BadColdCaller

Account Executive

Valued Contributor

Mentally burnt out - where to go next?

Just got put on PIP, going to take the time to be a little vulnerable in front of my sales savages and ask for some advice on what to do next given my past experience:

SDR for 1 year at a mid-sized company - killed it, moved on to next role as an AE
AE for 1 year at startup - killed it, moved on to a different industry since I was underpaid
AE for 1 year at startup - the whole sales team got fired even though I was ranked #1 for revenue (PE firm cleaning house), OTE numbers were 50k off the real amount
AE presently for a few months - got put on PIP like a month after training, and nobody is tracking to hit quota. First time not doing well out of the gate - I've reached out to my manager and other reps for guidance which has been ineffectual (have implemented those changes but to no avail)

I've had short stints where I've put in huge amounts of effort and done everything right on paper when it came to my career (e.g. reaching out to current sales leaders who are crushing it, listening to a bunch of calls, constantly studying sales books/methodology), and yet it's looking like I'm going to get fired for the second time for reasons outside of my control. I'm burnt out and with the state of the job market right now, wondering how I should approach my job search (doing all the steps like reaching out directly to current reps for a referral, connecting/calling the VP of Sales at companies I'm interested at, pinging my network), but things are not looking great.

I would love any advice on any of the following topics:

Job Hunting: How to communicate my job history and whether or not to include the most recent role, which specific companies to go after (have run into a lot of fake Glassdoor/Repvue reviews)
Mindset: How to work through these issues and reset mentally when it feels like a ticking time bomb with bills (have to take care of my family). Also being low-key gaslit from the PIP/previous firing to think that I'm trash at sales even though every manager/colleague I ever worked with endorsed me and has been actively trying to help...
Anything else that you'd recommend

Thank you all so much, I value this community a bunch and will be actively responding

🚀 Career Goals

13

13 comments

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CPTAmerica

Opinionated

5

President/CRO

Bummer. Sounds like you're already resigned to getting fired. If you're on a PIP there is a plan in place to keep you employed. Do whatever you can to stay in this role until you find somewhere else. Keep asking for help, don't screw around at work when your friends are. Make the calls, send the emails, follow the process.

Keep applying. Call the startups you were with before and ask if they're interested in bringing you back on. Find VC's in your area, many of them have job boards for their portfolio companies.

Tough love section; very little in our career is 100% out of our control. Don't look at this like you're being victimized by the company, industry, world. Try to really think about all that's happened in this role and identify some areas you could have done better. It's tough but this will make you a better rep and give you greater confidence in the future.

And know that it 100% WILL get better! This too shall pass.

Diablo

Politicker

2

Sr. AE

This is a great great advice

BadColdCaller

Politicker

0

Account Executive

Great advice, probably going to end with my activity metrics ranked #1 to go out swinging to at least buy time.

Good call on the VCs and prior startups - I'm reaching out to the past founders to see if they can hook me up and I do have some prior managers that are asking around in their network for me.

In regards to the tough love - definitely, some areas where I could've done better (copying the top rep's cadencing for emails and winning through volume as opposed to shorter, fully personalized outreach for this particular industry). It's a balance of taking on too much accountability which my family/friends have seen me do, am the type to lose my mind trying to optimize.

Thank you! I appreciate your insights, good action plan with a combination of self-awareness and hope for the future.

CPTAmerica

Opinionated

2

President/CRO

You’re on the right track then. Might try journaling, plenty of ways to go about it (you can Google different techniques) but it can help clear your mind and consolidate thoughts and ideas. Come up with the few things you’d do better next time. Write them down. Then move on. You’re done with beating yourself up and you’re focused on finding a new role.

And always remember your identity is not tied to your job or performance at work.

detectivegibbles

Politicker

4

Sales Director

First - sorry to hear you're in this situation. Sounds like the writing is on the wall at the current gig.

On job hunting: all you can do is communicate the situation and the numbers you were hitting. I'd highlight your successes in previous roles. The fact they put you on PIP a month after training is insane. If no one is hitting quota...there's either unrealistic numbers set or the product sucks.

Mindset: Do what you need to do to pay the bills. Ignore the noise and focus on what you can control. Whether that's applying to 30 places a day, sending out 100 linkedin requests, etc. Keep pushing. On the money side, do what you need to do (albeit legally). I drove rideshare for a year while working full-time to stash extra money while my wife was pregnant. No shame. Any person who passes judgement on those trying to improve their situation can go kick rocks.

Negativity is contagious. Be selfish with your time. Set a target and implement frameworks to achieve said target.

BadColdCaller

Politicker

2

Account Executive

Job hunting: Good advice, I've pinged all of my old contacts who are going to bat for me which has been good for my mental health. It really is insane, I was taking a look at the dashboard and should've trusted the few Glassdoor reviews that called out this division specifically...they're at the bottom of the barrel in the industry.

Mindset: Good call. I've applied to 30 places already while balancing out the work at the current gig, going to just put my head down and work hard.

Will hold myself to those personal KPIs and get sh*t done.

Marth

Opinionated

2

si vis pacem para bellum

@BadColdCaller hey man I’m in a similar ish boat recovering from a layoff where 80% of my sales team got canned. I’m not sure if there’s a way for you and I to connect offline but I’m in your corner.

BadColdCaller

Politicker

0

Account Executive

Sorry to hear that - it's really a shite time lately in the industry! Yeah I just made a new email if you want to connect offline at [email protected] that'd be great

RelationshipMaker

Opinionated

2

Head of Sales

Contact the competitors/suppliers of where you work now and let them know that you're on the market.
Reach out to every LI recruiter also like you mentioned in your post.
Be loud and confident. Comment on other trending posts, be insightful.
Contact your creditors and ask if you can go on interest-only payments for 3-6 months.
Look inwards, what do you really want to do? If it's sales, then be confident with it. The way you've written this post doesn't make me feel that you like sales, it sounds less confident. I get that your being vulnerable (kudos to you, too!) buuuuut, be more confident in your written approaches to other sales leaders.
Speak to your family and it them know how you feel.
You'll get there and I truly wish you the best.

BadColdCaller

Politicker

1

Account Executive

Will do! Competitors/suppliers is an excellent approach since I know the space already, and great thoughts on building up the network/bills.

Definitely got less confident as a result of this role, used to stand loud and proud about my work (and mentored other people into the profession who are having a blast). A temporary setback and after today's mental break, I'm good to get back out there.

Thank you so much!

Maximas

Tycoon

1

Senior Sales Executive

Sorry for the situation.
For job hunting besides the traditional ways like looking up LI and others try to expand your network and even try to get referrals from your colleagues you used to work with at previous workplaces.
Mindset has to be solid the PIP doesn't identify the who you are or what you're capable of, you surely crushed it dozens of times before so certainly you can re do it over and over again with a new employer that knows your abilities and appreciates your skills and wish you best of luck with your job search.

BadColdCaller

Politicker

0

Account Executive

Have reached out to past colleagues, they've all been really great and working on getting me referrals. Mindset's the biggest thing for sure and I'm feeling more refreshed than when I initially made the post. Thank you for the comment!

FoodForSales

Politicker

1

AE

its probably nice to be able to vent here. It can be hard. Just keep plugging away.

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