TennisandSales

Head Of Sales

Acclaimed Answer

How much cool aid have you consumed??

I am a team player FOR SURE. but now a days i am WAAAAAYYY less likely to be all "my company is the best!!!!" like I was in my early 20s

My first career in financial services I drank ALLLLL the company cool aid. What ever they asked for I did.

I thought ANY other financial services company was total shit and didnt think there was ANY other way to make a good living other than what I was doing. (which is ironic since i was making like NO money)

But my leaders would always tell me how much money Im GOING to make.

Even got me to relocate, promised me a moving package, took that away at the last minute, and I STILL hung on because I was just drunk off that cool aid.

Thank GOD I was able to break away from that, leave that all behind, find Saas and the rest is history.

And now I try to not drink the cool aid.

Is anyone else as jaded as I am or do you still drink that shit up??

🏰 War Stories

16

29 comments

Sort by:

antiASKHOLE

Tycoon

4

Bravado's Resident Asshole

I have never moved for a job, but I was totally all in when I worked for a major restaurant chain. As a Regional Manager, I had to be spewing all of the kool-aid nonsense on the daily. It was tough to break free of it.

TennisandSales

Politicker

1

Head Of Sales

yeah thankfully the relocation was not super far but it def pushed my wife and I away from our friends and family which was not awesome.
I also was the one spweing the kool-aid to others.

its like I thought that if leadership "liked me" that would somehow pay my bills. turns out....it didnt.

Filth

Politicker

4

Live Filthy or Die Clean

I generally drink it up for the first quarter and then the reality of the situation sets in and I see the culture/company for what it really is. Doesn't always mean I hate it - it's just usually a different outlook than when everything is shiny and new. Luckily never had to manage and push the Kool-aid so I would put on a smile when it was best for my interest and then back to regular cynical & practical self :D

TennisandSales

Politicker

1

Head Of Sales

yeah that sounds like a much healthier consumption!

jefe

Arsonist

2

🍁

Now I kind of have to make the Kool-Aid...

But not really as we're small.

I'd definitely never relocate. Considered a job in NYC (from Toronto) in my early twenties but am glad I didn't go that route.

TennisandSales

Politicker

1

Head Of Sales

hahah yeah its a different situation when you have to be serving up the kool aid.

What are the problems you think you avoided by not moving to NYC???

Pachacuti

Politicker

2

They call me Daddy, Sales Daddy

You misspelled Gong-Boi.

Kosta_Konfucius

Politicker

1

Sales Rep

That seems way to similar to my first job, was absolutely drinking the cool aid. Was told how much I was going to make every 1:1

Mobi85

Politicker

1

Regional Sales Manager

Jaded as can be, downed the Kool-Aid for 6 years like it was water and I had been lost in the desert for months. Made a move for the company, did all the peon things they asked of me and finally left after I realized people I had helped get promoted were making more than myself on their base salary.

TennisandSales

Politicker

3

Head Of Sales

ahhhhh hell nah that sucks! damn. glad you got out

Mobi85

Politicker

1

Regional Sales Manager

Absolute cherry on top of it was after I put in my 2 week notice on a Friday. Monday rolls around and had to be on a 2PM conference call going over previous weeks results..blah, blah, blah and after the hour long call they called me into my managers office and axed me that day and said they would pay me out my 2 weeks but to GTFO.

I believe I skipped out of there with joy but damn they were petty and made me sit through that boring ass call.

TennisandSales

Politicker

1

Head Of Sales

That does suck! But that’s awesome that you got paid out haha.

I quit one role and the VP tried to fire me that day. He told me it would be “last day last pay”

So i had to tell him that’s fucking stupid and if he does that he can expect no one else to give him a heads up when they are leaving. Thankfully he changes his mind

Sunbunny31

Politicker

1

Sr Sales Executive 🐰

I guess I have a healthy dose of skepticism. I never drank the Kool Aid (tm). I would feel a swelling sense of pride at certain events we put on as a company because I cry during the National Anthem (don't judge me), but that would fade immediately upon looking at my account list.

That said, there was a good long time when I did take a lot of pride in where I worked, and they did take care of me very very well for years. We did have a lot of fun as a company taking on the "enemy" and winning, but I can't say I dove all into it. The competition was safe from imminent rumbles on the street as far as I was concerned. But things changed, and I now mourn the company culture that has been lost.

