Life and Death of a Salesman

[Rougarou 594]

50 minutes ago, Larry T. Spider said:

Strange. My neighbor has worked for dell since damn near the beginning and he said he’s busy as hell. Very strong demand for a lot of their products with people shifting to work from home.

Yea, I guess it depends on which product you are supporting-- virtualization and software is probably great. What's left of services probably not so hot. Education or SLED probably not so hot. etc.

[Larry T. Spider 1746]

16 minutes ago, Rougarou said:

Yea, I guess it depends on which product you are supporting-- virtualization and software is probably great. What's left of services probably not so hot. Education or SLED probably not so hot. etc.

Education is/was real hot and was driving a lot of their numbers during the transition to learning at home. It’s about to get frigid cold though. My district already has frozen just about all types of spending outside of salaries/utilities and has a hiring freeze. 

[Updawg 2266]

Dell has always been where you worked. Some depts suck some are gold

[Pescado_Rojo 19416]

8 hours ago, Rougarou said:

Yea, I guess it depends on which product you are supporting-- virtualization and software is probably great. What's left of services probably not so hot. Education or SLED probably not so hot. etc.

My neighbor is a 20+ yr Dell guy. Started right out of college, and it's the only place he's ever worked. He said there was a big layoff early March that was planned prior to Covid, then another round earlier this month that was planned for Q3/4 and just accelerated. Mostly contractors and temps with some redundant holdovers from the EMC acquisition. He's shitting bricks, though. He's been a Project/Program manager most of his career, and had been looking for a people management job for a while. 6 months ago, he moved into a role managing a team of trainers that trained incoming sales people. They would hire them as contractors, put them through a 3 month training program, and if they passed they would hire them as inside sales people at like an L1. Mostly in Nashville or OKC call centers. He said they had a class graduate three weeks ago, and they cut every single one of them. None of them got job offers. Then he had to lay off something like 8 of his 16 trainers...and they aren't bringing in any more contractors until Q1 of next year at the earliest. Now he's afraid that he left a job he liked he probably could have done until retirement and got himself promoted into unemployment. 

[next2naus 439]

9 hours ago, Rougarou said:

Yea, I guess it depends on which product you are supporting-- virtualization and software is probably great. What's left of services probably not so hot. Education or SLED probably not so hot. etc.

SLED business tends to peak in June so I doubt they are cutting back

[BearSchlong 8083]

On 4/22/2020 at 7:12 PM, AUS-97HORN said:

The first company I worked for, Gateway Computers did something similar.  The only way I could describe it was a reverse buyout.

In Mar of 2004, GW bought EMachines.    To state that again, GW bought the smaller company.

Pretty much in the history of acquisitions with a few smaller outliers of exemplary people- when the big company buys the small company, the small company managers and execs are either laid off as being redundant or kept around but "demoted" to lesser management levels. 

not in this case.  Ive never seen or heard of anything like it.  The day of the acquisition, the entire C-series levels of GW were let go (including the CEO and founder). 3/4 of the board of directors were also let go.   probably 80% of all the VP or higher management positions were let go. 

They were replaced man-for-man with EMachines C-series, and execs.  I was a senior manager, (I kinda survived the purge).

My Director (15 + years of experience), my site VP (25+ years experience), as well as the actual VP of sales were all let go in the bloodletting.  The director spot was left empty along with the site VP spot, instead the new VP of sales was a 26 year old who I found out later had graduated his masters of BA 2.5 years before that, and had actually just been promoted from sales manager to senior sales manager at emachines the month before the acquisition... yet they made this clown be the fucking VP of Sales , 3 entire levels of management higher than his previous position. I get it if the VP was a fucking wunderkind, but he had no fucking idea how to run a sales team, let alone the entire US salesforce. 

