crmsrawesome

Sr Enterprise AM for hire

Do Leader’s Exist anymore

Why does it seem like all the great leaders, the ones who give a 💩 about their team and how each rep performs and actually wants them to be successful and make money, no longer are around?

Feels like there was a raffle for the title of Manager/Director and we (well at least me) got stuck with the leftovers and ones who couldn't manage a game of Tecmo Bowl and were the suck ups in school.

Or is it just me?

😟 bitch

🏋️‍♀️ Leadership

😂 Sales Humor

62 comments

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GreenSide

Politicker

Sales manager

My CRO has never carried a bag and it shows

Phillip_J_Fry

Opinionated

Director of Revenue

Related story time: My last CRO carried a bag...in 1982, and thought sales still worked the same way in 2020.

I was working the biggest deal of the year and it was taking longer than expected due to a ton of approvals, signoffs, etc.

He comes up to my desk on a random tuesday (not even close to EOQ or EOY) and starts grilling me on why they can't just sign the purchase order today. I explain that there's a total of 15-20 people that are involved and there's budget being moved around, approvals happening, etc.. We're doing our best, but it just takes time to purchase a large and disruptive piece of software for an organization of this size.

I am told to go down to their office and demand that they sign the deal today. I rolled my eyes, said ok, then went and chilled at a Starbucks for 90 minutes. Came back and told him that I did what he said and customer didn't like being strong-armed and if we tried it again, they would walk away.

The look of panic/confusion on his face was borderline comical, like he couldn't comprehend why you couldn't bully a customer into buying your product when you wanted them to and completely ignore their purchasing process.

GreenSide

Politicker

Sales manager

@Phillip_J_Fry omg I love that story. You should’ve really milked it and taken longer than 90 minutes!

crmsrawesome

Tycoon

Sr Enterprise AM for hire

Phillip_J_Fry

Opinionated

Director of Revenue

I really should have. The whole deal had taken close to 2 years at this point and we had hit this "hurry up and wait" point with everyone on both sides. Deal closed like 3 days later, so his entire suggestion seemed wildly pointless.

pirate

Big Shot

Account Executive

Wow what a story, I love the Starbucks approach

oldcloser

Arsonist

💀

You could have come back from Starbucks with a fake black eye and missing tooth. Wouldn't have had to say a word.

Sunbunny31

Arsonist

Sr Sales Executive 🐰

This is a great story. Well played on your part.

Phillip_J_Fry

Opinionated

Director of Revenue

LOL

HVACexpert

Politicker

sales engineer

I’m stealing this move

jefe

Arsonist

🍁

This is the best thing I've seen all week.

Pachacuti

Politicker

They call me Daddy, Sales Daddy

Its sad when the CRO doesn't know how to sell.

cw95

Politicker

Head of SDR

One of our old CROs who was known in the industry to be a joke, used to give his reps a list to cold call...but the list was around 50 companies long made of a mixture of ex-customers that bought between 10 years ago or last week' and he just kept telling them to ring ring ring ring until they buy again without understanding why maybe they havent bought from them as a repeat.

Anyway, he wouldn't give them anymore lists until months of cold calling these same contacts everyday. He refused to let them even email people, you HAD to call. He once quoted 'You can't build relationships over email, only over the phone' - well, sure but a mixture is fine. You can't build it by pestering someone all day either.

The company was split in two, one side was big software consultancy deals and the other side was shitty IT reselling. I was on the software side but he was the CRO for the whole group. my god, sometimes we would be on a call selling our services and he would want to join (baring in mind the client had no idea who he is) and he would constantly jump in and interupt saying things that made no sense and then always try to close them at the end or suggest meeting etc and it ruined deals...he would then tell the company in a company wide all hands that he has sat numerous calls with us and they are worth £250,000 and have agreed to meet in the office and we can forecast this as a 'best bet' due to them really wanting us.

