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Anker

SAE (Senior Account Executive)

Opinionated
Fire Starter
Contributor
+2

Old Guy in Young Company

I'm in my mid-50s, 25 years in tech, only 10 of those in sales, but at one company the whole time   (tech B2B AE, small/mid/ent) im interviewing for an AE role at another tech company (not a competitor) in the  Bay Area. My current company has less than 10
AES, a couple Assoc AEs, the new company is 3x bigger, more "modern" and professional,younger, and has maybe 50-60 AE's.  looking at LinkedIn, none of them are over 40. Leadership doesn't look much older.  it's not a dream job, so I'm doing this as much for practice as anything. 
But I want to hear from younger AEs about what you've seen older folks on your team not knowing or blind spots you see. and older folks, have you been in this situation? what did you learn? Any interview tips
I consider myself young at heart, get along really well with my young colleagues, Im very good and flexible with technology and  business systems, and get a lot of energy from being around younger team members. I don't really do much on social media. I guess I just don't know what I don't know about working in a more advanced, younger organization. Thank you friends!
🧠 Advice
🕧 age-related
👥 Hiring
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butwhy
Politicker
8
Solutions Engineer
I actually love working with older folk - though I am feeling pretty ancient myself these days already in my late-30s.

Here are 3 consistent pet peeves I have with older sales reps (mid-50s through late 60s) that might give some context that you requested:

- they don't know or have refused to learn basic technology and ask me the SE to do it for them constantly. If you cannot share a screen on zoom smoothly the first time, present a powerpoint in presenter mode instead of just showing it in edit mode, compress a deck into a zip file, or know how to use channels in Slack/Teams; it's time to practice those until they are all muscle memory. Flexible isn't enough - you need to be polished.
- Use outdated phrases. The next rep I work with who says "open the kimono," I am going to bonk on the head with a newspaper repeatedly.
- Emphasize differences in generations instead of similarities. Work ethics are still strong in both, they are just displayed differently. At the end of the day, we all just want good lives and lots of money.
jefe
Arsonist
5
🍁
I'm happy to say I've never heard this kimono phrase. Gross.

Great points
GALACTIC
Politicker
6
Account Executive
I'm mid 30's and one of my best friends is a 60+ year old rep from my old job, he was an amazing seller because his interpersonal skills were second to none - people didn't even realize they were being sold. He had zero interest in sales leadership.

He had a secondary skill which was as the office dad/therapist/friend, no problem was too small, we would all go to him for advice or to vent. He had a unique way of putting everything back into perspective, and rebuilding people when they were in a rut. He was also the one to get everyone together for beers/UFC nights, etc.

He had to leave that job eventually because a new metrics obsessed CRO came in, even though his numbers were always near the top of the leaderboard. He couldn't keep up with the expected outbound numbers or salesforce maintenance, and admittedly was a bit stubborn on this aspect of the job.

In the end he pitched himself and scored a sick job as literally "office dad" for a local tech legend, where he is paid well to do things his way and he has a nice office where people can come to him to vent. He's valued enough that he just survived a round of gnarly layoffs.

Like anyone these days, you need to vet the shit out of any prospective sales job and make sure they value the skills you have.
PhlipOut
Politicker
0
Account Executive
love this!
braintank
Politicker
4
Enterprise Account Executive
Nothing reeks of age than constantly drawing attention to age.
Anker
Opinionated
1
SAE (Senior Account Executive)
Couldn’t agree more. Great to hear that here. Not sure if you’re calling me out for bringing up age here, or if you’re just advising me to just not talk about it in the organization. Either way, this is why I value this community. It’s of course not something that will ever come up in an interview, and I would never bring it up in the job, but it’s there anyway. Hell, I roll my eyes at the guys in their 60s sometimes. Thanks braintank.
braintank
Politicker
7
Enterprise Account Executive
Just don't be this guy
CuriousFox
WR Officer
4
🦊
This meme ALWAYS kills me 😆
Mobi85
Politicker
3
Regional Sales Manager
Always a great meme, and feeling more like Steve Buscemi as I get older each day.
Sunbunny31
Politicker
4
Sr Sales Executive 🐰
At some point, if you’re lucky, you’re going to be on the older side anywhere you go. And that is fine! You don’t have to be on the same page as everyone else, nor do you have to engage in the same things. You just have to be accepting. I bet when you were younger and in an org with people all about the same age, you had colleagues, as I did, who had a range of different interests. This is really the same thing. Enjoy yourself, and don’t worry about the age differences at all. I was at the same company for a very long time before I left almost two years ago. Age never came up in the interview (and it shouldn’t, as it’s illegal). My experience, capability, general attitude, all were evaluated. Just relax, be yourself, and enjoy the interview.
Anker
Opinionated
3
SAE (Senior Account Executive)
@butwhy - 😂 in my interview (it was my only sales interview) my now boss said “open the kimono” when I asked about salary/comm expectations. I’d never heard that term, I almost barfed Was this really the world I wanted to join and the guy I wanted to work for? LOL Turns out I love sales, felt good about the company and my boss, and became a top performer after 2-3 really tough years.
thanks so much for your perspective, that’s exactly what I was hoping to hear.
Sunbunny31
Politicker
4
Sr Sales Executive 🐰
That phrase was totally overused (and cringy) over a decade ago.

