Super six is going down - how bad it is?

For the past three years(turned 27 this year), I have been working for an outsourcing company, and it just occurred to me that this was a very big mistake. I need advice on which way to go in my career.

A summary of my situation in points:

  • I started working there as an SDR, my manager and mentor was the CEO himself, I did mostly outreach according to the predictable revenue book.
  • This is a small private company - 30 people on board of which 90% are programmers. As it happens in such a company, everyone is responsible for many things and the development is as big as the skills of the founders.
  • The pandemic hit and the bosses fired two other salesmen; I was left alone in sales; they offered me to help rebuild the company.
  • My sales experience to this point: I was contacting 400 people a month (CEO, CTO); I didn't have any success in outreach but I was reliable, so that's probably why they left me; a few successes in inbound though.
  • My boss went to make his own product; I was left alone and tried to carry all the sales in the company; As you can guess for two years I made mostly mistakes and nothing much developed;
  • Why didn't I leave earlier? Because I was gullible, believed I would still learn, and had low self-esteem;
  • The worst part was that during this time the company was happy with me, I was getting compliments, raises and bonuses; I thought I was doing a good job;
  • This year I went to look for the next job; it turned out that my skills and the way I work are far from what is needed now; after 3 years I should be a senior BDS but I feel just like a regular/junior;
  • I realized that my company never had a real and working sales and marketing department; I analyzed our sales and 90% are referrals or friends of the founders (these referrals are a bit standard in the industry but that's not what selling is about in my opinion - you should be able to get new customers)
  • Why I think we don't have a good sales department:
  • we use Hubspot but only to keep customer information there - zero automation with outreach tools, marketing or mailing,
  • marketing is non-existent, we have our blog but zero campaigns and the company is again focusing on content writing,
  • up to a maximum of 10 inbound prospects per month come to us - of which very few I manage to close,
  • my boss is now betting on expanding account management and inbound sales - he does not believe in outreach so he wants to bet on referrals and inbound,
  • I just realized that my boss struggled to sale before I joined the company and in his lifetime he successfully outreached and closed only one customer,
  • we never had any targets - we just actively tried to develop sales - now I understand that my boss had no idea what to do, so he didn't push that way.

Summary:

  • In my opinion, I have squandered the last 3 years blindly believing that the CEO of the company can teach me selling.
  • I missed good leadership here, but also admit that I didn't explore the topic of sales too much myself - I knew nothing about business, market and selling so I was like a babe in the woods.
  • I'm very angry with myself because I should be earning at least 50% more but I can't because I was blindsided. I am now in a huge depression and totally don't know what to do. I have lost all desire to make money, sell or live.
  • Talking to salespeople, I can also see from myself that I have developed very bad sales habits through my lack of results:
  • I keep notes poorly in CRM,
  • I stopped working according to a daily schedule where there is time for everything, now I take tasks according to priority. There is no block of time for prospecting, writing to clients, etc.
  • I don't have the strength for outreach because I don't believe I'll be able to get someone - that's why I'm delving into operational issues.
  • English is my second language, I haven't had enough sales calls to be able to perfectly guide someone to a sale.
  • As if you asked me now "if you can sell", I would answer - "I can try but the certainty that I will sell I do not have",
  • I've now been "promoted" to account manager and am also doing inbound - however, I feel this is backsliding because I'm not actively acquiring customers, just waiting for the current ones to graciously buy more,
  • I totally lost control of my skills, leverage in business and value.

Please help me but don't spare me, if I should give up selling then I will. However, be constructive in your comments. As for insulting and demeaning, I'm good at it for myself, so you don't have to demean me. ;).

What should the poor young man do

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13
finboi
Notorious Answer
6
Fi-nance
Sounds like a fresh start at an exciting company could be a game changer.

At least see if you can get an offer or two and if you have second thoughts after getting the offers use those as leverage for your current job.
AntifragileSalesman
Opinionated
0
Business Development Specialist
Thank you for the comment.
braintank
Politicker
6
Enterprise Account Executive
Sound's like you've been in a sales role for 3 years but have never actually sold anything...

