PIP likely coming: Looking to interview: advice?

You may or may not have been there. For reasons that are somewhat out of my control I may be getting put on a PIP later this week. To say it's been a rough year and tough on my confidence as a seller is an understatement. I'm trying to outperform the PIP, but in case I don't I'll be interviewing. Confidence not exactly at an all time high. My questions:

-How do you navigate the "What % to your number" question? I'm not a good liar.

-What do you do to pump yourself up in external interviews?


I know the best route is just to perform to get off the PIP, this is insurance.

๐ŸŽ™ Interviews/Podcasts
โ˜•๏ธ Workflow and Daily Habits
๐Ÿค Interviewing/Offer
15
funcoupons
WR Officer
9
๐Ÿ‘‘
I recommend searching for "interview advice" in here as there have been a ton of informative threads on general "how to ace an interview" techniques already.

For your specific situation I'd recommend being as honest as possible within reason. No need to air out every dirty detail, but pretending that you're a top performer isn't the way to do it either. Answer it head on "great question - this year I didn't perform as I had hoped and am currently x to quota." Give some explanation as to why - and this doesn't mean blaming the company or others around you. Point out a few of the things that you have done that led you to miss your goals, but most importantly point out what you've done/are currently doing to rectify that so it doesn't happen again. If any of them were personal, don't go into detail - saying "I had some personal/health/family issues I was dealing with so my head was not completely in the game, those issues have since been dealt with" is enough.ย 

If there were truly things beyond your control that led to missing quota it's fine to mention those too, but don't dwell on it and keep it classy at all times. Saying your product isn't up to par compared to the competition or that some teams are understaffed is fine, insulting your manager or colleagues is not.
poweredbycaffeine
WR Lieutenant
3
โ˜•๏ธ
Follow up to my comment re: PIP Charity: @funcouponsย has already helped--and in spades.
SomeSalesRep
Opinionated
0
Account Executive
Hey how do you search terms on this app I canโ€™t figure it out!
LordBusiness
Politicker
6
Chief Revenue Officer
You need to find the perfect combination of honesty and vagueness.ย  With the hotness in the market right now, you may not even get a ton of questions about target achievement.ย  I'd get out in front of it and speak to why you are interviewing/looking - and speak about looking for a new challenge, a product that you can be passionate about, etc -- in short go on the OFFENSIVE instead of worrying how to play defense.ย 

UserNotFound
Politicker
4
Account Executive
I was recently put on a PIP for absolute BS reasons that I wont get into... I found that just getting the interview was enough of a confidence boost to get me where I could confidently handle the conversation.ย 

Beyond that, when discussing the numbers- I just told hiring managers the truth. I'm currently at X%, and I have a pipeline of $X, and though those might not sound like impressive numbers here is why I'm proud of them.... and speak to the hurdles you've overcome but in a classy way.ย 
*No SME to lean on, had to teach myself everything.ย 
*Start-up company doesn't offer tech-stack
*Quota set pre-covid
etc.ย 

It's certainly not fool-proof, but if you're like me and confident that you are performing, just against arbitrary numbers, speak to why you're still happy with your own performance.ย 
poweredbycaffeine
WR Lieutenant
3
โ˜•๏ธ
@Incognitoย feeling like dolling out some PIP Charity to a fellow Insurance slave? I feel like @funcouponsย can help here, too.
funcoupons
WR Officer
2
๐Ÿ‘‘
I might be wrong but I think OP was referring to the job hunt as insurance?ย 
poweredbycaffeine
WR Lieutenant
3
โ˜•๏ธ
Ah...well...a'int care.
Incognito
WR Officer
4
Master of Disaster
@poweredbycaffeineย don't you know there's like only us who do this shit? I already gave away my secrets to @DungeonsNDemosย on my post.

Felt cute. Might delete later.ย 
poweredbycaffeine
WR Lieutenant
4
โ˜•๏ธ
2% of the community propping it up for the other 98%. Badger work isn't pretty, but it's important.
DungeonsNDemos
Big Shot
3
Rolling 20's all day
@Incognito No worries Iโ€™ll keep the secrets safe in my dungeon ๐Ÿ‘๐Ÿป
Incognito
WR Officer
3
Master of Disaster
Did someone say dungeon?
DungeonsNDemos
Big Shot
3
Rolling 20's all day
#bringyourowndragons
Incognito
WR Officer
2
Master of Disaster
well I definitely have a few dragon tails if you know what I mean...
Diablo
Politicker
2
Sr. AE
Remember one thing, getting stressed is not going to take you to a good spot. Whats the performance issue? Are you the only guy or its happening with just you. Whats your built pipeline?ย 

You don't have to lie in your interviews but you have to be smart at answering.ย 
pizzasavage
Contributor
1
Account Executive, Partner/Client Success
I can answer the second question -I pump up on the data. Gather as much data as you can-on a problem they are facing. My two VC cents.
Gyro25
Notorious Answer
1
Account Executive
I have no advice, but my company is hiring for AE roles. We have >$100mil in series B and have pretty good p/m fit. Just putting it out there. Hope it works out!ย 
newsalesguy14
Politicker
1
Account Executive
If you PIP hasn't come yet - don't sign it. Tell your manager that you'd like to speak to the head of your department about it before signing it. Book a meeting and speak to your department head and ask if it's absolutely necessary and also use it as a reason to voice your opinion if you think it's unfair or a management issue - department heads want to know if management is an issue.

I'm speaking from experience - early in my career I was placed on a PIP and signed it because I was new to the corporate world and felt backed into a corner. A couple of weeks later... My manager who put me on a PIP was let go and I was PIP free. Still with the company years later.

It turns out my manager was on the hot seat the whole time. If I could re-do it, I'd speak to my VP of Sales and ask if I absolutely have to sign and go on this PIP - in this situation, he likely would have told me no because my manager was the problem.

Hope this helps either your current situation or any future ones (but hope you don't end up here in the future)!
Blackwargreymon
Politicker
1
MDR
You need to find the perfect combination of honesty and vagueness.ย  With the hotness in the market right now, you may not even get a ton of questions about target achievement.
brrr
Good Citizen
0
Account Executive
I would be as honest as possible. I think anyone that has gotten into a management position in sales will understand that there are sometimes market dynamics that are just completely put of your control and should be able to understand that you made a strong effort, closed a few great deals, and arenโ€™t quite where youโ€™d hoped due to forces outside of your control. This will be even more convincing if you have a good track record up to this point.
MR.StretchISR
Politicker
0
ISR
I hate that people are labeled one or the other. We should constantly strive to learn new things and change our opinion. This us vs them mentality is awful, but so widespread right now
Cyberjarre
Politicker
0
BDR
I hate that people are labeled one or the other. We should constantly strive to learn new things and change our opinion. This us vs them mentality is awful, but so widespread right now
Clashingsoulsspell
Politicker
0
ISR
There are facts and opinions. That is it. Opinions have been given the same platform as facts and it's sad to see that is what generates views/ad buys.
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