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Padraig123

Mid Market Account Executive

Executive
Good Citizen
Contributor
+4

No 1 -> unemployed in 3 months

Hey everyone, 

Joined a startup last year as the 2nd sales person and led the team of 5 in sales for 2022 (130% overall attainment) I took a vacation in January + had a few deals push with SVB delays and ended up at around 50% of my number for Q1

I get hit with a pip saying I need to sell 80% of my quarterly number by the end of April or I should pack my bags....

Has anyone ever heard of something like this? I was completely blindsided when I got the news the other day, it's an evil world out here....


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22 comments

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CadenceCombat
Tycoon
10
Account Executive
Very shitty. Could be any number of reasons but doesn’t seem performance based to me.

Missing 2 quarters in a row? Yeah, ok, maybe. But missing 1 quarter after 130% quota last year? You either pissed off the wrong person or they feel you’re being compensated too well.
CuriousFox
WR Officer
6
🦊
Or they are just saving their own ass.
detectivegibbles
Politicker
5
Sales Director
Tough to hear, sorry you’re going through this.

Did they give rationale for 80% figure?

A few down quarters, especially in this environment, being met with threats of layoffs screams bad leadership to me that mismanaged a number of items.

I’d say it’s less a reflection of you so don’t beat yourself up too bad.
ZVRK
Politicker
2
Enterprise Account Executive
What are you selling?

This looks like a super high-pressure selling type of job. I`m sure it`s not, but from what you just shared - being hit by a pip only after one subpar q?

I`m just curious about the industry you are in, regardless though, this is a huge red flag and you should be definitely looking to move.
HVACexpert
Politicker
1
sales engineer
Sounds like an excuse to reduce number of employees on the books.

How is the company performing overall?
FinanceEngineer
Politicker
1
Sr Director, sales and partnerships
Yeah, this happened a lot with old school managers or companies that want to restructure things.
Justatitle
Big Shot
1
Account Executive
Crappy company with issues, they're doing you a favor in a very weird way. If they're like this now imagine how bad they will get as they grow. Toxic leadership breeds more incompetent leaders...
Sunbunny31
Politicker
1
Sr Sales Executive 🐰
Question: can you get to 80% ? Are those pushed deals from Q1 still in your pipe for you to close? Your company may have blindsided you with this, but they're looking for that remaining 50% + that 33% of Q2 as quickly as possible. Not saying it's fun to get that kind of a warning, but it looks like they didn't just invent the number, and they expect those pushed deals to close right now.
Padraig123
Executive
0
Mid Market Account Executive
It will be close, but historically 70% of our deals close in the last month of the quarter, so getting all of those deals plus the extra to continue to pace will be extremely challenging, the point of the pip was definitely to be managed out
Sunbunny31
Politicker
0
Sr Sales Executive 🐰
Yeah, they’re literally looking for you to get that 50% that didn’t close in Q1 + 1/3 Q2.

Did 50% of your Q1 number push, or did you just not have it in the first place?
Pachacuti
Politicker
1
They call me Daddy, Sales Daddy
That seems very short sighted of them as an organization but begs the question - who did you piss off? I don't think we're getting the entire story here.
FoodForSales
Politicker
0
AE
my thoughts exactly when I read it
Padraig123
Executive
0
Mid Market Account Executive
I’m guessing one of the founders, I brought him on a call that was supposed to be a closing call and admittedly it didn’t go great. We had like 8 people on the line total but the only person that mattered showed up 30 minutes late and they kept saying he’ll be here in 2 minutes and it ended up being a shitty call.
HardRockfan1
Member
1
Regional Director of Sales
Not good leadership at all around you. Sorry you’re going through this. Startups are a beast all their own, I know this is my 4th. If you can hang on until you can get out that’s great, if not the job market is still good.
Maximas
Tycoon
0
Senior Sales Executive
Way unreasonable PIP, here at my company you don't get to sign a PIP unless you don't achieve 4 quarters in a row!
poweredbycaffeine
WR Lieutenant
0
☕️
It's not evil, it's just business. You are ultimately responsible for your performance, and for asking for help from others when you are behind.

Sucks, but it's true in this market.

That said, if your quarter ends in June like the rest of the normal world then how can you hit 80% in the first 30 days? Sounds like they are finding an unreasonable justification to get rid of burn.
Kosta_Konfucius
Politicker
0
Sales Rep
How is the company doing? Are they just looking to get rid of people
buckeyenation
Acclaimed Answer
0
AE
Hunch: the numbers are irrelevant. Who the fuck puts a competent sales person on a pip. Especially at a start up. What the fuck start up has pip process that’s only one layer deep in terms of team and management. Management clearly thinks the company is going to the moon and anyone not demoing that is … nvm, but fuck shitty management.
ChumpChange
Politicker
0
Channel Manager
It's bullshit. PIP is the HR process for getting you legally fired and cover themselves from an unemployment claim. There are bigger issues at play from just a single quarter of performance.
0
N/A Looking for the correct fit
Welcome to start up world. In my experience- Most fail. Very few founders/CEO’s execute on the brilliant creation/new platform they formulated while working for larger firms. They then apply the same Sales/Revs expectations from the large firms ( major problem) This practice ( what you experienced) should not prevent you or I from continued pursuit of succeeding at these ventures. All of the other comments apply in some form as well. Win or Learn.
GoBlue
Old School Bravo
0
National Account manager
weird but sounds like a management issue. You should not get blindsided. Do your best and hang in there but always be talking with other startups. Money/economic changes and challenges are starting.
SerialBiller
Executive
0
Account Executive
Use your pip time to find a new fucking job

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