At one time he got the wrong end of the stick on a £500,000 NHS deal of which the company then forecasted. Turns out, he just didnt know what was going on. I have never worked with a good CRO.

oldcloser

Arsonist

💀

Absolutely disqualifying

GreenSide

Politicker

Sales manager

@oldcloser yea, they joined the company after I did. Looking to get out but unfortunately my resume needs a little more tenure to avoid being labeled a job hopper

Gasty

Notable Contributor

War Room Community Manager

I feel like, they’re exhausted now.

They know their good, they went on to companies that treated them right, once they got treated right, they were satisfied and didn’t want to put in loads of efforts in being a Leader when they’re already respected.

Maybe I am wrong but it’s certainly one way to think!

oldcloser

Arsonist

💀

Managers manage things. Leaders lead people. It’s beyond comprehension that those terms have become interchangeable. It’s not the same skill set. It’s not the same person.

CuriousFox

WR Officer

🦊

PREACH

coletrain

Politicker

Account Executive

Leadership is an attitude, not a title. A manager is not by definition a leader and vice versa.

Pachacuti

Politicker

They call me Daddy, Sales Daddy

Here you go -

crmsrawesome

Tycoon

Sr Enterprise AM for hire

Wonder if LinkedIn would love this :)

Filth

Tycoon

Live Filthy or Die Clean

If you don't post this on LinkedIn you can't be an influencer - cmon what are you waiting for? GIVE THEM THE CONTENT THEY DESERVE!

SafetyKnight

Tycoon

Account Executive

This hit home

Retired Sales Professional

A true leader is someone who when things go wrong doesn't ask who did it but how can we fix this.

They don't see the weakness in someone but an opportunity for growth.

They see the cup half full, instead of half empty.

A true leader is a coach instead of a dictator.

A true leader is sure of themselves and will allow others to share ideas.

A true leader listen before they speak.

A true leader is empathetic.

A true leader has your back.

A true leader will go to his team and ask for help.

A true leader will not ask their team to do what they are not willing to do themselves.

So, you are correct in your hypothesis that real managers/leaders are rare and there are too many in positions that they should not be in
Just my opinion 🤷.

crmsrawesome

Tycoon

Sr Enterprise AM for hire

Spot On!!!

oldcloser

Arsonist

💀

Amen, Frank

sugardaddy

Politicker

🍬

AMEN!

detectivegibbles

Politicker

Sales Director

They’re out there. I have many within my company.

The secret? It starts at the top. If you’re CEO/Founder/President isn’t implementing and creating a culture that encourages leading up the chain, then you’re not in a great spot.

HVACexpert

Politicker

sales engineer

🙌🏻

crmsrawesome

Tycoon

Sr Enterprise AM for hire

For sure and I wish they had a secret badge they could identify themselves by. I could use a great leader in my next role but it's a struggle to find that vs finding a paycheck to ride it out. just ready to settle down again.....

Fenderbaum

Politicker

Retired Choirboy🪕

They are out there. The good ones know when to use an apostrophe.

Sunbunny31

Arsonist

Sr Sales Executive 🐰

Doing the Lord's work.

crmsrawesome

Tycoon

Sr Enterprise AM for hire

There’s my grammar police!👮‍♀️ always one. And the ‘ would make it a noun and since they are like mermaids, not sure they are an object

oldcloser

Arsonist

💀

@Fenderbaum is much more than just the grammar police. He created the cure for semi-colon cancer, and can stop a period with his mind. A little respect please.

crmsrawesome

Tycoon

Sr Enterprise AM for hire

My apologies.

oldcloser

Arsonist

💀

😂 all good

oldcloser

Arsonist

💀

Hey, if you're comfortable, feel free to post a redacted resume in a new thread. The collective in here is pretty strong. You may get a tidbit that helps. More than one example of people who found a gig shortly after a brush up.
Ain't that right, @LambyCorn

LambyCorn

Arsonist

A mfkn E

damn right, my dear oldcloser was key in me landing that AE spot after being stuck as an SDR for years <3

Sunbunny31

Arsonist

Sr Sales Executive 🐰

They exist, but they are rare.

