- Waroduce
- Aug 5, 2008
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I was hired out of college into a sales position by a company that does enterprise software and Managed print services. I started selling copiers up and down the street as well as acting as account manager/exec. I was ok at it, but I moved into doing bids/rfps for local, state and federal entities as well as large corporations. I personally have one of the largest school districts in the nation, some colleges and we've been very successful in the education vertical market.
I hated the phones, preferred to cold call, but still didnt like trying to sell people a single copier. Now I sit at a desk and read/fill itbs and rfps all day. Im responsible for project management and implementation when we win, but work closely with our it dudes when it involves software.
Its p nice
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Nov 13, 2014 18:03
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Apr 28, 2024 19:52
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- Waroduce
- Aug 5, 2008
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Man I wish my company had someone in this type of position. RFPs are the devil... especially government ones. Literally hundreds of questions and then they want the 7 copies of the RFP printed and bound, six in some archaic electronic format, and two chickens slaughtered at the crest of the full moon.
One I'm working on now requires 1 original, 1 copy on USB and SIXTEEN copies, of a several hundred page proposal .
I enjoy dropping them off or mailing them in comically large cardboard boxes when people require poo poo like that
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Nov 13, 2014 18:32
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- Waroduce
- Aug 5, 2008
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Working on an rfp, looking through a list of equipment and sites for a college
offical college gun range? A good idea
none of you dox me
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Nov 18, 2014 17:56
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- Waroduce
- Aug 5, 2008
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Lots of them have it. Many times it's run by the ROTC program, and they use pellet guns due to city ordinances or whatever.
No poo poo? I have colleges and have never seen it before. I guess rotc isnt big around here. Idk. Makes sense though
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Nov 18, 2014 18:30
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- Waroduce
- Aug 5, 2008
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Sales sales sales
Got short-listed on a bid, presentation in the middle of nowhere, small, hick rear end town with alotta churches and wallmart and jesus billboards
Do not want
Why is your hq here, wtf.
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Jan 9, 2015 18:02
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- Waroduce
- Aug 5, 2008
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Selling to VITO was required during my training, I remeber it being ok, but SPIN selling is super awesome. I highly recommend you get your hands on it somehow.
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Feb 4, 2015 15:37
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- Waroduce
- Aug 5, 2008
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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
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Feb 25, 2015 17:22
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- Waroduce
- Aug 5, 2008
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Hows tobacco? I have no soul and would not mind selling or negotiating for big tobacco/oil/pharma
Stripper attitude, only money makes me move
E: my girl is actually in the phd program for a top 5 chemistry program and has professor that place students into their own businesses, several of them work pharmaceuticals and when they found out I was in sales and successful at social events asked if id be interested in a position. I dont know dick about pharma though. Is anyone in it here?
Waroduce fucked around with this message at 04:03 on Mar 12, 2015
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Mar 12, 2015 03:59
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- Waroduce
- Aug 5, 2008
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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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- Waroduce
- Aug 5, 2008
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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
- Aug 5, 2008
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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.
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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- Waroduce
- Aug 5, 2008
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fff
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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- Waroduce
- Aug 5, 2008
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You can always sell copiers if you want to but it's a rough industry.
You can make a lot of money, but it's a hardddd grind to establish yourself
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Apr 18, 2015 08:45
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- Waroduce
- Aug 5, 2008
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What do you guys think about copier salesmen or the copier industry
Its where I started so im curious
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May 13, 2015 21:22
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- Waroduce
- Aug 5, 2008
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Reminder to bring kosher donuts to closings involving jewish clients
loving kosher donuts
Oh we can't eat them if they aren't kosher
Im going to wear a fuckin yamica next time
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May 22, 2015 20:44
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- Waroduce
- Aug 5, 2008
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Everyones money is green
But lol if you dont hate everyone equally
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May 22, 2015 23:57
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- Waroduce
- Aug 5, 2008
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My companies sales personell suck but everyone they hire on sucks more what do?
Go into sales urself and show those dumb sales people how to do it
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May 27, 2015 03:21
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- Waroduce
- Aug 5, 2008
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So is it normal for people to tell you to call them back only for you to get stonewalled after?
Yea cause its an easy way to get you to shut up and off the phone
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Aug 11, 2015 22:30
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- Waroduce
- Aug 5, 2008
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Im not strictly sales anymore, I moved into project management, but we got a new vp of sales and I still hang in the bullpen sometimes and hile started a meeting last week with this
The Joy of a Salesman - Ep. 1: http://youtu.be/cVLAvix-dX0
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Aug 18, 2015 02:18
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- Waroduce
- Aug 5, 2008
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Laserfiche VAR, and office equipment. Everything from computers, laptops, displays, servers to copiers and printers with some IT support sprinkled in
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Aug 30, 2015 01:15
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- Waroduce
- Aug 5, 2008
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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.
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Dec 29, 2015 19:35
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- Waroduce
- Aug 5, 2008
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I am cross posting this from Career Paths
I'm not really sure where to put this, so I figure I'll ask here and move it if it doesn't belong. I need some serious advice if you guys don't mind reading a wall of text.
