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I
love my job...selling MR Software lets face it, how interesting is Software?? Well, it’s an early start as usual, quickly check my email to see if anything has come in from my colleagues around the world, or more importantly, any new potential leads via our Web Site (we often find people browse sites in their free time – strange people!) It’s a Monday morning, and I am looking at my planner for the week, so I mentally prepare myself for the forthcoming meetings and any associated travelling. Oh I see I have a lunch “meeting” with someone on Wednesday – “meeting” is a very loose word since this essentially means you both want to get out of the office, have a nice meal on expenses and get pissed – and somewhere in between discuss Software (5 minutes max – lets face it, how interesting is Software??), the rest of the time discuss Football, Cricket, Golf or whatever. The down [up]side of this is that it writes off the afternoon ... Perhaps I’ll call a customer near my Lunch and pop in in the morning to check on how their business is ticking along, and see if there is any potential for any work in the near future. Kill two birds with one stone, and it keeps my travelling at a minimum. Just got off the phone to a prospect – yippee! They have decided in our favour and want a contract sent over :-) They chose us for our innovation, and also the lack of direction/commitment of some of my competitors. I’m sure it had nothing to do with all the Drinks that we bought them at the MRS or the “Working lunch” we had a few weeks ago! My emails have downloaded, and there is a complaint from a customer, one click and it’s off to the Account Manager ... not my headache this time. I’d better get my details ready for the sales meetings, so that I can discuss potential sales “pipelines” and get ready for the latest crackpot theory of selling by our European Sales Manager – I wonder what book/theory he has sold himself on this month. But as long as the business is coming in, who cares!
I
hate my job...in MR Software Sales I’ve got the meeting from Hell with the client from Hell this morning, so I’m hoping they call to cancel. Better leave the office promptly to meet the for the N th time to explain the most basic of concepts (yet again) to a potential client – I’m completely bemused as to why he is in this job, someone with the mentality of a houseplant, it has to be an accident. But, ultimately, they are potential clients so I must bite my lips, revenue and share price are kings ... Why don’t these companies employ suitably technical people in technical roles? – the mind boggles. On the other hand, I have just spoken to a fuming client, who’s waiting for a fix to his problem, which some idiot in support promised him, without checking with the programmers or myself. Now, I have to get involved with this issue internally, and be accused of “overselling” the software by the programmers, who sometimes see me as someone who would sell his own Grandmother given the chance (mother-in-law maybe!). After all this, I have to fill in so many forms, and sort out all the admin. I have been asked to deliver my expenses by the end of the week as well. I hate these admin things, all I want to do is my job. Just checked my email, and the client from hell has just sent the AGENDA from hell, all about poor support, after-sales service, over priced software and also why we STILL haven’t delivered what was promised months/ years ago ... I’ve really got a fight on my hands and I know that even if it goes well, and I can turn the client around – I’ll get blasted by my ignorant manager for not selling more to these people even though it is not me that hasn’t delivered. I don’t know why I bother sometimes. In certain cases, you get a buzz from helping someone introduce some software into their organisation, since it improves their work life, and they can work more efficiently and their company sees the benefits of this. But when things go bad, it’s people like me that get it in the neck! Anyway, time to head off to this meeting and see what I can salvage. |
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