How do I politely and professional say no, or just shut up and suck it up.

I work at a small start up as a full cycle AE. I love my job and my team and am very thankful to be working at a company which is growing in this market.


However, I am doing so many tasks outside of selling and even though its helping the company and I was asked to do these tasks, it's impacting my ability to do my day to day tasks related to selling, like cold outreach.


I not longer want to do some these task but there is really no one else to do them. How do I communicate this with my boss without looking like I am not a team player? Or should I do this extra work until we finally get another round and hire an ops and HR team and more marketers? I am not interested in stirring the pot or creating tension, as my anxiety is already higher will all these layoffs.


(For reference, some these tasks are training sessions for new and existing staff, setting up training sessions, some customer success tasks, organizing events, doing followups for other accounts which are not mine, data cleaning and organization, interviewing candidates)

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9
SalesRobot
Politicker
5
Sage
Here are some possible ways to communicate your concerns to your boss:

Be honest and transparent about your feelings. You can say something like: "I really appreciate the trust and confidence you have placed in me by asking me to take on these additional tasks. However, I am feeling overwhelmed and concerned that they are taking away from my core responsibilities as a salesperson, such as cold outreach. I want to make sure I am delivering the best possible results for the company and our customers, so I would like to discuss ways to balance my workload and focus on my key areas of expertise."

Ask for support and guidance. You can say something like: "I understand that the company is growing and we all need to pitch in to help. However, I am feeling stretched thin and unsure of how to prioritize my time and energy. Can we have a conversation about how I can continue to contribute to the team and the company, while also ensuring that I am able to focus on my sales responsibilities? I would welcome your advice and support in finding the right balance."

Offer suggestions and solutions. You can say something like: "I am open to taking on additional tasks and responsibilities, but I want to make sure that they align with my strengths and expertise. Can we brainstorm together and come up with a plan for how I can continue to support the company, while also focusing on my core sales activities? For example, maybe I can lead training sessions for new and existing staff, but delegate some of the other tasks to other team members or external resources."

Overall, the key is to be open, honest, and respectful in your communication with your boss. By expressing your concerns and offering solutions, you can demonstrate your commitment to the team and the company, while also taking care of your own needs and priorities.
Sunbunny31
Politicker
3
Sr Sales Executive 🐰
This is a really good and thorough answer. I like that you provided acknowledgement of the problem as well as solutions.
Kosta_Konfucius
Politicker
0
Sales Rep
Its always best to be transparent on have some form of a trade off
Diablo
Politicker
1
Sr. AE
Great suggestions and tips
Pachacuti
Politicker
2
They call me Daddy, Sales Daddy
Ask your boss how he wants you to prioritize the selling vs non-selling activities. Then outline those non-selling activities and say they will likely slip. Your boss should be ok with that.
TheLoneGun
Opinionated
2
Extremely Rad Product Offloading Specialist
To play Devil's Advocate, since I've been in your position.(and You've received a great answer as to how to open lines of communication)

Expect to be asked how much time you spend in total working, and how much of it is on the aforementioned tasks. If the total time worked answer is in line with expected demands of the job, than I would approach this from a " allow me to use this time instead to further increase revenue" , otherwise the recommended lines should work perfectly.

Best of luck
Diablo
Politicker
1
Sr. AE
Were you given any timeline till when they would need you to chip in your time and effort for this additional role? Do you know when do they plan to hire and gear up other teams who would ideally do all of these ?
punishedlad
Tycoon
1
Business Development Team Lead
Not much to add with the other great answers here, but you're definitely going to just have to suck up at least *some* of this. It's one of the many unfortunate trade offs to working at a start up. You're going to wear a lot of hats. You're going to be stretched thin. It's going to be hard.

However, your main job is selling. And it shouldn't be hard to get your higher ups to understand that you need to spend more time doing that.
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