My entire division (and actual site) didnt even survive 2 months after the acquisition before we were shut down entirely.  Those 2 months were lunacy as I was the most senior sales manager at our site who had survived the purge, yet my entire upper level umbrella of sales experience I had leaned on for help were gone, and I was now expected to basically be the site sales VP with all the responsibility, none of the pay, and having to deal with a dipshit who kept demanding  (without providing 1 fucking suggestion) that we sell more  despite the company also cutting the marketing budget by 90+% the day the acquisition happened. 

And a lot of the Gateway sales execs joined me at Rackspace where we crushed it and had the greatest sales job in existence for about 5 more years.

[BearSchlong 8083]

A telecommunications company has an SE position for strategic accounts (Gov/ed, Hospitality, Healthcare, Strategic non-vertical accounts) in Austin.  Strong networking skills required.  PM me if you know anyone.

Just trying to help anyone caught in a bad situation.

[next2naus 439]

I hate where I work but I'm making really good money. I hate it,  everything except my SE and what i sell. I think I'm going to close a couple more deals then bounce, leaving a big chunk of money behind, about $50k net. Money I would get if I stayed till the end of the year. If I exceed my # I get paid everything now and at accelarators so the "leave behind: is double. I only want to achieve that for spite. thats how bad I hate it. I'm an awful person

[Parliament 14249]

$50k is a small price to pay for your sanity.

[next2naus 439]

13 hours ago, Parliament said:

$50k is a small price to pay for your sanity.

I agree

[StruggleBus 3922]

Mid-march through end of April were an absolute bloodbath for me. However, I signed more business in May than I have any other month, ever. We operate in the B2B sales/marketing consulting space. It was definitely nice to see prospects being willing to spend some money again. 

[ZB'Tejas 593]

I'm in the SaaS MarTech/CXM space and all the projects in my pipe were put on hold so Q1/Q2 for me has been brutal. I've got a few existing accounts that I manage but they were really affected by COVID so not spending any new money so that's also slowed things down. I'm going to see if things take off here in the next few weeks/months but if not I'll probably be looking for another job as getting half pay is not going to cut it.

[drt 638]

We sell to OEM in the construction business.  Orders are way down but future projects are full steam ahead.

[FORTY NINE TO ZERO 2652]

Deal with refineries, Petro chem, and Enviromental business 

 

never really had a huge slowdown thankfully, what drop off we had seems to be picking back up 

[LebongJames 1791]

Sell to SF builders. We are a mechanical contractor. We had a pretty good slow down in March. April started bouncing back, May was good. This week and last we are back to 2019 numbers. I had a top 5 builder signed and the president of our company pulled the plug because he didn’t want to take that many homes at that margin. 
 

I understand but it’s a lot of money out of my future pocket.

Edited June 4, 2020 by LebongJames

[Axle Hongsnort 208]

Question for the group about getting into sales later in life. My 20 year career started as a financial analyst and led to CFO roles.

I’m at a crossroad in my life and looking at all sorts of career options, including something sales related. I like to think my CFO experience gives gives me credibility selling to CFO’s. Over the years I’ve negotiated dozens of deals buying tons of software, health benefit packages, 401k plans, treasury/ banking deals, consulting engagements, real estate leases, etc, even other companies.

So I’ve got a chunk of “sales” experience, but on the other side of the table. Anybody have experience seeing someone like me entering “sales’ish” jobs and either failing miserably or crushing it?

[T’Boo Ted Marshall 2732]

Buy a business and hire good salespeople.

[Rougarou 594]

On 6/4/2020 at 10:19 AM, StruggleBus said:

Mid-march through end of April were an absolute bloodbath for me. However, I signed more business in May than I have any other month, ever. We operate in the B2B sales/marketing consulting space. It was definitely nice to see prospects being willing to spend some money again. 

This is me too. I had a few committed and forecasted deals stall with the overnight aspect of covid and just the general FUD that came with it and led to a missed Q1 (we are on the SFDC fiscal year), but hit my Q2 quota in first month (May) and am on pace to cover my delta from Q1 and be in accelerators for H1. Thank God.

