Navid Jannati

VP of Sales at ParticleWorks

Was just laid off, roles and expectations changed

I was just recently laid off from a company (VP of sales). In 2022, I close to doubled all sales. In 2023, they used my metrics as a baseline for the year, doubling our sales targets, but also raising our prices by 400%. After voicing my concerns, I was told by the owner that I had a negative attitude (3 months into seeing sharp declines of interest due to price). I followed every best practice I could, but was told via a phone call that the company would be parting separate ways as they restructure to see what the new direction is. The communication had died off between myself and the owner due to his dissatisfaction with only being on-par with last years sales.

This was a salaried/commission position, so I had every incentive to overperform.

It's a bit deflating, and I am looking for a new position/career. Any advice on how to potentially avoid this in the future without slowing down my performance? Happy to answer any questions to give more context.

🎈 Mentorship

👑 Sales Strategy

25

27 comments

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poweredbycaffeine

WR Lieutenant

5

☕️

Did you build the forecast based on those numbers or was it decided without you and sent down afterwards?

FinanceEngineer

Politicker

2

Sr Director, sales and partnerships

This is why you need to be diligent about your pipeline. But honestly, I’ve seen it come from the board that growth and/or margins both need to increase.

1

VP of Sales

I 100% agree. Unfortunately, that company spent $0.00 on marketing. They used to utilize ZoomInfo, but terminated their marketing manager. Due to the 2022 performance, they opted out of all spending to focus on word-of-mouth sales.
With the changes, the pipeline dried up. I advocated for having a full time marketing manager, they ended up settling on a part-time contracted marketer who just cut videos for us, and was never approved to spend on any campaigns

FinanceEngineer

Politicker

2

Sr Director, sales and partnerships

It’s funny how the split between direct/marketing (inbound)/channels isn’t as heavily used anymore for pipeline health.

1

VP of Sales

It was especially difficult when I would put together a bid/proposal for a client, who had purchased the exact same products a year prior (same quantity, same labor, etc) and their price went up 360%

CuriousFox

WR Officer

3

🦊

ZoomInfo ain't all that great now that I've used it. I spend more time sending corrections to them than I do getting good information from them.

2

VP of Sales

It's definitely not the best, agreed. It's better than no marketing whatsoever and no new leads.

CuriousFox

WR Officer

3

🦊

What is marketing other than a pain in our ass? 😆

Seriously friend I'm sorry you are going thru it ❤🦊

2

VP of Sales

I appreciate the kind words! I'm hoping to get picked up soon, but a welcomed break is it's own reward sometimes.

CuriousFox

WR Officer

3

🦊

YOU AIN'T EVEN LYING

God I hate life right now

oldcloser

Arsonist

2

💀

Sorry, Foxer. 💙

CuriousFox

WR Officer

2

🦊

It's all good baby. I had a snickers 😆

oldcloser

Arsonist

2

💀

All you

GDO

Politicker

1

BDM

so they fucked up without adapting the forecast

1

VP of Sales

After a slow January (when I set my forecasts for the year), the owner of the company set his own forecasts and tossed mine aside.

poweredbycaffeine

WR Lieutenant

2

☕️

How did they get this far and not understand how to forecast?

2

VP of Sales

The original plan was for the new owner of the company to not purchase it, but to assist in them making the sale of the company (as it's a 5-star product, 2-star execution). It ended up falling into his hands when he purchased the majority share, and then he decided to keep it (with little to no experience).

jefe

Arsonist

5

🍁

Sounds like you got a raw deal, hope things turn around!

CuriousFox

WR Officer

4

🦊

Oh he got blamed, ideas/credit stolen, and got booted out the door. It's ok though. Something better is coming.

pirate

Big Shot

2

Account Executive

I think it's hard when companies raise prices. It's like my company is already one of the most expensive solutions out there. Yet brand awareness is non existent so it doesn't work. Then you're not able to lower prices without pissing off the customer who paid more and then only so many companies have funds. So hard to say. What do you personally think you could have done better? Or differently or would repeat in another company?

2

VP of Sales

I think that there is a natural need for prices to increase. From my understanding, the stark raise in prices was due to an unwillingness to burden any upfront fees, which the company had been doing so due to the large yield. Because of this, our setup fees for our services went up ~400%. It's a hard pill to swallow for a current client to add to their existing services, but to pay quadruple the original cost that they paid a year prior. To combat this, I believe offering longer service contracts would add a guarantee of being able to recoup costs. There are also more creative ways to split those costs up over a payment schedule.
Being too rigid with your barriers to sales costs you in the long run.

To answer your question a bit more in depth, I believe having more reliable data points to fall back on would assist. Creativity in the presentation of the additional costs would help as well, but with such a huge increase, sticker shock would soil the relationship. No professional (or anyone in general) appreciates being blindsided. Having conversations with clients prior and checking their preferences against multiple different payment options I believe is the way to go.

pirate

Big Shot

1

Account Executive

Thanks for this. Really good thinking and reasoning

Sunbunny31

Politicker

2

Sr Sales Executive 🐰

The only way to avoid this in the future is to not work for people who don't understand sales or the market. When you interview, ensure you are on the same page with those who control your destiny.
Suspect you already know this, though, based on your experience and comments.

So sorry.

Gasty

Notable Contributor

2

War Room Community Manager

A good chunk of VP-Sales folks have been thrown under the bus because, let's face it, their CEO's cheese slid off the cracker. This is exactly why we have the Flex program - so that you don't have to trust your income to a single company. Fractional sales is the future. @sahil

oldcloser

Arsonist

1

💀

Friend, having been through similarly ridiculous shit myself, I can empathize. I once wrote entire GTM plan as a VP sales only to get a boss 2 weeks later. CEO hired a president who said simply, “yeah, we won’t be using that.” Not to make this about me, just to say I feel ya. Thing is- you will 100% be better off at the next stop. Wishing you a quick rebound.

AnchorPoint

Politicker

0

Business Coach

You know the questions to ask... ask.

ApocalyBoom

Politicker

0

Account Executive

The only way to avoid this future is for people who don't understand business and marketing to lose their jobs. When you ask, know that you are with those who control your future.

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