I'm 26 and have been in sales for almost 3 years with the same company. They hired me straight out of college at 30K a year. I need a job. Fine. The company does around 300$ million in business a year, is one of the largest independent dealers in the US, has several fortune 500 clients, and is in general a really cool and good place to work in the other branches. The CEO wanted to expand into this state, and purchased an existing dealership, fired everyone but the owner who now acts as GM and Sales Manager out of a little office in a lovely part of town. He recently got a brand spanking sexy new office and warehouse space in a nicer part of town. i worked up and down the street for about a year and a half selling multi-function copiers up and down the street. Alot of cold calls, telemarketing, all that poo poo. I was ok, i covered my base and made quota consistently. I wasn't great but I covered my numbers in a competitive industry in a competitive market.
About a year and a half into this, i found a bid for one of the largest school districts in the nation (top 10, 300+ schools, 40+ business locations, 250K+ students, 36K staff) that was due in like two weeks. I read the whole thing, and filled it out. Wrote my own scope of work, pulled references, priced out options and equipment. I emailed the financials to the CEO, CFO, VP of Sales, my immediate boss (and GM/SM/Owner) whom we'll call Bob before turning it in for review because we use internal leasing and I'm asking the company to front several million dollars. No on said anything so I submitted it.
I won. It is by an order of magnitude the largest single hardware deal in the company, we placed over 1000 copiers into the district. I had a discussion with Bob where he told me verbally that i would be salaried at 50-60K and would earn approximately $60,000 in manufacturer spiffs (kickbacks, a sort of rewards program). Cool.
The deal as Structured in whats called a cost per page or cost per click agreement. You pay every time you print, and the click rate has your equipment cost, service, labor, parts, toner etc included in it. We came in half a million dollars cheaper than the next closest in competition, and if you do bidding, thats a lot of loving money. Turned out i essentially used a 60 month lease rate on a 36 month contract, which gave us our low low price. The CEO ran the numbers after we won, and figured we would break even or be in the red slightly on the account if their volume (pages printed) remained static. If they grew 5% we'd make a bunch of loving money according to him. I was ecstatic because i was tired of doing up and down the street sales, and now i got to manage this major account which is a hell of a reference and I figured a hell of a resume builder.
The incumbent bidder drags us to court protesting, just as an effort to drag their existing contract out and continue to collect. Bob fronts like 60K in lawyers fees fighting a bullshit protest and we win six months later. I continue to sell during this period and hit quota.
Bob plans on bringing in Phil, a major project manager for corporate who basically does large private and public entity bidding and implements them.
We have about a month and a half until we are to start the project, literally two days before school starts and that's a nightmare, because we are going to be crawling all over schools pulling out copiers, putting ours in, networking them, deploying drivers, configuring features and training users during the busiest period of the year. During this period, I start building a deployment schedule, until the district tells us they don't have all the schools Purchase Orders in and we will have to deploy as we receive purchase orders, because we aren't installing equipment without one. Ok. I still have yet to recieve any purchase orders, but I have estimated total device quantities and a map of the district. I go out and speak to property managers about short-term rentals and arrange for us to rent a warehouse in prime location in the middle of the district between two highways as a place to build and stage equipment.
Corporate sends us the guy who manages warehouses and inventory for the entire company to help me deploy this project. We work all week before we are to begin deploying the district offices and one of the larger business centers. He's a life saver, because he ties equipment to the entity in our system and creates sales orders for us to put equipment out. I oversee a team of foreign engineers and American reps the equipment manufacturer whose product we used sent us. I have them building, updating and staging equipment in the warehouse around the clock all week.
Bob has a brief discussion with me about pay, where he tells me it probably can't be 60K since he's gunna lose money out the gate, and that he needs half my spiffs (approx 30k) to give to Phil to cover his cost/pay on the project. I disagree, but am overruled because its a large account and I've never done anything like this. Bob goes to play golf across the country all week. I text and call him all week about hammering out my compensation, and he basically tells me i can take 36K and half the spiffs or he'll find someone else to do it...over text message....Saturday morning.
I agree, because I really want to put this on my resume, I'm making 30k from the manufacturer and i don't have another job lined up. So we go from 60 toooo 36K. I should have refused but I didn't. Im fresh out of college and loving dumb. He says we'll revisit salary when he sees what the account is making.
So we start deployment monday, Phil helps for approx two weeks, and goes home. Never touches the account again, doesn't handle it, made 30k. Which pisses me off.
Moving on, I do everything for this account.
1. I build truck routes, tell the drivers what needs to be on each truck, coordinate with each site to arrange delivery and coordinate with the warehouse to make sure we have the necessary amount of units built, staged and updated for installation.
2. I am the single point of contact between my company and the account. I receive approx. 200 emails a day about various issues ranging from paper jamming to invoice questions. Technical and non technical. I dispatch service calls, trainers, engineers and networkers to sites as they have problems.
3. I build routes for installation teams typically a day or two behind the truck, who are responsible for installing the copier, deploying drivers, networking, end-user training, power training technical users and getting everything up and running. I have also installed sites myself, led installation teams and done all this from the ground up.
