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Through out the years of being a sales guy on the street, take it fom me you're only as good as your last month or your last quarter.

I was really upset to find out today that a long time friend in the industry quit his job. He worked for Global in New England.

Basically, he was sick and tired of being micro managed to death with the mandatory telemarketing, the monitoring of your database, the questioning of where are you, what are you doing, and the complex comp plans that are nothing more than a rip off to the sales people.

Bascially, the industry went from paying thier sales people well to now making sure most of them don't make more than 125K per year. And in order to make more you have to work untold hours that no one gives you credit for.

This is not a whine of ***** session for me, this about a superior rep that got sick and tired of the BS that's handed out on a daily basis. You have some managers that all they do is manage a software program that gives them reports on dials, opps and connections. No knowledge of the what each system can do and can't do.

It seems like the industry is not cultivating sales reps, they are cultivating prospectors and that's all they want is people who can prospect. Hey, it's a numbers game and every squirrel finds an acorn every now and then.

The thought of someone selling a system and having no clue to how it works or how it does what is does is frightening. But. that's whats being taught. As they weed through those who can and can't prospect, they still have thier valued database, it seems more valued than people.

There's those that know how to sell, have the desire to sell, the determination to do well and above all the dedication to be the best at what they do. Well...... leave them alone and let them sell, don't waste thier time with launches, training sessions, and how many calls you made. The good salespeople will get this done on thier own. Stop thinking about the almight buck and start thinking about be a true company that consultants and create solutions that has clients coming back for more.

Enough said! Angry

Enough said!
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quote:
Originally posted by CashGap:
quote:
Stop thinking about the almight buck and start thinking about be a true company that consultants and create solutions that has clients coming back for more.


That is truly dangerous advice. We can't confuse means and ends, or the bank eventually padlocks the door.



But, what can be done is to be more creative with your senior reps to keep them on board and in the industry.

Here's a few things that "managers" don't see throughout the course of a day a week or a month.

Many questions about product knowledge are addressed to the senior rep rather than management.

Alot of "what would you do or how would you handle this" are addressed to the senior rep before the "manager"

How can I get this deal or what's the best way to approach this customer are addressed to the senior rep.

These are just a few of the behind the scenes senarios that the "bean counters" do not see and can't put a price tag on it.

Special exceptions need to be made either behind the scenes or upfront for these type of senior reps.
Wow....I really liked Boston Mike contributions. But I feel his pain with micro-managing. I use to work for a vendor where I was micro-managed to death. It drove me crazy. It got to the point where I knew more about this industry and product line than my own manager. They were just the pencil pusher. They could not even do their own demo in the field and rep looked to them for help....but guess what they had no answers. How embarrassing. Then I hear about the other extreme when your manager has their team and has the responsibility to run this team. They think when they sell a big account that they do need to train end users and dish off the training to the sr. rep or another rep. They take no time to utilize the same resources available to other reps to answer a question their own customer has. However they are also allowed to sell and anything they are working on comes first and you cannot get your own work done because you are waiting on them for info to help you do your own job. Guess what they make the big commission and you waste your time doing their work and make nothing. Wait isn't that a conflict of interest? You betcha it is! They take major accounts that another rep brought to the table for the company when it should have been the reps. They take pretty much every current customer even when there are territories. They allow house accounts even though the sales force has territories. Isn't that crazy! The list goes on. They may be a good closer but do not follow the industry trends and knows very little about the product line or how to manage. I have spoken with many with many reps over time. That is why there is such a massive turnover of reps in this industry they may last 6 to 8 months at best. We are losing good dedicated very intelligent people because of these people that we are suppose to look up to.
MONTECORE!

Excellent post! I feel your pain and agree with all of your points! There are selling managers and truth be told, don't expect any decent leads when you company has selling managers. You'll prety much get the small stuff or the off product stuff that they know little or nothing about.

Which leads me to:

How can you do two things at once. How can you be an effective sales manager and sell? Personally, I don't think you can. There's not enough hours in the day!

Get this, there are dealerships that do not allow reps to go out after the sale and give the customer some hands on training. Now you might as, why is that? Well, first all of it's because the reps know nothing about the systems that they are selling.