[Slacks 6819]

I hate where I work but I'm making really good money. I hate it,  everything except my SE and what i sell. I think I'm going to close a couple more deals then bounce, leaving a big chunk of money behind, about $50k net. Money I would get if I stayed till the end of the year. If I exceed my # I get paid everything now and at accelarators so the "leave behind: is double. I only want to achieve that for spite. thats how bad I hate it. I'm an awful person

50k sign-on at the next joint?

[BearSchlong 8083]

On 6/3/2020 at 7:42 PM, next2naus said:

I hate where I work but I'm making really good money. I hate it,  everything except my SE and what i sell. I think I'm going to close a couple more deals then bounce, leaving a big chunk of money behind, about $50k net. Money I would get if I stayed till the end of the year. If I exceed my # I get paid everything now and at accelarators so the "leave behind: is double. I only want to achieve that for spite. thats how bad I hate it. I'm an awful person

What industry?  I'm in the same boat.  Ironically during this COVID-19 situation an old colleague who is building a sales team at a competitor reached out to me to see if I was looking - I told him not actively - fast forward 2 weeks and I'm having conversations with everyone in the Csuite at the company and an offer is likely - the proverbial "grass is greener" situation - I've basically had my current job with 2 promotions/raises for the last decade.

I keep reminding my colleague "2 weeks ago I never would have imagined I'd be thinking about a change" and his reply is "I"m not hiring people who are looking for a job - I'm poaching people who I know are proven producers who are committed like you who want to have a huge culture change and make a ton of money"

Been warming my wife and family up to the idea that this opportunity may be too good to pass up.

But holy shit, I may hate my job but damned I love the paychecks, lack of oversight, and benefits of being in Fortune 100.  But I'm just about done with the lack of urgency and accountability among the groups that have to execute on what I sell. 

Edited June 8, 2020 by BearSchlong

[Pescado_Rojo 19416]

1 hour ago, BearSchlong said:

What industry?  I'm in the same boat.  Ironically during this COVID-19 situation an old colleague who is building a sales team at a competitor reached out to me to see if I was looking - I told him not actively - fast forward 2 weeks and I'm having conversations with everyone in the Csuite at the company and an offer is likely - the proverbial "grass is greener" situation - I've basically had my current job with 2 promotions/raises for the last decade.

I keep reminding my colleague "2 weeks ago I never would have imagined I'd be thinking about a change" and his reply is "I"m not hiring people who are looking for a job - I'm poaching people who I know are proven producers who are committed like you who want to have a huge culture change and make a ton of money"

Been warming my wife and family up to the idea that this opportunity may be too good to pass up.

But holy shit, I may hate my job but damned I love the paychecks, lack of oversight, and benefits of being in Fortune 100.  But I'm just about done with the lack of urgency and accountability among the groups that have to execute on what I sell. 

god damn if this ain't the truth. Signed: A guy that sat on Sev 1 escalation calls all weekend because my support teams are unable to communicate at even a middle school level. 

[riloh05 107]

On 6/6/2020 at 11:54 AM, Axle Hongsnort said:

Question for the group about getting into sales later in life. My 20 year career started as a financial analyst and led to CFO roles.

I’m at a crossroad in my life and looking at all sorts of career options, including something sales related. I like to think my CFO experience gives gives me credibility selling to CFO’s. Over the years I’ve negotiated dozens of deals buying tons of software, health benefit packages, 401k plans, treasury/ banking deals, consulting engagements, real estate leases, etc, even other companies.

So I’ve got a chunk of “sales” experience, but on the other side of the table. Anybody have experience seeing someone like me entering “sales’ish” jobs and either failing miserably or crushing it?

Your experience is a very limited scope into sales, basically you have seen the "fun" part...I imagine you you would be in a senior role where all of the tool bag would be expected to arrive at the table. Your largest hurdle would be prospecting/pipeline management. If you fail, the previous sentence is where it will happen. A lot of sales/non-sales people can close business, it is everything that happens before and after the deal is closed where the magic happens.

