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Post by omaha on Apr 6, 2012 9:05:58 GMT -5
When he starts sending you Glengarry Glen Ross video clips and calls them "sales training", that's when you need to get worried.
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Post by Marshall on Apr 6, 2012 9:11:26 GMT -5
. . . , after I get some coffee over the gums and into the tum - yum yum. Big yawn... , Ain't life grand !And you fill your cup with whatever bitter brew you're drinking
And you spend your life just thinkin' of how to get awayPS - I used to have an Italian guy working for me. We'd give him grief, because he never drank coffee. (Talk about a tough work environment? ! ? !). His response was, "I see the wrinkled faces everyone makes when they take a sip of coffee, and decided they're not really enjoying it. Why would I want to do that?" |
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Post by Marshall on Apr 6, 2012 9:13:19 GMT -5
Bob, not meaning to meddle here, but just concerned for your safety and reputation and job security, you might want to at least ditch the real names in your post. They are eminently searchable on the Web. Someone connected in some way, possibly a potential client, could easily find this post. Not very good karma. Just sayin.' Good call, Howard. I'd definitely edit-out any company and personal name reference in any thread. |
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Deleted
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Post by Deleted on Apr 6, 2012 9:26:38 GMT -5
Bob, not meaning to meddle here, but just concerned for your safety and reputation and job security, you might want to at least ditch the real names in your post. They are eminently searchable on the Web. Someone connected in some way, possibly a potential client, could easily find this post. Not very good karma. Just sayin.' Good call, Howard. I'd definitely edit-out any company and personal name reference in any thread. Mom didn't raise no fool, Marshall. A dope maybe, but no fool. |
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Post by t-bob on Apr 6, 2012 9:43:08 GMT -5
When he starts sending you Glengarry Glen Ross video clips and calls them "sales training", that's when you need to get worried. "We're adding a little something to this month's sales contest. As you all know, first prize is a Cadillac Eldorado. Anybody want to see second prize? Second prize is a set of steak knives. Third prize is you're fired." |
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Post by t-bob on Apr 6, 2012 10:01:39 GMT -5
30+ sales reps received the same email yesterday. Overly paranoid here.  |
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Post by Fingerplucked on Apr 6, 2012 10:05:22 GMT -5
30+ sales reps received the same email yesterday. Overly paranoid here. Sneak onto as many of the 29 other computers as you can and reply to the email with a short, apt response: FUCK YOU! |
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Post by patrick on Apr 6, 2012 10:12:06 GMT -5
When he starts sending you Glengarry Glen Ross video clips and calls them "sales training", that's when you need to get worried. Or when everyone is excited because George Clooney is flying in to meet you. |
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Post by brucemacneill on Apr 6, 2012 10:15:39 GMT -5
30+ sales reps received the same email yesterday. Overly paranoid here. Lesson learned then? If it doesn't make sense it's probably a screw up. Carry on. It sounds like you were doing fine. |
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Post by patrick on Apr 6, 2012 10:15:48 GMT -5
More seriously though, maybe you should consider this as more like psychological testing. I mean, if you were the boss, who would you want to keep around, the guy who gets an email like that and flies off the handle or one who can take the stress and deal with it constructively?
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Post by theevan on Apr 6, 2012 10:21:52 GMT -5
You cuss with gusto, Bob.
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Post by RickW on Apr 6, 2012 10:28:48 GMT -5
If that was a mistake, they ought to be following up with an explanation. I mean, how better to completely demoralize peopleother than to tell them they are not cutting it? To be honest, they're a bunch of ass hats if it goes unmentioned - or they mean to send it, and their corporate culture is a bit...not so employee friendly.
