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I don't have sales experience, and I work in Sales Operations. I've been working with our Incentive Comp team on contests and overall strategy, any chance someone has book recommendations for that side of the business? I don't have the sales gene and would be awful at it, but find doing the strategy for bonus plans and customer targeting really fun. Kraftwerk posted:If you can teach yourself some of the high level basics behind pharmaceuticals I highly recommend you become a pharm rep. The perks are ridiculous. Your main job is to go around meeting various family doctors (General Practitioners) and getting them to prescribe your drugs. Often your company gives you a blank cheque to wine and dine them and do whatever it takes to sign them on. Some doctors will gently caress with you and enjoy the perks without committing but many more will do it. There is so much money to be had. Laws/regulations generally have ended the "blank check" heyday of Pharma Reps (the most recent big law change being the Sun Shine Act), but as a whole they still get pretty drat good perks. Many people start out promoting to General Practitioners, and then move into specialty therapeutic areas that pay better (and require more science/industry knowledge). The norm is to get a company car with gas allowance, company computer/phone/tablet, travel expenses reimbursement, base pay, and bonus. Specialty Pharma Reps generally have a base of mid-5 to low-6 figures, with target bonuses for the year in the low to mid 5 figures.
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# ? Mar 23, 2015 06:04 |
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# ? May 13, 2024 09:21 |
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Im the bid/rfp guy for my company but I had a referral come in from one of my clients from when I was up and down the street and just sold 4 printers on a 3yr lease with 6k gp god bless America
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# ? Mar 24, 2015 15:50 |
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Jahoodie posted:I don't have sales experience, and I work in Sales Operations. I've been working with our Incentive Comp team on contests and overall strategy, any chance someone has book recommendations for that side of the business?
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# ? Mar 26, 2015 22:15 |
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You should give away big screen tvs for being X percent over quota imo I'm a child
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# ? Mar 27, 2015 01:01 |
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Waroduce posted:You should give away big screen tvs for being X percent over quota imo 55" 480p screens? Also, you will be hated as Sales Ops. They will always think you're fudging the numbers to not pay out.
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# ? Mar 27, 2015 16:50 |
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I just landed a job in sales in a printing company that specializes in industrial printing, ie pharmaceutical and cigarette packaging, promotional boxing etc. I've been working as a graphic designer for the last 5 years, and they mostly took me for my experience in offset printing as well as my language skills in the countries they are trying to develop. I'm starting Wednesday, and I'm really nervous because i feel like I'm in over my head with the tasks that will be assigned to me. I'll be an Account Executive, meeting with clients abroad, making offers and closing deals. There's a formation period of course, learning the myriad of products that the company has and honing sales skills. Thing is, I really don't have any experience in sales a part from the fact that i held my own restaurant for 5 or so years. The managers are aware of this and want me to learn, but I think I'll need some literature on sales to get started somewhere. I'd really like to keep this job and make a career out of it, since in the long run I'm aware that in this godforsaken country there won't be huge opportunities like this one, soon or ever.
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# ? Mar 30, 2015 11:23 |
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Mister Blueberry posted:I just landed a job in sales in a printing company that specializes in industrial printing, ie pharmaceutical and cigarette packaging, promotional boxing etc. I've been working as a graphic designer for the last 5 years, and they mostly took me for my experience in offset printing as well as my language skills in the countries they are trying to develop. SPIN Selling is always the answer. You'll find it reinforcing things you probably knew/expected, and it helps build confidence yospos cru: Wit_sponge, relative_q, roguestar, Model M, Sir_Donkeypunch, tom collins, three, rufo, camh, homeless snail, sex offendin link, pik_d, graph, scaevolus, schultzi, mrbucket, the evan
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# ? Mar 30, 2015 13:15 |
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Mister Blueberry posted:I just landed a job in sales in a printing company that specializes in industrial printing, ie pharmaceutical and cigarette packaging, promotional boxing etc. I've been working as a graphic designer for the last 5 years, and they mostly took me for my experience in offset printing as well as my language skills in the countries they are trying to develop. I guess some of it just depends on how you are getting your leads and whether you need to work with cold or hot leads. Best advice I could give: -never assume anything -always be selling for two months down the road (IE funnel) -confidence plus relatable and good personality go a long way It doesn't take years to learn sales tricks, so don't be intimidated. Go for it.
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# ? Mar 30, 2015 13:44 |
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Thanks for the sound advice, ima read the book starting tonight!
