Ask/Tell us about being in Sales! (We're a notch below "Child Molester")

The Something Awful Forums > Discussion > Ask/Tell > Business, Finance, and Careers > Ask/Tell us about being in Sales! (We're a notch below "Child Molester")

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Snatch Duster: Feb 20, 2007; by FactsAreUseless

Suave Fedora posted:

My only hangup is that I feel that I have to believe in the product I am selling, and while I feel that way about this company, I really won't know its products until I get my boots on the ground.

To be successful in sales, you do not have to love the product/service and company to succeed. But if you want to do phenomenally well and move up into management roles, you have to love what you are selling. If you don't, you'll burn out quick which will make you start resenting work and yourself.

Your end goal, should be to move out of sales into marketing or you will end up like Sheldon Levine. A broken old man that steals from the company.

# ¿ Apr 22, 2014 16:23

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# ¿ Apr 27, 2024 18:07

Snatch Duster: Feb 20, 2007; by FactsAreUseless

jayd42 posted:

What other companies have training programs that are worth knowing about?

Someone also mentioned the Xerox method. Does (did?) Xerox have a good training program?

Good training programs are really dependent on the environment you'll be selling in. The poo poo I learned from Vector Marketing selling Cutco right out of high school did not carry over to consultative b2b selling over the phone. The training I received for cold calling while working at call center selling small ticket purchases, also didn't translate to my current sales gig pitching $60k monthly digital advertising campaigns.

As a manager you can train people only so much, providing all the tools they'll need to succeed. But at the end of the day the best salesman are the ones that continue to learn, grow, and constantly be pushing themselves forward.

Companies like Enterprise, Xerox, Nordstroms, and Hibu are great at training for their sales environment. But what you learn at Xerox most likely will not help if you suddenly find yourself selling print ads at Hibu.

# ¿ Apr 23, 2014 03:59

Snatch Duster: Feb 20, 2007; by FactsAreUseless

Suave Fedora posted:

I have no idea who is Sheldon Levine...edumacate me!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ROYuupoGarQ

Suave Fedora posted:

Whether I stay at my current job or find something new, my end goal will always be to move into Marketing.

Since you seem so passionate about phones and apps, I would suggest looking into mobile marketing and targeting. Learn everything there is about it from text marketing, to display ads within aps, to paid search. Lot of large companies want to do it because it is the latest thing. Even though the targeting is great, the effectiveness of mobile ads is miles behind computers and questionable.

But it seems right up your ally.

Snatch Duster fucked around with this message at 05:10 on Apr 24, 2014

# ¿ Apr 24, 2014 05:01

Snatch Duster: Feb 20, 2007; by FactsAreUseless

Suave Fedora posted:

I have to watch this movie now.

Mobile marketing is interesting, thanks for mentioning it. I'm already thinking about the myriad reasons why someone would and would not want to click an ad from their cellphone. Context and "is this worth clicking out of my app for?"

Depends on point of the ad, but majority of in app clicks are mistakes.

# ¿ Apr 25, 2014 16:21

Snatch Duster: Feb 20, 2007; by FactsAreUseless

Forbes published an interesting article a year ago about using social media to sell.

This also is an interesting and helpful ebook about cold calling, using LinkedIn to research potential prospects. I've been doing this for years and it works, might help some of you newer guys.

# ¿ May 19, 2014 18:46

Snatch Duster: Feb 20, 2007; by FactsAreUseless

Shbobdb posted:

THE EMPTINESS

I think all sales people have this feeling. No matter how great I am doing, there isn't a since of accomplishment I think. Landing large accounts/prestigious accounts, getting paid poo poo tons, or knowing you won over [rival company name here] feels great and all. But that void is still there it seems. The work to life balance is amazing though.

For me the emptiness is lack of challenge and grass is greener, I believe. But whenever I think of making a switch over to operations, I just listen to them on break bitch about not having enough money. That keeps me motivated.

