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MassholeMovesWest

Account Executive

WR Officer
Politicker
Opinionated
+9

If you were President of Sales, would you get rid of quota?

My platform would include lower quota, higher commission checks, and high quality coffee sent to every reps home office.


But actually, would getting rid of quota make you a better sales rep? I go back and forth on this even though it sounds like a dream.

If you were President of Sales, would you get rid of quota?

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25

35 comments

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ounceoz
WR Officer
18
US Sales Director
The biggest problem with quotas is the plans are often not aligned with reality. Quotas are great as they set expectations but can't be based off of investor expectations or some outside pressure they should be based in reality with "stretch" added to meet Company goals.
fodysseus
WR Officer
4
Sales Manager (Mid-Market)
Agree with this. Too often that missed reality starts to cause overcorrection from sales ops/finance that either pays reps too much (not mad tbh), but then makes everyone suffer the next quarter to balance out (now I'm mad). 

Quotas, while often perceived as shitty, can also be inspiring and are the measurement used for celebration and promotions.

If they are missed, as long as it is fair, it can force reflection and help reps work on areas of their craft. If it's not fair, we're likely not happy and will leave anyway.
sahil
Notable Contributor
4
Deepak Chopra of Sales
When you say based in "reality", what does that mean? How do we calculate what's realistic? 
FloridaGator
Member
3
Large Enterprise Account Executive
^this is a golden question
DialForDollars
Opinionated
2
Account Executive
Having worked in roles that are always previous year + growth quota - is the 100% attainment supposed to be a stretch goal? 

I've heard that some orgs have an expectation of reps hitting 70-80% of their year and the 100% is a stretch
salesnerd
WR Officer
10
Head of Growth
Get rid of it? No. As the President of Sales, I would make sure everyone has the right quota. 

What's the right quota? 
1) Fair -- It has to be attainable and you shouldn't have to break your neck to hit it. 
2) Logical -- There has to be a reason behind a quota. A finger in the wind doesn't cut it. 
3) Equitable -- It has to be standardized across roles. The more you allow negotiation and different quotas for different people, the more likely you are to underpay specific, otherwise underserved groups of people.

How do you come up with that quota and ensure everyone's quota meets those requirements? Well, I'm not the President of Sales...
PDP
Old School Bravo
1
Client Engagement Director
Nailed it @salesnerd . My thoughts exactly. Quotas serve a great purpose and top sellers seek it out. BUT, poorly aligned sales plans send good sales reps packing. 

Want to emphasize the last point and add to it by making it not only equitable but transparent. I don't want my org just trusting my word that it is equitable, but I want to show up and make it published within the sales org or company. 
CuriousFox
WR Officer
0
🦊
Careful nerd. You're making too much sense 😎
Sales4what
Opinionated
5
Co-Founder & VP Sales @ PLURiTy
Absolutely, I believe the most successful sales people are people who don't feel the pressure of having to hit quota to keep their jobs, or pay their bills. I actually tested this when I was a sales director of LOQI, i did away with commissions, and upped the salaries. Sales increased 142%, people started focussing on the customer and the commissions. Atleast this is my exeprience.
FloridaGator
Member
4
Large Enterprise Account Executive
Interesting, I’m a fan of Simon Sinek’s book Infinite Game.  Ties in that success happens when you stop focusing on quarterly metrics and artificially imposed deadlines. Makes employees and customers happier. Thanks for sharing
Sales4what
Opinionated
2
Co-Founder & VP Sales @ PLURiTy
Absolutely! I recently cofounded a company and we starting with this metric for our sales team, ofcourse they will still receive bonuses on a performance basis, but knowing they are receiving a salary that can sustain a standard of living really does wonders in my opinion.

MasterPip
Executive
1
AE
This is great. Did you put more emphasis on tracking any KPI’s daily or monthly as a replacement for a revenue quota? 
Sales4what
Opinionated
3
Co-Founder & VP Sales @ PLURiTy
As a replacement for quota I tracked the the KPI's as a team goal instead of individual, I noticed a slight uptick in the beginning, after I saw a 45% increase in the first quarter I decided to issue a bonus to the team as a whole, I gave my team a $1500 bonus per rep. by the end of Q2, I saw another 37% increase in units sold, with a higher net margin, I noticed the team was less stressed and was focused less on initial sale and followed a more "the money is in the follow up" kind of path
StickToTheProcess
WR Officer
4
AE
Quota works as a goal to attain, but it has the opposite effect when it’s outrageous and unobtainable. 
Penghan
Executive
2
Strategic Account Sales
Agreed- when it is unreachable it doesn't motivate the right behavior if anything actually helps a rep get away with being lazy
GottaSellEmAll
Big Shot
3
Sales Manager
I think whether you call it "quota" or not and how you structure the reps earnings it up to you. But ultimately is there a way to actually not have a quota? 