Go find a company with an actual product, proper training, and competent leadership before you hang up your skates.
AntifragileSalesman
Opinionated
1
Business Development Specialist
Oh, it is really hard to acknowledge that but yes, I feel you are right - you don't know how hard it hits my ego and self-esteem. Really low punch.
braintank
Politicker
4
Enterprise Account Executive
Not trying to make you feel bad. You're in a situation where it's really hard to succeed. Find a new org that has the right people, product, and process and turn the page.
AntifragileSalesman
Opinionated
1
Business Development Specialist
Sure, I am 100% grateful for this honest feedback ;). I am where I am thanks and because of myself so whatever will helps me understand the situation a bit better - I am on it.
Sunbunny31
Politicker
6
Sr Sales Executive ๐Ÿฐ
A bad experience at one company can completely lead to self-doubt. However, you were doing what was expected of you and what you were asked to do - so don't beat yourself up too much. As others have said, try to find another sales role elsewhere with that support and training, and see if a change to a more structured environment helps you. At the very least, it may point you in the right direction for where you want to be, whether it's in sales or maybe sales ops.

If I may offer a little more advice: You're still young. Try very hard not to regret things you do like this as you go through life. You have 3 years of a good environment to work in. You've learned something from that, and grown (no doubt). It's a step in your path.
AntifragileSalesman
Opinionated
0
Business Development Specialist
Yeah, sure I shouldn't be so hard but ego is a b*tch and I hate myself for being dumb but I assume failure is the only way to success. Shouldn't dwell so much on it and just do more.......sales! ;)
TennisandSales
Politicker
5
Head Of Sales
going to a new company is almost always the answer before leaving sales for good.
AntifragileSalesman
Opinionated
1
Business Development Specialist
Oh, a very good and interesting idea. Thanks for that!
SaaSam
Politicker
4
Account Executive
1. Spend some time reading sales books, listening to podcasts, just learning as much as possible. That part, totally on you. I spent my years as an SDR constantly researching this stuff. You can't blame your company for your lack of skills. You need to take the time to develop them yourself.

2. You seem to have the drive to put in the work that most people hate about sales which is prospecting. So, if you find a better org that has decent leadership and a good process you might find the success you're looking for.

3. You can now put AM on your resume, as irrelevant as your experience in the new role may be, and look into the possibility of an AM job. It's not really sales but keeps you connected to sales and if you're good at it, might be a good transition. The truth is AM is mind-numbingly boring. IMO an AM is simply responsible for keeping clients happy, which for me is a no-go. Don't want to be responsible for someone else's happiness.
AntifragileSalesman
Opinionated
0
Business Development Specialist
Yes, thank you, I take full responsibility for my situation. I am just angry at myself that I haven't seen this before and was narrow-minded to just stick to one company.
jefe
Arsonist
3
๐Ÿ
I'd try a new company with proper processes and see if you do like it. Seems like you might not want to be in sales, but you might want to try it elsewhere before completely pivoting.
AntifragileSalesman
Opinionated
1
Business Development Specialist
Thank you for the sincere feedback.
CuriousFox
WR Officer
2
๐ŸฆŠ
I said the first one because it sounds like you don't want to be in sales. That's perfectly normal. That's why there's operations ๐Ÿ˜‰
AntifragileSalesman
Opinionated
1
Business Development Specialist
I would partially agree with you because I do would like to check something else on one part but on the other, I think that we always want to back out from something hard.
SADNESSLieutenant
Politicker
1
Officer of โ™ฅ๏ธ
Try a new company using LI networking, glass door, repvue, that is solid. theres more terrible sales orgs than there are solid ones. A good org can invigorate your passion for making money in sales, but you can also easily hop out to any other lateral step like CSM, Community, Ops, etc. choice is urs
AntifragileSalesman
Opinionated
1
Business Development Specialist
Thanks! especially for the Repvue website - super helpful.
Justatitle
Big Shot
1
Account Executive
The unfortunate truth is that because a person has a bad experience with a company (which happens more often than a good experience) they start to think that it's them and they aren't cut out for sales. Most often they are cut out and you've already done more than most others would. If you are asking, I would fix up the resume and start applying. Fresh start at a reputable org can do wonders.
AntifragileSalesman
Opinionated
0
Business Development Specialist
Hey, thank you very much! It is an interesting perspective, although I always take "Extreme ownership" and assume that the given department can work as good as I myself can.
JeanValjean
Opinionated
1
Biz Dev
I would advise to try and get a job in a huge tech company such as SAP, Palo Alto Network, Salesforce etc... They have very strong training program in sales, and you'll easily be able to switch job to go in a smaller company if you wish to do so in the future.

Wish you the best of luck!
coletrain
Politicker
1
Account Executive
You're reflecting on your experiences which is good. Acknowledging that your skills need honing is something that salespeople do constantly.

My advice, echoed here by a lot of others: find another company that will give you the training you need to be a better salesperson.
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i just put my 2 weeks in and i feel like i made the biggest mistake.

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