So my current company is going through some changes and I am not exactly thrilled with the direction the company is going. I have over 4 years of outside sales experience, so I am pretty well qualified for any type of outside sales job. Here is my problem: both companies I have sold for I heard about via word-of-mouth or was recruited. Now I want to search for a sales job with a new company, but really have little idea where to start. Monster and CareerBuilder are just a pain in the ass to search through because you have to weed through all the "work from home opportunities", car dealerships, and insurance companies.

Does anyone have any suggestions of good places to search for companies looking for sales reps? Or better yet, does anyone know of any companies that may be looking for reps in the Triad? It doesn't really matter what industry it's in, because frankly sales is sales.

Thanks in advance for your help.

7/24/2008 8:42:23 AM

I would assume you are tied in to this area with either a lease, or ownership of a home. What I might suggest is just pulling the list of Fortune 500 companies, and then the big name companies in the Triangle area and actually going to their websites to search for jobs. That's a way to find legit jobs at least. I personally am not sure who is looking for reps these days. With the economy down I would think most sales departments are struggling more than usual and probably would not be hiring. It's tough getting a job through a website period though. As I'm sure you already know its 90% who you know when it comes to the job market so if you get desperate it might be a good idea to join the local Jaycees or some other business organization. At least you have a job to fall back on at this point and you aren't unemployed looking for something.

7/24/2008 8:58:02 AM

^ yeah, I have already put the word out in several business and networking groups I am a part of. That's the 1 advantage to being in sales this long, you get to know A LOT of people. And i am tied to a lease until March, and even above and beyond that I wouldn't want to relocate out of the Triad. Basically looking for companies in Greensboro, Winston, or Burlington.

you are right though, with the economy the way it is it's probably going to be tough.

7/24/2008 9:03:40 AM

I am lucky to be getting out of my situation since I sell directly to the real estate market, and that is obviously in the shitter. It's been extremely hard to make numbers lately. I will be out and about with the new job pretty frequently so I will inquire and see what's out there for a fellow twwer. Good luck with everything though.

7/24/2008 9:08:33 AM

you could slang caterpillar equipment!

gregory poole is the triad dealer, pretty sure their main office is over by the fairgrounds

7/24/2008 11:01:12 AM

I'm currently in inside sales focusing on bio-pharma industries. Looking to move away from sales in general and back into marketing where I started out. Let me know if you come across anything...

A new, decent sales position could convince me to move along as well

7/24/2008 11:03:31 AM

^^ I actually knew someone that did that and made really good money. But I am not sure I would want to just sell to farms and things like that. I am more into medium-large sized businesses

7/24/2008 11:09:37 AM

common misconception

we don't sell directly to farms hardly at all. we sell our "farm" equipment through AgCo

depending on the size of machine the salesmen sells, they would sell to large contractors or small business owners

[Edited on July 24, 2008 at 11:19 AM. Reason : ldfkgjkldjfg]

7/24/2008 11:18:51 AM

is there a website? that actually sounds more like what i want to get into. more of a relationship sale rather than making 100 cold calls a day. do they have a satellite office in greensboro, would I be able to work remotely, or would I have to drive to Raleigh several times a week?

7/24/2008 11:24:27 AM

every dealership handles their machine sales differently and i haven't worked with the NC dealers (there are 2, greg poole & carolina cat)

the dealers i do work with handle it like this:

they break up their territory by sales opportunity (greensboro could be where a salesman lives depending on what area he covers) and would be given a list of current customers in the area. some dealers use a sales lead program that will generate leads that you have to follow up on. there is some cold calling involved, you won't get all your customers handed to you

of course, where they have openings for salesmen will depend on the dealer and you may not get to choose which area you cover

http://www.gregorypoole.com/Pages/Default.aspx

here is greg poole's website. all dealers handle their employment and interview process independently

7/24/2008 11:31:26 AM

^ thanks for the help. I'll look into that when I get home tonight. probably not a good idea to be job surfing from my current job

7/24/2008 11:49:13 AM

get a head hunter. i have gotten my sales staff though head hunters. each time i had to pay alot to get them here but they have both worked out well.

