stepchad profile picture
stepchad profile picture

stepchad

Account Executive

Contributor
Fire Starter
Personal Narrative

Prospecting Battle Royale?

Has anyone run into this?

•Reached final stages with start-up SaaS company
•Start-up made me sign a 1099
•They want me to cold call into their space
•No training, no CRM, just Google and a pitch deck
•I have to setup 3 initial meetings
•Hiring manager leads meeting 1, we jointly lead meeting 2, I run meeting 3
•If I meet expectations, they hire me
•Company pays me $100 an hour for a max of 20 hours of work

Feels weird, but haven't been actively on the market in a few years. Also, this would violate current company Code of Conduct. 

Curious if others are seeing this!
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☁️ Software Tech
10

18 comments

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Pachacuti
Politicker
4
They call me Daddy, Sales Daddy
I have never seen that before. At least they are willing to pay you. But it’s odd they are asking you for 20 hours of work, in addition to your current day job. When do they expect you to do the actual work? And how can you effectively make calls without training?

Maybe you can take the $2k and walk?
stepchad
Contributor
1
Account Executive
That was my question - and hiring manager asked “can you make the calls after work hours?”

To which I asked “what prospect picks up after work hours?”
oldcloser
Arsonist
3
💀
This is innovation from desperation. Sounds like they’re suffering. 🤮
stepchad
Contributor
1
Account Executive
Agreed - they’re fresh out of “stealth,” and supposedly have more inbound than they know what to do with, but want reps to prove they can cold call
Sunbunny31
Arsonist
3
Sr Sales Executive 🐰
For what it's worth, this is the first time I've heard of this.

I think it's crazy, and based on some of the explanation below, also sounds like the execs will be rigid and controlling.
stepchad
Contributor
0
Account Executive
The CEO said “If I have to close your deals and do your ROI read outs for you, we’re going to have a problem”
CRAG112
Valued Contributor
2
Account Executive
Please don’t deal with that job. It’s like the dictionary image of sales toxicity.
HVACexpert
Politicker
2
sales engineer
Things must be pretty wild out there if people are holding tryouts for open positions.

Also I feel like you could do a practice call during the interview process? This sounds like a cheap way to squeeze some cold calls out of people then bail on them.
stepchad
Contributor
1
Account Executive
For sure. And they love an impromptu mock call. The hiring manager showed me an ROI on the second call, explained it in 120 seconds and said “pitch it back to me. Sell me”
HVACexpert
Politicker
1
sales engineer
Wtf dude….
stepchad
Contributor
2
Account Executive
CEO did the same thing. I asked him “what happens when a prospect doesn’t believe your ROI?” And he said “you tell me. What happens if they don’t believe the ROI? Pitch me like I didn’t believe it.” To which I said that I lean on the soft skills, and go for the emotional sale.

His response: “wrong, that’s the wrong answer. The right answer is that we change the pricing model to X.”

Nice and condescending.
Maximas
Tycoon
1
Senior Sales Executive
That's a way weird scenario to work for em before even getting hired, wouldn't recommend the role tbh!
stepchad
Contributor
0
Account Executive
My thoughts too - bummer, it was a cool product and good pay
Kosta_Konfucius
Politicker
1
ERP Sales
100/hr is 200k/year, so they are paying you a premium for a trial
stepchad
Contributor
0
Account Executive
If there wasn’t an hour cap, I’d do it for a living without complaint

Average deal size is $200k, so if 1 of 3 signs, it’s a bargain for them
CRAG112
Valued Contributor
1
Account Executive
What in the actual fuck?

move on. Screw those people and that deal. They have no clue what to do.

AI can’t help everybody.
CuriousFox
WR Officer
1
🦊
Ok what now? yeesh.
salesgodthechef
Fire Starter
1
Sr. Sales Executive
Follow your gut. That sounds super toxic.

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