[next2naus 439]

2 hours ago, Snacks said:

On 6/3/2020 at 8:42 PM, next2naus said:

I hate where I work but I'm making really good money. I hate it,  everything except my SE and what i sell. I think I'm going to close a couple more deals then bounce, leaving a big chunk of money behind, about $50k net. Money I would get if I stayed till the end of the year. If I exceed my # I get paid everything now and at accelarators so the "leave behind: is double. I only want to achieve that for spite. thats how bad I hate it. I'm an awful person

50k sign-on at the next joint?

maybe, it's currently being discussed.

[next2naus 439]

1 hour ago, BearSchlong said:

What industry?  I'm in the same boat.  Ironically during this COVID-19 situation an old colleague who is building a sales team at a competitor reached out to me to see if I was looking - I told him not actively - fast forward 2 weeks and I'm having conversations with everyone in the Csuite at the company and an offer is likely - the proverbial "grass is greener" situation - I've basically had my current job with 2 promotions/raises for the last decade.

I keep reminding my colleague "2 weeks ago I never would have imagined I'd be thinking about a change" and his reply is "I"m not hiring people who are looking for a job - I'm poaching people who I know are proven producers who are committed like you who want to have a huge culture change and make a ton of money"

Been warming my wife and family up to the idea that this opportunity may be too good to pass up.

But holy shit, I may hate my job but damned I love the paychecks, lack of oversight, and benefits of being in Fortune 100.  But I'm just about done with the lack of urgency and accountability among the groups that have to execute on what I sell. 

Industry: Data Protection...Crypto and Key Mgmt. 

[HoffaJimmy 316]

 

On 6/6/2020 at 11:54 AM, Axle Hongsnort said:

Question for the group about getting into sales later in life. My 20 year career started as a financial analyst and led to CFO roles.

I’m at a crossroad in my life and looking at all sorts of career options, including something sales related. I like to think my CFO experience gives gives me credibility selling to CFO’s. Over the years I’ve negotiated dozens of deals buying tons of software, health benefit packages, 401k plans, treasury/ banking deals, consulting engagements, real estate leases, etc, even other companies.

So I’ve got a chunk of “sales” experience, but on the other side of the table. Anybody have experience seeing someone like me entering “sales’ish” jobs and either failing miserably or crushing it?

 

5 hours ago, riloh05 said:

Your experience is a very limited scope into sales, basically you have seen the "fun" part...I imagine you you would be in a senior role where all of the tool bag would be expected to arrive at the table. Your largest hurdle would be prospecting/pipeline management. If you fail, the previous sentence is where it will happen. A lot of sales/non-sales people can close business, it is everything that happens before and after the deal is closed where the magic happens.

 

I agree with Riloh. A lot depends on the situation you are walking into. What's the pipeline look like, is it limited by anything? If you can take your contact list of CFO's/upper level managers and just start selling widgets to them you should be fine but if you are going to have to work through all the gatekeepers to get to said CFO's than you are going to hate your life. 

Sales isn't so much about the product it's about the relationships. If you can sell to your network you should be fine but if you are counting on your experience being a CFO to get you in a lot of doors where you have no contact, I don't think it's going to help all that much. 

As far as failing or crushing it? That is a question nobody can really answer but yourself as you are the one that will be putting in the work. If you are good with people, willing to work, and  like getting slapped in the face then jump in the pool the water's warm (sometimes). 

 

Edited June 8, 2020 by HoffaJimmy

[BearSchlong 8083]

Just had an hour long call with the VP of sales which culminated in a verbal offer.  She is a former (SEC school) head woman's soccer coach.  By the end of the call I was so pumped I'd have run through a brick wall for her.  Helluva leader.

My juices are flowing.  It's been so long since I've been excited about work.

Now I've got a decision to make.

[next2naus 439]

closed a $3.1m order today, it pays in accelerators and is weighted to $1.25 per actual dollar for the product. so that's really a $3.8m order for commission purposes. nice friday.  

