How do you decide to leave a company and team you love, selling a product you believe in?

Asking for a friend who doesn't want to post it themselves, even pseudo-anonymously (but they'll see responses and respond as needed via me)


He likes his team. He likes his boss. He likes the leadership. He likes the company. The company is mission driven he feels good about the work he's doing selling this product - truly helping people.


He also very much liked the salary.. but now he sees that he's qualified to get a healthy 10-20% bump in base (plus either similar commission or up to 20% more on-target) depending on the company. He's getting a few feelers from recruiters as well and solid conversations with them (yes, recruiters can obviously blueball you to oblivion, he knows that).


What advice would you give to my friend in terms of how to navigate his career choices? I think he can do better, but I get that there's safety in a known quantity. He'll fight me on this, but it's also his first AE role (althoug he's had other jobs in other career paths before), so I question whether the company/team/boss are really that great, or just that he hasn't seen other sales orgs.

๐Ÿš€ Career Goals
4
GlenRoss
Politicker
6
Account Executive
Itโ€™s easy to get lured by 10-20% pay jump but in reality itโ€™s really tough to find those other things that they enjoy about their current role. Iโ€™d say itโ€™s probably not worth jumping
GlenRoss
Politicker
3
Account Executive
Also it made me laugh because it sounds like the typical โ€œasking for a friendโ€
sahil
Notable Contributor
3
Deepak Chopra of Sales
I believe in the ABI rule: Always Be Interviewing. Know your worth out there.ย 

But he should REALLY do his due diligence. Ask to speak with customers who use the product. Ask to speak with investors. If they say no... he has nothing to lose.ย 

Negotiating from a position of power is the best feeling in the world. Use it.
MrEffWord
Opinionated
1
Regional Sales Manager
I donโ€™t really see a right or wrong answer. Staying makes sense and leaving (taking a risk) also makes sense.ย 

I guess itโ€™s really about what the hell he wants right now.ย 

HE needs to make the decision. Not hastily but he needs to make a decision and not look back.ย 

Not making a decision will cause regret regardless of what he decides.ย 

ย Whatever it is - โ€œJust do itโ€.
Bittersweet0326
Politicker
0
Digital Business Associate
That's a good way to think about it. And once he makes the decision he can't sit and try to talk himself out of it.
AnchorPoint
Politicker
1
Business Coach
I would NEVER leave a company with that many positives for 10-20% pie in the sky.ย  NEVER.
AnchorPoint
Politicker
0
Business Coach
He will spend that 10-20% on whiskey, crying about the perfect job he left...ย 
CuriousFox
WR Officer
1
๐ŸฆŠ
Update?
pitchandputt
Executive
1
Account Executive
Wow this was a pretty old thread. The tldr is that he stayed and hit it out of the park (over 300 percent of quota.)

But the company has now tried to raise prices and they still have no great idea of product market fit. And they've added middle management to 'help.' He's less optimistic about 2022.
CuriousFox
WR Officer
1
๐ŸฆŠ
Everyone is raising prices right now though. It's inevitable.ย 
pitchandputt
Executive
1
Account Executive
Yeah. I don't know the full situation - just know that they made the product harder to sell and he feels unvalued despite the work he put in last year.ย 

EDIT: Flipside to price increase being inevitable is that I now think he's severely underpaid. Probably could increase his salary 50% with a move. I haven't told him this part yet.
pitchandputt
Executive
0
Account Executive
Thanks for the comments, everyone. I think he's getting a bit more of a clear eye about his own org - still thinks the world of them, but having had no other yardstick to measure them against in a sales context, he realizes there's value in knowing his worth and making an informed, educated decision.
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