and i know that just because i'm asking no one will do this for like at least 3 days, but someone post the sales meme

This has been an AstralAdvent presentation.

4/15/2010 9:39:45 PM

interesting...tell us less

4/15/2010 9:40:32 PM

I realize this thread is about the outside sales meme ....which I am not. Hear me out, maybe I can offer some insight.

I am in outside sales, which is currently salary+commission, but will move into straight commission starting at the beginning of July 2010. I have been in this position since July 2009. I have competition from several direct manufacturing sales reps, large distributors, and local distributors. Here are the advantages and disadvantages of each:

Direct Advantages: Immediate knowledge of new technology, no middle man mark up, one shipping bill (paid by manufacturer or buyer of goods), access to larger range of non-commodity items, control inventory, have access to many distributors that can effectively sell their goods which increases market share, and set prices of commodity they manufacture.

Direct disadvantages: Typically have 1-3 sales reps per region (i.e. southeast, mid-atlantic, northeast, etc.) limiting the number of accounts they can successfully manage/cold-call, lack physical customer service or physical technical service available to or affordable for smaller users or altogether, are sometimes not trustworthy because they will go in behind their distributors that sell their commodity to one account in large quantities (i.e. they missed a big account, and have found out about it through a distributor selling their particular product) which leads to the distributor not selling their product anymore, have too many distributors selling the product ultimately driving the set price down through deviations, possibly rely on distributors to actually sell the product, and competition from other direct sources.

Large distributor advantages: have access to other commodities that go hand in hand with other manufacturers (poor example- grocery stores sell milk as well as cereal), get direct pricing, many locations regionally or nationally easing the shipping burden of buyers with multiple locations, personal service either customer or technical, many sales reps that are able to cover a broader territory, access to multiple manufacturers of the same commodity allowing to keep prices in check, service programs that smaller companies can't offer and direct providers can't match in price or value, and experts of many many commodities as opposed to one or a few.

Large distributor disadvantages: smaller local distributors creating price wars (think Michael Scott Paper Co vs Dunder-Mifflin), direct mfg's going in behind and stealing business, limited access to all of the mfg's (you won't find Harris Teeter name brands in Food Lion and visa versa), can't truly set prices because it's based on both supply and demand, territory management, and tough growth prospects in slower economies (this is true for direct as well really)

Local distributor advantages: Typically a good ol' boy setting where the seller and the buyer know each other for years (this does happen at all levels, but mostly at the local level), local folks are right down the street and can be used in emergencies, if the local guy buys at high enough volumes then there is no shipping charge to the end user, and access to both direct mfg's and large distributors.

Local distributor disadvantages: easily beaten in price, array of commodities, array of technology, lack of trained staff, low cash flow, etc etc etc.

This is what I have noticed in my six months, I am sure there are plenty more that need mentioning. The way I am setting myself apart as a sales person is this: I go after the big accounts right now while I am new. The big accounts, if I land them, will take care of me while I am new and building a customer base. The money made off of those allows me to focus free time on smaller accounts that get me higher margins. I build up big accounts, I would like to have 5-10 of these, then get 20-30 medium accounts. If I lose 1 or 2 big accounts, the 20-30 medium accounts keep me afloat while I go after new big accounts. I don't really waste time on small accounts simply because they basically pay for breakfast or something really small.

I will say this, if you can't get a big account in the first 6-8 months (assuming you have cash flow that you can ride this long) you could be in a world of trouble. If you can get one, it will really make going after the others a lot more enjoyable and less stressful. It's simply just very exhausting wasting any time on anything other than big accounts in the very beginning. You work just as hard on the medium sized accounts and see 1/3 to 1/36 of the money in my situation.

If you have any other questions, you can PM me. I hope this helps in the slightest!

4/15/2010 9:41:42 PM

4/15/2010 9:42:10 PM

Ég geri mér grein þessum þræði fjallar um utan sala meme .... sem ég á ekki. Heyrið mig út, kannski ég geti boðið upp á innsýn.

Ég er í úti sölu, sem er eins og laun + þóknunar, en mun flytja inn beint umboð hefst í byrjun júlí 2010. Ég hef verið í þessari stöðu síðan í júlí 2009. Ég hef samkeppni frá nokkrum bein sala framleiðsla reps, stór dreifingaraðili og dreifingaraðilar. Hér eru kostir og gallar hvers:

Bein Kostir: Skjótur þekkingu á nýja tækni, engin miðja maður merkja upp, hafa einn siglinga reikningi (sem greidd eru af framleiðanda eða kaupanda vöru), aðgengi að stærri svið sem ekki verslunarvara atriði, stjórna birgðum, aðgengi að margir dreifingaraðilar sem geta í raun selja vörur sínar sem eykur markaðshlutdeild, og setja verð á vörum sem þeir framleiða.

