heelonthephone profile picture
heelonthephone profile picture

heelonthephone

Inbound Closer

Praised Answer
Good Citizen
Contributor
+1

Red Flag or Nah?

I interviewed for a sales role with a merchant cash advance lender who is looking to transition away from using brokers as their lead gen source and focus on bringing most lead gen in house via web advertising.


Base $40k OTE $200k


The interview ended with the typical, give us a few days... however the video call ended 1 hour ago, and the 2nd video interview request just came through. Red Flag or Nah?



💵 Finance
💰 Compensation
👥 Hiring
14

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UrAssIsSaaS
Arsonist
17
SaaS Eater
The quick follow up is not a red flag, the 40k base 200k OTE is a way bigger one to me. What the fuck is up with that? and how many AEs are actually hitting that? 
DungeonsNDemos
Big Shot
3
Rolling 20's all day
Yeahhhh I would really be careful vetting a 200k OTE claim with a 40 base.
CuriousFox
WR Officer
4
🦊
💯
MCP
Valued Contributor
0
Sales Director
Depending on the industry, it’s possible. I’ve done it. Twice, actually, but only after I realized it was possible where I was. Heck, I did it with a $25K base. Dumb on my part, in retrospect, but I can tell you, in a high volume transactional world, it is possible.
By the way, it wasn’t OTE for me, it was just all you can eat. But it does need to be the perfect storm.
heelonthephone
Praised Answer
2
Inbound Closer
Great question, I'll press harder in round 2. 
Sunbunny31
Politicker
1
Sr Sales Executive 🐰
Yeah, good catch on the OTE balance.  The timing of the second call wasn't a red flag, but the offer may be.
FamilyTruckster
Politicker
7
Exec Director, Major Accounts
25base/75 variable is outrageous. 

If you’re concerned about your taxes, ask about quota attainment and also the breakdown of variable comp/commission. Commissions get paid out at a lower tax rate than variable comp. 
heelonthephone
Praised Answer
1
Inbound Closer
I may be using the wrong language...when you say variable, you do mean commission, right? 
FamilyTruckster
Politicker
5
Exec Director, Major Accounts
Variable compensation = a budgeted number that you have to hit. 

example:
you have a budget of 100 widgets to sell. If you sell all 100, you will get a bonus of $1,000. You will be paid out on a scale from 90 widgets sold to 250. If you only sell 89, you will not get paid. If you sell 250, I will pay you $2,500. 

Commission: = set amounts that get paid out from sale #1


Example: for every widget you sell, I will pay you $15. 

often times pay plans have a mixture. 
heelonthephone
Praised Answer
0
Inbound Closer
Thanks for the explanation, the VP of sales and I only discussed a base + commission % based on new accounts and renewals
MCP
Valued Contributor
0
Sales Director
Commissions are a type of variable pay. How that is calculated is the variable part. Sometimes it’s straight, sometimes it’s crooked.
sellthemetal
Personal Narrative
3
Mid Market Manager
Be careful on the base vs OTE... Ask how many people hit that OTE or Quota last year.  What percentage of the team hits their quota consistently etc.  
Sunbunny31
Politicker
2
Sr Sales Executive 🐰
What I'm hearing is that they gave you their standard "we'll let you know" and immediately after the call, someone went right after you instead.

No, not a red flag.  If you want the role, accept the call.
heelonthephone
Praised Answer
0
Inbound Closer
Thank you!
CaneWolf
Politicker
2
Call me what you want, just sign the damn contract
Definitely not a red flag.
Mobi85
Politicker
2
Regional Sales Manager
I think this was a tactic to not sound desperate on their end during the interview and they liked what they heard. It was a simple decision for them after the call to give the green light for a second. <br>Shouldn’t take that as a red flag, but also kind of puts the ball in your court now knowing that they possibly think highly of you and could possibly negotiate for a higher base?
heelonthephone
Praised Answer
0
Inbound Closer
I like that, I was going to negotiate more on being 1099 with trade on higher base as they’d be saving on bennys and I’d be more in control of my taxes
Diablo
Politicker
1
Sr. AE
I wouldn't consider it a red flag.. I have even gotten call request within 15 minutes.. Hopefully, you are also doing of homework of researching more about the company ?
heelonthephone
Praised Answer
0
Inbound Closer
I did do some research, there's not much out there. I called in as a customer the other day to see what the other reps sounded like. I'm unfamiliar with the Merchant Cash Advance side of lending, but it seems like a pretty quick sales cycle...money is easy-ish to sell its the borrowers that have to be qualified heavy.

Diablo
Politicker
0
Sr. AE
Got it, all the best !
Wellss
Tycoon
1
Channel sales
I don't think it's a red flag at all. I'm in the process of helping my boss interview & she said she keeps getting a lot of trash applications so when she does find someone she likes, she likes to move them along quickly in the process 
goose
Politicker
1
Sales Executive
You aren't concerned that they are shifting from a partner-led sale to focus on web advertising?  And they are going to pay you $160,000 to respond to web leads?
heelonthephone
Praised Answer
1
Inbound Closer
What’s the concern that I should investigate?
goose
Politicker
1
Sales Executive
How will you make $160,000 from web leads?  Investigate that.
TheIncarceration
Politicker
0
SDR Manager
Quick turnaround with the 2nd interview seems fairly normal assuming you nailed the interview. If you do decide to take the next call I would really dig into how many other reps are hitting their OTE
GDO
Politicker
0
BDM
Seems like they really liked you! Well done!
Flippinghubs
Opinionated
0
Account Executive
this offer just isnt it for me 

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