However, while I still really enjoyed the swagger that comes with believing your company's the best, it's not enough to pay bills and overcome bad sales plans. To use today's terminology, I yeeted out of there, and couldn't be happier. So no, no Kool Aid (tm) for me.

CuriousFox

WR Officer

5

🦊

Exactly this. Goes back to what I was talking about in my last post. Your job is not your identity.

TennisandSales

Politicker

1

Head Of Sales

Yeah i feel this!!! I remember at one sales kick off, we had the awards dinner. Everyone was pretty drunk and having a blast. The CEO gets up makes a pretty awesome like motivation speech, he ends it with “and we are going to fucking dominate!!!” And the whole place goes NUTS. It was insane.
That was fun hahah but like you said you take a look at your account list and you come back to reality 😂

Sunbunny31

Politicker

2

Sr Sales Executive 🐰

That’s the appropriate time to go nuts. Then the next day, shake yourself off and get back to grinding.

SaaSsy

Politicker

1

AE

Hey same here! Yea learned that lesson the hard way when I kept getting totally fucked. Haven’t touched the stuff since…

ChickenDinner

Politicker

1

Account Executive

Well to some extent your first sell of your day is to yourself. You gotta sell yourself on the product to sell to others...to an extent. But I do feel like the more we've seen the less likely we are to think of our specific company or product as the savior of the world

TennisandSales

Politicker

1

Head Of Sales

thats for sure. the longer I work, the harder companies have to work to convince me they are going to save the world like they say they will haha

happyhunter

Politicker

1

spittin' sunshine

I drink Cool-Aid all day because I'm fucking COOL. But company Kool-Aide...depends on what they're talking about. If it's a large company, fuck that. Small firms, more likely to keep their word-at least in my experience.

TennisandSales

Politicker

2

Head Of Sales

hahah my experience has been the COMPLETE opposite. large orgs have some sort of track record to go off of. new start ups are making shit up as they go

dwightyouignorantsale

Politicker

1

Account Executive

My last company, I drank the cool-aid real hard in the beginning. I remember asking myself "why wouldn't every company buy our product, it's the best???" and then got into the thick of things during sales cycles.

Now I am almost the opposite. Even though I am at a very popular F500 company, I can easily point out the bullshit and know things could be a lot better than they are.

TennisandSales

Politicker

1

Head Of Sales

Hahah YEP! I was the same way at my first tech company. I thought everything they told me was the truth and that our way was the ONLY way…..then i started reading on line the reviews from customers, and hearing what our competitors can do and i realized that ever turning wasn’t as good as i thought haha

PineappleYa

Opinionated

1

AE

If the product is good & execution is good I will sip me some.
Never trust the kool aid- we know what happens when the dudes w the power give it out and have to push it…
It’s good to feel good about your company and what you are selling-otherwise how can you credibly sell unless you are a sociopath?
But never believe any corp is pure or lives up to their cheese ball culture statements fully or for long. Esp once investors get in deep.

TennisandSales

Politicker

1

Head Of Sales

Haha yep once outside investors get in….stop taking the cup it’s poisoned for sure!

DungeonsNDemos

Big Shot

0

Rolling 20's all day

I've consumed a small dixie cup of company coolaid. As long as I'm not drinking the gallon sized tervis tumblers that are handed out at Gong then I think I'm ok.

TennisandSales

Politicker

1

Head Of Sales

Haha yep!!! Dixie cup portions are ok. You know once a quarter take a Dixie cup or two, get a nice company buzz going, but then put that shit down 😂😂

HappyGilmore

Politicker

0

Account Executive

At my current job I definitely drank the cool aid hard for the first year. Now, while I still think my org does some good things, I don't drink the cool aid at all.

TennisandSales

Politicker

1

Head Of Sales

Hahah yeah that’s probably the right balance. Acknowledging the good stuff but not losing your mind over how awesome the company is

Bravado is a community of trusted sales professionals endorsed by their customers.

Products

The War Room Jobs Salary Guide Tech Sales U

Company

About Us How It Works Blog Bug Bounty

Contact

© 2024 Bravado Inc. All rights reserved.

Privacy Policy Legal and Privacy Center Sales Jobs

If you are hired as a contract sales rep by a Bravado customer, we may ask you to prove access to the employee email account provided to you by that customer. This data will be shared with customers to track your sales productivity; customers can use this data to confirm you meet the minimum activity requirements to pay out your ramp stipend and commission.