Bein galla: Hefur venjulega 1-3 velta reps á svæðinu (þ.e. suðaustur, miðjan Atlantshafi, norðaustur, etc) að takmarka fjölda reikninga sem þeir geta tekist að stjórna / kalt-kalla, skortur líkamlega þjónustu við viðskiptavini eða líkamlega tæknilega þjónustu sem völ er á eða affordable fyrir smærri notenda eða að öllu leyti, eru stundum ekki treysta því að þeir vilja fara í bak dreifingaraðilar þeirra sem selja vöru sína til einn reikning í miklu magni (þ.e. þeir misst stóran reikning og hefur fundið út um það í gegnum dreifingaraðila selja tiltekna vöru sína ) sem leiðir til þess að dreifingaraðili ekki selja vöru sína aftur, hafa of margir dreifingaraðilar selja vöruna að lokum að knýja ákveðið verð niður í gegnum frávik, hugsanlega treysta á dreifingaraðila til raunverulega selja vöru og samkeppni frá öðrum beinum heimildum.

Stór kostur dreifingaraðila: fá aðgang að öðrum vörur sem haldast í hendur við aðra framleiðendur (lélegt dæmi-matvöruverslun birgðir selja mjólk og korn), fá bein verð, margir staði svæðismiðaðar eða á landsvísu að draga úr þeim skipum byrði kaupandi með mörgum stöðum, persónulega þjónustu annaðhvort viðskiptavinar eða tækni, margir velta reps sem eru fær um að taka til víðara landsvæðis, aðgang að mörgum framleiðendum sömu vöru að leyfa að halda verði í skefjum, þjónusta forrit sem smærri fyrirtæki geta ekki boðið og bein veitendur geta ekki við í verð eða verðmæti, og sérfræðingar á mörgum vöruflokkum í stað þess að einn eða fáir.

Stórt göllum dreifingaraðili: smaller dreifingaraðilar stofna verð wars (hugsa Michael Scott Paper Co vs Dunder-Mifflin), stjórna mfg er að gerast í bak og stela í viðskiptum, takmarkaður aðgangur að öllum mfg's (þú munt ekki finna Harris Teeter nafn vörumerki í matvælafræði Lion og vegabréfsáritana öfugt), geta ekki hreinskilnislega ákveðið verð því það er byggt á bæði framboð og eftirspurn, landsvæði stjórnun og sterkur horfur vöxtur hægari hagkerfi (þetta gildir um bein og vel í raun)

Local kostur dreifingaraðili: Venjulega gott ol 'drengur stilling þar sem seljandi og kaupandi vita hvor aðra í mörg ár (þetta gerist á öllum stigum, en að mestu leyti heima í héruðum), eru staðbundnar fólkinu réttur dúnn the stræti og hægt er að nota í neyðartilvikum, ef staðbundin strákur kaupir á nógu hátt magn þá er ekkert skipum ákæra til the endir notandi, og aðgengi að bæði bein mfg og stórum dreifingaraðilum.

Local göllum dreifingaraðili: auðveldlega barinn í verði, fjölbreytta vörur, array tækni, skortur á þjálfun starfsmanna, lítil sjóðstreymi, etc etc etc

Þetta er það sem ég hef tekið eftir í sex mánuði minn, er ég viss um að það eru miklu fleiri sem þurfa að nefna. Leiðin er ég að setja mig í sundur eins og a velta manneskja er þetta: Ég fer eftir hinum stóra bókhald núna á meðan ég er nýr. Stóri reikningum, ef ég landi þá verður að gæta af mér meðan ég er ný og byggja upp viðskiptavina. Féð liðinu burt af þeim leyfa mér að beina frítíma á minni reikningar sem fá mig hærri brún. Ég byggja upp stór reikningur, ÉG vildi eins og til hafa 5-10 af þessu, þá fá 20-30 miðlungs reikninga. Ef ég tapa 1 eða 2 stór reikningum 20-30 miðlungs reikninga halda mér á floti á meðan ég fer á nýja stóra reikninga. ÉG dont 'raunverulega sóa tíma í litlum reikningum einfaldlega vegna þess að þeir borga í grundvallaratriðum í morgunmat eða eitthvað virkilega lítill.

