A manager and rep have a falling out

Published: Wed, 05/03/23

May 3, 2023

TOGETHER WITH

Welcome back. Can you believe we’re already in May? Before we know it, summer will be here and we’ll start hearing those weird cricket sounds, and not just at night, but whenever we try to get in touch with prospects too. In this week’s issue, we interview an AE at an HR platform, share a Sales Fail about negotiations gone wrong, and give some advice to a rep whose manager is being standoffish.

NUMBER OF THE WEEK

27 percent of sellers say making phone calls to new contacts is very effective.

Source: RAIN Group

SALES ROUNDUP

Here’s what’s happening in the sales world this week:

Salespeople finally have political representation… in Germany! Kai Wagner, a former insurance salesman, was elected mayor of Berlin, pulling off an unlikely victory for his party, the conservative Christian Democrats. Both the CD and the opposing party said they wanted to prioritize affordable housing as rental prices in the German capital have soared. You can read more about it here.
A car salesman from the U.K. recently made headlines when he completed the London Marathon for his young niece who suffers from a rare liver disease. Lewis Bishop, a business manager at Lookers Land Rover Colchester, raised almost £3,000 for the Children’s Liver Disease Foundation by taking part in the race. Oh, and he also broke his goal of completing the course in under five hours. You can read about it here.

FEATURE

An interview with Morgan Shelly, an account executive at Deel, an all-in-one HR platform.

(note: this interview is part of our new series where we profile sales reps and sales leaders across industries. If you’d like to be considered for an interview, click here).

Morgan Shelly is a former teacher and boxing instructor turned sales enthusiast. Morgan started her sales career in 2020 as an SDR and was quickly promoted to Senior SDR & Team Lead, then SDR Manager at Flexport, before transitioning into her first AE role at Tray.io.

Most recently, Morgan joined Deel as an Account Executive (and is loving it). She also moonlights as an empowering Career Coach to help her clients secure a new job, build their personal brand, transition careers, improve their work/life balance, navigate difficult situations, and more.

You used to be a teacher. How and why did you make the switch to sales? When did you know that it would be your career?

Transitioning from education to a career in sales was terrifying, intimidating, humbling, but ultimately, the best decision I’ve ever made.

After a lot of self-reflection and soul searching, I decided to quit my teaching job, moved to Argentina, and traveled through South America. After I returned to the states, I applied for hundreds of sales-related roles all over the country. I was faced with countless rejection emails, so making the career switch required insane persistence.

While I adored my students, I felt like I was treading water in a broken system. I found the profession lacked the professional fulfillment I craved. I chose to pursue a career in sales specifically because I thrive in environments where I can solve problems and collaborate with diverse (adult) perspectives to drive impact. I relish in exceeding expectations on clear short-term goals (aka monthly or quarterly quota). Plus, while working as Lead Sales Consultant at TITLE Boxing Club, I was #1 out of 150 franchise locations in the 2019 Black Friday Sale, which, to me, was the confirmation that “I could do this.”

I struggled with self-doubt and imposter syndrome during my first few months in sales, especially since I was involuntarily laid off from my first sales role after 6 short weeks due to COVID -- but I refused to fail. After 3 months into my SDR role at Flexport, I was convinced that I loved sales and had found my true calling.

How did being a teacher and/or boxing instructor help prepare you for a career in sales? Are there any lessons you’ve carried over that help you in your day-to-day?

In July 2022, I wrote a LinkedIn article, HOT TAKE: Teachers make the best sales reps, that highlights 10 transferable skills that contributed to my success in sales. I’m frequently reminded of how the lessons learned from my prior experience as a teacher play a vital role in my day-to-day life.

I wouldn’t say that my former experience as a boxing instructor necessarily prepared me for a career in sales, but rather, it plays an integral part of who I am. My energy, coaching style, and determination during challenging situations are all core components that I enthusiastically bring to a boxing class, a team sync, or a discovery call. In a recent professional development training, the question: “How do you want to make people feel?” resonated with me. Just like when I was instructing on a jab-cross-hook combo in a 5:45 AM boxing class, I hope to make my colleagues and clients in my sales career feel empowered, confident, understood, accepted, valued, and special.

How does selling HR software compare to selling logistics software or task automation software?

Selling HR-tech/Fintech to assist with onboarding, managing, and paying international workforces is exciting because the solutions that Deel offers affect individuals in a very real way, thus uncovering an inherent “human element” within the sale.

I found selling automation & integration software in the iPaaS space to be a technical and extensive selling process with a 2-week Proof of Value (POV) evaluation.

Working in sales for a freight forwarder differed from my other two roles because the sale involved physically moving goods from point A to point B.

What does a typical work day look like for you? Walk us through it.

Every day looks different in sales, especially when you can work remotely. Whether I’m working at home, at a coffee shop, or at a WeWork, my days consist of prospecting, initial demo calls, creating Mutual Action Plans, sending LinkedIn messages, and since I’m still ramping at Deel, I try to include some continued development. After work, I usually hit up a workout class on Classpass, have a career coaching client call, or meet friends for happy hour.

