SaasSlingin

Sr AE

Valued Contributor

Suck it up or look to make a change?

I'm now at my third company still early in my sales career. Company 1 I blew threw targets then realized I could make a whole lot more and go somewhere more prestigious. Company 2 got me those things but ultimately I wasn't happy there and left with nothing lined up. Took care of myself then after months and months of job searching I land at company 3. It is established and has great ratings. Yet there are so many broken processes, and so many bullshit low value duties to deal with that I feel prevent me from doing what I was hired for. selling. Much of the team isn't hitting but I'm especially suffering being I'm new to a complex product.

I feel stuck and not inclined to hunt for a new role already again, especially in this market. All at the same time, I want to launch a side business I've been working on. Idk where tf to go or wtf to do and it's frustrating. I could go full force and eat it up or I could take the risk of going in a new direction. open to ideas

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13

21 comment

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oldcloser

Arsonist

14

💀

You can't leave without mastering the product. If you do, you'll never know what success looks like at a good company with a complex pitch. Dig in. Learn everything. Ask questions. Find an internal mentor. Tell them where you are and where you think you wanna be.
We've all had more job hops than we ever wanted over the past few years. But when it's self imposed, you're just floating in search of a greener pasture that never exists. Master your craft and master that product.

With a solution that has many arms, its 6 months before you even have a clue what it does and another 6 before you can articulate the value for your ICP. Once you're doing that, you'll get where you need to get.

Don't quit. Grind. It pays.

SaasSlingin

Politicker

3

Sr AE

Words of wisdom thanks @oldcloser

Phillip_J_Fry

Opinionated

3

Director of Revenue

Befriend your sales engineers!!

Book time with them to dive into the product, understand its strengths and how it stacks up against your competitors. What value is your product providing to the customer and what would make them willing to pay 5/6/7/8 figures for it? What problem is it solving and how does it impact the bottom line of the business? Develop an understanding of how to configure/implement the product, and be able to field most questions about the product.

Big time Enterprise AE's w-2'ing a mil+ are not selling simple products.

Broken processes are at every company. But, when you're pulling in big deals, leadership will chip in to help smooth out the boring/annoying parts. I used to fight my leadership about KPI metrics, but when I was doing 75% of our team's revenue, suddenly those complaints would disappear.

Sunbunny31

Politicker

1

Sr Sales Executive 🐰

Preach. Solid advice.

jefe

Arsonist

1

🍁

REALLY good advice here

CuriousFox

WR Officer

9

🦊

Dude. Processes are broken at big ass companies too. Why not become successful and try to offer suggestions/solutions to streamline a few of those processes?

SaasSlingin

Politicker

0

Sr AE

I was naive I guess!

Pachacuti

Politicker

6

They call me Daddy, Sales Daddy

The “low value “ duties are what you get paid a salary for. Suck it up and do them.

JDialz

Politicker

6

Chief Operating Officer

I’ll put it to you bluntly because you seem like you can handle it. You seem reckless, or at least desultory. Also, nobody who has been in the sales world for long favors “prestige” over money. Can I buy new sails, Super Bowl tickets, or pay a Yale tuition bill with prestige? Hell no.

“There are so many broken processes, and so many bullshit low value duties…” How do you know? You can’t possibly know if processes are broken or not if you’re unwilling to do shit that any FNG would be expected to do while also absolutely mastering your product. We have guys and gals in our firm who clear almost $10MM annually - if I see any one of them walk by a piece of trash laying in the hall, not restock a sleeve of cups in the bar, not escort a client or guest allllllll the way from door to door, etc… I ring their neck just like I would an intern.

Side hustles are an enormous waste of time and a leading indicator of perpetual mediocrity. You say you are “especially struggling being I’m new” but later insinuate you are sandbagging. It would seem to me that you need to reach deep down into your soul and grab a fistful of discipline, punch yourself in the face with it, and then go produce at the high level that you seem to be extremely convinced you ought to be at.

