Official thread

Can You Answer What SalesGPT Beta Can't?

Sales Savages,

We're kicking off yet another exciting SalesGPT Beta challenge, where your sales wisdom can convert into commission!

SalesGPT Beta has encountered some interesting queries it couldn't solve, so now we're calling on your expertise to crack them.

Here's your game plan:

We will unveil some questions over the next three weeks that SalesGPT Beta found baffling
You've got a 48-hour window from the time we roll a question out to serve up your answer in the comments
Post your solutions to these queries, and @Gasty will reward 100 commission points to the whizz with the winning response

===

For the first query: “My company just laid off a bunch of people, but not me. What should I do?"

What's your take on this? Remember, your answer could be worth 100 commission points!

Get Ready, Get Set, Get Commission.

https://bravado.co/salesgpt?utm_source=bravado&utm_medium=warroom&utm_campaign=sgpt_launch&utm_content=public_launch SalesGPT SalesGPT is a powerful AI engine that is educated by Bravado’s proprietary and unique sales database, tapping into the collective knowledge of the Bravado community and beyond.

⚙️ SalesGPT

31

27 comments

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pirate

Big Shot

6

🦜☠️ Account Executive

Oh! Love a competition!
What should I do?

- I should evaluate my current situation
- I should ask myself why was I not let go and decide what's my game plan
- I should always be looking
- I should work on my attitude and my mindset
- I should help my colleagues who have been let go where I can
- I should be even more focused on results and bring in even more value because the org is struggling as for now I am staying
- I should ask savages on War Room for some advice
- I should be mindful of my finances for a while

Diablo

Politicker

4

Sr. AE

I would set my next steps based on the pointers below:

Company wide overview: It makes sense to understand the background of that action first such as who all were laid off, which department they belonged to and why they were laid off. Was this announced openly during a town hall? Expected changes after this and the timeline?

IC wide overview - Am I lucky because I was performing well? What my number looks like this quarter, this year vs my past attainment? Are they expecting to increase the quota? On what basis? Do I want to grow vertically / horizontally? When? Is this my ideal company where I see myself working for a long time?

ThatNewAE

Big Shot

3

Account Executive - Mid enterprise

This sounds super interesting ! Wuhuuu

Justatitle

Big Shot

3

Account Executive

- Depends on the nature of the layoff when it occurred, who it mainly impacted, and how large it was
- If it impacted mostly sales then it is time to brush up the resume and passively start looking at what is out there
- Ensure you are hitting the metrics they care about and don't give them any reason to think you should have been a part of the layoff by asking questions that hit to close to home
- Mentally be ready at any time for it to impact you and have the mentality to negotiate for a severance package if you are let go at some point.

FinanceEngineer

Politicker

3

Sr Director, sales and partnerships

-Realign with management regarding your territory and commission structure
- intro all the new accounts and pipeline
- dust off your resume and add the new metrics
- send feelers out to try and help your fired contacts, and offer to be a reference
- look for opportunities wherever they are.

oldcloser

Arsonist

3

💀

Sellers become indispensable, even through layoffs, for a variety of reasons. One would hope that getting dismissed in a layoff scenario would be entirely management agnostic relative to personality or politics. If a mass layoff was done "fairly," one would hope that seniority would be the guide.

"We'll cut 10% starting with the least amount of tenure"

But, unfortunately, this is rarely the case. If you have survived a recent layoff, it's reasonable to want to understand why. Valid, management agnostic, and tangible reasons for being indispensable in an organization are always relative to one thing, performance.

But there are many other not-so-tangible possibilities. Maybe you're helpful or positive in sales meetings. Maybe you give selflessly to your colleagues. Maybe you buy lunch for the CEO's admin. Maybe you're a constant creative or strategic resource. Maybe your direct supervisor just can't pull the trigger because he hired you two weeks ago.

If you're not a top or consistent performer and you made the cut this time, you may not make it next time. So, what kept you in your seat? It's extremely important to know the answer. Ask for direct feedback with a direct question to your team lead. You may have a quality that makes you indispensable that you're not even aware of.

