Salesandcoffeedude

Business Development Representative

Valued Contributor

Personal Narrative

Prospecting into different language territory

I am struggling. I've been assigned a French territory and I don't speak French (Canada). I am a SDR so I only book the meetings but it takes me twice as long to send emails or linkedins because i have to translate everything. Then if someone replies I have to translate my initial message, what they said and my new message too.

We need to make 80 dials a day but my prospects can't even speak fluent English half the time and I can't speak any French so the conversations are terrible and I end up saying thank you bye cos we can't have a back and forth. PLUS the voice-mail boxes are all French, I have no idea what buttons to press to get to a directory.

They said this is my chance to prove myself but seriously, I feel like I'm being set up to fail. We have about 50 other SDRs and we have the same quota even though they have English speaking territories here.

This is mostly a rant but any advice would be helpful. Even with all of this, I managed to hit my monthly quota every month so far but idk how much more I can squeeze here.

🔎 Prospecting

☁️ Software Tech

👨‍🌾 SDR

12

22 comments

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Pachacuti

Politicker

5

They call me Daddy, Sales Daddy

Why did they do this? Did you quote “Voulez-vous coucher avec moi ce soir?” at some point?

In all seriousness, you need to speak with your manager. Tell him that prospecting in the Quebec is a "douleur dans le cul" and you'd appreciate a different region. May I suggest Cameroon, Niger, or Rwanda.

Salesandcoffeedude

Valued Contributor

0

Business Development Representative

Lol, idk what happened man. I was never asked if I spoke a different language

Sunbunny31

Politicker

5

Sr Sales Executive 🐰

If you're making quota in a tough region with a language you don't speak, you're making a solid case for getting a transfer where you can exceed your targets.

CuriousFox

WR Officer

1

🦊

Preach 🐇

Diablo

Politicker

3

Sr. AE

This rant is valid and I think you should speak to manager/leadership about this. There is a lot of opportunity cost you are losing and you might want to explain them that result you can bring if given the right territory.

BTQ

Politicker

1

Account Manager

Wow congrats on hitting your monthly that isn't easy.

Have you voiced your frustrations with your leadership? I'm sure they realize this territory isn't an easy one for a non-native speaker.

Salesandcoffeedude

Valued Contributor

0

Business Development Representative

Yeah, but I ended up doing pretty well so idk if they see it as a problem... to me it's just - I could be achieving so much more if I had an English territory right? If I'm at 100% with a different language, imagine what I could do in the same one.

HVACexpert

Politicker

1

sales engineer

I could be wrong, but my experience has been that a lot of people in Canada who speak French also speak English. Have you tried leaving English voicemails or messages?

you probably don't have to hit a button to leave a message, just wait for the 'beep' right?

maybe talk to your manager about some company provided lessons to learn French?

Sunbunny31

Politicker

2

Sr Sales Executive 🐰

Quebec is a whole other animal - it's a tough region, and there are many who will refuse to speak English.

HVACexpert

Politicker

2

sales engineer

Well that certainly makes things more difficult

Sunbunny31

Politicker

1

Sr Sales Executive 🐰

It's an interesting place! Montreal is a world-class city, and I highly recommend it as a place to visit. Most tourist places speak English, but it's very, very French-speaking.

HVACexpert

Politicker

2

sales engineer

Agreed I’ve been there to visit it’s awesome! As you say though doing business is probably a different story.

detectivegibbles

Politicker

1

Sales Director

No reason to push a boulder uphill.

This is not putting you in a situation to succeed and bring value to the company.

Keep us posted.

Salesandcoffeedude

Valued Contributor

1

Business Development Representative

Yeah, I'll see what happens. I'm scared I'm going to lose my job if they hire a French rep tho.

detectivegibbles

Politicker

1

Sales Director

Start applying elsewhere. No reason to sit around and wait to find out.

Kosta_Konfucius

Politicker

0

Sales Rep

Download Dualingo

braintank

Politicker

0

Enterprise Account Executive

tu es baisé

Maximas

Tycoon

0

Senior Sales Executive

Guess what, I have the same issue for Canadian prospects especially from QC who are willing to subscribe ,that's a total conversion failure call to me when received .
Nothing can be done except blaming the Wrong Routing or even me for not having French as a third language although I have some French basics:)

Salesandcoffeedude

Valued Contributor

0

Business Development Representative

Yeah, the opt ins are a completely different problem

oldcloser

Arsonist

0

💀

Here’s the thing- if you’re having any success at all you’re doing something really magical. French speakers know a translated email. There’s nuance in that language that you just can’t know unless you’re a native speaker. Really tough putt right here.

Justatitle

Big Shot

0

Account Executive

"Donde Esta La Bibloteca?"

SgtAE

WR Officer

0

AE

Big L on your managers territory planning. Feels like you're getting setup for failure.

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