[riloh05 107]

11 minutes ago, next2naus said:

closed a $3.1m order today, it pays in accelerators and is weighted to $1.25 per actual dollar for the product. so that's really a $3.8m order for commission purposes. nice friday.  

cheers to that banger!

[Pescado_Rojo 19416]

On 6/8/2020 at 3:39 PM, HoffaJimmy said:

 

 

 

I agree with Riloh. A lot depends on the situation you are walking into. What's the pipeline look like, is it limited by anything? If you can take your contact list of CFO's/upper level managers and just start selling widgets to them you should be fine but if you are going to have to work through all the gatekeepers to get to said CFO's than you are going to hate your life. 

Sales isn't so much about the product it's about the relationships. If you can sell to your network you should be fine but if you are counting on your experience being a CFO to get you in a lot of doors where you have no contact, I don't think it's going to help all that much. 

As far as failing or crushing it? That is a question nobody can really answer but yourself as you are the one that will be putting in the work. If you are good with people, willing to work, and  like getting slapped in the face then jump in the pool the water's warm (sometimes). 

 

it's piss

[Pescado_Rojo 19416]

On 6/8/2020 at 4:03 PM, BearSchlong said:

Just had an hour long call with the VP of sales which culminated in a verbal offer.  She is a former (SEC school) head woman's soccer coach.  By the end of the call I was so pumped I'd have run through a brick wall for her.  Helluva leader.

My juices are flowing.  It's been so long since I've been excited about work.

Now I've got a decision to make.

The best leader I've ever worked for played on the La Tech team that won the Women's NCAA basketball tournament in the 90's. She works for a different company now, but we still text/email once a month or so. She is global VP of sales for a fortune 100 inside sales org now. If she ever takes a field job, I'd drop what I'm doing to work for her in a second. I'd run through walls for her....and her wife is smoking. 

[BrazilHorn 6586]

On 6/6/2020 at 11:54 AM, Axle Hongsnort said:

Question for the group about getting into sales later in life. My 20 year career started as a financial analyst and led to CFO roles.

I’m at a crossroad in my life and looking at all sorts of career options, including something sales related. I like to think my CFO experience gives gives me credibility selling to CFO’s. Over the years I’ve negotiated dozens of deals buying tons of software, health benefit packages, 401k plans, treasury/ banking deals, consulting engagements, real estate leases, etc, even other companies.

So I’ve got a chunk of “sales” experience, but on the other side of the table. Anybody have experience seeing someone like me entering “sales’ish” jobs and either failing miserably or crushing it?

Look at being an SE/SC at like an Oracle/Workday/SAP etc

you can leverage CFO experience and demo software but leave prospecting/progressing/closing deal to sales team. 
 

or at a selection partner shop/consultancy a la Deloitte, KPMG

[BearSchlong 8083]

Accepted an offer from a competitor and then resigned my present gig yesterday.  Thanks for playing and for the 2 week notice, go ahead and GTFO and take a 2 week vacay, we will be in contact.  Briefed my team and director on pending stuff.

Today's my first day without 2 cell phones in 10 years.  I'm having a physical release from the underlying low level pressure and it's exhilarating. 2 weeks to clear my head.

At 5 I get a text from my new boss at my new gig telling me he got a text from a mutual friend that my old boss )to whom I tendered my resignation yesterday) resigned today.

Can't wait to find out more.

 

[HoffaJimmy 316]

15 hours ago, BearSchlong said:

Accepted an offer from a competitor and then resigned my present gig yesterday.  Thanks for playing and for the 2 week notice, go ahead and GTFO and take a 2 week vacay, we will be in contact.  Briefed my team and director on pending stuff.

Today's my first day without 2 cell phones in 10 years.  I'm having a physical release from the underlying low level pressure and it's exhilarating. 2 weeks to clear my head.

