3 month review
Discussion
I'm 3 months into my new job; it is a sales role working from home.
I was hired because of my knowledge and experience at my last company which was in a similar field but went into liquidation. My main selling point of myself was that in my region, there was £150k worth of business now looking for a new supplier which I was ideally positioned to convert. I got the job.
For various reasons, the top £100k of the business I was looking at is no good to me (it wasn't a sales account, liquidation, already dealing with my new company, etc.). Most of the rest of the business is split into many small customers. Many of which are now being serviced by a rival company, more similar to my old company, who bought much of the stock, customer lists and contracts from my old place.
There are opportunities in my region outside of the current 'bank' of customers I am looking at however the (limited) feedback I have had from my direct manager has been to concentrate on the customers of my previous employer.
Support from my new Manager has been limited. When I started I asked to spend some time with the existing Sales Managers and to have some training on the products which I was unfamiliar with (but which are a big push for the company at the moment). Neither of these has yet been forthcoming. My manager has, on a few occassions, asked me if I am busy enough or if I needed any help, but how do you answer that whilst still in a 'probation period' after selling yourself to them with the promise of £xk new business?
I had a situation just before Christmas where a prospect approached me about one of our ranges (which I am still learning about myself). I make an appointment to visit him and give him the prices I have been issued with. I had been told that as a new range, the pricing was identical for all customers and discounts were unavailable. The prospect then produces a leaflet which my office had sent directly to the customers in his target market, offering the products cheaper. Half the price in one example (the flagship product).
This is the first time I have worked from home. It has taken a while to get used to and I still miss the day-to-day social interaction of a workplace.
I have always liked variety in my job, but with how things are set up at the moment, the past 3 months have been devoted to New Business which, whilst I'm happy enough with and can be successful at, spending 100% of my time on it at the moment is becoming fairly depressing. I know if I can push through it and get a few major accounts established in my region some of my time will then be spent on account management and development, but again that is going to take some time because of the customers I'm being asked to focus on.
I have my 3 month probation review in 2 weeks time. I will probably mention a severely redacted version of the above, but how much should I curtail it? On one hand, I'm never afraid to speak my mind and my preference would be transparancy, openness and honesty. On the other, I'm well aware that I have a job which has the potential to become very interesting and that gritting my teeth, smiling, and ploughing ahead may be the best way to keep it.
I found myself having a quick look at the job sites this morning. The cupboard looked fairly bare.
I was hired because of my knowledge and experience at my last company which was in a similar field but went into liquidation. My main selling point of myself was that in my region, there was £150k worth of business now looking for a new supplier which I was ideally positioned to convert. I got the job.
For various reasons, the top £100k of the business I was looking at is no good to me (it wasn't a sales account, liquidation, already dealing with my new company, etc.). Most of the rest of the business is split into many small customers. Many of which are now being serviced by a rival company, more similar to my old company, who bought much of the stock, customer lists and contracts from my old place.
There are opportunities in my region outside of the current 'bank' of customers I am looking at however the (limited) feedback I have had from my direct manager has been to concentrate on the customers of my previous employer.
Support from my new Manager has been limited. When I started I asked to spend some time with the existing Sales Managers and to have some training on the products which I was unfamiliar with (but which are a big push for the company at the moment). Neither of these has yet been forthcoming. My manager has, on a few occassions, asked me if I am busy enough or if I needed any help, but how do you answer that whilst still in a 'probation period' after selling yourself to them with the promise of £xk new business?
I had a situation just before Christmas where a prospect approached me about one of our ranges (which I am still learning about myself). I make an appointment to visit him and give him the prices I have been issued with. I had been told that as a new range, the pricing was identical for all customers and discounts were unavailable. The prospect then produces a leaflet which my office had sent directly to the customers in his target market, offering the products cheaper. Half the price in one example (the flagship product).
This is the first time I have worked from home. It has taken a while to get used to and I still miss the day-to-day social interaction of a workplace.
I have always liked variety in my job, but with how things are set up at the moment, the past 3 months have been devoted to New Business which, whilst I'm happy enough with and can be successful at, spending 100% of my time on it at the moment is becoming fairly depressing. I know if I can push through it and get a few major accounts established in my region some of my time will then be spent on account management and development, but again that is going to take some time because of the customers I'm being asked to focus on.
I have my 3 month probation review in 2 weeks time. I will probably mention a severely redacted version of the above, but how much should I curtail it? On one hand, I'm never afraid to speak my mind and my preference would be transparancy, openness and honesty. On the other, I'm well aware that I have a job which has the potential to become very interesting and that gritting my teeth, smiling, and ploughing ahead may be the best way to keep it.
I found myself having a quick look at the job sites this morning. The cupboard looked fairly bare.
Edited by Stevenj214 on Wednesday 5th January 12:51
Ouch. 
Tricky. You've told them you can bring them customers for £150k of red widgets, so selling £500k of green widgets will count for nothing if you've only sold £50k of red widgets.
