travelhappy

sales executive

How to say 'Your expectations might be unrealistic' in an interview

i am in an interview process with founder-led consultancy. i am likely to reach the third round of interviews. they have spoken to me of high-level quotas.

i will be the first sales person to join and till now all their business has come through network effect.

i want to manage their expectations by politely tell them something like this - 'most sales plans in companies of your size, fail to deliver targets in the first year'

what i mean by that is, building a sales org is new to them. whatever quotas we agree on may not get hit in the 1st year.

how okay is it to tell something like this?

for context, i am not desperate for a new job. i like these people but they don't have much sales experience.

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Gasty

Notable Contributor

War Room Community Manager

If you have a good sales leader (in your case : founder), they already know this.

If someone were to redefine your problem statement, it would be:

1) if I should tell someone the truth, they’re already aware of?
- up to you, if I were you, I would

2) how do i tell someone the truth, they’re already aware of?
- be subtle and indirect about it (it’s corporate). use their methods on them. example: vague language : “might not” / “maybe” / “there’s a chance” / “given X scenario, it’s possible that…”

If you want to be absolutely direct about it, go ahead and do it. Again, they already know this. All you’re doing is stating it to align the expectations. But maybe, it gets perceived in a negative/ pessimistic manner. To avoid that, be subtle and indirect.

All the best !

boredAnti

Tycoon

That One Guy

@Gastymy friend, you have a way with words.

Gasty

Notable Contributor

War Room Community Manager

@antiASKHOLE : I try my best :)

TennisandSales

Politicker

Head Of Sales

its 100% ok.

if they are hiring you for any sort of leadership role, pushing back in the right way can show that you have confidence, and that you are truly thinking about how to be successful. But you do need to find the right time to do this.

in that conversation I would ask them:
"how important is it to you that sales people hit and exceed quota?"
"how confident are you that the quota's you created going to drive the results you want"
"if these numbers are missed what will you want to do next"

then based on their response you can always position youself well by saying

" I like how leadership is thinking about this, but from my experience getting results when we are not focusing on network selling can take longer than expected. I would suggest we lower the expectations so everyone has a reasonable number to shoot for and dont get discouraged right off the bat.

Kosta_Konfucius

Politicker

ERP Sales

I would try to frame it into a question.

"I recently read most sales plans in companies of your size, fail to deliver targets in the first year, knowing this, how do you plan to set reasonable expectations given the uphill battle your reps will face"

or what ever you are hoping to learn in a conversation about this.

This is also of a way saying MOST do, maybe you don't if you have a GREAT strategy

Filth

Tycoon

Live Filthy or Die Clean

I would just ask where/how they determined their numbers/goals and work from there to talk through the realistic nature with your real life insights.

DevSomeBiz

Valued Contributor

Senior B2B Sales Guy.

"I'm really excited about getting started with you. The first thing we're going to need to shape up is targets, goals, and expectations. It looks like you've made a start, but I think we can agree that these numbers are pretty aggressive."

travelhappy

Fire Starter

sales executive

@Gasty @antiASKHOLE @DevSomeBiz @Kosta_Konfucius @Filth @TennisandSales

circling back, this is what i told them finally, in the form of a slide. i am awaiting to hear back.

Managing expectations and growth
•
Not many organizations meet their sales targets in the first year of a new sales org
•
Recommend hiring a new sales person only Year 3, ground work for which can start Year 2–can work with associates, external vendors, etc till then
7

Gasty

Notable Contributor

War Room Community Manager

Amazing! Congratulations on taking the first proactive step here :)

Filth

Tycoon

Live Filthy or Die Clean

Assuming the conversation continues - have a list of reasons why targets aren't in that first year and some ideas on how to overcome or minimize some of those obstacles.

Great stuff though and keep us updated - I am now emotionally invested in this outcome :D

travelhappy

Fire Starter

sales executive

thanks @Filth

i have another meeting with them this Friday. in the meanwhile, i am expecting an offer from another company (my other post on this!)

will keep y'all updated. you have been tremendously helpful.

TennisandSales

Politicker

Head Of Sales

nice i think this sounds like a good start.

TennisandSales

Politicker

Head Of Sales

yes this is a great point. anytime you point out a problem try to have justification AND a projected solution.

so here you could mention the roadblocks that could come up.
also you need these first few years to be ALL about learning as well as closing deals. you need to get a gauge for what is possible.

then when you hire another rep, that person is set up for success, will stay long term, and now you are building a team!

lets gooo!!

jefe

Arsonist

🍁

Nicely done! I think everyone will look forward to an update.