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The title is tongue-in-cheek, but those of us who have been in sales long enough know that this is an all-too-pervasive perception of us. I wanted to put together a thread for those of us in sales, from low-end to high-end and everything in between. If you sell in a department store, sell cars, pharmaceuticals, medical device, capital equipment, software, etc., this a good place for us to share our war stories, answer questions for those not in sales, and also implore those not in sales to stay out of this horrible life we live in (just kidding...sort of). About me: I finished college with a BA in Broadcasting, Telecommunicatons and Mass Media (useless degree), and went straight into sales as an insurance/mutual fund broker. That didn't work, as all of my friends were too young and broke to buy anything, and the rest of my family had given all of their money to my cousin who was a VP at a very large investment firm. I then sold yellow pages (if you can sell that you can sell anything), and afterwards broke into medical sales (low-level commodities). Then, it was into the OR where I sold surgical devices and spent a lot of time working surical cases with them (have been in about 1000 or so, give or take). Next, I moved into capital sales (medical device) where I have been for the past seven years, recently becoming a manager and no longer "carrying the bag." If anyone has questions for me, fire away. If anyone else wants to share their experiences, go right ahead.
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Mar 4, 2014 21:34
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Leroy Diplowski posted:I'm thinking of applying for a sales job, but I'm not sure if I'm qualified. Salary-wise, I don't think it will pay all that much, but the question is really "where do you want to end up in the long run?" One of the best sales jobs there is, that many companies will hire from is Enterprise Car Rental. Their training programs are excellent, and I've known a few who ended up in high-level sales from there. Sales (if you want to do it for a living) is a series of stepping stones. You start out at the "bottom" and work your way up to your ultimate goal. All of the moves I've made were ones to advance my career and income. If you start out with the endgame in mind, you will do well (assuming again that sales is the career you want). So, let me ask: What is your ultimate goal? That might give me a better idea as to where you might want to look. Your first sales job often will determine the entire trajectory. Resume isn't as important in the beginning - how you conduct yourself on an interview is. Deep Winter posted:"Oh, uh, no sir, again we have a new customer database-" This logic is beautiful in so many ways. Count Freebasie fucked around with this message at 00:12 on Mar 5, 2014 |
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Mar 5, 2014 00:01
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mobby_6kl posted:We're using Concur and while it does have some weird quirks (can't have a comma in the comment field!), expense tracking does work pretty well, as does the integration with ERP. I don't have any experience with the competition (other than old-school SAP) but it got to be a pretty good deal for anyone stuck with emailing excel files around and what not. We still have to submit paper receipts but that's just a policy issue obviously. Concur is way better than the days of taping receipts to paper and then faxing them in, especially with the iphone app. I just photograph my receipts and then fill them out later when I do my reports. Apparently Concur just hired some maniac listed as "Concur Auditor 1" who flagged over 30 of my expenses, and I've never had a report kicked back in the years that I've been using it. Everyone at my company wants to murder this rear end in a top hat. This last month's expense report was over $3500, and I don't need this fuckhead holding up my money over trivial bullshit.