7/24/2008 4:27:56 PM

^ any head hunter in particular that you would recommend?

7/24/2008 5:42:49 PM

what exactly does a person in business to business sales do? i was talking to some of our sales reps the other day who have territories that are like a couple states wide, and they'll readily admit that they don't know anything about our product and claim they don't need to know about it, because all they have to do is sell it. i didn't really understand what that means. maybe its because i'm an engineer and i generally try to avoid the sales department when talking to vendors, but i don't understand how you can sell something without knowing anything about it. i'm not trying to belittle your role, i'm just curious where you guys fit in.

7/24/2008 9:51:59 PM

Do you have any finance in your background?
Trust Sales gives you DEEP pockets

7/24/2008 9:54:25 PM

^^ it really depends on what you are selling and who you present it to. I work for a CLEC (competitive local exchange carrier) and I sell business telecom services (T1 and higher based voice, internet, data, etc.) So, if I am meeting with the president of the company who knows shit about technology, all I have to do is assure him that the shit will work better than what he has. If I am meeting with the IT director, then I really need to know more about HOW it works.

However, it is true to some extent that if you are good at sales then you can get away with (for a while anyway) not knowing much about the product. Especially if you have a resource like an engineer to come on appointments with you to field technical questions. I personally can't work that way. I have a hard time selling something that I don't know details about. I hate being in a situation where I am asked a question and have to respond "well, I don't know, but I'll find out"

^ no, and I wouldn't want to deal with money

[Edited on July 24, 2008 at 10:04 PM. Reason : a]

7/24/2008 9:59:39 PM

bttt

7/25/2008 9:01:27 AM

Quote :

"i was talking to some of our sales reps the other day who have territories that are like a couple states wide, and they'll readily admit that they don't know anything about our product and claim they don't need to know about it, because all they have to do is sell it"

I'm sure they can get away with that on a regular basis depending on who they are selling to. How much effort does it take to learn the product though. I mean, it IS your job to sell it, so the more you know about it the better chance you have on selling someone on the product. Especially if you are dealing with someone who is actually competent about what they are trying to buy.

7/25/2008 10:09:02 AM

Eric I will keep my ears open. Seriously, like 8 members on my softball team do outside sales, so I'll see if they know what's up this weekend.

7/25/2008 10:16:57 AM

bttt for the weekend crew

7/26/2008 4:08:22 PM

being mobile helps with career growth...i broke a lease for my current job, was a no brainer....

7/26/2008 5:34:33 PM

bttt. I would definitely consider relocating to Raleigh, Charlotte, Wimington, or maybe even Asheville for the right job.

7/28/2008 8:34:13 AM

Oh snap I have been getting sick, so I just played my game and peaced out yesterday.

I will put it on my list of things to do this week though

We should have a TWW Jobs thread. People can post job openings at their company. It could be a good way for peoples to get referral fees if it works out!!! I know I'm on the hunt for a job as well, this could work!

7/28/2008 10:39:14 AM

bttmft

7/29/2008 9:51:28 AM

bizz to the tizz

7/30/2008 1:12:48 PM

well they closed my sales office today and we all got laid off, so now this thread is VERY important

8/1/2008 6:51:49 PM

damn bro that sucks

8/1/2008 7:26:58 PM

terrible early BDay present.....

8/1/2008 7:38:17 PM

Quote :

"How much effort does it take to learn the product though. I mean, it IS your job to sell it, so the more you know about it the better chance you have on selling someone on the product."

this is sort of the way i feel about it.

8/1/2008 9:31:02 PM

Quote :

"I'm sure they can get away with that on a regular basis depending on who they are selling to."

hell..I get away with it on a regular basis lol.. but that's more from the fact that I'm learning and its a shit ton of information to learn more than anything else..

8/1/2008 10:33:17 PM