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# ? Mar 30, 2015 22:35 |
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Duckman2008 posted:-confidence I just took a job as a 'sales assistant' at my local BMW dealer and I'm struggling badly with confidence. Thing is, I'm great with customers as I know the product and am happy to answer questions and show someone how something works, and I also have a lot of personal experience with repairing various cars & thusly can honestly tout BMW's good build quality. I don't sell cars though. I'm the lead salesman's bitch so I do the test drives and interface with insurance companies and move cars around, swap plates, make coffee runs, etc. I'm basically forgettable, as far as the customers are concerned. I don't even have a card. This is what makes my most important job so difficult - I have to perform the follow-ups, i.e. call up the customer after delivery and chat with them to see how they're liking the car, any questions, etc. It sounds easy but for some reason as soon as I pick up the phone I fall apart and it projects like hell because I stutter and say dumb poo poo and can't think. What's bullshit is that's actually supposed to be the salesman's job... the customer surveys ask very specifically “Did your Sales Advisor follow-up by phone or email after delivery?” So, I'm bad at something that my boss should be doing but doesn't because he's afraid it'll take up too much of his time and he'll miss an opportunity to hook a new walk-in customer and make a sale. rant rant rant
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# ? Mar 30, 2015 23:28 |
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piercedbronson posted:I just took a job as a 'sales assistant' at my local BMW dealer and I'm struggling badly with confidence. Do you also do this when you talk to your girlfriend? Pretend you are talking to a chick you just had a great date with and be yourself. From what yoi said about your role, it doesn't sound like its your job to close. Just have fun with it since it his commission check not yours.
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# ? Mar 30, 2015 23:36 |
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Nice of you to assume I've ever had a girlfriend. I just want to do right and I feel like without having been the one to make the sale I'm missing a lot of pertinent / personal info that makes it easy to have a conversation. But I can always gently caress it instead and try to loosen up.
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# ? Mar 30, 2015 23:44 |
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kloa posted:55" 480p screens? That's like 90% of Sales Ops. Most of the rest is explaining to sales reps how to use Excel as they try and figure out how project/track sales performance
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# ? Mar 31, 2015 02:29 |
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piercedbronson posted:Nice of you to assume I've ever had a girlfriend. Caring is important, but caring to the point of paralysis will kill you. Find whatever way you need to to loosen up. And honestly, I really would focus on the fact that you are customer service, so a lot of the pressure you are describing you are self inflicting on yourself. Have fun, ask friendly questions about how they use it day to day, say congrats, hang up.
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# ? Mar 31, 2015 03:22 |
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piercedbronson posted:I just took a job as a 'sales assistant' at my local BMW dealer and I'm struggling badly with confidence. You should try writing yourself a script, maybe getting your salesman to roleplay with you on it. I know everyone shits on having a script and also hates doing roleplays at training and whatever, but it works. I don't know a salesperson in my industry who doesn't write some sort of script or at least a plan of their selling conversation. I use a little blue book, and use checkboxes for the topics I need to cover. Yours could literally be:
Sure, you'll sound robotic about it at first, but I think I'd prefer a script to a bad call. Your salesperson might have notes about the customer from the selling process, like what they were interested in, their needs, etc. "I know storage space was important to you, how are you feeling in the X1?" Most likely they'll have no issues and the car is fine because poo poo, they just bought a new BMW and whatever. Worst/best case scenario is that there is an opportunity, and you were the guy to address it, and the dealership fixed it. Maybe they didn't have enough space, and you suggested they come in for a BMW-official roof rack?
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# ? Mar 31, 2015 03:53 |
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I've just signed papers for an internal transition over to Sales as a Sales Engineer. Company's product is SaaS. This is going to be a whole lotta different, particularly considering I'm going to be the only person from Sales in the Engineering headquarters. Despite how that sounds, the company is not small.
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# ? Apr 7, 2015 07:03 |
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Pierced Bronson posted:I just took a job as a 'sales assistant' at my local BMW dealer and I'm struggling badly with confidence. Jesus, how the hell do I get one of you at my job? I'm one of the top salesman at one of the top dealerships in the US for GMC but company policy states I'm not allowed to have an assistant, even if I pay their salary 100% out of my pocket. I would LOVE to have someone making my follow up calls and handle some of the day to day time-sink activities so I could focus on capitalizing on actual customer contacts and squeezing out a few extra sales a month.
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# ? Apr 13, 2015 06:29 |
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Krono99 posted:Jesus, how the hell do I get one of you at my job? I'm one of the top salesman at one of the top dealerships in the US for GMC but company policy states I'm not allowed to have an assistant, even if I pay their salary 100% out of my pocket. Mostly it's because people have forgotten what assistants are for. I have yet to see a reason that most managers and executives are doing their own typing when in theory they should have better things to do with their time. Most companies would be better off with assistants around then without people having them.
