively vs other sales people. In the end you’d rather have someone who has shown they can succeed vs someone who hasn’t

fidelcashflow

Catalyst

Account Executive

I agree. Stupidest shit ever. Funny thing is most of the companies that have really dug into my attainment have either sucked and I dropped out or they didn't hire me.

Revenue_Rambo

Politicker

Director, Revenue Enablement

I interviewed a rep recently.

Resume was 👌, full of the metrics and points you want to see: president’s club, over 125% attainment, $1.X M in sales blah blah blah.

Part of our process is a simulated discovery call. Rep simply needs to show us how they manage the call and work a prospect through the process. We even allow them to sell l their current offering in the call.

This reps call was awful. Nothing but yes/no questions, Pitch slap, and talking 80% of the time. They wrapped by setting up next steps as a demo. Honestly based on the call I had no clue what they would show in their demo or any understanding of why the prospect was even changing.

Long story short their sales skills didn’t match the resume accolades. Numbers are numbers, but I want to see skills.

We passed on the rep. Mainly because I was left wondering how someone could have a call that bad yet get the projected results.

oldcloser

Arsonist

💀

Yeah buddy. A little talent focus over KPI obsession will set you free.

Revenue_Rambo

Politicker

Director, Revenue Enablement

2 of our leaders were blinded by the resume and wanted to hire the guy even after he bombed the presentation. 🤐

oldcloser

Arsonist

💀

Stuffed freaking suits. That’s wild

Justatitle

Big Shot

Account Executive

So. I partially agree it is dumb based on your explanation here. But if someone lies about their attainment it's also pretty easy to snuff that out from asking a few questions.

FoodForSales

Politicker

how are they going to prove/disprove your numbers?

Maximas

Tycoon

-1

Senior Sales Executive

They force us to lie, Fact:)

AnchorPoint

Politicker

-1

Business Coach

Companies where "nobody makes quota" are simply poorly run organizations. And reps that accept "nobody makes quota" are just as weak minded.

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fdgdrghth

Asking for % to quota in an interview is stupid. Prove me wrong.

26 comments

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