# ¿ Jul 23, 2014 21:00

Snatch Duster: Feb 20, 2007; by FactsAreUseless

lazercunt posted:

I think it might be more for people in new account/cold calling kind of sales. I only do established account sales (I'm a tobacco rep) and I don't think it has the same feeling. Everyone knows who I am and remembers me when I walk in the door, for better or worse, and that's a cool feeling.

There's absolutely times that it can be draining as hell to slog through, but seeing the change in the business towards my products, and seeing the real impacts of everything we do and the way it impacts my clients is a good feeling. Find value in the ways you can positively impact the client and evaluate success on that.

In response to the Jim Camp negotiation thing, it's a pretty simple philosophy. Ask questions, don't make assumptions, and negotiate based on the principles of of the topic. I think a better, clearer philosophy for that kind of negotiation is in something like Getting to Yes.

In my business, the first question to ask is "what are your goals with the category?" It could be "make more money," and it usually is, but you'll find people who are motivated by different things. Bob looks at Category X as a loss leader for his business, but Jim sees the same category as a competitive way to differentiate. You should know your product's features and benefits and how they fit into different client visions, and sell appropriately. If someone says no, come back quickly. They spend dead air building resistance.

Cold calling is lovely but you have to do it. To me, it never was soul crushing, I am at the point in my career where 80% of my new business is referrals. The challenge is gone and the high of closing is mild at best.

Jim Camp is like every book on selling I have read. After reading SPIN Selling, I immediately compare the new books process to SPIN. Its like Kant but for sales.

I been training two new people and I love seeing them grow, but when comparing them to me at that time in my career they are slacking. Are there any good reads on motivating or structuring junior sales roles?

# ¿ Jul 24, 2014 06:10

Snatch Duster: Feb 20, 2007; by FactsAreUseless

Fisticuffs posted:

Thread,

I work in inside sales and have for about two years now. Honestly, I hated my last position even though it was the best paying job I had ever had at that point ($30k + commission landed me at about $45k, at goal for the year was $48k). That job was even fairly easy, and I made goal most months as evidenced by the above. I didn't have to do any prospecting and all the leads were at least somewhat warm. Calls weren't and aren't that bad, but I psyched myself out of making them a lot. My typical pattern was to meet my revenue goal in week three or halfway through the last week of the month and spend the rest of the time making up for not meeking my productivity metrics to that point. I was spinning my wheels so I moved across country to save money and hopefully start a business a few years down the line.

I got another sales gig and it's a much better opportunity. My base is literally double what I was making before and the at goal money is about double as well. I'm not sure I'll like the work much more(the last product I sold was a great product which genuinely helped people and completing sales was also satisfying there so that should be a constant), but being that I have a much larger opportunity to make money and I have the long term goal of getting the gently caress out and starting a business in another field... how can I best set myself up to crush it here for the next two or three years?

My first thought is to just make sure I'm pounding the phones harder than I used to. I'm going to shoot for at least 115% of our productivity metrics over the course of every month, which should give me a really good chance to consistently meet goal. I'll be prospecting my own leads for the first time, which I am somewhat anxious about... I just want to make sure I do as well as I can. I'm looking over all the book reviews in this thread and I'm going over the Xerox method to see if there are any nuggets that may be salient to me but... is there anything else? My start date isn't until a month from now... how can I prepare myself to really hit the ground running here?

I highly recommend moving into referral selling as fast as possible. Every referral needs to be a solid lead, otherwise they are luke warm leads that you get from management and you'll be slamming your head into the phone everyday cold calling. Asking off hand or mentioning you work off of referrals will not generate quality leads, at best you'll get a bunch of throw away names. You need to be methodical with your approach. Make everything about you scream "I WORK OFF OF REFERRALS, YOU ARE LUCKY I EVEN FOUND YOU!"

