Dear SaaStr: What’s the #1 Reason You See Sales Reps Fail These Days?
The #1 reason I see sales execs struggling today in new roles: they are convinced their playbook is better. And refuse to run the one that is already working.
They are convinced they know better. That the founders are wrong, or whomever is running things is either wrong, or to be ignored. “That’s not the way I do things” or some variant is something I often hear these days.
It’s not that they don’t sometimes have a point. Every start-up is deeply flawed on many levels :). And yet, the successful ones still find a way. And you have to run their playbook, 9 times out of 10, to succeed in sales. Not yours.
And so I see these seasoned sales execs blow up 30, 60, 90 days in when they get frustrated when they are pushed to run a new playbook.
I can’t imagine going to Salesforce or Oracle and joining as a sales exec and insisting on running your own playbook. But I see it all the time at start-ups.
It’s complicated. You are being hired in part for your experience. But maybe not in the way you think.
Add on to what’s working, don’t accidentally (or intentionally) do an end-run around it.
Or you may end up bouncing out of a role that could have been great at.