At the end of the day if you employ a sales professional you need them to generate revenue to justify paying them. Without a quota how do you decide if they are getting the job done or not?
SalesCoach
Old School Bravo
0
Owner
Regardless of quotas or not, the “scoreboard” is simple in every sales role...are they selling anything or not and how much are they selling comparative to others 
SDMHGWarrior
Tycoon
1
CEO
Everyone needs to have a goal to work towards. 
fuzzy
Notable Contributor
1
CMO (Chief Meme Officer)
Realistic, attainable (aka: don’t be greedy) quotas are a proven driver of success. 
IsIt5oClockYet
WR Officer
1
VP of Production
I'd keep quota, but would work with actual sales reps to determine what is fair & logical instead of building quota numbers based on financials and management views that aren't attainable.
acv
OG Sales Savage
1
Always Close ACV
Don't get rid of Quotas. If anything focuses a comp plan on an attainable quota and allow for tiered goals that allow for more commission. Give us the chance to make more money and your business will grow. 

But for real could you imagine no quotas? The fear you would have? Am I on target? Am I behind? No quota sounds like unlimited PTO.
Zbo
OG Sales Savage
1
Account Executive
Abso - f'in - lutely! Quotas are awful. Do marketers have a quota? Does the CEO have a quota? It's the number one source of stress for AEs and it negatively affects revenue. Ever heard of "sandbagging"? That wouldn't be a thing if Quotas didn't exist.

Yes, there should be some sort of revenue targets. But quotas are archaic relics that should disappear.
1POT
WR Lieutenant
1
Head of Sales
I don't see myself ever wanting to sell without a quota as a leader or even as a sales rep. Quota can be a great additional motivator when set properly. It can also cause issues if it's too high or if they keep increasing every year without any good reason. It's not so much the quota that can be problematic as it is the culture and expectations around the quota. If you know you can stay at a company forever by doing 60% to quota and you're ok with that...that's cool. If you know your company may fire you for being a 60-75% lifer then that's when reps prefer jobs without quotas because some know they can never be that 100%+ quota attainment rep. I'd rather set realistic quotas knowing there are far more B players than A players and let those A players separate themselves from the pack.
brotato
WR Lieutenant
1
Head of Sales
You don't need a quota to know to do your job. And you don't need a quota in order to make good money. And you don't need a quota in order to get recognition.

So why exactly does sales need them but nearly every other role in the company not?
bam
WR Officer
1
VP of Sales
I spent a quarter without a quota and I missed having something to chase.  I used to describe this as the worst quarter of my sales life and was totally against the idea of eliminating quota.  It seems that over assignments have gotten out of hand and a significant number of your AEs are not expected to achieve 100%.  If I could control everything I would eliminate the quota and replace it with a shared target and get everyone aligned with crushing our revenue goals.
donkey_teeth
Valued Contributor
1
Account Executive
Quota is necessary to push your average sales reps to truly grind everyday -- without it, people would coast. 
Roznyny
Old School Bravo
1
SVP Global Sales
Aligning Commission plans with desired behaviors and outcomes is essential for alignment and getting S$%# done! Commissions should be realistic and attainable. If someone doesn't want part of their compensation in commission, they should join the service or account management department.
Mr.Pickles
Arsonist
1
Sr. Customer Success Manager
The goal should always be towards making quota SMART.

Specific. Easy to understand based on the current business model.
Measurable. Clear for all the players.
Attainable. Aligned with the market and the vision of the company 
Reasonable. Self-explanatory :) 
Time-bound.  
upandtotheright
1
VP, Business Sales
Quota just helps link compensation and company success. If the money is aligned properly and reps can see the path, it doesn't have to bad.
ThisIsFine
Fire Starter
1
Account Executive
I look at a quota as a goal, and without a goal it’s hard to keep myself motivated. I’d make it attainable/realistic though.
SalesCoach
Old School Bravo
0
Owner
Personally, I don’t need a quota. Being in an all commission role now, my “quota” is very simple. If I want more than a 0 in my bank account then I better go sell. If I want to have some commas in my bank account then I better go sell. However,  I can see the value of that arbitrary goal/quota bc of the feels you get as an individual when you’re able to hit it. 
SpiderHam
Opinionated
0
Manager, Sales Development
One of the whole reasons people get into sales is so they can have a quota, a clear measurable metric of their success at their role. Other jobs don't have that. I hear new SDRs say this all the time.

That being said quotas need to be carefully structured and *constantly reconsidered* to make sure they are actually driving the outcomes we want. When conditions change, opportunistic sales reps will always find loopholes in how to 'game' quota
daddy
Executive
0
Major Account Manager
Whats a president of sales? 
SalesPharaoh
Big Shot
0
Senior Account Executive
I feel Quota creators suffer from delusions of grandeur so if that delusion is solved then we quota will be reasonable.
NorthernSalesGuru
Politicker
0
Manager, Outbound Sales
No. Quotas are necessary to hold sales people accountable.

What differentiates good sales organizations from great ones is their understanding of quota relative to reality and growth.

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