Let me ask a sales manager, how and who does that benefit? On many occassions after I train or while I'm training a customer I've un covered an additional option or an additional feature that they need.

Like I said before there are many good managers and many bad managers, most of the bad managers were poor at selling boxes and that's why they are now managers. One of the first questions I ask when I meet someone in the industry is how long were you at your last company, and how about before that one and the one before. Just getting those answers tells you an aweful lot about them.
quote:


But, what can be done is to be more creative with your senior reps to keep them on board and in the industry.

Here's a few things that "managers" don't see throughout the course of a day a week or a month.

Many questions about product knowledge are addressed to the senior rep rather than management.

Alot of "what would you do or how would you handle this" are addressed to the senior rep before the "manager"

How can I get this deal or what's the best way to approach this customer are addressed to the senior rep.

These are just a few of the behind the scenes senarios that the "bean counters" do not see and can't put a price tag on it.

Special exceptions need to be made either behind the scenes or upfront for these type of senior reps.


I think the senior reps will totally agree.
I have been with the same company since I started in the industry and these stories are all too familiar. Congrats to Boston Mike for his courageous move to leave when he knew all too well how much he was getting screwed!

Art - the narrative you provided for Boston Mike's experience is unfortunately, mine as well. Micromanaged to insanity. Even more so, the team is not well trained and the business is more and more shifting to "solutions". What a painful experience!
Thanks to all for the kind words. I will have always have copiers in my blood and who knows maybe you will see me at another dealership.

I will still be involved here and might even make it down to On Demand with Art. Wink

Stay true to yourself and your family. If you are at a company that clips your wings, go find a company that will let you do your thing.

I will leave you with this from the Song "Chicken Fried" from the Zac Brown Band:
"And its funny how it`s the simple things in life that mean the most
Not where you live or what you drive or the price tag on your clothes
There`s no dollar sign on a piece of mind this I`ve come to know
So if you agree have a drink with me
Raise you glasses for a toast."


God Bless,
Boston Mike
Boston Mike,

I'd like to chime in, too, and wish you all the best wherever your career takes you.

As I read the original post, I was really struck by how very differently a company like mine, a good strong independent with excellent leadership, treats our reps and all our staff. We value our people and their individual skills, and we encourage teamwork and creativity.

May I suggest that you look in to what a strong independent dealer can offer you and what you can offer to it as well. There are a lot of good people, and good managers, happily working at local and regional levels. I know that I am a very satisified professional. The corporate way is not the only way.
I was at an independant delaer for 10 years and was vp of sales and enjoyed it very much until they brought in Jim Kahrs to sell it. I found out and confronted the owners and they lied to my face and that is where I sadi I had to go. Want to test my skills at a big company and succeeded for the most part (won all kinds of awards) but was micro managed.

Companies need to manage to the people not the database.

Thanks,
-Boston Mike
So much of this sounds all too familiar. I recently left a dealer direct branch in New England. I was a top producer nationally, and earned close to 200K. Then the company "restructured" the comp plan, basically ensuring I could only earn half of what I had been making. Great way to reward reps who are selling a million dollars worth of your gear per year. Oh, plus they froze 401k matching, expenses, etc. The last and final straw however, if that wasn't bad enough- the branch manager had the nerve to try to "sell" me that I would be able to make the same. He had his admin run "the numbers" on all my deal from the previous year through the new comp plan so he could prove it to me. Little did he know, I too ran the numbers. I let him present me with his findings, which of course looked at first glance, as though he was right. Then I showed him my analysis, which clearly showed I would make about half. He had failed to account for about half the bonus money I had earned last year on the old comp plan, and thought- what? I wasn't going to scrunitize his math? Busted dude. What a scum. If he had been honest, I may have stayed on even with the new plan, but dismissing my concerns and then throwing the numbers was just the worst thing he could have done. So he lost the best rep from his branch, and I had been there for many years. I could not and would not continue to bust my ass everyday for a guy who was that much of a jerk. The comp plan was cut in half, the micro-managing and database monitoring were mind numbing, the work load ever increasing with reports and other BS busy work. Ahhh... so glad that's all behind me Smile

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