At 5 I get a text from my new boss at my new gig telling me he got a text from a mutual friend that my old boss )to whom I tendered my resignation yesterday) resigned today.

Can't wait to find out more.

 

 

That sounds like a great story coming............

[Pescado_Rojo 19416]

On 6/17/2020 at 7:57 PM, BearSchlong said:

Accepted an offer from a competitor and then resigned my present gig yesterday.  Thanks for playing and for the 2 week notice, go ahead and GTFO and take a 2 week vacay, we will be in contact.  Briefed my team and director on pending stuff.

Today's my first day without 2 cell phones in 10 years.  I'm having a physical release from the underlying low level pressure and it's exhilarating. 2 weeks to clear my head.

At 5 I get a text from my new boss at my new gig telling me he got a text from a mutual friend that my old boss )to whom I tendered my resignation yesterday) resigned today.

Can't wait to find out more.

 

[BearSchlong 8083]

Exit interview from my old job was today.  An hour on the phone with a well-meaning HR director.

Had a good discussion, she listened to my gripes, suggestions, etc.  But the on-the-record reason I left that company is because I was simply burned out.  Toast. No fucks left to give.  And it's nothing the company does deliberately, it's the fact that they are Fortune 100 and are simply too large and disjointed to build an actual positive culture.  Left the door open for future consideration, if it ever comes to that.  Not to dox them but they are the MSO for most sizeable Texas cities not named Houston.

meanwhile. . .

Onboarded electronically with Insperity who handles the new company's HR function, IT Weenies have already shipped me about $5K worth of hardware to set up in my new home office, top of the line stuff. Monday will bring me my SFDC credentials and my goal is to start papering the street with proposals by the end of next week.  I can't wait to get back into pure hunter mode.

[kmac30 416]

Exit interview from my old job was today.  An hour on the phone with a well-meaning HR director.
Had a good discussion, she listened to my gripes, suggestions, etc.  But the on-the-record reason I left that company is because I was simply burned out.  Toast. No fucks left to give.  And it's nothing the company does deliberately, it's the fact that they are Fortune 100 and are simply too large and disjointed to build an actual positive culture.  Left the door open for future consideration, if it ever comes to that.  Not to dox them but they are the MSO for most sizeable Texas cities not named Houston.
meanwhile. . .
Onboarded electronically with Insperity who handles the new company's HR function, IT Weenies have already shipped me about $5K worth of hardware to set up in my new home office, top of the line stuff. Monday will bring me my SFDC credentials and my goal is to start papering the street with proposals by the end of next week.  I can't wait to get back into pure hunter mode.

Whatever came of the story about the old boss who resigned?

[BearSchlong 8083]

Did I really refer to the IT guys as weenies?  lol, not sure where that came from.

Anyway, old boss is being tight lipped about where he's landing, he said I'll see it on LinkedIn just like everyone else.  My engineer said he gave enough clues in their conversation to suspect a cloud or app provider.

[next2naus 439]

anyone else phoning it in for July? I have deals in play to make my year this month

[LebongJames 1791]

I’ve got 3 deals pending that if they all go through I really can’t do anything else for a few months because our production team couldn’t handle any more. So I’m in a holding pattern, sorta phoning it in.

[Rougarou 594]

I'm phoning it; took two weeks off the hang with the family and to noodle on my big bet for Q3 and H2 that I want to get in proposal by 8/1.

I've hit my Q2 (we are off a month, the SFDC fiscal year model) and over 100% for H1 even with the covid impact. That puts me in rarefied air internally and externally, apparently, as the recruiters have been phoning off the hook. Lots of super interesting Series B and C, $50-100mm funding type plays out there are hiring like crazy, as well as the major majors (MSFT, SFDC, GOOG, etc.)

[AUS-97HORN 11757]

As I mentioned a few months ago, just a gut punch half as my outside 1-to-1 counterpart had a fatal heart attack in April.   When he passed we were well on target for a 200% half. But that obviously halted most deals. Just booked the last expected deal for the half and expect to end at somewhere around 123-5% instead.  Hollow feeling 125. Feels like a complete failure.

