Doink profile picture
Doink profile picture

Doink

BDR

Opinionated
Member
Contributor
+2

What the hell should I do?

hello savages, I'm in quite the predicament. currently I'm an enterprise BDR for a SaaS company of +7 months and my organization just laid off our global manager, my BDR manager and scores of other slightly underperforming BDRs from the organization. 

This decision was made under the guise that there were misalignments between management of the BDR organization and our AE teams on our sales process stemming from our management. we will now be going full remote. 

I have set tons of meetings that either stall for months or fall dead in the water due to our rigid sales process created by UK leadership that is proclaimed to be superior to any other process. Our main challenge is getting decision makers to care about our products ability to raise the effectiveness of their engineering bottom line. Without involvement of a decision maker with buying power WE CANNOT EVEN ARRANGE A DEMO OF OUR PRODUCT. So prospects are basically forced to take our word for it review our customer facing materials and then get their managers involved for us to schedule a demo. 

I'm looking to buy a home in the next two months and now I'm highly considering switching jobs as it seems my leadership has no clue how to run a successful American sales team. I'm worried for my job and feel the natural timer of confidence in my role coming to a 2 month make or break moment. 

obviously there's more context I can provide but the good news is I'm one of the highest performers and all of my AEs support me that I can get promoted to their role. 

my question is, does this sound like a failing company? or should I stick it out and pray for better days? 

I really appreciate any advice y'all can offer.
🧠 Advice
🤠 Culture
☁️ Software Tech
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23 comments

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Pachacuti
Politicker
8
They call me Daddy, Sales Daddy
I’d keep working but also start looking. Hedge your bets.
Fenderbaum
Politicker
5
Retired Choirboy🪕
Like everyone here says, keep working and doing a good job, but start looking for something else. Your family and you come first. Never forget that. 👍
CuriousFox
WR Officer
1
🦊
❤❤❤
DungeonsNDemos
Big Shot
4
Rolling 20's all day
How long has your company been doing it this way?
Doink
Opinionated
0
BDR
Before I joined and probably years before.
Sunbunny31
Politicker
4
Sr Sales Executive 🐰
It cannot hurt to start looking right now to see if you find anything better. You can continue in your current role and do your best, but I think your uneasiness is telling you something.
Have you started looking for other roles yet?
Doink
Opinionated
1
BDR
Yes I have started.
avlisc
Personal Narrative
4
Mortgage Loan Officer
I’m a mortgage loan officer. If you’re considering buying a property in 2 months, do not switch jobs. It creates a need for more paperwork and It can be a pain in the ass. Switch after your loan closes.
Spacey
4
Sr. Account Executive
I’d stick it out until your home purchase is done. After that start looking .. or you never know maybe things will turn around for your company.
Maximas
Tycoon
3
Senior Sales Executive
It's good for you to stick to your current role at least for the shorter term as long as you're doing very well until hopefully the managerial situation to be fixed and getting the right hierarchy to it.

At the longer term if things didn't change, try to look for the same role with at least the same payout at a different company with more reasonable administration and more stable management team once being found, it would be fine for you to jump the ship by then!
CuriousFox
WR Officer
3
🦊
I'd look for something on the down low. What if you get a good offer?
detectivegibbles
Politicker
3
Sales Director
No bueno. Start applying but keep grinding.
F5onrepeat
Politicker
2
Sales minion
You're in sales...keep your options open while also grinding it out
RandyLahey
Politicker
2
Account Executive
Keep grinding towards any and all commission $ you can get toward your plan.

But I would absolutely start looking elsewhere. If the rot starts at the top...
Diablo
Politicker
2
Sr. AE
You already started doing your homework i.e. looking for a new opportunity. Sometimes change is for good and it takes time so I would also keep my eyes/ears opened to sense if things are moving in the right directions
TheEnglishMajor
Opinionated
2
Account Executive
Always best to look before you have to look. If you're doing well, see if you and start interviewing for AE positions at other companies. If you can get an offer that makes sense, go for it. It's an easier conversation to have while you still have a job, and you can say you're looking because you want to advance in your career and do not see an opportunity to do that in your current org despite your success
ri_ri
WR Officer
1
Account Executive
Currently, a lot of the companies are not doing so well. If you’re on track to get promoted, I would push for that and then stick it out for some time and look for other opportunities.
Worse case scenario is you go somewhere else to be a BDR and have to wait even longer to get promoted.
I was in a similar position, I got promoted and bounced after 5months for a better ae role.
Good luck!
jefe
Arsonist
1
🍁
Head down but eyes open
1
New Business Development USA
Just go directly after the decision makers. Why waste your time and effort on gatekeepers?
gaurav
Valued Contributor
1
Director Digital Experience
I've been selling to enterprises for 15 years and manage a team of both BDR and AE's, and I think that your management is absolutely correct.

It's a nightmare for BDR and AE's to some extent, but allows the company to invest in the qualified leads and account management increasing the conversions multi-fold.

I would highly suggest; target C-suite; target only decision makers when you're setting up meetings. It'll be hard, but it's gonna be a huge learning experience for you in long term. BDR's who can connect with C-suites can demand any kind of money.

That means a lot of research, personalized emails/calls and giving value to these folks. It's hard, but worthwhile.

Good luck!
revenuegenerator
Praised Answer
0
Sales Management
Unless they have $10s of millions in proven revenue under this process, get lost fast. You'd rather be on the market now than in 3 months (economy)
podescre
0
Director of Sales
Definitely, get access to the decision makers of your prospects. If many BDRs were fired, they will probably want to keep you producing as is, unless you can add value somewhere else (as in a promotion). Do you have or have shown the necessary management skills?

Also, since the BD management hierarchy has also been fired under the pretext of misalignment between management of the BDR organization and the AE teams on your sales process, I would try to find out what is the misalignment and focus on what is the change that is coming. They will probably replicate the UK process.
amyhyoung
Politicker
0
Vp ops
Sounds like you have a lot of moving pieces, with buying a home soon and also close to getting a promotion. Like people said, switching jobs mid process of buying a home would raise flags. If you have in writing, that there is going to be a promotion cycle coming up, then might be worth waiting to get it, as it's easier to leverage a higher title when switching jobs.

In the mean time, it doesn't hurt to spruce up your resume, start looking at what companies are out there, and networking. You don't want to move from a bad work environment to another bad work environment, so that takes a lot of time and diligence. By the time you find a great company with good management and sales team, you may already have gotten your answer to whether or not you got promoted or not.

Also, to your question on if this is a failing company - how are your company's monthly revenue vs targets? What about other KPIs? That should be a clear answer.

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