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# ? Apr 13, 2015 15:43 |
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sbaldrick posted:Mostly it's because people have forgotten what assistants are for. I have yet to see a reason that most managers and executives are doing their own typing when in theory they should have better things to do with their time. Most companies would be better off with assistants around then without people having them. I can't remember my kids birthdays or find where to get my clothes dry cleaned. I NEED an assistant!
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# ? Apr 13, 2015 17:12 |
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Krono99 posted:Jesus, how the hell do I get one of you at my job? Start working for BMW, I guess? My position is legitimate / in the employee handbook here.
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# ? Apr 13, 2015 22:09 |
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Krono99 posted:Jesus, how the hell do I get one of you at my job? I'm one of the top salesman at one of the top dealerships in the US for GMC but company policy states I'm not allowed to have an assistant, even if I pay their salary 100% out of my pocket. You'd probably be less productive with one than you think. Now you have to completely manage an assistant, train them, delegate to them, and all that. You still need to find 20-40 hours of work for the assistant, with the understanding that the quality of work won't be the same as when you do it. I've seen it with CPG sales forces that have merchandisers along with their sales reps. I handle all of my own merchandising, and while it can be a hell of a time sink, I get it done exactly the way I want it, the way it should be done, and improves my relationship with the retailer by making me more invested in their business. I've seen merchandisers and third party installers mess things up all the time. They aren't as smart or well-trained, and the same goes for assistants, generally. If they were that smart, or good at what they did, or whatever else, they'd be salespeople, not assistants. That being said, it isn't always the case. You'll get incredible admins/assistants/support staff/etc. from time to time, because people are content in those positions. People can be happy where they are for work-life balance reasons, or geographic reasons, or whatever else, and that's great. But you can be annoyed by incompetence too. e: Bronson, so what are you looking to improve, exactly? Back on topic from having-assistant chat. You should go to your salesperson with a plan on how to improve, and have some specific areas where you can get training and feedback. Maybe you can listen to the call recordings after the fact and look for opportunities to improve? yospos cru: Wit_sponge, relative_q, roguestar, Model M, Sir_Donkeypunch, tom collins, three, rufo, camh, homeless snail, sex offendin link, pik_d, graph, scaevolus, schultzi, mrbucket, the evan lazercunt fucked around with this message at 22:20 on Apr 13, 2015 |
# ? Apr 13, 2015 22:17 |
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lazercunt posted:e: Bronson, so what are you looking to improve, exactly? Back on topic from having-assistant chat. You should go to your salesperson with a plan on how to improve, and have some specific areas where you can get training and feedback. Maybe you can listen to the call recordings after the fact and look for opportunities to improve? That's not much of an issue anymore, actually. We struck a balance where I get to send a follow-up email, and then the salesman will do the actual "call"-back. I send the emails from the salesman's account so it shows up as being written by him, which is a little sketchy to me, but unlike the alternative it doesn't make me suffer a debilitating neurosis. A new problem is developing though where the guy is starting to talk down to me like I'm some kind of idiot, mostly because I ask to verify instructions because he's often so bad at giving them. Also I have a tendency to recite facts about a product, e.g. "Diesel engines get better economy, but the engine noise is a bit louder than gas so there's some comfort tradeoff" which may turn a customer away from the vehicle he wanted to sell them. It's not natural for me to put my own needs or those of the company I work for ahead of the needs of the customer, so sometimes I don't know that I've crossed a line just by answering questions to the best of my ability, and then I get chewed out. Plus I'm making more and more trips to Duncan Donuts or wherever he ordered for lunch, and the other managers see it and have started asking me to do the same for them. I wouldn't mind it so much if I didn't have to use my own car and my own gas. At least, it feels extremely pedantic to write down the mileage every time I go out on a 1-2 mile drive and then demand compensation at the end of the week, but all the same, it's not what I signed up for. I do get free lunch tossed my way sometimes but how often can one eat burgers and burritos in front of the cute office girls upstairs before feeling like a total piece of poo poo? lazercunt posted:you have to completely manage an assistant, train them, delegate to them, and all that. You still need to find 20-40 hours of work for the assistant, They don't find 40 hours of work for me. Half the time I just sit at my desk until the guy I work for wants me to do something for him. In fact I've worked about 45 hours every week and half the time I struggle to stay busy and no one seems to care. the other half though makes me want to pull my hair out. As an aside, I'm baffled by how many people take such abject poo poo care of their car's interior. Pierced Bronson fucked around with this message at 23:12 on Apr 13, 2015 |
# ? Apr 13, 2015 23:03 |
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Pierced Bronson posted:That's not much of an issue anymore, actually. We struck a balance where I get to send a follow-up email, and then the salesman will do the actual "call"-back. I send the emails from the salesman's account so it shows up as being written by him, which is a little sketchy to me, but unlike the alternative it doesn't make me suffer a debilitating neurosis. What you should do is make a sale yourself from one of his customers. Car Sales is like Highlander or something.
