Any Sales Reps here?

[chris198]

Looking for some experienced advice (serious replies appreciated ) I'm 22 and recently been offered a Sales Rep job for a well known IT firm...but don't really know a lot about what the job itself entails....anyone got any experience in that dept?

Job itself is very well paid inc. commission and company car/allowance... Not sure what downsides there are with it though, seems all too good to be true?!?

[RobW]

Experienced sales but not in IT.

One thing to be wary of is the salary will be OTE (on target earnings) which basically means that you will make the money they say if you meet your targets, which are usually set quite high, almost unrealistic.

Best way to get sales is to get people to like you, be friendly but firm - build a rapport. Do not be afraid to say no.

[Derek Mc]

Wise words from RobW, once you check the basic and commission in the salary then look at the role and responsibilities.

Success in this market time is elusive, very elusive! Sales takes a certain thick skinned type too as after 100 No's many just give up, and to have the resolve to make 1000 calls for only one YES can be soul destroying.

I have been in sales and sold some great products and some total crap as well! having a good item to sell is key.
If you are given live qualified enquiries then it falls to to to close the deal, and to ask for orders again makes some lose their will to live but, is actually easy! (like the way physics tells you Bumble Bee's should NOT be able to fly, easy, that kind )

If you pass that hurdle, then product knowledge is your key to success, know what you sell like an Anal retentive on the subject of being Anal retentive! and research you competition and know more about them than they do

Do NOT do it because you get a flashy new car or bigger money it is a profession not a job and done well will make your future financially secure as remember this one thing :-

"Nothing on earth occurs, until a sales takes place"

[Jezzy]

Within the overall term "IT sales" it depends on what you're selling, as to whether it's a good job or not. If you're selling something fairly low-end, then you may even be expected to be going "door-to-door" in business parks, hawking your goods, and when you report back that no one's buying due to the state of the economy, you might get told "that's your problem, you still need to meet your targets". On the other hand, IT sales can mean working as part of a bid team to sell multi-million pound support services to companies who've indicated they want suppliers to tender for their business. In that sort of situation there's no cold-calling aspect to it at all, you just have to convince the buyer that your price and quality combination is the best. I've done a lot of sales presentations to CIOs of the latter sort of sales type, and it's good fun, but that's because the client is definitely going to buy from someone, and you just have to make sure he chooses to buy from you.

[chris198]

Thank you alot for the replies guys, helped a lot

Regarding what is is selling its business to business and various IT and telecoms solutions; data management, networking, telephone systems, video-conferencing etc, so reasonably high-end I guess.

In truth I can't imagine its a good market to be in selling at the moment, seeing as everyone seems to be aiming at cost cutting?

I assume the majority of the time its driving from point to point and sitting in meetings? The money is deffo a big pulling factor as it beats the current minimum wage im on but i hear what you're saying about it being stressful though.

[DAVIDD88]

the problem with sales right now is no one can meet the targets so not making the money they want that is why there is so many sales rep jobs right now

[wingz123]

Hi Chris198 I'm 21 and in IT sales - Information Security and I cover the whole country working for HP and its alot more than just travelling and sitting in meetings and I'm afraid I have to disagree with the comment above - I just smashed my Quarter target!

Its alot more than travelling and sitting in meetings - you will have a number to carry - are you measured by GP or Revenue.....if you are working for a VAR (Value Added Reseller) then its probably GP driven. If your working Distribution then its most likely to be revenue driven.

What vendors do you work with? What company do you work for?

I wish you all the best mate, the sales industry has its highs and its lows but its an industry I absolutely love

If I can be of any help at all then just shout,

Cheers,



James

[chris198]

Thanks Wingz, tried to PM you - your inbox is full mate!

[wingz123]

I'll empty it sorry mate!

try again bro,

cheers,


James

[DAVIDD88]

Hi Chris198 I'm 21 and in IT sales - Information Security and I cover the whole country working for HP and its alot more than just travelling and sitting in meetings and I'm afraid I have to disagree with the comment above - I just smashed my Quarter target!

Its alot more than travelling and sitting in meetings - you will have a number to carry - are you measured by GP or Revenue.....if you are working for a VAR (Value Added Reseller) then its probably GP driven. If your working Distribution then its most likely to be revenue driven.

What vendors do you work with? What company do you work for?

I wish you all the best mate, the sales industry has its highs and its lows but its an industry I absolutely love

If I can be of any help at all then just shout,

Cheers,



James

maybe in hp u can meet your target but not in every company just becuase your meeting your target u will need go and ask the employer all the questions ie your weekly sales target and rate of pay if you don't reach that target and if you don't meet targets for a number of weeks good chance they say your not a suitable candidate for the job as my brother is a manager in sales it's a hard game