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Post by omaha on Apr 6, 2012 10:38:46 GMT -5
how better to completely demoralize people other than to tell them they are not cutting it? That's the weird thing about sales. In some sales cultures, that approach works. Some sales guys thrive on it, to the point of needing a continuous dose of it to stay motivated. I hired a guy (tech support type) years ago who came out of such an environment. He wasn't in sales there either...mostly network support type stuff, but he was still shell-shocked by his experience. The boss was constantly pounding on the sales staff. He demanded that the sales guys all wear $2k suits and drive $50k cars. He claimed it was for the image, but in truth he wanted them to be desperately in debt since he thought of that as also being motivating. They burned through guys like crazy. Not many could take the pressure, but the few that did put up insane numbers. Not my way of running an office, but it works for some. |
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Post by Lonnie on Apr 6, 2012 10:51:37 GMT -5
Another thought... It's possible that this particular CEO was looking at your stuff AND another employee's at the same time and got the two of you mixed up. Not very likely, but possible.
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Post by Fingerplucked on Apr 6, 2012 10:57:40 GMT -5
Sales is a funny job. Just about anything you do can work. Or not work. The one constant is activity. If you keep your activity level up and get in front of enough people, you should be at least mildly successful.
Appointment setting was always the hardest part of the job for me. I'd usually take Monday as a home office day and book a solid week from Tuesday through Friday. Mondays sucked because that's where I'd see most of the rejection, but once I had the week booked, knew where I was going to be and roughly what I was going to talk about when I got there, the rest of the week flew by.
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Post by t-bob on Apr 6, 2012 11:01:28 GMT -5
If that was a mistake, they ought to be following up with an explanation. I mean, how better to completely demoralize peopleother than to tell them they are not cutting it? To be honest, they're a bunch of ass hats if it goes unmentioned - or they mean to send it, and their corporate culture is a bit...not so employee friendly. I talked to the #2 guy in the company. Asked an open-ended question, "What The F**k?" (joke) He said I was taking it wrong, and that it was an early warning helpful communication. I commented that the phrasing seemed more threatening than helpful, and when he became defensive, I told him that I understood the intent of the email and said, "let's move on" and changed the subject to something I really did need help with. So I understand some of the company culture and communication methods after just 4 days. Cool. Not that many years ago I would have not have let it drop. "Pick your battles wisely." Lesson learned. |
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Post by RickW on Apr 6, 2012 11:17:04 GMT -5
The richest man in British Columbia, Jimmy Pattison, supposedly used to fire the salesman with the worst sales record in his car dealership every month. I'm not sure if this has ever been proved, and the problem is that even the best can have a bad month.
That's the other thing about sales, Jeff. People who are truly good at it are worth their weight in gold, and will survive in any environment.
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Post by Fingerplucked on Apr 6, 2012 11:19:47 GMT -5
The best sales boss I ever had was a very supportive guy for a smaller distributor. I first interviewed with him for a sales position, but when I could see that the interview wasn't going so well, I switched gears and tried to talk him into hiring me as a product manager, which is what I had been in my previous job. After a half hour or so he said he didn't need a product manager and no amount of talking would change his mind, but he'd hire me in a heartbeat as a salesperson. So I took the job. The one he wasn't going to give me when I was trying to get it, but accidentally talked him into giving me by trying to talk him into something else.
Most companies in the industry required some type of call reports to be handed in at the end of the week or month to account for where you've been, and he required them as well. But he also insisted that each salesperson call in by 9 AM with five accounts that they planned on being at that day. It didn't mean that you HAD to be at those five accounts, but if there was any deviation, you might have to explain it. It was a good way to keep everybody focused daily, rather than letting other things get in the way for a day or two and then scrambling to make up for it. I was kind of surprised his approach didn't catch on at other companies.
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Post by Doug on Apr 6, 2012 11:51:25 GMT -5
I am not a salesman, I'm just no good at it. But my father was sold everything at one time or the other from high rise office buildings down to tractors and hamburgers. The one thing he kept telling me was you don't sell a product you sell yourself.
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Tamarack
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Post by Tamarack on Apr 6, 2012 11:51:30 GMT -5
If the email was sent to 30 people it's not quite so bad, but nonetheless a bad move. Far more effective to use a "cheerleader" tone than to say "you're all f*cking up!"
I have had too much experience with Jekyl & Hyde bosses who were a cheerleader one day and a threatening tyrant the next. My most recent boss would put on his "Lord of the Manor" persona and try to act friendly and ingratiating while talking to his underlings (and we were all underlings).
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