What's the one thing you’ve found that helps you be successful in sales?

I don’t believe there is one single thing or some magic formula for success in sales, because success requires constant agility and adaptability to industry ebbs and flows, product innovation, and the unique needs of each buyer. However, I believe that exceptional time management and organizational skills can be a determining factor that sets good reps apart from great ones.

What are your long term career goals? Early retirement or future CRO?

Eventually, I would love to work full-time as a sales consultant. Helping companies improve sales processes, build an outbound team from scratch, or offering speciality coaching across the sales organization for short periods of time excites me. The ability to “get in and get out” seems like the ideal situation for me because it allows me to focus deeply on a project for a few weeks or months, demonstrate significant impact, and continue to expand my network, while also avoiding the inevitable bureaucracy that exists within companies.

GIFTING: AN UNDERUTILIZED COMPETITIVE ADVANTAGE

Sales teams spend an inordinate amount of time trying to generate responses from prospects. In the age of LinkedIn and social media, it’s hard to stand out.

There is, however, one underutilized way to get more responses and to boost close rates (among other things):

Gifting!

Here are some stats on gifting from Reachdesk:

160% increase in response rate quarter-over-quarter (from our customer Paycor)
75%+ meeting attendance rate (from our customer Screenloop)
60X ROI (from our customer Salesloft)
20% more meetings per rep

Put simply, gifting works!

Here are six ways that gifting can help you pad your pipeline in 2023.

Learn more about gifting here

MEME OF THE WEEK

Source: Instagram -- Sales Humor

QUIZ

Which of the following companies does not offer a CRM?

A. Microsoft
B. Oracle
C. SAP
D. Cisco Systems

SALES FAILS

Each week, we bring you the most cringe-worthy sales moments from across the web. To submit your sales fail story for consideration, click here. (Don't worry, you'll remain completely anonymous).

My biggest Sales Fail was actually a double fail. A while back, I was selling mechanical testing systems. Our customers ranged from food manufacturers to companies that made eyewear and everything in between.

I was working on a really promising deal one week, and was actually pretty pumped about how the year was going, so I was feeling confident. On this particular deal, we were going head to head with one of our main competitors, which was a bit unusual. In any case, I was pretty confident we would win because we were better and (usually) cheaper than they were.

The prospect was really friendly and had a good sense of humor. I remember distinctly that it was a Friday. Well, after going back and forth over email, on that day, he finally decided on the exact piece of equipment he wanted and told me to send over a proposal with our best and final price. I was getting ready to go to NYC with my girlfriend that night, so I put everything together and hit send.

Well, unfortunately, I forgot to include the most important part: the price! I sent the proposal and took off to meet her at the bus station (we took one of those discounted buses into the city). I was feeling good. Then I got an email from the prospect, and all he said was, “So does this mean the equipment is free?” When I saw it, I was distracted and talking to my girlfriend, so I just thought he was kidding, and responded with “LOL.”

Unfortunately, it didn’t go any further than that. I completely ignored my email over the weekend and on Monday, when I checked and realized my error, the prospect said he understood but that he’d already committed to the competitor. Dumbest mistake I’ve ever made in sales.

Anonymous Location withheld

GRAPH OF THE WEEK

Source: LinkedIn Poll -- April 2023

WORTH A PEEK

Some reps are good at negotiating pricing, while others just think they’re good. We came across a thorough article from the CRO of PandaDoc about the proven strategies for price negotiation. It covers almost everything! Check it out here.

ASK THE QUOTA

Want to submit a question and be featured in our advice column? Click here. (Don't worry, you'll remain completely anonymous).

Dear Quota Team,

I’ve been at my current company for a little over three years. About a year ago, our team got a new sales manager. He was moved over from another one of the company’s sales teams, where he had worked his way up after being a rep himself for a number of years.

We hit it off quite well. He was always helpful when I needed advice, and over time, we developed a friendship. We weren’t best friends or anything, but we would occasionally hang out outside of work, and I went with him to a few games when he got comped free tickets.

About two months ago, he started acting really cold toward me. He started giving me one word answers, taking forever to respond over messenger over the most basic things, and instead of coming over and saying hello every day like he used to whenever we were in the office, he would basically just nod at me in the morning and avoid me the rest of the day.

Something has definitely changed, but I have no clue if I did something to piss him off or if there’s something going on with him or what. I did ask him if anything was the matter and he said, “No, not at all,” without even making eye contact. What should I do here? Keep pushing the issue or just ignore it and hope he eventually comes around?

Confused in Location Withheld

Dear Confused,

It’s unlikely you’ll ever know what caused your sales manager’s sudden change of heart, but chances are, if you keep asking him, it’ll just make the situation more volatile.

Your best bet is to focus on your job and behave as professionally as possible. Hopefully, it’s not so awkward that you can’t continue to do good work. Let it go. Good luck!

Quiz Answer: D - Cisco Systems

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How did you like today's story?

Today's email was written by Ken Kupchik, Erica Furgiuele, Steve Rado, and Emily Hill.

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