To nurture this aura that you are a referral guy, there is several things you need to do. Your voicemail tells the caller that you are engaged with client because as they know, your clients are the most important thing to you. But you will call them back at [dedicated time] in the order that you received the calls. Or they can reach you at your email. The next thing you do is open and subtly drop in that you work mainly off of referrals in your selling phase with new prospects. This will prep them later for you asking to set up a meeting to go over referrals.

Offering compensation as a bonus for referrals that become clients is another great way to warm clients up to the idea. This creates a win/win/win scenario which people are always open to. You get new business, your client gets $$$ off his next bill, and your new client gets product/service she needs.

Once you have satisfied your customers needs and they are happy with you, schedule a referral meeting. Before the meeting, spend 45 minutes going through your client's LinkedIn account and find connections that could use your product/service. Ask your client how well they know these people, could they use my product/service, is it ok if I name drop you. Then take notes on each possible referral. Come up with 5 - 7 possible referrals, a few will be garbage but maybe 3 will be a strong lead. At this point your client should be excited by the possibility of getting compensation, helping you, and looking like a hero to your referrals that she'll give you several more that she has thought of during the meeting.

It is also key to remind your clients that you do sales, but the most important thing to you isn't money but referrals. Your clients and potential clients success is what drives you, and that you work super duper hard for them. Referrals isn't a nice bonus for a job well done, it is your compensation.

# ¿ Aug 15, 2014 23:20

Snatch Duster: Feb 20, 2007; by FactsAreUseless

A lot of people complain about cold calling, even I do at times, but it isn't that bad once you get use to rejection. The big thing for people is that your success, failure, growth, and responsibility is on you, no one else. If you work in operations, logistics, management, etc, you can blame anyone and everything on your failures. In Sales, its your fault and rightly so.

Did you grind out phones this week? Have you learned what not to say? Have you grown balls and asked for the money? How persistent with follows up are you? Are you prepared for the eventually of taking calls outside of work hours? This poo poo, you have to own because it comes with the role. If you want an easy salary where you punch in and punch out, do not do sales.

The best sales jobs are the ones where you make money without having to do data entry, legal crap, and point of contact for clients. Where you are just bringing money doing what you do, selling.

A great salesman's blog I been following is Steli Efti, the CEO of Close.io.
http://blog.close.io/

# ¿ Aug 27, 2014 23:26

Snatch Duster: Feb 20, 2007; by FactsAreUseless

this little bastard posted:

For a resume in a business development role, would you take client retention into account or just leads converted into clients? I'm in a position where I might get prospects to put money forward for a trial period but then many won't commit after that, so how do I put this in a resume and have it be positive?

Growth Hacking Expert.

Client retention shouldn't be important to NBD because you are focused on new clients, not maintaining a relationship with an existing ones.

# ¿ Nov 12, 2014 09:21

Snatch Duster: Feb 20, 2007; by FactsAreUseless

Good luck man, but keep in mind you will want to jump to another company out here. That pay is sub par even for entry level. However, if you only care about promotions i would suggest not doing sales. If you turn out as a steller salesman, you will make more money selling as opposed to managing.

# ¿ Jan 14, 2015 08:18

Snatch Duster: Feb 20, 2007; by FactsAreUseless

ConspicuousEvil posted:

Does anyone have any experience doing sales at UPS? I have a phone interview with them tomorrow and would love some insider perspective. I've never done sales before (former teacher), so I'm not entirely sure I'll like it, but with a company that large, I imagine there's upside in terms of mobility.

I had a nice middle age lady work with me recently that did UPS sales for a decade. She said she liked it but it was boring at times. When she did it there was a lot traveling because she was in a rural area, also this was in the 90s. Bet things have changed and its probably decent.

With that said, never go into sales with the mind set of getting promoted. You will fail at sales or you will fail at being promoted. Very few salesman want to gef promoted out of commissions.