Would have rather been at 5% and had my guy still with us. 

[Rougarou 594]

On 4/23/2020 at 11:10 PM, Larry T. Spider said:

Strange. My neighbor has worked for dell since damn near the beginning and he said he’s busy as hell. Very strong demand for a lot of their products with people shifting to work from home.

Dell just did another 6% layoff I heard.

Anyways, for all REAL salesguys, EOQ is today. Take your calendar year fiscal and go eat at the kiddie table, noobs.

[StruggleBus 3922]

The economy doesn't matter, at least for SaaS companies. They are throwing money at me right now with no regard for human life. 

[Rougarou 594]

19 minutes ago, StruggleBus said:

The economy doesn't matter, at least for SaaS companies. They are throwing money at me right now with no regard for human life. 

It's a hot space, no doubt, but not everyone can be winner.

[J.R. 150]

On 6/12/2020 at 5:27 PM, BrazilHorn said:

Look at being an SE/SC at like an Oracle/Workday/SAP etc

you can leverage CFO experience and demo software but leave prospecting/progressing/closing deal to sales team. 
 

or at a selection partner shop/consultancy a la Deloitte, KPMG

This is on the right track. I moved from basically a pure technical commercial litigation practice to run a sales organization. I have been pretty successful mainly because my predecessor was total dog shit but also because I am selling highly customized solutions. I would not have been nearly as successful selling widgets or something highly relationship based. Get into something where customers seek you out for your unique solution (doesn’t have to be the ONLY solution) and then you can build relationships and trust through your expertise and experience. 

[T’Boo Ted Marshall 2732]

I’m looking for a new shop. I’ve had to refer out deals my current firm can’t support. That’s really frustrating.

When I ran my own business, any salesperson I had I gave him/her whatever they needed to be successful. That’s basic shit from an ownership perspective.

[Incredulity 11657]

10 hours ago, T’Boo Ted Marshall said:

I’m looking for a new shop. I’ve had to refer out deals my current firm can’t support. That’s really frustrating.

When I ran my own business, any salesperson I had I gave him/her whatever they needed to be successful. That’s basic shit from an ownership perspective.

Counterpoint:

Ownership that will take on any and all opportunity even remotely related to the organizations core competencies.  No is often the right answer.

[blacklab 11926]

I got roped into going to a sales pitch a few weeks ago due to at some point in the future my group would use it too.

They wanted to meet last week and the guy who leads the group that is going to use it was on vacation so I went instead.

Had another meeting today and guy is still on vacation so I asked them to delay to next week but they really wanted to meet so I obliged.

After some chit chat they asked me "how are you going to sell this to your ceo?"

Me: "It's not my call, it's Corey's"

SD "Yeah but what would you say?"

Me: "I'd say to her, I guess it's ok, but my group won't use it for a while so get it, don't get it, doesn't matter to me"

SD: "Ok, we'll talk to Corey"

blah blah blah more chit chat

Me: "Look we all know why we're here. You guys are getting shit from your boss on closing this deal, and this meeting shows progress."

SD:

Me: "is my last statement right"

SD: "Well, there were some parts that might have some truth to them.

Me: "Ok, gotta go, send me the deck"

[AUS-97HORN 11757]

39 minutes ago, blacklab said:

Me: "Ok, gotta go, send me the deck"

Outside SD logs into SFDC.

Bob seemed really into the project and the presentation, he thought it would be a great addition and told us that hes really going to put in a good word to Corey about using our product,  a LOT of good progress was made on this call.  Bob said he would make that recomendation when Corey returns from vacation on Friday, so we will follow up on Monday.

great meeting good prospect, Bob is totally an advocate. 

Next steps, meeting with Corey in 8 days at his office.   

[blacklab 11926]

Bob gave us some great feedback and he really understood what the meeting was all about.