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this post was submitted on 25 Jul 2023
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Asklemmy
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Selling is an art... and this is why I'm not in sales. I have absolutely no interest in trying to convince somebody to buy something.
True sales is just filling a need, sometimes the customer knows they need it but others are unaware of it. Good sales reps will not sell something unless it makes sense for everyone involved.
Sales has fuck-all to do with filling a need. Sales is the invention of problems for which the only solution is the liberal application of money.
Engineering is filling a need.
OK, so engineers provide their solution to a problem to end users for free? Engineers still need marketing and sales to further improve an invention as well as allow others to understand its use case.
Oh ok- good luck getting your little field/product/item out into the world all on your own...
Well, you're clearly not an engineer.
Based on the way you're attempting to "sell" the role of salesman, you don't seem to have the skillset required for that role either.
Aspiring mid-level manager, perhaps?
No shitstain- I'm a pilot and don't have anything to do with either engineering or marketing. I also run my own company. I'm also extremely welltraveled, educated, and experienced. Which is why I know that very obviously an engineer on his own is worthless. Any company without marketing is worthless.any company with only marketing and no product is worthless. Grow the fuck up.
Ok, Captain.
Just out of curiosity, where exactly did I say that salespeople aren't important? I merely rejected the characterization that salespeople are problem solvers. They are not. Engineers solve the problem, salespeople convince customers that they have the problem.
Hey genius you remember the part where you said salespeople don't help fill a need and I pointed out engineers on their own also don't fill a need? That's the part where you said they aren't important and engineers are important. Then you carried on to try to characterize someone you have no knowledge on as an "aspiring mid-level manager". Go get fucked you goddamn nerd.
The condescending, abusive attitude you demonstrate is common to people who peter-principle at mid-level management. You told me everything I need to know about your business acumen.
The context of comment was the salesperson's relationship with the customer, not the business. Salespeople do not fill a customer need. The purpose of a salesperson is to extract money from the customer, by convincing the customer that 1. They have a problem; and 2. Their problem can only be solved with money.
And your condescending "know-it-all" attitude that you've demonstrated is typical of the junior/entry level engineer who thinks he's more than he is. You've told me all I need to know about your business and life experience.
An engineer without a salesperson is useless as someone like yourself would never be able to have funding nor support to provide a need to anyone.
Very obviously marketing and sales look for needs that are not being met and attempt to let a potential customer know that they have a product that could meet said need.
Fucking toolbag. You have no clue hiw the world really works and your inflated sense of self worth is especially galling. If you'd just not try to belittle an entire sphere of work other than your this entire conversation never would have happened. As it is you can't imagine someone else actually has just as much to do with getting needs met other than engineering.
The only sales job I’ve ever had was like this, luckily for me. We were taught to spend more time listening than talking. It was very low pressure, and more like problem solving than your stereotypical, pushy kind of selling. I would have been terrible at that.
Yea, I was never exactly in sales (Geek Squad in store employee is the closest I ever came) but I remember thinking everyone who was like lets get rid of commission in retail sales were very mislead. I still remember the difference in Sears employees in the 90s when I first got a PC and the salesman actually knew to look at the box of the game I was trying to buy and make sure it'd run on my PC before selling it to me. I also remember them knowing about the stuff they sold. This is because with commission, even in small towns you could make a career of it and you'd have actual experienced staff in the stores. As far as I could ever tell, the good salespeople wanted you to trust them, and not to just make a one time huge sale - they wanted you to come back again and again.
Once they all went to non-commission, I recall that being a "selling point" of the stores, but now all you had was a rotating cast of highschool and college summer workers who cared exactly as much as minimum wage paid them to care... i.e. not at all. And they occasionally became unable to even read the boxes they were "selling". It turned them into less efficient cash register attendants.
Exactly, sales isn't easy but customer retention makes the job easier. If a customer has a great experience, they tend to be repeat customers and even tell their friends. Word of mouth undoubtedly being the most effective marketing method makes non pushy sales the best approach for sure.