What happens to people at your company who don't hit quota?

Question

Curious to hear the fate of quota "under-achievers" across the industry.

As we know, something like ~80% of reps used to hit-quota before the recession. (Now the number is unclear but it's likely significantly less, perhaps as low as 50%)
This may change, but we generally don't outright fire reps who don't hit their quota. (However we've been fortunate enough that we generally don't miss targets as a collective)
Instead, if you fall below X% (like 60-80% or something) of quota attainment, you just don't receive any bonus

I've heard rumors that at other firms, if you don't hit your quota, you're just fired. So does that mean these firms are just churning through 1/5 of their salesforce every year?

Accepted Answer

Back in the day, they usually got promoted.

Answer

Everywhere I worked only like 25% hit quota consistently. So you weren’t PIPd unless you were consistently below 75%. You obviously made less if you were not at quota and had more “coaching” aka told to make more calls.

But it wasn’t horrible if you missed from time to time

Answer

Not hitting quota doesn't always mean not performing. There are other metrics.

Answer

My company hates to fire reps. I’ve watched people have sub 10% attainment each quarter stick around for 6 months with no PIP.

Answer

Well, I'll give a personal example. At my company we have monthly quotas. Started in January, two months of training, and March was my first month, I hit at just barely over 100%. Every month since I've been at ~40%. My manager brings it up in every 1:1, with no concrete advice on what to change other than to say "I'm doing everything right" and "feel free to bring me in on any deals", etc. This week I was officially put on a 60 day warning, after which there will be a PIP, then termination. To avoid termination I have to hit quota in at least 2 out of those three months. I just want out though.

Last three months, only 30% of the 30 AEs in the US made quota (a little less than that actually). So I'm not alone. I don't know if any of them received a warning though. The two guys on my specific team of 10 made first half winner's circle, but both missed quota in July, one had numbers worse than mine on the month.

Answer

We cannot have 2 bad quarters, sometimes reps are put on pip and sometimes fired if the attainment is below 70%. No set process.

Answer

My last position let me go with no notice, no plan, no idea that it was coming. For nine months I was told that I was a great fit for the company, great cultural match. That I didn’t have anything to worry about as they understood that it takes 12-18 months to develop consistent business and referrals and that i was doing all the right things. Then when I was positioned to be 150% of my Q2 quota, on my quarterly review call they said they didn’t think that I was doing anything to be successful and terminated me on the spot. It was pretty brutal.

Answer

If you are hitting less than 60% over a quarter, east PIP. More or longer and you are out.

Answer

A PIP is a paid job search. Fire them.

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Option C: they get their commission based on what they sold but no accelerators.

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This isn't the best example as it's a company that has been going through massive layoffs, but I had a friend who got promoted twice in a year and then put on a PIP within 2 months of not hitting quota. She wasn't necessarily fired, but she was told she should leave.

Answer

I guess it depends on how long they have been under achievieng for. Also, I think "trying" buys you more time. I also believe that companies want say, 20k per month and they will say its 40k so if you fall short by half, you still hit their goal?

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I'm in a company that knows they are not doing well. Fortunately for all of us, they aren't pushing more pressure down our throats, but just silently accepting that this is the end of it. :/

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We work on annual quotas with a long sales cycle (9-18 months for the big-ticket stuff).

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Fired and PIP'd is sort of the same thing

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It is expected amongst our team that you maintain an 80% average attainment, however this appears to be a stretch goal, as I would say only about 50% of reps are hitting.

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Not much I guess. It really depends of where you are and what other people are doing as well

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PIP is like a temporary pre-termination technique so that the VP/Directors can start interviewing..

Answer

Until recently we kinda let it slide for a while. New leadership is a little more unforgiving.

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no one is hitting quota at our company right now so everyone survives but back in the day it was PIP then Buh Bye

AchillesOfAdTech

What happens to people at your company who don't hit quota?

What does your firm do with quota "under-achievers"?

37 comments

AchillesOfAdTech

What happens to people at your company who don't hit quota?

What does your firm do with quota "under-achievers"?

37 comments

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