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# ? Apr 13, 2015 23:11 |
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Snatch Duster posted:sales I've had people ask me after a test drive "so are we working with you now?" If I had a halfway decent desk or room for them to sit and knew the logistics of using our system to physically sell a car to someone then I might be inclined to weasel my way into a sales position that way. People seem to like me; too bad I have to duck out to my windowless office and stay out of sight most of the time.
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# ? Apr 13, 2015 23:16 |
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If my assistant burned me on even a single sale I'd probably start treating him like an idiot and asking him to stay away from customers. Not saying that happened, but definitely be careful what you're saying... you don't want to be contradicting the sales guy in front of a customer. Unless you're on commission and can scoop him by being knowing what you're doing and not being a slimeball. In which case welcome to sales.
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# ? Apr 13, 2015 23:20 |
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Jordan7hm posted:If my assistant burned me on even a single sale I'd probably start treating him like an idiot and asking him to stay away from customers. Not saying that happened, but definitely be careful what you're saying... you don't want to be contradicting the sales guy in front of a customer. From his perspective that makes sense, but it's not like I can hover around while he tries to make a sale in order to understand his tactics and learn what I should stay away from saying. I'm just trying to be a helpful dude when I have the opportunity to do so. The other day I went on a drive with a girl buying a convertible, and she was like "wow this has such low mileage" and I said "well that's because people mostly buy convertibles to drive in the nice weather on weekends / for leisure, and park them in bad weather" thinking to myself that was a solid explanation, but then It opened a can of worms regarding winter safety and the need for snow tires.
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# ? Apr 13, 2015 23:31 |
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They are not payong you to do sales so they shouldn't expect you to understand how to sell. And I say that not as a dig on you at all. Sounds like you're in a bad position and I would consider asking your manager to be trained in sales so you can make your own comission and/or look for a sales job at another dealership (or business in general).
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# ? Apr 14, 2015 00:15 |
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Pierced Bronson posted:From his perspective that makes sense, but it's not like I can hover around while he tries to make a sale in order to understand his tactics and learn what I should stay away from saying. I'm just trying to be a helpful dude when I have the opportunity to do so. The other day I went on a drive with a girl buying a convertible, and she was like "wow this has such low mileage" and I said "well that's because people mostly buy convertibles to drive in the nice weather on weekends / for leisure, and park them in bad weather" thinking to myself that was a solid explanation, but then It opened a can of worms regarding winter safety and the need for snow tires. Yeah, you're in a tough spot. I'd definitely want you around me to see what I'm actually saying to them if you're going to have any serious interaction with them (test drives are obviously a serious interaction). I miss sales.
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# ? Apr 14, 2015 00:19 |
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Pierced Bronson posted:That's not much of an issue anymore, actually. We struck a balance where I get to send a follow-up email, and then the salesman will do the actual "call"-back. I send the emails from the salesman's account so it shows up as being written by him, which is a little sketchy to me, but unlike the alternative it doesn't make me suffer a debilitating neurosis. Your job sounds legit terrible and you should probably out of there while you still have a job description that isn't literally just picking up lunch. Delivery drivers even expense their mileage. At least deduct it, current IRS rate is $0.565/mile as far as I remember. As for your response to the test drive comment, you have the right answer. That's probably exactly what happened. However, sometimes sales is about shutting up and letting customers talk. I would probably just sort have agreed with them and let them keep driving or talking, and made a note that mileage was mentioned, so it's probably important to the customer. yospos cru: Wit_sponge, relative_q, roguestar, Model M, Sir_Donkeypunch, tom collins, three, rufo, camh, homeless snail, sex offendin link, pik_d, graph, scaevolus, schultzi, mrbucket, the evan
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# ? Apr 14, 2015 01:05 |
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Looking at applications for sales jobs, a lot of them ask if you have completed any formal sales training? What does that even mean? Are there special schools or programs that offer formal sales training? I just always learned mine from books and what experienced sales people have written or talked about.
