Trailblazer

Account Executive

Sales Interviews - I don't want to share my numbers anymore!

There's lots of AE openings out there and I really don't like telling recruiters and hiring managers what my quota/OTE/attainment/top-customers are. Especially when they're reaching out to me. In my opinion that is basically secret. Also, it's rarely relevant since a $x plan at one company may be significant, but then at another company it's not. Also, we all know that quotas are guesswork half the time, so sharing quota attainment % is pretty subjective too. Every AE posting is asking for a "top performer" who "consistently exceeds sales targets"... well excuse me but what if I'm a dedicated "middle performer" who "occasionally exceeds sales targets"? It's still gravy.

Has anyone ever been hired after shutting down these questions early and telling it straight? Or are the stakes so high that I'm expected to lie? It's not like everyone goes to P-Club every year.

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12 comments

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paddy

WR Officer

7

Director of Business Development

Just lie and say "yeah I hit quota by 110%" nobody really digs here to find out

Chep

WR Officer

4

Bitcoin Adoption Specialist

Damn bro you only hit 110% I was at 690% this past year

paddy

WR Officer

1

Director of Business Development

I don't like to make the rest of the team look bad so I cut it off at 110%

Chep

WR Officer

1

Bitcoin Adoption Specialist

A man of the people✊🏽

poweredbycaffeine

WR Lieutenant

6

☕️

Share attainment to goal, and if they press for the specifics it could be to see if you are capable of closing business on the scale that the role requires. If your quota is $750k but they want you to close $2.5M there may be a disconnect. However, if you're hitting 150% on 500K consistently then we may be able to gap you up.

CuriousFox

WR Officer

5

🦊

Spin it to a narrative YOU want to discuss. Did you start a new territory? Don't give numbers due to signing an NDA. You know, stuff like that.

goose

Politicker

5

Sales Executive

Shitty jobs begin with shitty expectations. If you walk into an interview where they are looking for rock stars who grind and hit it out of the park or whatever the fuck people say then you know you are in for a long run of forecast meetings and questions about your pipeline. If you meet a sales leader or executive team focused on building something you are probably in for something more rewarding.

My 2 cents.

fidelcashflow

Catalyst

2

Account Executive

They NEVER ask for proof. What are you gonna do? "Yeah I hit 79% to quota last year". Never. Definitely would not disclose dollar amounts unless you need to show that you can work in a specific segment. Use % to goal.
I've used my real numbers before, gotten offers, and I was only like 110% overall. Even though they wanted people 200%+ 🙄
I will say that I've interviewed at probably 20-30 well known startups in the last 4 years and none of them asked for proof. You tell them your attainment and then while your interviewing they can tell if your really good or not and just lying.
If you do actually hit quota mostly, be honest. But if you're literally like 80% overall, that's not gonna work

GingerBarbarian

Opinionated

0

Lead Sales

I always hated that in interviews. OTEs are so different based on companies, markets, products, marketing, territory, managerial support and a million other things. I have sold well over $3M in product in a single month, but I made more money with my current job where I sell about $750K per year. I have sold high and low pressure sales, B2B, Door to Door, and over the phone. The difference was the industry margins and competition. Unless you are comparing apples to apples, those numbers likely mean nothing. Even hitting targets means nothing unless you have rational managers. It is just a way for hiring managers to try to quantify something that you cannot really quantify until they start working.

ac1020

Opinionated

0

awx

Nobody digs, references are importanr

Woody

Politicker

0

Business Development Executive

I've stopped telling people this. I haven't been made any offers but I'm done telling people what I earn.

draculina

Fire Starter

0

process development specialist

I don't know about quota, but when I interview for competitor companies, I always say "I am not gonna give names, because that wouldn't be ethical for you are a competitor" and most of the time hiring managers go like "oh... yeah because we wouldn't want our employees to interview other places and tell the names of our top customers to our competitors". They don't question. Granted, I have to tell them the sectors I did projects for, because that's kind of the expertise they want to hire me for.

Shield info you don't want to give with other info you can/want to give. It's the easiest way imo.

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