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Dear Quota Team,

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I’m an AE at a Series C company selling data infrastructure to enterprise accounts. My manager expects near-instant responses on Slack. He pings me during calls and all hours of the day breaking my focus. If I don’t reply in five minutes, he pings me again and gets on my case.

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It's a huge distraction and I'm constantly on edge all day about stepping out to walk my dog, making myself lunch, or even being in a deep work state and missing a message.

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Meanwhile, approvals take forever. Pricing exceptions sit for weeks. Legal redlines deals into the ground. I’ve had multiple late-stage opportunities stall because I’m waiting on internal sign-off, not the buyer.

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When I bring this up, I’m told “those things take time” and that I need to be more responsive because deals move fast. 

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It feels like urgency only flows one way. Is this just how sales works, or is something broken here?

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Waiting in New York

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Dear Waiting,

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The mistake reps make is arguing about fairness. Don’t. Argue about revenue. Start documenting every stalled deal where internal latency, not buyer hesitation, is the blocker. Also, stop absorbing urgency that isn’t reciprocal. A Slack ping is not more important than a live customer call. Set expectations clearly and calmly. If leadership still treats responsiveness as a one-way street, that’s a signal about how seriously they take execution. At that point, adjust your effort—or your exit plan.