Get the answer. Do more of that thing. Merchandise it every so often. But stay humble and get your job done.

Filth

Politicker

3

Live Filthy or Die Clean

Don't assume the layoffs are over. Sharpen your resume, talk to your boss, call your friends, and start putting 25% of your daily effort to finding greener pastures A. just in case and B. b/c you should be doing that every other quarter anyhow b/c it's proven that you increase pay by moving, not by staying. Organizations are not smart enough to pay existing workers but instead use that money to get new employees.

Pachacuti

Politicker

3

They call me Daddy, Sales Daddy

“My company just laid off a bunch of people, but not me. What should I do?"

1) Be grateful, if applicable. Being a great sales person doesn't always equate to keeping your job.

So know that you probably owe someone something because they decided NOT to fire you.

2) Take a quick look at the pipelines of those who were fired and grab what you can. Cause if you don't - someone else will.

3) Don't treat those who were let go like lepers. They are people and if someone was a friend & co-worker, they can still be a friend when not a co-worker. I have offered to be a reference for former co-workers in the past because going to the boss is a no-go.

4) Be realisticabout the future. Was that just round 1 of several rounds of layoffs? Better to leave on your own terms then someone elses.

5) Finally, don't let it bother you too much. Don't fixate on it like its the end of the world. Layoffs happen all the time, in both good and bad economies. So have your moment of silence (or whatever) for those let go, and move on.

FoodForSales

Politicker

3

AE

oh, fun contest!

Sunbunny31

Politicker

3

Sr Sales Executive 🐰

What to do if others are laid off but not you?
Steps to take:
1) Connect with sales management to find out short term + long term plans. How does this affect you, your territory? Any deals in flight you need to pick up? Long term goals for sales and the territories? Any more realignment coming up? What are the criteria to determine if another round of layoffs are coming, or can be averted?
2) Network. If you haven't been networking, it's time to start. See what's out there, if there's a good spot to land.
3) Read industry news about the layoffs and what analysts are saying about your company's decision and direction. Do external sources think this is a good move, bad move, signs of worse things to come? Was this a necessary thing to do in the economy, or is it a sign of poor leadership, market issues for the product? A sign of overhiring and a correction? Understanding where this round of layoffs fit in a bigger picture can either ease your mind, or alert you to an upcoming crisis, so you can be as prepared as possible.
4) understand that it's ok to be unsettled.
5) Use your own work ethic to make sure that you're in the best possible position you can be. Control what you can control. Make sure you are hitting your targets and exceeding where possible.

3

Client Manager

Have an honest conversation with your manager about whether more layoffs are on the horizon.

3

Sales Development Representative

Letsss goooo!

Should see what round of layoffs it is. If it’s round 2, then it might be time to find an alternate or a back up.

Definitely do a pros and cons list to see if the role still had enough pro’s in its corner to continue taking up the current risk.

And last but not the least, have a real conversation with a senior team member who you know is part of team making this decision to understand whatever you can about what’s going on with the company.

Notmyrealname

Politicker

3

AE

This could be good or bad. This could be a either a positive strategic move, or it could be a forced outcome caused by poor decision making. Look for the why behind the layoffs.

Is your company cutting the wage bill to try and get acquired?
Was their a major change in strategy or are they sticking to the same plan with less people?
Have they been reckless with spending and now need to balance the books? (i.e. Lots of additional spiffs just for doing your job or for something that doesn't really help performance)
Has leadership jumped ship already?

Either way, they thought you were work keeping around so congrats, you have time to figure this out. Figuring out what direction the company is heading in will tell you whether to jump ship, or hang around to get acquired and potentially get paid on any stock options you have.

3

Territory Manager

Go knock it out of the park. Prove they were right with keeping you doing what you do best. Always work your network so you have options just in case the whole ship is sinking.

JustGonnaSendIt

Politicker

3

Burn Towns, Get Money

First, take stock of your current workload, and anything that could be potentially moved to your plate due to a reduction in staff. Ensure you have a clear understanding of how much you can realistically take on if asked. Think thru how this would impact your compensation as well.

