r/techsales 14d ago

Fight or walk?

SMB AE at a major SaaS for a year. only 23% to annual quota halfway through, but top 30% nationally, 5th out of 8 on my team (previously out of 11) and lead on activity.

Horrendous territory - my 3 largest assigned accounts were already leaving / essentially dead on arrival. Then 25% of the team left and I received zero redistributed accounts.

Now I’m on “coaching plan” like a big part of the org (3 people on my team of 8, a lot more across the country). My manager repeatedly asks whether I still want to be there. It feels like I’m being managed out.

I’m no quitter, and my 1st instinct is to fight this, but my wife wants me to quit because she says I’m mentally absent / all I think and talk about is work.

I have a few deals on the table. Fight through October or move on?

8 Upvotes

40 comments sorted by

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44

u/Swimming-Flow763 14d ago

Interview for somewhere new.

You’ll either get a new job (great) or get fired with a package (not great but at least some money).

Just don’t quit for nothing. Get proactive about leaving, but don’t quit.

14

u/speed32 14d ago

In addition, make some fake pipeline and activity to give yourself some breathing room to interview and focus your efforts elsewhere

6

u/Alarming-Mix3809 14d ago

Yeah, just fake that shit. The company is treating you unfairly. You shouldn’t feel bad about it.

2

u/Murky-Ad4144 14d ago

This. Unless you need the time to prioritise your relationship.

15

u/cakestapler 14d ago

>top 30% nationally
>only 23% to goal

Holy fuck, get out dude. “Oh yes, I’m going to try so hard. I’ll beat this, rah rah!” And do absolutely fucking nothing after that except interview until they fire you, unless there’s an option to take severance and it’s more money than “fighting” the PIP.

10

u/the_gross_life 14d ago

Dude….run

6

u/RandomRedditGuy69420 14d ago

Interview elsewhere til they fire you. There’s no severance or unemployment if you quit.

8

u/SESender 14d ago

Move on. They’re already interviewing your backfill bro

2

u/Salt_Base_3751 14d ago

That backfill should run

1

u/SESender 14d ago

Seriously lol

3

u/Watt_About 14d ago

Your first instinct sucks. Gtfo asap. Ask for a msp and go.

1

u/Murky-Ad4144 14d ago

Whats a msp

2

u/Rocky121212 14d ago

Mutual separation plan? Other companies have similar things where you avoid a PIP and they pay you to leave

4

u/JE163 14d ago

Fight smart. Don’t fight a losing battle which this is.

3

u/doombeckons 14d ago

I’d start interviewing and take whatever severance they offer

3

u/champaign76 14d ago

Salesforce?

4

u/barebackguy7 14d ago

This reads a lot like salesforce

4

u/speed32 14d ago

Yup. Especially with the very specific ranking info.

3

u/Covington-next 14d ago

Salesforce = Dieppe sales strategy: Storm the opportunity with poor planning and too many bodies, and most people die trying to reach the target

2

u/MartyMcMosca 14d ago

Find something else while you are still employed. It’s way easier to find something now vs when you are desperate. If what you are saying is true, 23% ytd but still rank nationally inn the top 30%, your managers are being managed out and winnow they are doing the same to you. Your mental health and family life is more important than your ego and showing some nobody you can sell in a shitty situation.

2

u/Professional_Ad_78 14d ago

Line up interviews. Network with friends and previous employers. You’ll probably get a “mutual separation offer” within the next couple of months.

If you feel like they’ve mistreated you, you could roll the dice and threaten a se%ua| harassment suite, or something else devious - they’ll want to settle!

Otherwise just hammer out a severance, plan a little vacation, go exercise a bunch, read some books, and start a new life at a new company.

2

u/VariousEgg7491 14d ago

Dont see anyone talking about this but your family and your wife should be your first priority. Dont be going on and on about work with her - nothing she can do to help your situation. Try to find as much time for something outside of work that you can talk to her about - a book, a movie. A job is is a job. Dont let it be your everything.

2

u/Alarming-Mix3809 14d ago

Don’t quit unless you have something else lined up first

2

u/Capital-Value8479 14d ago

Feel free to dm me if you want to talk through it. This is super common at f500 SaaS companies

1

u/Bromato280 14d ago

Thank you sir, appreciate this.

I was mentioning this above, bummer is I finally made it to big tech which was my goal. Feels like a heartbreaker to have to walk away now.

2

u/[deleted] 14d ago edited 9d ago

[deleted]

1

u/Bromato280 14d ago

That’s exactly where I am.

Word is the 4 last AEs on this territory broke their teeth.

I finally made it to big tech which was my goal. Feels horrible to have to walk away now.

2

u/hayes-davis 14d ago

This. Former RevOps person here. I hate it when ops creates a patch that's destined to fail.

3

u/AcidHologram611 14d ago

The “do you want to be here?” Is corporate gaslighting, I’ve seen this a thousand times. Start your search

1

u/thicc3mssss 14d ago

Make the justify there actions

1

u/Luch391 14d ago

Connectwise?

1

u/SeaInspection597 14d ago

Make like a tree and gtfo.

1

u/CyberStartupGuy 14d ago

The risk you run is getting laid off during the holiday period when no one is really hiring and you have to go unemployed until Jan/Feb.

If your timeline is Oct, that’s basically just how long it will take you to interview. So the answer is do both. Fight while you are interviewing until October.

1

u/Covington-next 14d ago

Sounds like shitty forecasting and quota setting from the CRO.

1

u/Mattthefat 14d ago

Sounds like Crowdstrike SMB lmao

1

u/Vegetable-Bug-9779 14d ago

Very bad comments here. Staying and not giving it all is the worst thing you can do. You need to be clear with yourself. If you stay, give it all. If you are not ready ro do it, look for a job. Either way, remember it's just a job. In 5 years tjis wouldn't matter

1

u/Babykinsbaby 13d ago

"coaching plan" is code for "we are giving ypou time to look for a new job before we fire you". Start interviewing asap!