How confident do you feel about the company and their commitment to you? It's not unheard of for companies to take on expensive sales guys to milk their customer base then cut them loose once they figure the customers are too tied in to be able to cut free and follow the sales guy.
Tricky. You've told them you can bring them customers for £150k of red widgets, so selling £500k of green widgets will count for nothing if you've only sold £50k of red widgets.
How confident do you feel about the company and their commitment to you? It's not unheard of for companies to take on expensive sales guys to milk their customer base then cut them loose once they figure the customers are too tied in to be able to cut free and follow the sales guy.
Kermit power said:
How confident do you feel about the company and their commitment to you? It's not unheard of for companies to take on expensive sales guys to milk their customer base then cut them loose once they figure the customers are too tied in to be able to cut free and follow the sales guy.
I got really good vibes from them when I joined. I chose them over other companies which I wasn't feeling so good about.I've been disappointed personally with the lack of conversion. With no feedback from them my initial thought would be that they will be thinking the same too.
I have had a few major enquiries from previous customers, but my new company's offering and margin requirements have left both sides too far apart.
I've experienced this when I moved recruitment businesses in the past. I was hired on my reputation within a particular market but could not work with my best clients for legal reasons.
As a result the first 6 months was pretty barren for me and the business had a choice- bin me or back me. They chose to back me but I made the best out of the situation by taking control of what was going on. I'd advise trying to get an insurance policy of sorts (network around other businesses, maybe make a few noises to your old employer if your relationship is good) and have an honest conversation with your current firm.
Good luck.
As a result the first 6 months was pretty barren for me and the business had a choice- bin me or back me. They chose to back me but I made the best out of the situation by taking control of what was going on. I'd advise trying to get an insurance policy of sorts (network around other businesses, maybe make a few noises to your old employer if your relationship is good) and have an honest conversation with your current firm.
Good luck.
Since posting this, things have been going a bit better and I was feeling far more positive.
Until this morning.
Some background: over the past 3 months, I have had to go to my manager for best pricing as and when I'm quoting. This pricing has been building up into a price file for me to use as I need. Just before Christmas, my computer's HDD failed and I lost all my data. I still had a few of the quotations previously sent to me by my manager, but they were not collated.
Yesterday, I visit a customer. Potentially £6kpa (8% of my target). They are having major supply problems with their current supplier and are primed to ditch them completely and go with us. They have 11 items they are completely out of stock on which they asked me to quote on.
Emails between my manager and me go like this:
Until this morning.
Some background: over the past 3 months, I have had to go to my manager for best pricing as and when I'm quoting. This pricing has been building up into a price file for me to use as I need. Just before Christmas, my computer's HDD failed and I lost all my data. I still had a few of the quotations previously sent to me by my manager, but they were not collated.
Yesterday, I visit a customer. Potentially £6kpa (8% of my target). They are having major supply problems with their current supplier and are primed to ditch them completely and go with us. They have 11 items they are completely out of stock on which they asked me to quote on.
Emails between my manager and me go like this:
From Me to Manager said:
I had a really good meeting with XXX at XXX yesterday. They are having out of stock and delivery issues with XXX.
Could you give me nett pricing and check stock availability for the items attached please? We should get the order today if we can respond quick enough.
Could you give me nett pricing and check stock availability for the items attached please? We should get the order today if we can respond quick enough.
From Manager to Me said:
Hi Steven
Please refer to your best nett prices and complete the spreadsheet and return to me for pricing on the products that you do not have prices for.
Please refer to your best nett prices and complete the spreadsheet and return to me for pricing on the products that you do not have prices for.
From Me to Manager said:
I’m afraid I lost my best nett prices when my laptop had it’s hard drive failure.
From Manager to Me said:
Do you have any records of prices that you have quoted to customers over the past three months ??
From Me to Manager said:
I have most of them in emails from you. I’m pulling them together into a master pricing file again but it will take a bit of time.
From Manager to Me said:
Well you should be able to pick out the Nett prices from these quite easily for XXX, there are only a few products
You are asking me to do the same thing, and I am quite busy at the moment,
let me know if you are struggling
You are asking me to do the same thing, and I am quite busy at the moment,
let me know if you are struggling
From Me to Manager said:
Sorry XXX, I thought you had an easier system for pulling nett prices. I have nett prices for 5 items I have previously quoted from the 9
Am I wrong to be taking issue with this? Am I being overly sensitive?Edited by Stevenj214 on Thursday 13th January 11:42
Edited by Stevenj214 on Thursday 13th January 12:52
Stevenj214 said:
Since posting this, things have been going a bit better and I was feeling far more positive.
Until this morning.
Some background: over the past 3 months, I have had to go to my manager for best pricing as and when I'm quoting. This pricing has been building up into a price file for me to use as I need. Just before Christmas, my computer's HDD failed and I lost all my data. I still had a few of the quotations previously sent to me by my manager, but they were not collated.