SportsSalesGuy

Tycoon

Enterprise Account Executive

Nope! Leaders in my experience are either under-qualified, checked out, terrible leaders and person/snake or a combination of the prior.

medhardwaredr

Politicker

Director of Sales NA

I’m one that cares and it shows in our kpis and paychecks! One or two struggle being new to a formal outbound sales role but they’ve been positive so the value is there

crmsrawesome

Tycoon

Sr Enterprise AM for hire

@medhardwaredr, you hiring?

medhardwaredr

Politicker

Director of Sales NA

I have one inside position and two outside (must be in region) shoot me a note!

HVACexpert

Politicker

sales engineer

Love this 👏🏻👏🏻

crmsrawesome

Tycoon

Sr Enterprise AM for hire

Ok, I'm new so how do I shoot you a note here?

medhardwaredr

Politicker

Director of Sales NA

Tap on my name then hit message.

Kosta_Konfucius

Politicker

ERP Sales

Because they dont stay in the role for more than 2 years, they are just learning the ropes then trying to get out. No actual leading

noname123

Politicker

noname

Last company had a ton of junior shit immature managers. Currently I am thankfully not dealing with the bs.
Most managers have either not sold in over a decade or never held a quota and they have no idea wtf they’re doing.
Typically when companies are not doing great managers and ‘leaders’ feel pressure to try and keep their jobs and start doing irrational shit like micromanaging. So with the economy in the the shitter for the last 2 yrs, most managers are pushy and going nuts in an attempt to save their own asses.

HVACexpert

Politicker

sales engineer

I got a good one.

crmsrawesome

Tycoon

Sr Enterprise AM for hire

You hang onto that one and never let go.... cause you will be miserable.

pirate

Big Shot

Account Executive

There's definitely a lot of shit managers out there

poweredbycaffeine

WR Lieutenant

☕️

The company in the post that you commented on: had a 30 year old in charge of the entire business. Limited human skills, but very smart.

Didn’t know how to train me. Was aggressive with our customers. Had no space for the benefit of the doubt or assumption of good intention. Essentially was holding a $45M P&L and didn’t have a good way to lead, just push.

Notmyrealname

Politicker

Politics. I see so many that did something else like finance and then switched to sales manager. You can tell the ones who have never done it a mile off.

BigShrimpin

Politicker

Account executive

ironically being a good leader and helping shield your team is less likely to provide a long tenure vs blaming them for everything and towing the company line

TennisandSales

Big Shot

Head Of Sales

I really think this is going to shift.
more and more companies (specifically private/start ups) are moving away from the "dashboard warriors" Leaders who just want a title so they can micro manage reps via dashboards and not actually do work.

I think we will start to see a rise in VPs and even C level folks who are required to be in the trenches more and have actually done the job.
idk how the hell a C level person who oversees sales can get the job if they have never been in sales or are not totally up to speed on how shit happens these days.

JustGonnaSendIt

Politicker

Burn Towns, Get Money

Politics and some nice DSL's. Where I am now, that seems the be the path upward lol.

Chep

WR Officer

Bitcoin Adoption Specialist

If they believe in what they're doing yes. Depending on the product being sold though it can be quite challenging to find good leaders

crmsrawesome

Tycoon

Sr Enterprise AM for hire

That in my opinion is the problem. Good leaders focus on the solution and improving their people, product shouldn’t (but usually does) become more important and force sales to be paper pushers like them.

jefe

Arsonist

🍁

How can this be true?! Based on what I see on LI headlines, EVERYONE is a 'Sales Leader'

sugardaddy

Politicker

🍬

You’re totally right! Spot on.

saleshoe

Executive

AE (Account Executive)

Ask this question again towards the middle of fantasy football this year and I’ll tell you