Ég segi þetta, ef þú getur ekki fá stóran reikning í fyrsta 6-8 mánuði (miðað við að þú hefur handbært fé sem hægt er að hjóla þetta langt) þú gætir í heimi vandræði. Ef þú getur fengið einn, mun það í raun að gera að fara eftir hinum miklu meira skemmtilegri og minna stressandi. Það er einfaldlega bara mjög þreytandi að sóa allir tími á eitthvað annað en stór reikningur í upphafi. Þú vinnur bara eins og harður á meðalstórum reikninga og sjá 1 / 3 til 1 / 36 peningunum í aðstæðum mínum.

Ef þú hefur einhverjar fleiri spurningar, geta PM mér þér. Ég vona að þetta hjálpar í hirða!

4/15/2010 10:09:50 PM

k

4/15/2010 10:11:37 PM

bah russian chars don't translate... forget it

4/15/2010 10:52:40 PM

4/15/2010 10:54:15 PM

I realize this thread is about outside sales, but I want to talk about shit.


The word Shit is usually considered a vulgarity and profanity in Modern English. As a noun it refers to fecal matter (excrement) and as a verb it means to defecate or defecate in; in the plural ("the shits") it means diarrhea. Shite is also a common variant in British English[citation needed].

Etymology
The word is likely derived from Old English, having the nouns scite (dung, attested only in place names) and scitte (diarrhoea), and the verb scitan (to defecate, attested only in bescitan, to cover with excrement); eventually it morphed into Middle English schitte (excrement), schyt (diarrhoea) and shiten (to defecate), and it is virtually certain that it was used in some form by preliterate Germanic tribes at the time of the Roman Empire. The word may be further traced to Proto-Germanic *skit-, and ultimately to Proto-Indo-European *skheid-. The word has several cognates in modern Germanic languages, such as German Scheisse, Dutch schijt, Swedish skit, Icelandic skítur, Norwegian skitt etc. Ancient Greek had 'skor' (gen. 'skatos' hence 'scato-'), from Proto-Indo-European *sker-, which is likely unrelated.[1]

False etymology
A popular belief is that the word shit originated as an acronym for "Ship High In Transit", referring to the apparent need to stow manure well above the water line when transporting it by ship. This has been shown to be a myth.[2][3]

Usage
The word shit (or sometimes shite in Scotland, Northern Ireland, Ireland, Northern England and Wales) is used by English speakers, but it is usually avoided in formal speech. Minced oath substitutes for the word shit in English include sugar and shoot.

In the word's literal sense, it has a rather small range of common usages. An unspecified or collective occurrence of feces is generally shit or some shit; a single deposit of feces is sometimes a shit or a piece of shit, and to defecate is to shit, or to take a shit. While it is common to speak of shit as existing in a pile, a load, a hunk and other quantities and configurations, such expressions flourish most strongly in the figurative. For practical purposes, when actual defecation and excreta are spoken of in English, it is either through creative euphemism or with a vague and fairly rigid literalism.

"Shit" can also be combined with other words to denote the type of feces one has. For instance, "Snake shit" describes feces that are long and thin in shape, thus reminiscent of a snake's appearance. "Shapeepee" or "Shit pee pee" is another word for diarrhea, or can be used to describe feces that are almost entirely of liquid composition.
Vague noun
Shit can be used as a generic mass noun similar to stuff; for instance, This show is funny shit or This test is hard shit, or That was stupid shit. These three usages (with funny, hard, and stupid or another synonym of stupid) are heard most commonly in the United States. Note that shit is both a positive and negative thing in these examples, shit being apparently very funny (a positive thing) and in the second and third examples very hard (as in, difficult - a negative thing to be) or very stupid. Note also that in a phrase like this, the speaker doesn't include the term as; saying that something is as funny as shit would be taken as a negative statement (shit not being a very funny thing to be). A similar usage is the shit, which indicates great praise or approval; for example, the phrase This show was the shit indicates major approval from the speaker of a show.

In Get your shit together! the word shit may refer to some set of personal belongings or tools, or to one's wits, composure, or attention to the task at hand. He doesn't have his shit together suggests he is failing rather broadly, with the onus laid to multiple personal shortcomings, rather than bad luck or outside forces.