# ¿ Jan 16, 2015 06:55

Snatch Duster: Feb 20, 2007; by FactsAreUseless

Waroduce posted:

Going to a regional Law tradeshow/convention where vendors are "encouraged" to dress as their favorite superhero. Id normally bail, but one of our clients invited us and they are a top 10 law firm in the state

Still wtf

Dress as Harvey Birdman Attorney at Law, I bet your client will love that.

# ¿ Feb 25, 2015 19:27

Snatch Duster: Feb 20, 2007; by FactsAreUseless

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?

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.

# ¿ Mar 26, 2015 22:15

Snatch Duster: Feb 20, 2007; by FactsAreUseless

piercedbronson posted:

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

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.

# ¿ Mar 30, 2015 23:36

Snatch Duster: Feb 20, 2007; by FactsAreUseless

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!

# ¿ Apr 13, 2015 17:12

Snatch Duster: Feb 20, 2007; by FactsAreUseless

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.

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?

What you should do is make a sale yourself from one of his customers. Car Sales is like Highlander or something.

# ¿ Apr 13, 2015 23:11

Snatch Duster: Feb 20, 2007; by FactsAreUseless

mutantmanifesto posted:

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.

He should apply to any inside sales role that also has some outside sales responsibleties. He needs to find a company that sells expensive products to make decent money. He could work at a call center selling poo poo constantly using Straight Line, but to find one that he can make decent living from will be hard.

In my industry, digital marketing, he should look at Hibu and GO Digital. They are great companies for sales folks. 50k base + commission + residuals. My brother is made 145k first year in the industry, his only experience was at a call center and Enterprise Rent Center.

# ¿ Apr 17, 2015 15:36

Snatch Duster: Feb 20, 2007; by FactsAreUseless

devoir posted:

It was a start of financial year internal event. An absolutely mindblowing way to start a new position, and a really good opportunity to build relationships with the remote members of the team (of which I'm one).

I know it's a skewing factor and wide-eyed newbieness, but those fours days really had a motivating, positive influence on me beyond starting the new job.

This will be you soon.

# ¿ Apr 22, 2015 00:55

Snatch Duster: Feb 20, 2007; by FactsAreUseless

devoir posted:

I'm in Sales Engineering

Is that fancy way of saying sales support?

# ¿ Apr 25, 2015 02:00

Snatch Duster: Feb 20, 2007; by FactsAreUseless

Kraftwerk posted:

I have a lead on a new position. This time around I'd be working for a company that sells highly customized industrial packaging. They got a lot of big name customers since you need to have special packaging designed by engineering teams to ship things like medical equipment or aircraft engines.

The position would have me working from home with company issued equipment. They said I'd go through a multi-month training process followed by job shadowing other account execs as they go about their business with the customers. Once done I'd simply be given an account to manage. Apparently each sale is a highly customer centric in depth process requiring me to understand what parameters the customer wants to ship their multimillion dollar product under. I'd take those customer concerns, bring them to the engineering team and work out a solution which I take back to the customer and work with the customer to implement. The process takes about 11-12 months. I'm told I'll be traveling about 5 days a month and I could end up going to Europe, South America or elsewhere. A travel allowance is also provided and they'll compensate me for my car use by about 11-12 cents a kilometer or something.

My salary would rise up considerably. I expect to be paid a sizable base (60k) with another 30k in commissions. I will eventually be required to operate self sufficiently after about 1 year and then generate my own leads in addition to the leads given to me by the lower tier sales staff. There's also vacation time, the usual run of benefits though the retirement benefits aren't as good as my company. My company will match retirement contributions 1:1 up to 8%. This company does 25% matching up to 4%.

Is this a good deal? I am worried they won't pay me enough to cover the use of my car and that I will run my car into the ground within 5 years which requires me to get a new one. In spite of a 40% pay increase and the possibility of even more earnings in commissions I'm worried my actual pay will be much lower because of how quickly I will degrade my car and forced to buy a new one. Also the working from home thing makes sense but still feels a little shady to me.