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# ? Apr 14, 2015 02:59 |
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Alfalfa posted:Looking at applications for sales jobs, a lot of them ask if you have completed any formal sales training? Probably talking about SPIN selling or any manufacturer courses or training modules. I come from the copier world though, which is how my company decide if new salesmen are worth keeping. Manufacturers have websites you can complete training courses on, and Canon has a sales boot camp as well as modules on software/apps/poo poo. If youre in a sales position within a company, did they train you at all? The company i work for had a 6 month training course and than week long classes at corporate hq every few months you go to if you stick around. I intended to put those on my resume.
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# ? Apr 14, 2015 03:12 |
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Alfalfa posted:Looking at applications for sales jobs, a lot of them ask if you have completed any formal sales training? A lot of companies will ask if you learned a certain model, like SPIN or Selling to VITO or whatever. They really do mean your HQ-based stuff, assuming you didn't just get thrown to the wolves. yospos cru: Wit_sponge, relative_q, roguestar, Model M, Sir_Donkeypunch, tom collins, three, rufo, camh, homeless snail, sex offendin link, pik_d, graph, scaevolus, schultzi, mrbucket, the evan
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# ? Apr 14, 2015 03:40 |
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SPIN is really good but I need to formalize it more like the book(s) suggest and write down some common questions for each stage for my industry. I've worked to internalize it a bit but find I don't use SPIN as much as I should. I think the methodology would work exceptionally well if I used it more (and more effectively). That said we have a very consultative sales approach at my company that seems to work well. I sell software and deals in our industry take 3-18 months with probably an average of 9-12 so it helps if the customer trusts you. Our process is something like:
This is my first enterprise gig so I'm not sure how common this exact model is, I know consultative selling gets bandied about a lot. This method has never really let me down with customers who we have gotten beyond the assessment step with. Not that I close every deal (or even a lot) but it has kept the customer engaged and they typically are very willing to share information with you which I have found to be crucial to my success.
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# ? Apr 14, 2015 07:33 |
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fff
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# ? Apr 14, 2015 22:41 |
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You obviously need to post your city so someone can get you a real sales job. And the referral bonus...we are sales people after all.
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# ? Apr 15, 2015 00:35 |
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Lyon posted:SPIN is really good but I need to formalize it more like the book(s) suggest and write down some common questions for each stage for my industry. I've worked to internalize it a bit but find I don't use SPIN as much as I should. I think the methodology would work exceptionally well if I used it more (and more effectively). Is this for lean six sigma work? I saw the word champion, so I ran with it. I think for all of us that do large-account sales, and duration sales, consultative is everything. I'm with you on the not using SPIN enough. I certainly know it, and I can look at my selling conversations and how they fit or didn't, but I definitely don't use it enough during planning. Pierced Bronson quit your job seriously that's terrible yospos cru: Wit_sponge, relative_q, roguestar, Model M, Sir_Donkeypunch, tom collins, three, rufo, camh, homeless snail, sex offendin link, pik_d, graph, scaevolus, schultzi, mrbucket, the evan
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# ? Apr 15, 2015 04:17 |
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Draw a dick on it and hand it back dont do this if you need a reference
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# ? Apr 15, 2015 06:11 |
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Say something witty as you hand back the order with a flourish, announcing your resignation in front of a stunned and incredulous audience of BMW customers, who will then spontaneously erupt into applause. get them the coffee and then ask your boss where he sees you 3 months down the road, and what you can do to hurray that along. If you have something else lined up and you don't like his answer, quit
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# ? Apr 15, 2015 14:07 |
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Jordan7hm posted:ask your boss where he sees you 3 months down the road That is perhaps the most diplomatic poo poo I've ever heard; I will use this advice. Thank you.
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# ? Apr 15, 2015 20:11 |
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# ? May 13, 2024 09:21 |
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Question for you sales folks. Let me know if this isn't the right thread for this, I haven't really gotten through all of this sub-forum yet: My husband needs to break out of retail management. Life is moving forward and we're expecting a baby in a couple of months. As it turns out, he is exceptionally good at up-selling. He has 8 years of retail experience and 4 years of retail management experience. As far as schooling goes, he's about ~1/3-1/2 way through a BA program. He currently works at GameStop as an assistant manager and has repeatedly brought his store to #1 in the district and #1 in the North East in sales/credit card apps. Corporate has also informed him that he brought his store to #1 in the company a few months ago on one occasion and asked him to give tips during a company-wide conference call for managers. Unfortunately, while his district manager notices his successes, they don't really acknowledge them formally and are not doing much to forward his career despite his eagerness. How did you break into sales? I really think he has potential in the field.
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# ? Apr 17, 2015 15:16 |