Next, attempt to understand why the move to conduct layoffs was made. Is it a company financials issue? Is it related to team performance? Is it related to exiting a market? Is it purely political? Is it something else entirely?

After you make your best attempt to understand why this is happening, schedule a 1:1 with your direct supervisor. Make one of the agenda items understanding how to adjust to this change, and if there will be any different expectations placed on you. You can also use this as a time to ask why you were not part of the group that exited.

Based on the previous three actions, you can make a determination if this is an opportunity for you to learn / grow more in your career, or if this is a clear warning to get out.

In all of this, stay calm, be cool, and try to park your ego and emotions. Seek to understand instead of taking a side and potentially burning bridges.

CPTAmerica

Opinionated

2

President/CRO

well this wont be the winning answer but you've gotta provide more detail. Were you the most senior rep? The most jr? Were you a top performer or middle of the pack? Were layoffs only sales roles? Is the company looking to raise another round? Context will help both the humans and the bots provide an answer.

AgustinusAdiST

Fire Starter

2

The RealMiner

I Will close the old one and set up the new one with the new modernization in customer service.

AgustinusAdiST

Fire Starter

0

The RealMiner

@Gasty

McLovin214

2

CEO

I would advise him/her to keep their eyes 👀 wide open, evaluate his/her current situation, and look for another company, or if they have enough pillow money to last 6-8 months why not work for yourself? What I recommend to anyone trying to get to the ROOT-CAUSE, is to follow the data analysis rule of the 5-WHY’S. Ask, “Why?” five times, and 9/10x the main problem/issue in most cases will come to the surface. In any circumstance, major layoffs are not a good sign. So, rather than waiting to be fried next, I would keep performing while looking for another home. 🤙😎

SalesWhisperer

Member

2

Division Sales Manager

I would:

* be thankful for my job
* focus on my mindset, attitude, and what I'm feeding my brain
* evaluate my current situation
* decide what I want - to stay or not
* stay out of the gossiping that's surely going on
* take stock of my resources - are they where I want them right now?
* Talk to recruiters and network
* While networking, see if I can help any of my laid-off colleagues
* Update my resume
* think about why I am still there.
* If I still want to be there, do more of that.
* Be a team player and ask my leader if I can do anything to pick up some slack.
* Ask if there are any orphaned prospects you can pick up?
* Talk to management about what to expect next

mikecamby

Valued Contributor

1

Strategic Enterprise Account Executive

Start interviewing

mikecamby

Valued Contributor

3

Strategic Enterprise Account Executive

Start interviewing…Lots people saying depends on the nature of the layoff…I’m sorry but it doesn’t. Layoffs are a result of mismanagement no matter how you look at it. Might not be leadership’s fault but still their responsibility to manage better. If you are a top performer this is a giant billboard sign to you that you need to get an accurate assessment on your market value. Doesn’t mean you need to leave but if you’re going to be doing more work because of less employees, you should be confident that you are compensated appropriately. Old school ride or die loyalty is dead and it was companies that killed it. Assess your market value and then put your ass into overdrive as far as work. This is a golden opportunity to make yourself undeniable

Redmonsoon

Personal Narrative

1

Director of Sales

Be grateful and make one more call

AnchorPoint

Politicker

1

Business Coach

Understand "why" the layoffs needed to occur and "how they determined who". The last person on the Titanic was not in the best position...

motko

1

Sales Manager

You should ask for a salary increase because obviously you are of high value to the company and more responsibilities and work will be on your desk

Maximas

Tycoon

0

Senior Sales Executive

Nice one Gasty!

Maximas

Tycoon

1

Senior Sales Executive

1)Would just sharpen my resume in case the Layoff circle might swallow me next time!
2)Have an honest conversation with my manager about the reasons for what happened and if it's gonna involve me next time and whether it's avoidable or not, and if it is then I would ask what I need to do in order not to get burnt by it!

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