Trouble
Shit can be used to denote trouble, by saying one is in a lot of shit or deep shit. It's common for someone to refer to an unpleasant thing as hard shit (You got a speeding ticket? Man, that's some hard shit), but the phrase tough shit is used as an unsympathetic way of saying too bad to whoever is having problems (You got arrested? Tough shit, man!) or as a way of expressing to someone that they need to stop complaining about something and just deal with it (Billy: I got arrested because of you! Tommy: Tough shit, dude, you knew you might get arrested when you chose to come with me.) Note that in this case, as in many cases with the term, tough shit is often said as a way of pointing out someone's fault in his/her own current problem.

When the shit hits the fan is usually used to refer to a specific time of confrontation or trouble, which requires decisive action. This is often used in reference to combat situations and the action scenes in movies, but can also be used for everyday instances that one might be apprehensive about. I don't want to be here when the shit hits the fan! indicates that the speaker is dreading this moment (which can be anything from an enemy attack to confronting an angry parent or friend). He's the one to turn to when the shit hits the fan is an indication that the person being talked about is dependable and will not run from trouble or abandon their allies in tough situations. The concept of this phrase is simple enough, as the actual substance striking the rotating blades of a fan would cause a messy and unpleasant situation (much like being in the presence of a manure spreader). Whether or not this has actually happened, or if the concept is simply feasible enough for most people to imagine the result without needing it to be demonstrated, is unknown. Another example might be the saying shit rolls down hill which is particularly illustrating, the consequences of putting your superiors in a bad position at work.
Displeasure
Shit can comfortably stand in for the terms bad and anything in many instances (Dinner was good, but the movie was shit. You're all mad at me, but I didn't do shit!). A comparison can also be used, as in Those pants look like shit, or This stuff tastes like shit. Many usages are idiomatic. The phrase, I don't give a shit denotes indifference. I'm shit out of luck usually refers to someone who is at the end of their wits or who has no remaining viable options. That little shit shot me in the ass, suggests a mischievous or contemptuous person. Euphemisms such as crap are not used in this context.

The term piece of shit is generally used to classify a product or service as being sufficiently below the writer's understanding of generally accepted quality standards to be of negligible and perhaps even negative value.The term piece of shit has greater precision than shit or shitty in that piece of shit identifies the low quality of a specific component or output of a process without applying a derogatory slant to the entire process. The fact that the orchestra's recent rendition of Tchaikovsky's Manfred Symphony in B minor was pretty much a piece of shit should not in any way detract from this." The substitution of shit or shitty for pretty much a piece of shit would imply irony and would therefore undermine the strength of the statement.

Shortening of bullshit
The expression no shit? (a contraction of no bullshit?) is used in response to a statement that is extraordinary or hard to believe. Alternatively the maker of the hard-to-believe statement may add no shit to reinforce the sincerity or truthfulness of their statement, particularly in response to someone expressing disbelief at their statement. No shit is also used sarcastically in response to a statement of the obvious, as in no shit, Sherlock.

In this form the word can also be used in phrases such as don't give me that shit or you're full of shit. The term full of shit is often used as an exclamation to charge someone who is believed to be prone to dishonesty, exaggeration or is thought to be "phoney" with an accusation. For example:

"Oh, I'm sorry I forgot to invite you to the party, it was a complete accident... But you really didn't miss anything anyway.
"You're full of shit! You had dozens of opportunities to invite me. If you have a problem with me, why not say it!"
The word bullshit also denotes false or insincere discourse. (Horseshit is roughly equivalent, while chickenshit means cowardly, batshit indicates a person is crazy, and going apeshit indicates a person is entering a state of high excitement or unbridled rage.). Are you shitting me!? is a question sometimes given in response to an incredible assertion. An answer that reasserts the veracity of the claim is, I shit you not.

Emphasis
Perhaps the only constant connotation that shit reliably carries is that its referent holds some degree of emotional intensity for the speaker. Whether offense is taken at hearing the word varies greatly according to listener and situation, and is related to age and social class: elderly speakers and those of (or aspiring to) higher socioeconomic strata tend to use it more privately and selectively than younger and more blue-collar speakers.

Like the word fuck, shit is often used to add emphasis more than to add meaning, for example, shit! I was so shit-scared of that shithead that I shit-talked him into dropping out of the karate match! The term to shit-talk connotes bragging or exaggeration (whereas to talk shit primarily means to gossip [about someone in a damaging way] or to talk in a boastful way about things which are erroneous in nature), but in such constructions as the above, the word shit often functions as an interjection.

Unlike the word fuck, shit is not used emphatically with -ing or as an infix. For example; I lost the shitting karate match would be replaced with ...the fucking karate match. Similarly, while in-fucking-credible is generally acceptable, in-shitting-credible is not.

4/15/2010 10:55:19 PM