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Mar 22, 2016 15:38
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lord1234 posted:Going through the interview process in a Sales role for the first time has me intimidated. I've done the standard googling of "Sales interview questions", but would love to hear what you guys use as some good standby's for weeding people out. I had a phone screen(which I passed) but had to think fast on my feet when asked "what do you see as the competitive landscape for <company>?", so any good questions you guys can suggest are great. The role in question is for Sales Engineer. I'm late to respond to this, but here is what I do. I'm in medical device, and unlike pharma, I don't have a list of set questions that I need to ask. My interviews "seem" unstructured and are very conversational, but that's because I'm sizing up the candidate and seeing how likable they are, how well they can tell a story, and how well they can communicate. When it comes down to it, people buy from who they like. When a candidate presents their resume to me (and I have already seen it, as I get their resumes from recruiters and then do a phone interview before they get the chance to meet with me), I glance at it and push it aside. I don't care how many awards they won, etc., because that can be made up, and the numbers are not always indicative of talent. You may be a great salesperson, but someone else in your company finished at number one because they got a large corporate deal, or maybe their territory is larger, or whatever. There have been many people at my company who won "Rep of the Year" or were in the CEO Club who were gone the next year because they weren't good in the long run. It's like the athlete with the amazing rookie season who never becomes a star over his career. The most important things that I look for are intelligence and quick-thinking. Just like on a sales call, someone will throw an objection at you. I want to see how quick you can overcome that objection without stumbling over your words or looking like a deer in headlights. Another telltale sign of intelligence for me is someone with a wise-rear end sense of humor, meaning, if I say something, and you can whip a witty retort back at me, I know that your brain works quickly, and that you can think fast on your feet. Sales (at least on the higher-end where I am), is about being likable, having a good reputation and being able to tell a story. People who have the gift of gab can be trained well. Most of it can't be taught, though. Kind of like having rhythm; you have it or you don't. All of the people I know who do well in sales are naturally entertainers, not shy, able to tell a story at the bar and have everyone listen, etc. When interviewing, do your research on the company, it's products, competition, etc. But above all, you're selling you as a likable person who can talk to anyone and communicate effectively, while not taking "no" for an answer, yet doing it in a respectful way.
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Mar 22, 2016 15:53
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Jordan7hm posted:The best salespeople I've met aren't always the best talkers. They're the ones who actually do what they say they'll do. The rookie with an amazing season who never repeats is almost always a great talker. Doing what you'll say you're going to do is a given. All of the good salespeople I know are good talkers, and I'm not saying smooth/slick-talkers. Those people don't last, I hope you weren't conflating the two based on what I was saying. e: It also depends on the level of sales we're talking about. When I was making $50k a year selling Yellow Pages back in 2000, there were "good" salespeople there who were making $75k plus. My best reps top out at over $300k. It's a different level as far as skill sets and abilities in this type of sale. Count Freebasie fucked around with this message at 16:14 on Mar 22, 2016 |
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Mar 22, 2016 16:08
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Kraftwerk posted:I grossly underestimated how little it matters that you can present and explain things if you don't have the charisma to get a guy to talk to you and agree to a meeting in the first place. I don't know your sales ability, as I don't know you, but this right there is a very important point that most people don't get about sales. Tons of people I know say "I can do what you do, people like me, I'm really knowledgeable regarding "x"..." You hit the nail directly on the head with that. That being said, I always tell my new reps (and really, it applies to everything in life) "Fake it 'til you make it." Act confident, project that you belong there, and that that person needs to see you; they would be losing out if they didn't. Just practicing doing that will lead to success, and success breeds success. Personality goes a long way. Ever wonder why you see average looking guys with really attractive girls? It's not always the default "oh, he's got money." People (men and women) are attracted to confident people. If you don't have the confidence, you can build it. I used to tell people just getting into sales to practice confidence by saying "hi" to five strangers per day, and then see if you can start conversations (about anything) with five strangers per day. It's a simple exercise and will build your confidence and skills with rapport. No mater how important the person you're speaking to is, in your head, make them your equal. Strip away the power, titles, and prestige, and they're just people; no different than you or me. Count Freebasie fucked around with this message at 16:39 on Mar 22, 2016 |
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Mar 22, 2016 16:31