4. I sit between our respective Accounts department and help solve invoice and payment issues.
5. Handle ordering of hardware and accessories
I deploy roughly 1000 copiers over a period of 3 months, going all day often 7AM to 9 or 10PM. I had guys tell me to stop emailing them so late, or theyd just turn their phone off cause my guys are getting their routes at 10 o'clock at night for the following day. Just me, and the teams under me, but Phil is no where to be found. I oversee a team of approx 20-40 people day to day for the first 3 months of deployment and a team of 15 day in and day out now.
We mostly finish deployment, thank loving god around mid January.... and we realize we can't ping half our devices. We have pushed out 1000+ copiers and have approx. 450~ on a DCA (data collection agent, a software hooked up to the districts network to ask devices to report copy meter counts for billing). Well that's just hunky dory, now we need to find those other ones and make sure we can talk to them so we can bill the account and figure what we're going to make. We have also installed extra option on some copiers for an extra fee such as stapling capability, upgraded engines, or software applications. Well we need to make sure we're billing those accessories and add-ons as well so Bob decides we are going to audit every location in the district.
He hires two people, we split the district into thirds and go about visiting every school, performing an audit for devices and accessories as well as training and customer care. Both those guys were hired late last year, and both quit....roughly 3 weeks ago.
So now its just me. Making 36K, and I'm pretty pissed about it, because this audit is going to take forever and meanwhile im driving my car into the ground and blowing through gas. I'm also not selling so I get no income from that, I approached him at the end of last year about a raise and he told me that he couldn't because he's loosing money on the account, losing money on his business as he remodels his new office, and the only reason he kept the account was because the CEO told him to or it'd go to the closest branch in another city. He can't afford to pay me right now till he sees what the account makes, but he assures me i'll get paid. I feel like i have been a team player and would like to be rewarded at this point. I'd be ecstatic with 45-50K, but I spoke to a buddy at work and he doesn't think i'll get it.
I am going to begin putting my resume out and ask him in two to three weeks when i have some interviews and stuff under my belt about a raise...because I feel like my skills are above that mark at this point, and i am managing the largest account in the company. I also can't live on 36K anymore, i want to pursue grad school, my gf and I want to move in together among other things. Im not even sure what i want out of grad school but my girl is really pushing me for it and i feel like its a good decision so...yea.
So goons....should I ask him for a raise, and if so how should I? and if not, what are some types of positions I should look for? I literally haven't updated my resume since college and i have no idea how to put that account on it. I also really don't want to go back into sales.
Thank you for reading this wall of text
please let me know if you have any questions.
e: I also do SLED bidding for the company now and won two other contracts in different government districts, as well as placing well in several others I submitted.
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Mar 21, 2016 21:11
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- Waroduce
- Aug 5, 2008
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Get your spiff and get out (from working for Bob). gently caress guys like that.
You may actually want to speak with your corporate and explore options in other offices if your side of the project went well. If it did, they would probably want to keep you.
Especially if you have a line to the CEO.
I do have a line on the CEO, but the company is based out of fly over states and I don't really wanna work there. I am apparently used as an example of success for new trainees lmao.
I need some serious resume help though, what do you guys put on your sales resumes? can anyone recommend a service even though i want to get out of sales, im not sure how to descibe my positions. I did straight sales for like a year and a half and project management after that
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Mar 21, 2016 22:21
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- Waroduce
- Aug 5, 2008
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On the opposite end of the guy above me, I'm looking for something to transition out of sales into.
I've been doing tech sales, primarily services around the IBM portfolio, specifically the IM stack around analytics and data architecture. I've been here for about 7 years now, and for the first 5 years it was good - drat good. I liked the autonomy I had working for a small company and for awhile it was good. The last 18 months or so, however, have been rough. I'm concerned about the company's viability in the long run - the business we used to do is drying up as more tools are replacing people and consultants, and the company isn't embracing new technologies that would complement our existing skills - not just open source products such as Apache Spark and Hadoop, but even IBM products such as Watson.
I've been looking for another job and whiffing on interviews and I came to the realization last night that I'm burned out on sales. I'm burned out on having a quota, I'm burned out on working for a small company where there is, at times, very little support and zero inclination from the top down to branch out. For the past year now, I've been unable to have conversations with some customers about the technology they want to talk about simply because even if I successfully closed, I have nothing to sell.
That said, I do love working with customers on hard challenges, I love the creativity of it, and I love the speed at which technology evolves. I just can't seem to figure out what would be a good role for me though - to be fair, this really occurred to me just last night. Any ideas?
I've found transition / implementation positions easy to get interest from, but I'm 26 and have way less experience than everyone here
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Apr 11, 2016 21:54
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Apr 28, 2024 19:52
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- Waroduce
- Aug 5, 2008
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Have you read SPIN Selling? That book is probably your best bet to figuring out how to do outbound sales. Its about crafting questions to be asking your prospective clients. It works for selling Xerox machines up to 50 million dollar advertising contracts.
http://www.amazon.com/SPIN-Selling-Neil-Rackham/dp/1565114205
SPIN is really good
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May 19, 2016 00:13
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Nov 13, 2014 18:03
