iamtheone profile picture
iamtheone profile picture

iamtheone

Enterprise SDR

Executive
Valued Contributor
Opinionated
+8

How to overcome this AE interview objection

Hey Folks!

Im struggling with finding ways to overcome the fact I don't have at least 12 months of closing experience.

Recently RIF'd 3 months into ramping at my first AE role. Not performance related but still hurts my resume.

How do I overcome and answer this? I do have a good resume at least.

I am an award winning SDR at two different companies and have experience prospecting in SMB MM and ENT segments. One award for leadership and one for activity efforts.

I feel like most sales managers aren't looking to take a risk on someone like me.

I'm taking courses from Kyle Asay and Chris Orlob while laid off to increase my knowledge of MEDICC and SaaS selling.

What can I do here?
🗣 Interviewing
👀 job search
😋 Job Searching
17

29 comments

Sort by:
Pachacuti
Politicker
11
They call me Daddy, Sales Daddy
Lets be real - in 3 months you had no real success. And that sucks. You only had time to ramp up, make some calls, and get to know the company's offering. So you are basically knocked back down to zero.

What other experience can you leverage on your resume? And can you massage the dates to a Year-Year format?

The question you should be asking how to treat your job hunt like a Sales Pursuit. That is how you demonstrate you are AE material, not just time on a resume.
oldcloser
Arsonist
4
💀
☝️🎤
GDO
Politicker
0
BDM
truth bombs right here. This si why I like the WR. You can be honest even if it hurts a little bit.
oldcloser
Arsonist
9
💀
There are just some situations that don't have a magic bullet or a phrase that pays. That's a hard knock and your rebound will define you in your next role. Go tell your story with conviction, just like you did here. You're employable and you know it.
BTQ
Politicker
2
Account Manager
Bars
Kosta_Konfucius
Politicker
3
Sales Rep
I think you need to walk through the success you had while you were an AE, how you learned quickly, and adapted best practices
iamtheone
Executive
3
Enterprise SDR
I really only built 100k+ in pipeline, got one deal to negotiation, and no closed won deals. Met with C level and VP level titles.
Kosta_Konfucius
Politicker
4
Sales Rep
what did you learn, how did you improve
what misconception did you have, how did you overcome it
But the real way you overcome this, is by doing a better mock demoing than everyone
iamtheone
Executive
0
Enterprise SDR
Yes. I plan to show up ready to mock. With a territory plan. And how I will take my stellar work ethic as an SDR to an AE.
Revenue_Rambo
Politicker
3
Director, Revenue Enablement
You need to focus on what you did as an AE and not your SDR background. The more you talk about how good you were as an SDR the more they see you as that and not an AE that can do the job.
iamtheone
Executive
0
Enterprise SDR
Thank you for this. I had that thought as well, so I need to keep tailoring all my conversations for the role I want not the role I had.
Revenue_Rambo
Politicker
1
Director, Revenue Enablement
The skills you had as an SDR are important, but they don’t translate to a closing role. Sales managers need people that can run a full sales cycle, navigate competing priorities, and ultimately get a deal across the finish line.

You may not have been in role long, but discussing things like that will help a hiring manager SEE you as someone on their team.
iamtheone
Executive
1
Enterprise SDR
Yeah tough, I really only have one relatable story. But I guess it's better than zero.
SalesBeast
Politicker
1
Sales Leader
Just change one of your old roles to say AE instead of SDR. Make up a good story and go to town. You want to be in sales you gotta be good at bs’ing. Get after it son.
1
Retired Sales Professional
Nothing to lose and everything to gain if you pay close attention to the advice given on this thread. It looks like you have two options, either you go and get more experience in the role you already have experience in or you lay it all out there and show them with what you have done already, that you are the ONE!
iamtheone
Executive
0
Enterprise SDR
Any advice on specific companies or markets to focus on who might be willing to take a more green AE? I still have 3 months on my resume but dang is this hard to overcome.
Sunbunny31
Politicker
0
Sr Sales Executive 🐰
How did you land this first AE role? You managed this at a time when reps were having a hard time finding a seat.
iamtheone
Executive
0
Enterprise SDR
It was my first company I went back to they offered me a MM AE job
Sunbunny31
Politicker
2
Sr Sales Executive 🐰
Based on your achievement, correct? They took a chance on you as well. Remember that for your job hunt. No reason you can’t find another MM or SMB AE role.
iamtheone
Executive
1
Enterprise SDR
yessir! I already got referrals at Deel, Hubspot, Asana, and Nooks. I think I just need to absolutely CRUSH the interviews. I have won 2 awards as an sdr for team leadership and activity/quota achievements. I know I'd be a killer AE but gotta show it. Appreciate the reminder.
Sunbunny31
Politicker
1
Sr Sales Executive 🐰
You did it before, and you’re getting interviews. You’re doing something right. Many reps aren’t getting near the traction you are. You’ve got this!
AnchorPoint
Politicker
0
Business Coach
All those awards and laid off? That is the issue...
iamtheone
Executive
0
Enterprise SDR
What do you mean?
Jaga
Personal Narrative
0
Director of Sales and Business Development
Given the market has (unfortunately) led to a lot of great / experienced AEs being on the market, there isn’t going to be a shortcut here for you. My advice other than the great advice in the other comments would be

1. Look for a “transactional” AE role that requires less strategic experience and lean into your pipe gen skill set (furthermore, ask questions around this in the interview: “how important is it for you organization to have AEs that can build their own pipeline? How are you current reps performing in that area today? How much of your pipeline is inbound today?)

2. Try to find a more senior SDR job to rank up again internally / quicker if possible given your experience.

Neither are perfect solutions. No silver bullets here unfortunately
iamtheone
Executive
0
Enterprise SDR
Appreciate that. Yeah, I think you are right that I will have more luck on role that requires self-sourcing. Gotta mold my experience to a specific role.
lilhunter
Good Citizen
0
independent sales consultant
Ask Kyle Asay or Chris Orlob for warm intros into their network. If you've paid them for their courses, they should have some skin in the game to help you land a new job.
LambyCorn
Arsonist
0
A mfkn E
def a stumper not gonna lie.. i worked my way into saying i would take the first meeting and participate in the rest to warm the client and the actual contract was sent by my AE not myself, did the trick
BigShrimpin
Catalyst
0
Account executive
when in doubt a bit of embellishment never hurts just need a friendly face at the old company to be your boss for the reference check
Beans
Big Shot
-2
Enterprise Account Executive
You're most likely gonna have to start again as a senior SDR somewhere.

Related posts

2

How to overcome the "timing" objection? Or How to not get there in the first place!

Question
📈
🤝
☑️
5
10

Overcoming objection: Sales Manager Interview

Question
🚀 Career Goals
10
11

Objection Handling - BDR vs. AE

Question
🎈
🥎
☑️
14
Bravado is a community of trusted sales professionals endorsed by their customers.
Apple Store logo
Products
The War Room Jobs Salary Guide Tech Sales U
Company
About Us How It Works Blog Bug Bounty
Contact
Press Careers
© 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.