Troika

Enterprise Account Executive

What would you do?

Just had interview for AE role. Went well in that I'm experienced, know how to interview, the conversation was natural and good mix of back and forth/my answers were solid.

Hiring manager acknowledged it went really well and gave several specific reasons. Also said you're XYand Z and I hate to let that go BUT you don't have exact experience selling to this specific ICP and I need someone to hit the ground running, not have to learn.

He did offer to give me a warm intro to anyone in his network- which I will take advantage of.

Background- I have some related experience (job was selling EdTech and I was a teacher plus have nonprofit experience- I related that similarity to schools).

I thanked him for the feedback, appreciated the transparency, and gave an alternative viewpoint in a challenger-esque manner. (I pushed back as hard as one can while still being interview-worthy.)

What would you have said? I want to do better next time.

The fact that he interviewed me makes me think there was something I could've said there that would've tipped the scales.

Sidenote- if you have experience selling to schools- hiring manager seemed like a stand-up guy, remote role, and pay was solid (not top but solid). DM me for name of org. I get no reward just trying to help other job seekers.

☁️ Software Tech

🗣 Interviewing

😋 Job Searching

8

8 comments

Sort by:

js2458

Politicker

4

Enterprise SDR

Well, idt there is much for you to do here. But - what you could've leveraged that might've been interesting: how quickly you ramped at other companies.
At the end of the day, selling is selling. I love to spout that selling to CFOs is different to CROs blah blah blah blah. Not really that much of a difference SO LONG as you have a product that people know of or is important.
I'm sure telling Mr.Bossman next time something to the tune of: I closed 250k in NB revenue while on ramp at my last job. Would you rather hire Joe Schmo who wants a cushy job in the SAME industry where he wasn't killing it or a hungry rep with proven experience as a hunter?
At the end of the day, you can't really change his mind but that'll put a few things into perspective.

saaskicker

Celebrated Contributor

2

Enterprise AE

I think you did the right thing. When I cracked into a new industry/ICP I knew this would be a knock on me, so I brought two people from my network that were in this said ICP and prospected them/set meetings. I showed the hiring manager my outreach and asked the best way to intro them to these new potential leads - I got the job and got to work with the two meetings I set as part of my training - keep grinding.

SalesBeast

Politicker

1

Sales Leader

Nice of you to offer an into to this network. Cool to see us looking out for one another besides always joking and giving each other a hard time and overly blunt feedback.
Agree that they did see your background before interviewing you so might have just missed the mark by a bit. But also if a recruiter was involved in process they could have shielded your full background before the call meaning they darn well may have wanted dif background.
Keep your head up. Solid work on a good interview and hit up his LinkedIn for any intros you want.

jefe

Arsonist

2

🍁

Really good perspective here. They more than likely knew that he didn't have the direct experience, so it's probably that there was just a little something *else* that was lacking or not a fit.

CuriousFox

WR Officer

2

🦊

Or they had someone else that was their first pick accept. It happens.

jefe

Arsonist

1

🍁

Very possible.

Phillip_J_Fry

Opinionated

0

Director of Revenue

Maybe I'm being pessimistic, but whenever a hiring manager says this, it makes me feel like they're still going to offer me the job, but lowball me on the pay because I'm not the absolute perfect fit.
Anyone that has been in sales knows that processes, cadences, value selling, and relationship building are way more important than know some specifics about a vertical/icp.
I think you did the right thing. Push back a bit and explain how while its a valid concern, shouldn't be a dealbreaker because you've overcome similar hurdles in the past.

FoodForSales

Politicker

0

AE

thats a tough situation. I think he made up his mind before he met you, but gave you maybe a 5% chance in case you were an outlier of sorts. Chalk it up to experience and move on.

Bravado is a community of trusted sales professionals endorsed by their customers.

Products

The War Room Jobs Salary Guide Tech Sales U

Company

About Us How It Works Blog Bug Bounty

Contact

© 2024 Bravado Inc. All rights reserved.

Privacy Policy Legal and Privacy Center Sales Jobs

If you are hired as a contract sales rep by a Bravado customer, we may ask you to prove access to the employee email account provided to you by that customer. This data will be shared with customers to track your sales productivity; customers can use this data to confirm you meet the minimum activity requirements to pay out your ramp stipend and commission.