snacks

AE

What in the hell is up with salespeople who hate people who try to sell to them?

Savage take but what in the actual f***?

I've seen countless "sales professionals" saying they don't want to be sold to and first second and third question to that is:

hm??

huh??

uhhhh?????

LinkedInfluencers so up their own butts they feel all high and mighty posting a screenshot of cold outreach just to chastise sales reps only trying to do their job. Sure, not all outreach is great or even good, but even the shitty "noticed we both breathe air" just warrants a ignore and/or block.

Another VP of Sales has "If you're trying to sell me something, I will save us both the time. I'm not interested." in their bio.

And then good old Great Value Chris Voss ripoff Josh Braun makes a post "11 things I pay not to do" and lo and behold "$99/year for HEY to not get an avalanche of emails from people I don't know"

Pot, meet kettle.

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23 comments

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poweredbycaffeine

WR Lieutenant

8

☕️

I hate bad reps. There, I said it. I DESPISE shitty outreach...shitty demos...shitty closing calls. It all really fucks me up...but I don't go public with my feedback. I try to deliver it live on the call or in the meeting to let the rep know what they could do /could have done better in the sales cycle. Some of them take it and make the adjustment on the fly, while others DGAF and keep on with their half-assed approach to their profession. The former will thrive, and the latter will die in a pool of mediocrity.

Filth

Politicker

7

Live Filthy or Die Clean

I have frequently given my opinion about a rep's process & craft when being sold to.

A. I generally don't make any decisions so I'm always wondering where they get their leads and B. I like to help those that have their shit together get to the right contacts at my org C. I like to hear what other's are doing/using to make sure I'm not missing out on something.

Definitely agree there is no need to take shit public, especially if some poor SDR is getting hit with KPI needs for call and emails and he's just spamming to spam. I've been there, I don't take it personally, I just delete if nothing worth commenting on.

snacks

Opinionated

3

AE

Big same! I think I have more empathy than the average person, given that I know the grind, and try to throw them a bone of at least giving the name of the DM they should try.

I hate the public bashing, one screenshot was half-assed blurred out but you could still decipher the company and the name of the rep. This poor kid was like in college and BDRing; being blasted out in public like that can just shatter someone's confidence entirely

Sunbunny31

Politicker

1

Sr Sales Executive 🐰

I used to have empathy until some of the reps I tried to help just couldn't stop.

I'm guilty of some level of public shaming, as in my post yesterday about what not to do - though I did remove names and anything that would directly point to that rep.

I don't mind being sold to, but I don't like being sold to badly.

Like Filth, I'm also wondering how I end up on lead lists. I lead nowhere. I'm not a decision maker.

snacks

Opinionated

3

AE

My guess would be they maybe didn't have luck with an actual DM so they're going bottom up and trying to find a champion.

Curious, what is your objective when public shaming? What outcome are you achieving putting someone on blast? (I'm not meaning to be rude, genuinely curious at the thought process behind this)

EDIT: just saw your post and this isn't what I mean. I think as a basic example, it's fine to critique email copy and outreach. I specifically mean the people who boast "I help sales reps get more meetings!!" and in the same breath essentially say, "I hate getting sales emails, how dare they"

and as well the 'thought leaders' that post on public forums as holier-than-thou "ugh how dare you send me an email and try to sell me something" and especially when they have the screenshot

And notice that they never say, "instead of this, I wish they said that" or rewrite the bad email into a good one, it's strictly "this email sucks, this rep sucks, and their company likely sucks" with no other helpful insights

Filth

Politicker

2

Live Filthy or Die Clean

Anger is louder than logic in the social realm. It's about clicks not relevance.

punishedlad

Tycoon

2

Business Development Team Lead

I'll never understand why reps reach out trying to sell me. It's very clear that I am not a decision maker based on my title.

Sunbunny31

Politicker

1

Sr Sales Executive 🐰

I understand - and yes, my point wasn't public shaming (as I removed all identification), but more education.

That said, yes, the "this person is a horrible person" is garbage. They're doing a job. And probably one that ultimately pays the salary of the person complaining.