That is hell of a lot work for a job with a 90k FYOT. Unless you want to travel that much for work and hardly ever seeing the sights, I would say take it. If you are in it just for the money you can easily find jobs where you don't travel at all for the same pay.

# ¿ May 5, 2015 23:23

Snatch Duster: Feb 20, 2007; by FactsAreUseless

Kraftwerk posted:

Normally it's a 70-30 framework, I estimated they'd shortchange me on pay because I'm making 45k now and their first question will be how much I'm currently making.

That doesn't matter for the most part in sales. If the company is really interested in how much you made instead of how great you would be at selling their product, they would ask for a pay stub or your W2. This way they could prove how much you are worth as a salesman, and pay you accordingly. You probably wouldn't want to work for a company that did this, unless you are a great white shark that could kill it in commissions.

# ¿ May 5, 2015 23:37

Snatch Duster: Feb 20, 2007; by FactsAreUseless

Kraftwerk posted:

So anybody got an interview tips? I will be interviewed by the Executive VP for a particular industry segment this company caters to, the regional general manager (This man will be my boss) and the HR lady.

The latter 2 have a bit of a small town mindset so they're more down to Earth, direct and approachable. The VP answers directly to the president of the company and is very particular about who he wants. He will be flying in from the European HQ. He gets the final say on the candidate and nobody really knows what he's looking for. In essence for me to get this job he has to like me. A lot of people came and went before me. All I know is they don't like the typical slimy sales dude who talks too much and they want someone a bit more methodical and technical in how they handle things.

My first instinct is that they want a listener. Which makes sense. A lot of big companies build their business on being good listeners who are attentive to customer needs. For me the biggest challenge is taking my sales support and account management experience and talking it up to prove to them I can bring in the revenue. I'll need to show them how I can be of service to them, how I can help them. What I want is secondary to that.

Supposedly the interview questions will be quite difficult for the career level this job is sitting at. They are looking for someone they can groom and promote from within. They want an ambitious go getter and they want someone who excels rather than coasts in the same position for years on end. They'll be asking me some difficult questions about what I think leadership is, what passion is etc. In addition I will be asked about situations where I used my skills to save a deal from going belly up etc.

Any advice would be appreciated, I have never interviewed anyone on the executive level before. Almost every interview I've ever had was with middle management types and they're super easy to deal with. VPs and directors are unexplored territory for me.

Be passionate about your sales process and how you will apply it to their product/service. Basically show them how hungry you are.

# ¿ May 13, 2015 00:24

Snatch Duster: Feb 20, 2007; by FactsAreUseless

Waroduce posted:

What do you guys think about copier salesmen or the copier industry

Its where I started so im curious

I think copier sales is like that clip from The Office where Michael is presenting to a MBA class.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jkRWYC28-Nw

EDIT: found one that works.

Snatch Duster fucked around with this message at 21:30 on May 13, 2015

# ¿ May 13, 2015 21:27

Snatch Duster: Feb 20, 2007; by FactsAreUseless

Xguard86 posted:

Question for the thread: what is your preferred sales and marketing tool(s) intelligence tools? I'm helping my market director look through options and figure out our best fit.

I don't want to give too much personal info but we are ~2,000 people technology consulting firm. We usually do business with fairly large companies in their marketing or IT departments.

We are pretty preliminary right now so I'm not totally sure our exact needs. We have Salesforce so we aren't looking for a CRM tool but more people/company intelligence.

Prospective tools that have been mentioned so far:
Discoverorg
Rainking
Kitedesk
Ecquire
Nimble

Are those 2k people all salesmen? Or is your team relatively small?

You could get subs to sites like Zoominfo or whatever, but in my experience LinkedIn Sales Navigator has been by far the best for my team and our clients.

