Nightmare Rev Leader Scenario

Where to start. Fast paced rev driven person who decided to leave for profit for not for profit for the mission.


I started working as a sales leader early Jan within a non-profit that sells an event along with products. It was the first time this org had a sales team. My team are the guinea pigs.

  • I was given a revenue goal for the year, but no numbers were shared with me.
  • I was given Q1 quota, and 8 sales people who started the same day I did. I had no say in any hires.
  • I did not develop the quota, or the compensation plan. I had no input. I have no understanding of why the quota was set to where it was, when sales for the event have been declining YoY.
  • Within a week, the CRO was fired.
  • The sales VP left shortly thereafter.
  • The BDR team was let go in mid march. All biz dev was outsourced to a company that didn't start working for 2 months, and has not closed a single sale.
  • For 5.5 months, no one on my team saw the comp plan, including me, despite asking for it for months. (I was told I would get mine shortly after starting. I also didn't get mine until my team did.
  • We exceeded Q1 quota. (5m)
  • I was not given Q2 quota until the first week in April. It was 20m.
  • BC we do event sales, our annual quota deadline was June 30th.
  • We were given an extension until today.
  • Comp plan states the following insanity:
  • 75% of the quota must be attained in order to receive any payout.
  • Clients must be paid in full before payout.
  • Payouts happen for 1st half of the year on August 16th.
  • Payouts for the 2nd half of the year get paid in February or March of the next year.
  • Employee must be employed in order to get payout.
  • There is no CRM. There's a SF migration underway, but its not in place yet.
  • SE tools are ok. Zoominfo is fine, but the Engage part of ZI is crap, and has caused 1000s of hours of lost productivity. Nearly 200 tech stacks for a 100 person company.
  • Sales close today, and our outbound email has been down since last Monday.
  • Leadership frequently attends and speaks at conferences. They never come back with any leads. Nor is anyone in revenue invited.
  • Money is spend, spend, spend, except when it comes to giving revenue any tools or time to increase efficiency.
  • There is no marketing to drive top of funnel sales.
  • All of the rules I know about sales have been broken here. We won't reach quota, and no one seems to care.
  • Without a ramp up period for everyone, and with such a short sales cycle, it was destined to fail.
  • Feel like I'll be out of work in 3 weeks.
  • Want to go back to an IC role.



The situation has been impossible from the beginning. With no ramp up period, and no transparency on actual goals, the team, and I feel defeated.

The incentive killed any morale or incentive bc there isn't any. Has anyone encountered such a nightmare comp plan and working scenario? I'm looking to get out, but the landscape is quite difficult.

๐Ÿฐ War Stories
๐Ÿ’ฐ Compensation
๐Ÿงข Sales Management
14
CadenceCombat
Tycoon
9
Account Executive
You already know this but, yeahโ€ฆ gtfo.
jefe
Arsonist
4
๐Ÿ
Agreed - GTFO ASAP
JustGonnaSendIt
Politicker
8
Burn Towns, Get Money
uh... run?
QueenKimberly
Executive
3
Board Member
I KNOW! I've been applying feverishly with no bites for months.
oldcloser
Arsonist
6
๐Ÿ’€
Don't shotgun. Shoot the rifle. Pick 5 target companies and work them like a pipeline exercise. Sideways, top to bottom and around the back. Lean on your network. Ask for help. Get current sellers the referral fee. Be the referral. As bad as your current thing is... and its bad... many are in shitty spots like this. Treat it like a paid job search. If nobody cares about quota, and they don't intend to pay you till whenever for whatever... why should you care?
QueenKimberly
Executive
3
Board Member
Tried that approach as well. It's tough out there!
oldcloser
Arsonist
3
๐Ÿ’€
Keep fighting the good fight. What's your wheelhouse. Got a vertical wisdom specialty? Favorite flavor to sell?
QueenKimberly
Executive
3
Board Member
I've worked in many. I was product + SaaS for 20 years. Our clients were enterprise automotive, retail, restaurant, manufacturing, multi family, healthcare, senior, pharma, telecom, tech. CRO, COO, CMO, CEO, CXO, CISO, CTO targets.
oldcloser
Arsonist
3
๐Ÿ’€
let me process... what sort of solution did you sell to Detroit?

Also, please upvote your replies if you find value. We earn commish for that. One day, I hope to exchange them for a hat.
Sunbunny31
Politicker
2
Sr Sales Executive ๐Ÿฐ
You've clearly got the chops to get something better. It's been a tough market for sure, but persevere.
I'm sorry this has happened to you. Utter nightmare fuel.
Phillip_J_Fry
Opinionated
4
Director of Revenue
Sorry you're going through this. Absolutely gtfo.
It is almost comical thinking about starting your first day as a sales leader, only to find out that it's also the first day for everyone on your team.
QueenKimberly
Executive
3
Board Member
I know! I've come into orgs w an established team. But everyone was new. Like no sales acumen from the CRO or VP. In what world would you do that? It should have been a fall hire for everyone. But, it was a week firehose training, then the firings began, and then sales started. Forget a ramp up period.
lowhangersalesbanger
Executive
4
Account Executive
.
oldcloser
Arsonist
3
๐Ÿ’€
I gotta fire one shot at you before mandatory commiseration. What did your comp plan say? You signed off without knowing the revspectation? I bet you don't do that again.

ok, now- just gtfo. That's subhuman-level disgusting. They bought SFDC but won't ramp their people? Do they have a backup team waiting. Run. Do not walk. Run. Brutal.
QueenKimberly
Executive
4
Board Member
I was told I would get mine in a few days after starting. I, too, did not get mine until my team did. I feel terrible for the team. It's been disenfranchising from the start.
oldcloser
Arsonist
3
๐Ÿ’€
Wearing that kind of egg on face really just blows.
QueenKimberly
Executive
4
Board Member
Yeah, i never envisioned this scenario in my worst dreams. Won't happen again!!
AnchorPoint
Politicker
3
Business Coach
Unfortunate, however, if they don't get it, you are not going to change it.
Justatitle
Big Shot
2
Account Executive
When dumpster fire meets toxic leadership???
QueenKimberly
Executive
2
Board Member
Exactly.
886GFl
Opinionated
2
Account Executive
Leave
thisdoesntexist
Executive
1
Sales Consultant
๐Ÿ˜ฑVery scary. Very familiar. Those darn non-profit missionsโ€ฆ so alluring! Iโ€™ve been in a mini version of this hell hole before. Ended up leaving without another FT role lined up. Sometimes the only way is OUT, to save your sanity and yourbsavings by the sounds of it. Sounds like timing could be good, wait two weeks for your comms from Q1, then gtfo.
QueenKimberly
Executive
0
Board Member
I don't think there will be commissions from the first half. Only 1 person on the team made quota, and all the money has to be in hand. And a lot of that hasn't come in yet. Did you work at the same place ;)
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