Sunbunny31

Politicker

2

Sr Sales Executive 🐰

As snacks mentioned, it might be trying to get that empathetic assist from a sympathetic person who will point them in the right direction. My less charitable take is we're just a number in a metric those reps have to hit, so we get outreach just because someone has to send a number of emails or they get on the naughty list of the data analysts at their company.

detectivegibbles

Politicker

3

Sales Director

I'm in sales and hate being sold to.

snacks

Opinionated

1

AE

Is this a "do as I say not as I do" type of situation? How do you look at motivating reps to pursue or persuade people like yourself when you openly admit you hate being sold to?

What happens when they encounter a person like you wherever they're trying to sell? What advice do you offer them?

detectivegibbles

Politicker

2

Sales Director

The majority of the time I'm called, the rep doesn't tell me who they are, where they're calling from, or why they're calling 9 out of 10 times. It immediately puts me on the defensive if I'm getting blasted with questions without knowing who I'm talking to and why they're calling me.

I don't think it's a reps job to PERSUADE a prospect into buying anything. The majority of the time, the prospect you're calling doesn't need what you're selling so why force it?

It is their job to build rapport, discover any potential problems that your solution can solve, and then execute said solution when called upon.

Sales is a human game and a numbers game. Be likable, provide value, and network your ass off. Utilize tools to help make your life easier but not at the expense of coming off unauthentic.

snacks

Opinionated

0

AE

Love it, appreciate your thoughtful response!

I meant more so persuade someone to take a meeting, not sell them the widget.

Sounds like you don't hate being sold to, you just hate being sold to poorly haha

"The majority of the time, the prospect you're calling doesn't need what you're selling so why force it?" < respectfully disagree with this one. Definitely don't be aggressive or forceful, but if reps gave up every single time they got a 'we're not interested' objection then nothing would ever be sold anywhere..

detectivegibbles

Politicker

0

Sales Director

I didn't say give up.

A no today doesn't mean a no tomorrow or a week from now or a year from now.

Continue to follow-up with value, keep your name in their inbox, and when the time comes you'll be ready.

CRAG112

Valued Contributor

-1

Account Executive

Here’s some advice. Stop trying to sell to people who don’t want to be sold to.

it’s really not that hard. Ask them questions about their experiences and tech usage. Ask them about what their day to day really looks like, minus the 250 other calls someone made to them today.

there’s a ton of gold to work with. Just talk to a person like a person.

sounds hard. But I know you can do it Timmy. You’re a good boy!!!

FinanceEngineer

Politicker

1

Sr Director, sales and partnerships

Yeah, because they think they are above it. They do love the consulting sale though.

RelationshipMaker

Opinionated

1

Head of Sales

It's so hard not to judge another sales person. So damn hard....

I've reached out to a could of "sales influencers" and got crickets. Love wasting their time.

Pachacuti

Politicker

1

They call me Daddy, Sales Daddy

Yes, it’s somewhat hypocritical but I don’t want to be “sold”. Mostly because I know too much.

But also I’m not a DM for anything. I am not empowered to buy gong, SF, or any other sales tools. So it’s a waste of someone’s time to even reach out to me.

Justatitle

Big Shot

1

Account Executive

Yeah, I'll never hate someone trying to sell me something but I will respect their time and say I have no interest in their product, for example, I get tons of calls for solar, I won't do it unless I hit the lotto. I tell them I have no interest and save them time.

Maximas

Tycoon

0

Senior Sales Executive

Totally agree,guess they think of it in a way that they've only called to get a commission collected from selling to em but they don't mind having it when being in a position to make those calls,how ridiculous:) .
Brought that point of salespeople's reaction when they may be at the same SIT once before btw!
https://bravado.co/war-room/posts/salesman-to-salesman

CRAG112

Valued Contributor

0

Account Executive

It’s more about the shitty out reach, lame ass messaging, and fake attempts to be personable, relatable, or friendly, all while hitting me with the canned sequence message that has nothing to do with anything I could ever help you with.

cybersimon

Fire Starter

0

Account Executive

Doesn’t Josh Braun rely on people cold calling and emailing him to create his content?

snacks

Opinionated

1

AE

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