# ¿ May 20, 2015 15:16

Snatch Duster: Feb 20, 2007; by FactsAreUseless

Never heard that one before.

# ¿ May 22, 2015 22:08

Snatch Duster: Feb 20, 2007; by FactsAreUseless

Jordan7hm posted:

A salesperson being a bigot?

Nah that's SOP.

No, as an objection. Racist salesmen are more common than dimes.

# ¿ May 22, 2015 23:53

Snatch Duster: Feb 20, 2007; by FactsAreUseless

Never pitch the bitch heheheh amirite guys

# ¿ May 23, 2015 04:44

Snatch Duster: Feb 20, 2007; by FactsAreUseless

Kraftwerk posted:

What's the best way to qualify leads?
My company uses a solutions selling approach so our goal will not be to push product right away. We just need to see who's most likely to bite if we show up and spend resources to assess their needs.

Instead I would need to find out:
1. Who the contact person for my product is.
2. Whether they have an operation in my sales territory that requires my product (as opposed to an office.
3. Mapping out their subsidiaries (if any)
4. (Bonus)Determine their spend on their current solution vs ours.

I use LinkedIn clipper. You can export entire list of people with the title, industry, location, and years with the company into a csv or xml file. Convert that over to an excel and presto, you're good to go.

# ¿ Jul 27, 2015 03:14

Snatch Duster: Feb 20, 2007; by FactsAreUseless

Kraftwerk posted:

Wow that's amazing! I could totally pull that off. And your move to personalize the solution according to their vision is really clever, I like that.

Yeah normally I introduce myself from where I'm calling and who I am and I think it probably comes across too much as a telemarketing call. I haven't had much in the way of training for sales soft skills and I told them during the interviews that this is where I needed work. So they're currently hunting for a good training program in my area to pay for so I can get up to speed in that area.

I used to work for an aerospace OEM and I've been stonewalled by literally everyone who can make a decision about my project ideas. I know how to navigate the inside of the company but I can't get to anyone who matters to even START a conversation about what I have in mind. Like one of my strategies was to try and find a champion for my idea. So I went after the director of unit cost reduction. Except every time I called this guy he'd tell me he's in a call and can't talk to me right now. I believed it the first time but the second time I realized he was just trying to get me off the phone.

Your problem is that you're SELLING, you need to be a CONSULTANT or ADVISOR. Lazercunt is right, by name dropping referals you are short cutting a lot of trust/rapport building bullshit.

What you need to do is help just 3 people a week with their problems, that your company/product can solve obviously. Frame the call as exploritory when they reject you for "reason" ask if they have any problms you could help with or take some work off their plate.

Snatch Duster fucked around with this message at 02:40 on Aug 17, 2015

# ¿ Aug 17, 2015 02:34

Snatch Duster: Feb 20, 2007; by FactsAreUseless

https://autopilotforlinkedin.com/?try=5091

Been using this for NBD, works great. My process is crawl peoples profiles, when they view my profile I email them, and send a connection request stating I sent an email. I then use YesWare to notify me when they open the email, then I call and start the sales process.

Pretty neat little app imo.

Snatch Duster fucked around with this message at 04:41 on Sep 3, 2015

# ¿ Aug 26, 2015 21:30

Snatch Duster: Feb 20, 2007; by FactsAreUseless

Digital marketing. Solid track record of growing brands and focus on revenue-centric strategy makes selling easy once I am in door.

# ¿ Aug 29, 2015 21:39

Snatch Duster: Feb 20, 2007; by FactsAreUseless

Kraftwerk posted:

Just landed my first purchase order in my entire sales career! Suddenly it feels like it was all worth it.

It won't mean anything next month.

# ¿ Oct 15, 2015 21:57

Snatch Duster: Feb 20, 2007; by FactsAreUseless

Waroduce posted:

So Ive moved into a SLED bidding position for my company where I fill out and present RFPs and bids. When I win I turn into the project manager on it where I run everything. is anyone in a similar positions or can recommend some books on project management?