Yesterday, I visit a customer. Potentially £6kpa (8% of my target). They are having major supply problems with their current supplier and are primed to ditch them completely and go with us. They have 11 items they are completely out of stock on which they asked me to quote on.
Emails between my manager and me go like this:
Not wrong, but not much you can do.Until this morning.
Some background: over the past 3 months, I have had to go to my manager for best pricing as and when I'm quoting. This pricing has been building up into a price file for me to use as I need. Just before Christmas, my computer's HDD failed and I lost all my data. I still had a few of the quotations previously sent to me by my manager, but they were not collated.
Yesterday, I visit a customer. Potentially £6kpa (8% of my target). They are having major supply problems with their current supplier and are primed to ditch them completely and go with us. They have 11 items they are completely out of stock on which they asked me to quote on.
Emails between my manager and me go like this:
From Me to Manager said:
I had a really good meeting with XXX at XXX yesterday. They are having out of stock and delivery issues with XXX.
Could you give me nett pricing and check stock availability for the items attached please? We should get the order today if we can respond quick enough.
Could you give me nett pricing and check stock availability for the items attached please? We should get the order today if we can respond quick enough.
From Manager to Me said:
Hi XXX
Please refer to your best nett prices and complete the spreadsheet and return to me for pricing on the products that you do not have prices for.
Please refer to your best nett prices and complete the spreadsheet and return to me for pricing on the products that you do not have prices for.
From Me to Manager said:
I’m afraid I lost my best nett prices when my laptop had it’s hard drive failure.
From Manager to Me said:
Do you have any records of prices that you have quoted to customers over the past three months ??
From Me to Manager said:
I have most of them in emails from you. I’m pulling them together into a master pricing file again but it will take a bit of time.
From Manager to Me said:
Well you should be able to pick out the Nett prices from these quite easily for XXX, there are only a few products
You are asking me to do the same thing, and I am quite busy at the moment,
let me know if you are struggling
You are asking me to do the same thing, and I am quite busy at the moment,
let me know if you are struggling
From Me to Manager said:
Sorry XXX, I thought you had an easier system for pulling nett prices. I have nett prices for 5 items I have previously quoted from the 9
Am I wrong to be taking issue with this?Edited by Stevenj214 on Thursday 13th January 11:38
A HDD failure is just one of those things you have to live with. Your gaffer isnt your secretary so im afraid its your issue to sort
I'd probably be the same if I was your boss. If you want the business (8% is a nice chunk) you'll work your arse off to get it, no matter what it takes. If that means taking the long way round to get something then thats what it takes.
Edited by KenBlocksPants on Thursday 13th January 13:59
KenBlocksPants said:
I'd probably be the same if I was your boss. If you want the business (8% is a nice chunk) you'll work your arse off to get it, no matter what it takes. If that means taking the long way round to get something then thats what it takes.
I suppose my issue comes from not knowing exactly how she works. Before my HDD failure, I had my own master price file set up in excel so that all I had to do was copy and past in a list of product codes and I would instantly have the best prices I could go to.I assumed she had a similar set up, just with all prices available to her. I guess not.
Anyway, I now have prices. Now just to confirm the order.
ETA: How I had my prices set up, and how it will be again, meant that pricing 1 item or 100 items was no different, as long as the product codes were there to be copied in.
Edited by Stevenj214 on Thursday 13th January 12:15
Stevenj214 said:
KenBlocksPants said:
I'd probably be the same if I was your boss. If you want the business (8% is a nice chunk) you'll work your arse off to get it, no matter what it takes. If that means taking the long way round to get something then thats what it takes.
I suppose my issue comes from not knowing exactly how she works. Before my HDD failure, I had my own master price file set up in excel so that all I had to do was copy and past in a list of product codes and I would instantly have the best prices I could go to.I assumed she had a similar set up, just with all prices available to her. I guess not.
Anyway, I now have prices. Now just to confirm the order.
I do have sympathy in your situation.... a s
te boss is never nice to work withShe may have the sales price list but she might have the one with more detail, lowest price, work buying price etc, i.e although she has the list it may be a hassle for her to re-format it to your requirements also she may be a little pissed off you lost the data in a hdd failure and waited till you where with a customer to flag up your lack of price list.
Do you have proof of asking for the price list and a paper trail that proves since the Hdd failure you have been requesting the data you need?
Do you have proof of asking for the price list and a paper trail that proves since the Hdd failure you have been requesting the data you need?
Kermit power said:
1. Learn the lesson of backing up important data in the future.
I'm learning!Kermit power said:
1. Learn the lesson of backing up important data in the future.
2. You might want to remove the name of your prospect from your post, and ask Kenblockspants to do likewise!!
Ah, I though i'd redacted anything identifiable. Ken, could you oblige please?2. You might want to remove the name of your prospect from your post, and ask Kenblockspants to do likewise!!
Kermit power said:
That's a bugger.
Good luck with finding the next thing!
Thanks, I'm already on the case!Good luck with finding the next thing!
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