kingcloser

Account Executive

Feeling helpless

The product we sell is undoubtedly disruptive, we have a market for it, and our offering is superior. I've been doing everything right for the last 6 months... However, I've achieved 30% quota over the last 6 months, putting aside a breakout month early at the start.

I'm trying to make sense of the situation and project what the next 6 months will look like. Will the leads get better? Will my book of business grow? Will results skyrocket?

I know I'm not in a position of getting fired and have no fear of losing my job even though my numbers are terrible - The frustration stems from not seeing results and getting compensated for the work being put in. If I can't be enabled to do my best work, what am I even doing? I consider myself one of the top reps there and a student of the game, so it's tough seeing others succeed purely due to the timing of their hiring and accounts they now own.

Would love to hear from the community, your advice/thoughts is appreciated

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TheNegotiator

Arsonist

7

VP of Sales

I hear you. No disrespect intended, but if you were doing everything right you’d be crushing it. . If you’re in a tough spot with product, industry, competition, saturation, etc. Think outside the box. Source leads from different places. Try in-person visits. Try reaching out to DMs at account you know have a competing solution, and humbly ask for a referral to companies that might be a good fit. Angle for a warm intro if you can make it happen. . If you assume what you’re doing will work, and it isn’t, by definition you need to start trying new things. Maybe not in months 1-3 but 6 months later, you may want to swing different strategies.

CaneWolf

Politicker

3

Call me what you want, just sign the damn contract

Really? There could be myriad things going on including product/market fit issues.

kingcloser

Contributor

1

Account Executive

You're absolutely right, I should be crushing it.

I've switched strategies and implemented a few of your suggestions already. We were a purely inbound team and now that the market is changing and leads weakened, I've been increasing my outbound prospecting and trying out different things.

Our quota does not reflect the changes we're seeing, which is where the 30% comes in. I'm confident that I'll be building towards a strong finish to the year, but outbound will take time in my industry.

Executioner

Politicker

5

Business Dev.

I feel you King. The lockdown in Australia got me feeling like the wheels are spinning an inch above the road and I'm going nowhere. That said, a few tips I've worked to jumpstart myself:

1) take a time out - take some leave. a few days. do something that takes your mind completely off work. For me, house renos or building something.
2) at the end of time off, take a few hours to go back over your sales raison d'etre, your goals - are thye what you really want?
3) examine your actions - do they line up with the goals?
4) where are the actions not working - is it situational, i.e. the COVID effect, or is it a PEBCAC issue? It's ok if its the latter.
5) get addicited to the outcome of the actions - find a way, anyway to give yourself a taste of what the results feel like again. then you'll crush those actions like a crack addict chasing a fix (obv don't ignore burn out symptoms)

Ramble sorry, but a few things that have helped me get my head back in the game.

DungeonsNDemos

Big Shot

1

Rolling 20's all day

We all feel this from time to time. Sometimes you do everything right and still don't see the results you're looking for.
My recommendation is to take a look at your entire process: what can you change about lead gen, sales process, sales methodology, etc.

CuriousFox

WR Officer

2

🦊

Agreed. Take a step back. Regroup. Talk to the other reps for fresh tips and perspectives. It may help.

MinisterOfChaos

Politicker

2

Commercial Account Executive

The key is to not change too much at once. I've been in ruts where I changed too many variables and still continued to underperform.

Get feedback from manager/colleagues to determine where to make the first change and then go from there.

Gottapumpthosenumbers

Opinionated

0

Biz Dev

I'm curious, what does your manager say? It sounds like you're pretty confident that you're doing everything correctly. If that's the case, that would imply that your manager thinks so as well. Is that so? I also agree with @TheNegotiator - if you were doing EVERYTHING correct, you'd see it in your quota attainment. That said, the changes needed could be very small, I'm not sure. But, something about the formula is off.

kingcloser

Contributor

0

Account Executive

Manager is completely aligned with my thoughts - Part of where the helplessness comes from is that when I ask "What should I be doing differently?" there is no response. He lets me know my killer month will be coming very soon.

We both understand that the results are not in my control and what is in my control is being executed as best as I can (not perfectly, but very close).

Gottapumpthosenumbers

Opinionated

0

Biz Dev

Where in the process are you falling short? Appointment? Demo? Price? Contract? Have you and your manager analyzed this?

My point is, if others are regularly hitting quota, your manager should be able to identify some area of improvement for you.

kingcloser

Contributor

0

Account Executive

Others are not regularly hitting quota. Others have better numbers though due to timing of hiring and account ownership.

Our Sales team may end the month with 0% hitting quota.

Gottapumpthosenumbers

Opinionated

0

Biz Dev

Ahhhh, that makes more sense. It sounds to me like there's a much wider problem then. Either: market fit, price, sales strategy, or you're simply trying to sell to the wrong folks. My guess is it's a combination of all of them, to be frank.

Better stated, this sounds like an organizational issue. To me, the next question is, what's the company going to do about it?

kingcloser

Contributor

0

Account Executive

I'd love to hear from you what they should be doing / what I should be looking out for.

I do see them making changes and leadership understands the pain points our team is currently experiences. Realigning on who our ICP is, improving lead generation, and adjusting our outreach / messaging accordingly.

I value my time and effort - If I don't feel I'm in a place where I can reach my full potential and earn the most I can make, I need to look elsewhere but I joined under the assumption that this is the place that can provide that to me.

Gottapumpthosenumbers

Opinionated

0

Biz Dev

It's difficult to diagnose without having more context about your industry, product, etc. But, usually these situations come down to two things: changes are needed in the product, or changes are needed in leadership. Often, both need to happen.

Are others expressing the same frustrations? I've got a picture of a sinking ship in my head, unfortunately. I can say this from experience, if you go another quarter and there aren't massive adjustments made to make the org (and you as an AE) more successful, you need to start interviewing elsewhere. I know it sucks because you thought this was going to be the perfect opportunity (been there). But, if you're already wondering if you're wasting your time and others are as well (I suspect they are), then you need to look out for your best interests.

I hope this is helpful! Sounds like a shitty situation, I empathize.

kingcloser

Contributor

1

Account Executive

Helps greatly - Thank you!

khiz

Fire Starter

0

Account Manager

take it one step ahead of what others are doing

More in person visits

More calling

LinkedIn networking

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