Political. Not much standardization for the sales force i.e., a type of sink or swim environment with tools flying at us that are not properly tested before we get them. These take up time we dont have but are required to use, only to have the next new thing be dumped on us a few weeks later. It is like a contest to see who can make a name for themselves by coming up with a new technique and after that we have to work out the bugs. By that time, another tool or training will be required. We supposedly are given warm leads, but approx 40% of the spreadsheet are companies out of business, havent shipped in over 10 years, etc. To close the sale we have to use a process, which means if a customer wants to ship with us the same day we call, we cannot close it unless we have a minimum of 3 calls. AND we have to move the sale through a "certainty' rating, which means we have to log the close as 25% sure, then 50% sure, then 75%, 90% then close it. Many dont do it this way and just make sure they have the minimum 3 calls. No one seems to believe that an inside sasales professional can know if the customer is wanting to ship in one or 2 calls. Also, we now have a phone system that allows management to listen to our calls so there is the Big Brother aspect.
Managers play favorites and there is no recourse to this as the manager network is tight. I.e., it would do no good to report one as blatantly applying the rules according to their personal preferences vs. what is fair and equitable.
The sales job requires a minutia of extraneous tasks in additional to actual selling. The systems we have are not user friendly and it requires using 4-5 places to find all the information necessary to track our calls, pull up information about the customer and track the customer's shipping for closes. There is a lag time to seeing how a customer is shipping, we have to wait 1-2 days to get pricing approved for them, etc. And after we bring on an account and grow it, we then have to give it to the field sales reps who usually have not done a single thing to work the account. Any objections will be answered with: "It's the right thing for the customer." Everyone in sales knows this is an untruth. The other thing about field sales is FedEx seems to have a preference for hiring outside for field and had no problem hiring 70 layed off DHL reps which took promotional opportunities away from internal employees. Speaking of promotional opportunities,
promotional opportunities are largely dependent on the relationship with your manager. So know what to kiss and when.
