Braun Board

FlatWorld Publishing Sales Representative - Western/Upstate New York

FlatWorld · Buffalo, NY

Same role, also open in Syracuse, NY

Base
$55K–$65K
OTE
Not disclosed
Quota attainment
Not disclosed
Posted
1mo ago

Why it matters: OTE tells you what you could earn. Attainment tells you how realistic it is.

Ask: “What percentage of fully ramped reps hit quota last year?”

Still open · checked 2h agoon FlatWorld's careers page

The job

Who you'd sell to
Still reading the posting. Check back within the hour.
Where deals come from
Not stated in the posting.

The Braun Read

Ask hard questions

Too much is left unsaid. Make them answer before you invest.

Pay
Base is listed but not OTE. Ask what the variable is and how many people hit it.
Transparency
Says nothing about quota, attainment, deal size, territory or sales cycle.
Time on market
Open 53 days. Ask why it's been hard to fill.
Company hiring
3 sales roles open, hiring at a steady pace.

Red lights

None spotted.

Green lights

  • Ramp or draw. It mentions a ramp period or guaranteed draw, so you're not on full quota from day one.

Based only on what the posting says. Lights are a starting point for your first call, not a final judgment.

Questions to ask on the first call

Built from what this posting leaves out. How they answer tells you as much as what they say.

  1. 1.

    What percentage of fully ramped reps hit quota last year?

    OTE is what you could earn. This is how likely you are to earn it.

  2. 2.

    What percentage of reps on the team have been here more than 18 months?

    Tenure shows whether people stay long enough to get paid.

  3. 3.

    Has the comp plan changed in the last 12 to 18 months? What changed?

    A plan that changes every year means the goalposts keep moving.

  4. 4.

    Who sits with reps and reviews calls each week?

    Coaching is often what's behind a good or bad attainment number.

  5. 5.

    What's the OTE, and what did the median rep earn last year?

    Base is what you're guaranteed. OTE and the median show the upside.

  6. 6.

    Why is this role open? Did someone leave, or is it new?

    New headcount is growth. A replacement means someone left. Ask why.

› When the offer comes

Save these for later. They land better once they've said yes to you.

  1. 1.

    Can I see the full comp plan in writing, including clawbacks and accelerators?

    What's in writing is what gets paid. Read it before you sign.

  2. 2.

    Can I see the actual comp distribution for the team last year, not just the OTE?

    The spread shows what most reps really take home. OTE is just the target.

  3. 3.

    I'd be walking away from earned commission to join. Is there room for a sign-on bonus to help cover that?

    Leaving money behind is a fair reason to ask. The worst answer is no.

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Full posting
We are FlatWorld and we are disrupting the Higher Education textbook industry. About the company Our mission is to bring textbook prices back down to earth. College faculty and students are our customers. We make their lives easier by ensuring that students have access to our high-quality, digital-first textbooks, at prices they can afford. Adoption of FlatWorld’s affordable, high-quality digital-first textbooks and the online Homework system has grown tremendously: we have been the fastest growing publisher in our market for the past five years. We want you to join our sales team as we continue to grow by helping instructors provide engaging digital products to their students. About the job and team As a Sales Representative, you are critical to persuading faculty in your territory to make the move to FlatWorld textbooks and the Homework system. Great relationships depend on great people and you are the face of FlatWorld. Starting with a clear strategy and an effective plan for maximizing your time, energy, and resources, you will uncover opportunities and identify who’s making the textbook decision. You will use Salesforce to create and update account and contact information. You will search College and University websites to find teaching assignments for upcoming semesters, and faculty information. You will also search College and University bookstore websites to determine products currently in use for the courses you target as sales opportunities. You will follow-up with Instructors teaching targeted courses using email, calls, and Google Meet or Zoom to close the sale. During the course of the sales process you will be demoing FlatWorld’s assessment platform and associated suite of products using a consultative sales methodology. You will then work with Instructors who adopt FlatWorld products and our Customer Success team, to ensure that everything is in place for students to purchase our textbooks at the start of the semester. We are committed to providing our customers with A+ service. Relationships with existing FlatWorld faculty in your territory are an important way to find new prospects and to generate referrals. Your highest priority, however, given our rapid growth, is driving new business: You will be compensated generously based on new revenue generated, with no cap on commissions earned. Requirements About you You will be a good fit for this job if you have some prior sales skills and higher education experience (we would also encourage transitioning teachers to apply). You absolutely have: · Strategic skills to triage a large territory · Relentless hunger for new business · Tenacity to see a sale through to the end · Motivation to reshape an industry You will initially join a team of Publishing Sales Representatives, and you will work remotely during training and your ramp period. You need to be comfortable working autonomously, while maintaining a strong sense of urgency. After the initial training and working with your manager, you will have an opportunity to begin working in the field on campus. You will need to be prepared to spend 2 to 3 days a week traveling to the top institutions in your territory during the sales seasons, which are typically 8 to 12 week periods in the fall and spring . After these primary sales seasons you will continue to work from home as you look to handle administrative tasks and prepare for the next sales season. Critical Functions · Create and execute a territory plan, focusing on larger, Tier 1 accounts in your territory. Maintain good relationships with current textbook adopters. · Work to uncover opportunities, both by responding promptly to marketing-led, inbound inquiries, and by directly identifying Opportunities at Tier 1 Accounts, and communicating our mission, value proposition and solutions to prospective customers · Attain and surpass your sales goal, by building relationships, growing and expanding awareness of FlatWorld as an alternative, listening for faculty friction points and issues with their current textbook choice and diagnosing and persuading those faculty to make the move to FlatWorld · Develop your skills and refine your selling approach independently: synthesize and apply information and input from peers, management and sales tools and reports, to identify ever-better approaches to drive new revenue in your territory · Manage company resources with compliance to standards, including company laptop, additional equipment as required, and marketing collateral · Client facing role · Required to live in territory · Requires 40+ hours per week (Monday - Friday) Qualifications To perform this job successfully, an individual must be able to perform each essential duty satisfactorily. The requirements listed below are representative of the knowledge, skill, and/or ability required. Reasonable accommodations may be made to enable individuals with disabilities to perform the essential functions. · Bachelor’s Degree from an accredited four year college or university · Superior listening, oral and written communication skills in English · Excellent organization and follow through skills · Accomplished range of skills from strategic thinking to creative and detailed execution · You should be very comfortable with technology and learning new tools. We operate in a Mac environment and you will be using sales tools, systems and software such as Google Meet, Zoom, Salesforce, Slack, Google Suite. · Ability to forge relationships internally and externally · Ability to work with and maintain a sense of urgency Start Date: Open Annual Base Pay: $55,000 - $65,000 Supplemental Pay: Uncapped Commissions Benefits - 401(k) - Dental insurance - Disability insurance - Health insurance - Life insurance - Mileage reimbursement - Paid time off - Travel reimbursement - Vision insurance - Remote role
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