Fortunately, now we have "deep dive", "full transparency" and "under the hood" used instead, with "under the hood" making a comeback.

Glad you took the jump, and have had a good outcome.
Maximas
Tycoon
2
Senior Sales Executive
Wish I would've helped, out of my business field sorry, wish you all the best though.
Diablo
Politicker
2
Sr. AE
I love your spirit. As they say age is just the number, if I were you and had the same mentality, I would grab it as far as my mind is processed to remain motivated around young chaps
DungeonsNDemos
Big Shot
1
Rolling 20's all day
Older folks often have much more experience and stories of working with customers, plus different perspectives. I like when we have different ages on the team because I don't want to just see one view point or the same ideas all the time.
SalesMama
Executive
1
Senior Account Executive
FWIW, I’m in my 30s and never much got on the social media train. As others have said, just focus on similarities, and if you find a company where you can be excited about the tech, that should be enough of a unifying force that age doesn’t really matter. The most well-loved guy on my team at a 1000 person company with a founding team in their 30s is a guy in his 50s. We love him because he’s a sales genius and he’s not entitled. So, just be that?
PhlipOut
Politicker
1
Account Executive
We have a few more experienced reps in the team:

- to watch out for: make sure you show how you are willing and open new tools and techniques. Maybe give some examples of picking stuff up even from SDRs to stay fresh
- advantages: with experience, I'd expect to see business acumen, maybe industry experience, polish around things like account planning, running meetings, process/methodology

go get it!
Sabonis
1
SDR
Great question, Anker; I bet you're not the only person thinking/living it, but you have the courage to put yourself out there and ask it. So, respect.

While you're right -- discrimination in all its forms is alive and well, including ageism (probably perpetrated by decision makers who deny that they're ageists, lol) -- I think the longer you stay handcuffed to the idea that Different = Deficient (and so, the bigger your age difference, the more deficient you might be), the closer you'll get to Self-fulfilling Prophecy territory. And that's not a place you want to be -- or a place we want to see you end up, Anker.

I think you already hold the keys to those metaphorical handcuffs: asking for help; asking to learn. I think you're real enemy is not continuously adopting or at least really trying out whatever is 'new' to you. If you never stop learning, from those older and younger than you, you've got a real chance.

And if you add to that by focusing not on your own legit concerns, but instead on how you can keep adding value to your employer and making your boss' worklife easier (just like any other employee from any other demo), you should be just fine. Sure, they'll always be those in positions of power who have the wrong ideas, but they're in the minority. If your job interview are about you asking about (or having researched in advance through networking) what their business problems are, then laying out exactly what you'll do to solve them, they won't have time to focus on any superficial things. Gray hair? No hair? Bro, the smart ones won't care if they believe you can make them that green.

Keep reaching out to "your young colleagues." If you get along well with "them", that means you're a human being who's liked and valued by other human beings. The more new people you meet -- at any age -- the more fun you'll have, and the better you'll feel about yourself, because you'll be getting constant positive reinforcement from all these people about how great a person you are. So:

1. Start catching up on learning the stuff you know you need to

2. Don't start buying your clothes at Forever 21

3. Never stop learning new things, meeting new people (online and IRL), and saying "I don't know...but I'll find out"

4. Focus on the value you bring and making yourself invaluable to the right people

5. And you don't have to get on all the socials, but at the very least, do get your ass on LinkedIn

Focus on what you fear, and that's all you'll ever be. Focus on what you *are* -- and can be to others -- and you'll be crushing it for another 25 years.
Anker
Opinionated
0
SAE (Senior Account Executive)
Thank you for your wise and thoughtful reply @Sabonis !
LambyCorn
Arsonist
0
A mfkn E
Wisdom being brought to the table in unccountable verticles are so worth it! I love working with older gentlemen than myself, I always learn. Im a 21 year old shit head so, anyone is older than me
Anker
Opinionated
0
SAE (Senior Account Executive)
Sounds like I’d like workin with ya!

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