I just won and deployed one of the top 10 largest school districts in the nation, and it was hell for me trying to track, organize, deploy, assign teams, build out routes and delivery schedules and stuff. I know theres an easier way.

I also have some compensation questions if anyone is sorta familiar with how this sort of stuff generally works. Im 25 and this is still my first job outta college. Im not super business savvy.

The bigger question is why the company is having a sales rep be a project manager. You should be more focused on bringing in new revenue instead of insuring what you sold is done, which obviously distracted you for many hours if not days or weeks, resulting in less sales for you and the company. There should be another person at the company as a project manager. Perhaps ask older reps or your manager on how they would tackle this sort of thing.

Snatch Duster fucked around with this message at 20:36 on Dec 29, 2015

# ¿ Dec 29, 2015 20:33

Snatch Duster: Feb 20, 2007; by FactsAreUseless

DogsCantBudget posted:

Anyone willing to review a resume to help me make my 3 months of SE experience look powerful and captivating to be able to score a different SE job?

Do you know your numbers? Cuz they are the only thing that matters really.

# ¿ Jan 16, 2016 22:36

Snatch Duster: Feb 20, 2007; by FactsAreUseless

DogsCantBudget posted:

I was in it for 3 months...in a non commission demonstration based role...There were no numbers to talk about. I did a total of ~20 demos during that time, none of which were end-stage or culminated in a sale.

Uh, so what did you do in the down time between demonstrations?

# ¿ Jan 18, 2016 01:11

Snatch Duster: Feb 20, 2007; by FactsAreUseless

DogsCantBudget posted:

Prep for other demos, read sales books(since I had just moved into sales), listen/sit in on other peoples demos, learn how to use Salesforce a bit(since I had never used it before), lear more about the product, read white papers, etc.

Also I wrote a custom tool that the team will continue to use on a day to day basis even after my departure.

Here is a small write up I would use on my resume if I had your experience

- Gave 30 product demos in 60 days
- Move $XXX through pipeline
- Wrote custom X tool
- Salesforce CRM trained
- SPIN and Strong sales trained

Besides that you don't have much. Being a product demo/slide deck sales guy sucks. My suggestion is finding an outside sales gig or a gig that you control the entire process from cold lead to demo to close. That way you have skills at every stage of the sale cycle, which makes you a better catch for sales directors. As it is right now, most companies are trying to turn their sales team into the model in Predictable Revenue, which worked very well for Salesforce.

shut up netface posted:

I'm really really excited that I had found this thread.

Currently I am a live product demonstrator for high end consumer appliances. in a nutshell, I convince people to purchase a 500 dollar blender. I had a great year in 2015, I'm currently ranked 32/180 demonstrators in the east coast, however I don't feel as if this is a long term gig. I've been here for 2.5 years, see no chance of moving up the ladder, and due to the fact that I have to cover nearly ALL of my own travel expenses, I'm looking to make a change at some point in the future.

HOWEVER- I don't have a traditional sales background, I was looking to break into more of outside sales, seeing how inside sales makes me want to eat a loving bullet. Is there a way to transmute my unorthodox skills into something more palatable for employers, or find specific niches that would be a good fit?

2.5 years as a product demonstrator is quiet long. I am surprised you couldn't move into another position, gently caress even a trainer would be better. My suggestion is finding a company like Hibu (they sell digital marketing) who love their sales folks, give large base salaries, and great commissions. From what I understand of their org they have three positions; Outside sales rep, product demo, and retention. Product demonstrator is typically reserved for outside sales rep to move into once they understand the product really well, but you don't want to fall back into product demo trap again.

