MRRMaverick

Account Executive

No commission for 6+ months

Hello fellow Savages - I find myself today in uncharted territory, looking to see if anyone else has ever been in this situation and has any advice. I work for a large SaaS software company that sells our software as a whitelabel solution for their own clients product (think Telemedicine). I sold a large deal several months ago. In short, most of this deal is a committed usage spend. Just as my client was about to deploy our embedded product to the largest segment of their customers, they discovered a small feature that raises compliance issues that make it unusable for this chunk of users.

We've raised the issue all the way to the C-Level of my org and we've just gotten word that my own company will not change the feature for our own compliance reasons. It's likely that this will lead to a large debook that will put me in a hole deep enough to ensure I won't see a commission check for over 6 months, assuming I hit my numbers going forward.

I've been a top performer during my tenure and believe I could hit these numbers in that timeframe, but the thought of grinding it out for no commission for half a year sounds awful. I could quit and find another job and continue making money instead. I don't necessarily want to leave my current company but I feel like I would have no choice in this scenario.

Has anyone else been here before? I don't believe my company would want to lose me as an employee over this but I don't think there is anything they could do to alleviate the situation. Also, how do I professionally suggest to my manager that if this happens, they aren't only losing revenue, but a productive, experienced salesperson?

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8

18 comments

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oldcloser

Arsonist

4

💀

This is where you find a resource to negotiate. Internal counsel should be able to not just help, but also call the client directly. If you've got a Chief Legal Officer, they'll feel vested in saving the deal for both revenue purposes and bragging rights. If this is the company I think it is, you've got one of them. Diversify the responsibility of the impending revenue implosion. You gotta get scrappy internally to pull it together.

Good luck!

Sunbunny31

Politicker

2

Sr Sales Executive 🐰

This is good advice. Don’t just roll over. Sort this out, and engage within your company to get support.

CuriousFox

WR Officer

1

🦊

Sort it out or find a job that actually pays you for your hard work

MRRMaverick

Fire Starter

1

Account Executive

Yes, we do and I agree the diversifying the responsibility is a good idea. However, legal is one of the blockers on our end (i.e. they won't budge on making the change that this customer needs to allow use of the product).

They may be useful in negotiating with the client based on the terms of the contract in order to protect more of the revenue in the event of a debooking, placing responsibility on them to properly test the product for their use case before signing, etc. Thank you for the advice.

oldcloser

Arsonist

0

💀

Sales management/Leadership is just willing to let it go?

MRRMaverick

Fire Starter

1

Account Executive

They of course want to do everything we can to save it, but given that this "we won't change it" directive came from the C-Level of the org, it's going to be tough to change direction. Perhaps some kind of creative solution can be had, but I'm not getting my hopes up at this point.

oldcloser

Arsonist

0

💀

So tough to advise given my lack of understanding of your political dynamic. But FWIW, on the surface, it seems like innovation can cure this. Maybe break off a piece of the solution and call in a partner to do that part their way. Dunno… there’s money there and it matters. Tough one, brother

AnchorPoint

Politicker

0

Business Coach

Nalied it

Pachacuti

Politicker

3

They call me Daddy, Sales Daddy

Not knowing the compliance makes it difficult to advise as well as not knowing the dollar amount in question.

If the regulatory issue is big enough that the sale shouldn’t have happened and they paid you on it already, it is what it is. They want their money back and if you quit they might go after you legally.

It’s a sucky situation. You might be able to negotiate quota relief. That way you aren’t in the hole with regards to quota attainment for the year.

MRRMaverick

Fire Starter

0

Account Executive

The issue isn't regulatory, it's compliance with company policy for both parties, but something that neither will move on. The deal value is 7 figures ARR.

Quota relief is an interesting avenue, and one I had not thought of. These are the kind of insights I was hoping for, thank you.

JDialz

Politicker

3

Chief Operating Officer

Does the end user agreement in the deal contract have a liquidated damages clause?

MRRMaverick

Fire Starter

1

Account Executive

Unsure, I'll have to look into this. Thank you for bringing to my attention.

JDialz

Politicker

0

Chief Operating Officer

You’re welcome! That one was free, I’ll invoice you next time though.

oldcloser

Arsonist

0

💀

☝️☝️☝️ ooooooo

KB_FarmerType

Opinionated

2

Strategic Sales

I had seen this situation 4 yrs ago with one of my colleague - it was difficult but the manager managed to get quota relief. His narrative was “we won as a team, we take responsibility as a team( the sales team) - and product features / compliance are out of control of this team ….”

Maximas

Tycoon

0

Senior Sales Executive

Recommend you to speak up,at least if wouldn't be cash,it has to be something else to make it up for you like extra benefits,allowance increase or even a free gym access or to your best restaurant if possible.
Try to have a seat with em first, then make up your mind later and I believe they would be able to do something about it.

Justatitle

Big Shot

0

Account Executive

Have you laid out to the org how this hurts you already? Sorry if that’s a dumb question.

RelationshipMaker

Opinionated

0

Head of Sales

You answered your own question: "how do I professionally suggest to my manager that if this happens, they aren't only losing revenue, but a productive, experienced salesperson?"

Not trying to be smart but I think you've described the issue very well in your post here, why not send a PC version to your boss or a collective of seniors within your company. If you feel comfortable in your tenure there, I would assume that they'd hate to lose you.

Maybe they don't know how you feel and would be keen to keep you?

In short, if you can afford to stay on zero commish then sty there and work harder to enjoy the benefits in 6-12 months time. May be use this as leverage to get a better commish level?

Good luck, it's a tough one.

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