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That is part of the trick to sales; it is acting, to a degree. Where amateurs fail is that they try to be someone who they're not. For people who are good, it is being able to speak with everyone and connect with them on some level, even when you really don't like them or care for them. It is extremely taxing having to put on that front all day, but it's no worse than hanging out with the GF's friends who you can't stand and just playing nice while you're out. Quick story: one of my reps is this guy who is basically a GQ cover model come to life. Very intelligent, likable, women throw themselves at him like I've never seen, he's got the BMW 7-series, etc. When I interviewed him, he was great, very likable, and modest, though by appearance you would assume he wouldn't be. On one of the first calls I accompanied him on, he started talking in a very stiff, "professional" manner, and the call didn't go well. He was so focused on coming off as a professional that I had to remind him that I hired the guy at the interview, not the "sales professional" I just saw. Once he loosened up and started being himself, he was doing fine. That's why I believe some people are natural salespeople. He already had all of those likable qualities, but he was putting on some weird veneer that he thought would help, but in fact was a hindrance. I told him "I can teach you everything about our product and what we do, but I can't teach you how to sell." People who do this for life are pretty much born to do it. Lots of people try it after college and may do it for a short while, but for those of us who have made it our careers, it's something that all of my peers who have been doing this for a while have come to do naturally. You can always improve upon your skill set, but if you feel that this isn't the right fit, and you don't like doing it, get out before you've been in it for so long that you're less marketable for other positions. You can make a lot of money in sales, if you're good, but if you don't like it, it is a miserable job to have. I happen to be one of those people who lives to negotiate, interact with people, meet new people, network, etc. And the people I work with who are successful are all pretty much the same way, and we're all normal people. There are no Alec Baldwins from "Glengarry Glen Ross" at my company, because snakes like that are easy to spot and a bad reputation builds fast and carries far. They normally don't last long. I know many people in the industry outside of my company from rep level to CEO, and they are all pretty much normal people, albeit very intelligent ones who know how to get a message across and are very good at reading others and they are very good at being cognizant of what they say. People who like to speak their mind all of the time don't last long.
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Mar 22, 2016 17:56
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Snatch Duster posted:I agree with everything you said, except this part. Alec Baldwins "Blake," or gently caress YOU, isn't a snake. Blake is the superstar that always performs, but you never see him actually work. He is Napoleon, a genius at what he does but he doesn't help or teach anyone on how to repeat his success. All you see is his massive ego and absurd numbers. I was using snake as a pejorative; more along the lines of a douchebag or fuckhead. I agree with your assessment of the characters. I meant only to imply that guys who are assholes like that don't last in the (at least my) industry. If your type of sales is like theirs, where you make your deal and move on to the next target, you may be able to get away with that, but if you are in a type of sale that requires relationship building and maintenance, and the ability to network well using your past customers as referrals, you get black-balled pretty fast, at least in what I do. We have a few people like that at my company, but it's not a good position to be in. As a manager, sure, my main concern is my reps are hitting their numbers, otherwise I don't hit mine. But, people like that are riding only on their numbers, and when the time comes that they start slipping, we pull the trigger on people like that fast, and we do it with pleasure. I have a team that reports to me, and toxic people on my team (or any in the company) are like a cancer and just bring others down. If you're universally disliked at a company, the axiom "You're only as good as your last sale" will apply to you, fast. People like that will never be leaders, as their only concern is themselves and everyone is easily able to see it, so they are never groomed for management or advancement. They will eventually piss off the wrong person or burn the wrong customer, and then they become a liability, and I can normally find a good replacement for anyone on my team within a few months, if not less. Count Freebasie fucked around with this message at 22:52 on Mar 22, 2016 |
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Mar 22, 2016 22:49
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5-HT posted:Well, I'm back in the pitching life again. Literally acting a Director of Sales & Marketing for a merch service company. It's a headache at times, but the money is great. I'm trying to find some more outside reps that I can get other members on my team to funnel through to me to recruit. Currently our recruiters are mostly reaching out to other merch services people via doing resume pulls + emailing + calling from CareerBuilder and then dropping the resumes from one folder to the next in dropbox so I can keep track of the flow. It's worked so far, and I've recruited people on my team who are being groomed into running their own sales teams in the next couple of months after I see enough sales from them. The operation also provides these guys preset appointments with owners and a high owner availability rate, large commissions per POS sold, and a draw per merch account sold, trip bonuses, gas allowances, etc. so for the reps it's a pretty sweet deal. Yo, I haven't checked back on this thread in ages, obviously, but LinkedIn is pretty good. We normally pay recruiters $10k for a candidate, and a colleague of mine got a decent rep off of LinkedIn. I usually just let the recruiters do the work for me, as I don't have the time to go and scout people on top of what I already do, but apparently it worked for my buddy, and we are very selective about our hires.
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Jun 7, 2016 18:45
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