I guess my advice fits for both of you, find a company like Hibu, that will give you a shot at outside sales. Most of these outside sales type of companies are going to be marketing agencies since SaaS and hardware like do poo poo ton of marketing so they can bring in leads for their sales teams. Or you'll end up working for a regional company selling prosthetic limbs or drugs. These marketing qualified leads, as you experienced, are typically poo poo. While the outside sales guys get to bring in the sales they want to pursue, which typically are bigger deals.

# ¿ Jan 18, 2016 17:09

Snatch Duster: Feb 20, 2007; by FactsAreUseless

shut up netface posted:

Thanks!
I actually have trained, however it doesn't exactly offer any perks aside form dealing with someone who is completely green, its a huge hassle, and I don't normally do it. Admittedly, I have worked there 2.5 years on and off, once working for a horrendous print ad sales job for a niche market magazine for a month and a half. Holy poo poo never again. I'll gloss over that in the resume of course. I will scope out Hibu,

Training wasn't a full time position or part of management path? That is very odd and worrying. Print advertising is horrible, its not the 90s anymore. So companies like Yellow Pages and Hibu aka Yellow Book, have moved over to digital. The cushy sales gigs there are outside sales one where you bring in new business and the other one is the retention, where you move over existing print clients to digital. Base is $52k + about $10k in benefits, if I recall.

# ¿ Jan 18, 2016 21:26

Snatch Duster: Feb 20, 2007; by FactsAreUseless

shut up netface posted:

it's a commission only gig, you're completely independent, and you'll usually work 5-10 days straight, then have approx the same time off, and management is extremely hands off. These take place from opening to closing in retail venues (primarily costco). Admittedly, its an unorthodox line of work but in 2015 i made a rough calculation on my gross income for the year and it was pretty much the same as Hibu.

I intend on doing better than I did last year, however I'm planning on doing some serious life changes (getting engaged) in 2016 so I feel as if I'm at a crossroads.

At Hibu, i know this to be a fact since my brother works there, he makes 52k base and commissions is netting him 112k last year. He roughly worked 5 - 10 hours a week from home. He is by no means the top 20% in the company.

# ¿ Jan 19, 2016 16:35

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# ¿ Apr 27, 2024 18:07

Snatch Duster: Feb 20, 2007; by FactsAreUseless

Kraftwerk posted:

Any tips on how to market myself better for a new outside sales position? My company has basically thrown me to the wolves and my sales director still hasn't given me any training programs. I'm brand new to the sales world and I thought I'd get some proper sales training. That was not the case. I'm probably secure for the rest of the year after they firm up what kind of numbers I'll need to meet. But I've been fruitlessly getting the door slammed in my face over and over and the only business I am even coming CLOSE to securing is a 200 grand deal to our competitor who is reselling our product with his own margin added in.

There's already been talk way up high in my organization about why we aren't "Going out and getting" the apparently vast opportunities the Canadian manufacturing sector has. (There really aren't any).

I am still better positioned compared to my old job but I'll be honest this company is a gong show. The sooner I get into SaaS or some other kind of business and get subjected to a proper training program the better I can develop my sales career. As it stands I'm spinning my wheels. I lost 3 deals due to the price of our product in spite of initial customer excitement. One company was pumped to get our product until the purchasing manager vetoed the decision and bought cheaper crates from our competitor.

So how do I get a new job when I can't even post numbers to prove I'm a good catch? Will I need to take a pay cut and slave away in inside sales for a bit before I can get back to a nicer job?

There is always a better sales job out there. Knowing your numbers, and having good ones, isn't that big of deal but it does help prove you know your poo poo and that you are a professional. I went from inside sales call center to an outside sales position, then moved into manager within two years. The trick is finding the right company. I would recommend finding a company that has growth potential that you can directly affect with your sales. That way when it is time for promotion or increase in salary, you have really strong case since you directly affected the companies growth.

# ¿ Jan 19, 2016 16:41

The Something Awful Forums > Discussion > Ask/Tell > Business, Finance, and Careers > Ask/Tell us about being in Sales! (We're a notch below "Child Molester")

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