Irishman

Catalyst

3

Business Consultant

I was hoping someone would call this out this pity party.
"Low-value duties", you mean like duties you need to do to do your job correctly?? Maybe if you did those "low value duties" with as much care as your "high value duties" you would be mastering your complex product and not suffering. Entitlement much??

Look yourself in the mirror and take responsibility for yourself.

Sales is a great leveller and you tend to be exactly where you should be because of the work you've put in - closing deals every day? It's because of not cutting corners and doing the hard yards to build your pipeline. Underperforming in your team? Most likely it was because you were trying to find a magical pill so you could only work on whatever it is you consider worthy of your attention.

A side hustle?? Maybe master your main hustle first before splitting your dedication and attention even further.

braintank

Politicker

1

Enterprise Account Executive

Great feedback

SaasSlingin

Politicker

1

Sr AE

Blunt feedback is just what I was looking for. Great stuff right here. Curious why you think side hustles are an indicator of mediocrity. A few of my relatives would’ve never ditched their day jobs and built million dollar businesses if they put their side quests rest

doodly

Executive

0

Account Executive

Why do you want to half-ass this opportunity that someone else is dying to have? Are you a full-time employee who clocks in and out, or do you consider yourself an entrepreneur? Because a full-time SaaS AE is an intrapreneur who doesn't have the BS of running a business.
If you take the 10-15 hours per week for a side hustle you, at minimum, would have to dedicate, and put it instead into your full-time role, suddenly, you have time invested into the commission side of your current sales gig. The salary-based activities we ALL have to do (aka every salesperson's low-value duties, which I assume are logging into Salesforce, expense reports, creating quotes, escalating customer support tickets, fire drill reports for leadership, AND MORE that we all do).
There will always be a group of salespeople who get lucky one year or another. The ones who are consistently going to President's Club year after year and staying at companies long-term are the ones who are dedicated all-in, 100% to their role.

You can continue to do the bare minimum of 40 hours per week, and 10 hours at this hustle and 10 hours at that hustle - or, you can commit all-in to your role, and be surprised how that investment pays dividends. And if you're side hustle is more appealing, you're also cheating yourself by half-assing it by committing another second to your current sales role.

ThatNewAE

Big Shot

4

Account Executive - Mid enterprise

..."After months and months of job searching..." is something I picked up here. So here's what I think:
- Forget the market for a while, it took months for you to land a job that perfectly aligns with what you want in career. So I would not let that opportunity go without giving an honest try.

- You are not inclined to hunt a job, which would make the hunt even more difficult.

- It's fine if you stay here, forget about leaving and give it your best shot once. You haven't yet done that, and you can only do that once you let go the thought of leaving. If the door is open, your attention would be diverted.

- What your team is doing right now, shouldn't concern you. You are on a different boat. You just joined, you have a clean slate to ace it now.

The company is well rated too, so you might as well get some months of experience if not fly with the numbers. But it's all worth the shot of trying.

Sunbunny31

Politicker

0

Sr Sales Executive 🐰

Well said.

SaasSlingin

Politicker

0

Sr AE

Great points. Focus and patience instead of spreading my attention is probably my best bet.

braintank

Politicker

3

Enterprise Account Executive

patience...
How long did you stay at first 2 jobs?

SaasSlingin

Politicker

1

Sr AE

Guess I’m just feeling the heat lately. 2.5yrs and 1 year respectively

GDO

Politicker

3

BDM

You can always look around and only jump when it's perfect. At least that's what I do

ApocalyBoom

Politicker

1

Account Executive

My friend even big companies have lost jobs. Why not try to provide suggestions/solutions to improve some of these processes?

PineappleYa

Opinionated

1

AE

Everywhere is broken… find a way to learn what the successful people are doing. Never leave until you have good numbers to post or get severance 😂 & never leave a job unless you have a job.

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