salesyperson

Account Executive

Manager Playing Favorites

Hi Bravado Crew!

I have a manager who consistently plays favorites when net new opps come in or when a rep leaves and they hand over the opps to the new rep. I totally understand that managers are still people and may have a preference in the humans they interact with, but my manager is consistently giving the opps to the lowest performing rep on the team.

How should I address this?

I've already asked about specific opps and how they decided to distribute, and the I got the answer of "you shouldn't be concentrating on anything other than your business," which is kind of difficult when you get a notification for any closed won business in the company.

Thoughts?

💰 Compensation

🧢 Sales Management

🏙 Corporate Experiences

15 comments

Sort by:

poweredbycaffeine

WR Lieutenant

☕️

Are you hitting your number? If yes, then keep your head down and keep doing that.

The deals are being passed to a poor-performer to see if they can close "good opps" or if they are just a bad rep.

CuriousFox

WR Officer

🦊

Solid guidance as usual PBC.

Also I'm totally diggin your shiny new tag 🦚

poweredbycaffeine

WR Lieutenant

☕️

Oh, this 'ole thang? Why thank you, 🦊

CCP

Opinionated

VP, Business Development

I agree, 100%. If that rep keeps under performing and doesn't get fired after a reasonable timeframe for the product/service's sales cycle, then more of a cause for concern.

Diablo

Politicker

Sr. AE

Bang on this is it

salesVP80

Opinionated

VP Sales

I agree - often reps see the world through their own eyes (which I get) but there is probably more to this situation than you're seeing. Focus on your deals and your success.

JustGonnaSendIt

Politicker

Burn Towns, Get Money

They may be trying to get the low-performing rep some wins.

Could also be some kind of favoritism.

Tough call, depends a lot on the industry, team culture, and relative performance of reps.

But there is a point to just focus on your own wins. To a certain extent you should be glad you're not at the bottom. Getting all of those leads means scrutiny about what is happening with those leads.

goose

Politicker

Sales Executive

If you are getting the special treatment then don’t say anything. If you aren’t then don’t say anything.

DungeonsNDemos

Big Shot

Rolling 20's all day

This is tough as it's hard to tell without knowing your industry. But I would give the benefit of the doubt. As mentioned, that rep is now under increased pressure to perform on those "warm" leads, and if you're hitting your # then you can keep doing you.

Life's seldom fair, but in this case it's also a double-edged sword for the underperforming rep. Unless these are HUGE sales opportunities and it's happening constantly I wouldn't do much about it.

FeedTheKids

Politicker

Solutions Consultant

Assume you will always be on the wrong side of the "favorites" and just use it as motivation.

You can only control the controllables..... which is closing the contacts you speak with

RealPatrickBateman

Politicker

🔪Amateur Butcher🔪

Theres two kind of "Blue-bird" deals,

1) those that are smaller ticket/insignificant for the most part and should close quickly (those go to newbies and SDRs)

and

2) the kind that are tough, high risk/high reward deals that will take real effort and experience (those go to seasoned/favored reps).

At least that is how I have always seen it function and it makes sense to me. #MyTwoCents

TheNegotiator

Arsonist

VP of Sales

I have always, and will always play favourites. And my favourites will always be the top performs. . Pure meritocracy is real and should be encouraged.

IYNFYL

Politicker

Enterprise SaaS AE

Most companies give the new reps shiny opportunities to get them to drink the koolaid. Usually doesn’t change if you express your opinion and usually leads to the do a better job conversation from the manager

Coffeesforclosers

Notable Contributor

Director Sales and Market Development

Ask for nothing and make something from nothing, take over that place.

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

Press Careers

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.

salesyperson

Manager Playing Favorites

15 comments

Related posts

The importance of Playing the game?

Role Playing

What's your favorite NFL team?