sillyseller

Sr. AE

Does leadership listen to you?

I'm curious to hear how much of a seller's feedback is actually heard by management, with tangible actions and changes being executed as a result?

I'm finding that no matter how much I share, leadership doesn't take into account my perspective (not tooting my own horn here, but I outperformed every other seller - with tenure similar to mine - in 2020). I speak to prospects and hear what they care about; they don't. Then, they formulate new strategies and roadmaps based on what THEY think will resonate, when my colleagues and I are trying to help shape those plans to maximize our ability to bring on new clients.

Any similar experiences or anything worth sharing that can move the needle a little?

11 comments

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WhereverYouGoThereYouAre

Fire Starter

VP, Sales

Steve Jobs said it best. "We don't hire smart people to tell them what to do. We hire smart people for them to tell us what to do."

Mr.Pickles

Arsonist

Sr. Customer Success Manager

bingo

CadenceCombat

Tycoon

Account Executive

They like to pretend they do but beyond that, it’s a lot of selective hearing.

YoungGoat

Opinionated

Surgical Technology Specialist

This hit home with me. I’ve been trying to convince management that we should be using covid to change our approach and every time I make a suggestion I get met with reasons why it won’t work or why “now isn’t the right time”. Their unwillingness to accept constructive criticism and feedback has led to me looking for a new company that will.

A_center_for_ants

Territory Manager- Neuromodulation

Believe it or not, my best experience with being heard by upper management is going through my immediate manager. This however is strictly predicated on if you’re on a respected arm of the sales team. If I had a different manager, nothing our team says would matter at all. Corporate politics is a dance we’ve all got to learn.

brotato

WR Lieutenant

Head of Sales

Yes, I've had this happen several times to me as well. It's a reflection of them, not you. Now you know the company culture is one way (top down), and only good when convenient for them.

I once cold called and spoke with Jacco van der Kooij (founder of Winning by Design) for nearly an hour trying to get best practices from him on how are startup could change their strategy. I was the top performing rep and it wasn't even a close second. I'll never forget when he said there's zero chance the executive team would bring him on by my suggestion. They only listen to investors from his experience.

SalesPharaoh

Big Shot

Senior Account Executive

Nope haha

MSPSales

Politicker

Partner Development Manager

From a process standpoint I have been lucky enough to have leadership that has actually listened to feedback. Like sales force layout for an example. That makes admin life much easier.

From a selling/strategy perspective that has never been the case for me. It’s either you get with the program or you get out. Basically toe the company line I.E these outreach emails are too long for a cold email. No one will read it and response rates are low. Why don’t we try xyz instead.

Coachlasso

Catalyst

VP - Revenue/Growth

This is common I think...and there is a definite disconnect between what's happening at HQ and what's happening on the ground.

I have found that rather than just share your conclusion (which is probably 100% spot on) it is best to share the journey TO the conclusion with leadership. It doesn't always work, but it does help to give more insight to the leader, on HOW the seller reached that conclusion.

sales7

Politicker

Commercial Product Enablement

I find that leadership listening skills get progressively worse the bigger we get as a company..

HOWEVER those that still listen & apply the feedback tend to be the leaders that I want to work for

AnchorPoint

Politicker

Business Coach

If the leader is actually a leader more than the title on the bcard - Yes.

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sillyseller

Does leadership listen to you?

11 comments

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